On April 2, JumboVote hosted an event in collaboration with Medford City Councilors Zac Bears and Kit Collins to discuss the role of local politics during periods of political uncertainty. The event was largely overseen by JumboVote Outreach Chair sophomore Teagan Mustone, who hoped to further educate students on the role of local government.
“The goal was to understand the limits and the powers that municipal governments have,” Mustone said. “City council has passed a [resolution] supporting the full-time lecturers union, they’re very vocal. … I think the question that a lot of Tufts students have, or these people that I’ve talked to is, what does this actually do?”
The goal of the conversation evolved rapidly once President Donald Trump took office and shifted again after Rümeysa Öztürk was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Somerville on March 25.
“The new topic was going to be about local politics during federal executive action,” Mustone said. “And then a week ago from Tuesday, Rümeysa Öztürk was abducted by ICE, and it felt very relevant that we would focus on that.”
Kit Collins, Medford City Council vice president, spoke about how leaders should support their communities during periods of turmoil and fear, particularly after Öztürk’s detainment.
“It immediately made me start thinking, what do we need to be doing that we’re not already doing? What do we need to be doing more of? What does the city need to be doing?” Collins said. “This moment is for us to be louder than ever, and the reminder is that failure to lead in this moment is actually not being protective.”
Collins warned that the Trump administration wants communities to be silent and scared, which, in turn, models silent behavior to other communities.
“I think the most responsible thing to do in this moment is to be defiant and to say absolutely not, not here.”
City Council President Zac Bears built on Collins’ comments, specifically noting that instead of speaking out, universities have been making large concessions to the Trump administration’s demands in an effort to maintain their federal funding.
“The other piece of it is that backing down doesn’t work. A lot of colleges and universities are trying to appease this, and they’re still being attacked, and the funding is still being cut, and people are still being abducted,” Bears said. “There’s no quick fix to this problem. So the idea that you can wait it out is folly.”
The councilors were asked what college students can do to protect their communities and rights.
“Colleges are an incredible site of struggle. They’re a target. I think those are important things to remember. You guys piss Trump off more than anyone else,” Bears remarked. “How can you use that is a question for you to decide.”
Collins added that fundraising and resources are vital to a movement.
“There’s a stigma against the resource piece … [but] it does a lot. Allocating resources towards campaigns that are doing something, towards resource reallocation, towards trying to get people in office that you believe in, that’s really important,” Collins said.
However, Collins believed students really need to approach activism as a long-term act.
“Moments like this are an opportunity to think about not just, what do I need to do this week, what do we need to do this year? What needs to be different in 60 years?” Collins said. “We’re not going to fix this in a year.”
When questioned how Medford plans to take action, Bears discussed a few ideas, such as stationing Medford police by ICE cars to alert the local community of ICE’s presence. Bears ultimately had doubts about whether Medford Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn would ever agree to any action.
“I don’t think it’s a fight the mayor wants to have,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a fight the mayor thinks the city has the resources to have, and I think it’s a fight the mayor would rather let other people fight.”
Bears also stated that he wished the mayor would release a statement acknowledging the detainment of Öztürk. One day after the event, on April 3, the mayor signed a joint statement with the Somerville City Council and Somerville State Delegation calling for Öztürk’s release.
A few days after the joint statement, Bears still hoped that the mayor would do more.
“I really would like to see her make a statement of her own and also talk about what we’re going to do as a city beyond just say that we don’t agree with this, but actually mobilize and take action to protect our neighbors,” he said.
Bears also wished that the mayor had reached out to Medford elected officials so that there could be regional coordinated action. He concluded that citizens and local governments must work together to protect their communities from threats by the Trump administration.
“One of the most important ways that … individual residents can take action is by coming together and taking collective action through their local government,” he said.
