Lederman announces candidacy for City Council at-large seat

Date: 2/19/2015

SPRINGFIELD – City Council candidate Jesse Lederman said he is running for an at-large seat because he believes “the next two years will be critical for the city.”

Lederman announced his candidacy on Feb. 11.

Lederman told Reminder Publications that beyond the construction of the MGM Springfield casino and the completion of Union Station, there would be other challenges for municipal government.

He believes the city is “stuck in a rut” when it comes to economic development as so much attention continues to be placed on downtown.

He said the city’s problems with poverty, unemployment and the homeless are not unique to Springfield, but “have been used too often as an excuse.”

Lederman said the city has not gone “outside enough to look for ideas.”

Lederman is a city native who graduated from the Renaissance School and went on to attend George Washington University. He is now completing his degree at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. As a student in Washington D.C. he served at an intern at the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

He is a former elected member of the McKnight Neighborhood Council and presently is a member of the board of directors of the Springfield Preservation Trust and the Springfield Armory Alliance.

 He believes the council should be looking at “bigger picture issues” and he would like to address the root causes of crime and poverty.

“The city council can and must do more,” he said.

Lederman said that he is proud of Springfield and there has been too much focus placed on the negatives in the city.

“We need to talk about the families who love the city of Springfield,” he said. “This is where my heart is.”

More attention should be paced on developing neighborhoods, Lederman added. He would work to help existing neighborhood businesses and not just new ones coming to the city. The first step toward additional economic development, he believes, is giving neighborhood councils more responsibility in the process.

“Neighbors should be at the table,” he said and used the sale of the formers River Inn property on State Street to McDonald’s as an example in which the neighborhood had no say in the transaction.

He would like to see “real long-term economic planning” in the city.

If elected, Lederman would work toward the re-establishment of the Police Commission, which he said “the community supports broadly.”  He would also advocate for the return of “true community policing.” He believes there should be walking and bike patrols in neighborhoods “to restore the trust between the community and the police.”

He said that one lesson he learned from the National Low Income Housing Coalition is by breaking up power one can increase accessibility and responsibility in a community.

As a at-large councilor, he added, he would “treat every neighborhood across the city equally.”

For more information, go to www.countonjesse.com.