Paul Toner - Cambridge City Council Candidate 2021

Paul Toner
2021 Candidate for Cambridge City Council

Home address:
24 Newman St.
Cambridge, MA 02140

Contact information:
website: https://www.tonerforcambridge.com/
email: tonerforcambridge@gmail.com
phone: 617-216-7305

Campaign Headquarters:
2322 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02140

Send contributions to:
Committee to Elect Paul Toner
24 Newman Street
Cambridge, MA 02140

May 24, 2021 – The Toner for City Council campaign released the following statement today: Paul Toner Logo

Paul Toner Declares Candidacy for Cambridge City Council

Paul Toner announced his candidacy for Cambridge City Council today.

“I am running for Cambridge City Council as someone with deep roots in the city and who is invested in its future success. Throughout my life and career, I have sought to serve my community. I became a teacher in Cambridge to give back to my community. I earned my law degree while teaching and became an advocate for educators and students. I represented educators, pre-k through higher education at the local, state and national level.”

“I approach this work as a collaborative, solutions-oriented leader who will apply my skills, experience, and knowledge to work with members of the council, city staff and constituents to reopen our city and help it thrive again. There are many challenges ahead. Through open and respectful public discourse, which is sorely needed in our political conversations right now, we can make real progress towards addressing the many inequities that existed before the pandemic but are only more glaring today.”

Paul Toner at Harrington School Toner is a lifelong resident of Cambridge who lives in North Cambridge with his wife, Susan Connelly, and children Grace and Jack. An attorney and former Cambridge Public Schools teacher, Paul went on to become President of the Cambridge Teachers Association and one of the most influential public education leaders in the state as President of the 115,000 member Massachusetts Teachers Association. He has also served as a vice president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, Labor delegate to the Massachusetts Democratic Party, as a commissioner on the Massachusetts Group Insurance Commission, member of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Board of Directors, the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education and numerous education and labor committees. Most recently, Toner has served as the Senior National Director of Policy and Partnerships for Teach Plus, a nonprofit supporting excellent and effective teachers in policy advocacy and professional development but is stepping from Teach Plus to focus on the campaign this summer and fall.

Toner has many years of experience in public education, board governance, public policy, and labor and government relations. Toner has worked at the local, state and national level engaging people from across the aisle and with a diversity of opinions to find commonsense solutions in leading change.

“As a leader, I have sought to build consensus to make policy decisions based on open dialogue, and data. I am confident that I can bring the same spirit of respect and collaboration to the council. I will work with the council members, staff, and constituents to provide the solutions-oriented leadership necessary to develop and implement a vision for our city that preserves the best of our past and prepares us for the future.”

If you want to learn more about Paul and get involved with his campaign you can visit www.TonerforCambridge.com, connect with the campaign at TonerforCambridge@gmail.com or visit the campaign at our headquarters located at 2322 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02140

2021 Candidate Statement:
My name is Paul F. Toner, and I am a second-time candidate for Cambridge City Council. I live in North Cambridge with my wife, Susan Connelly, and our children Grace and Jack.

Paul Toner w/family at Bryn Mawr

Why I am running
I am running for Cambridge City Council as a lifelong resident of Cambridge, a former Cambridge public school teacher, lawyer, union leader and public-school parent. I have 30 years of experience in public education, board governance, public policy, and labor and government relations. My work has involved engaging people from across the aisle and with a diversity of opinions to find commonsense solutions in leading change. I am running for Cambridge City Council as someone with deep roots in the city and who is invested in its future success.

Over the years my family has suffered personal losses and has benefited from living in a city where people support one another. In 1920, my great grandfather, James Mullally, an employee of the Boston & Maine Railroad was struck and killed by a train in North Cambridge trying to rescue an elderly woman.

He left a widow and five children, including my grandfather. In, 1981, my father, Robert Toner, died suddenly leaving my mother, Ethel Toner, widowed with four young sons. The Cambridge community supported our family in difficult times. My values were shaped by the people of Cambridge. My role models and heroes were my family and neighbors - teachers, firefighters, police officers, and mothers and fathers just trying to give their children something more than they had. My political heroes were Tip O’Neil and JFK. All of them passed on a set of values that I hold dear: supporting your neighbors, helping others, and a commitment to public service.

I became a teacher in Cambridge to give back to my community. I earned my law degree while teaching and became an advocate for teachers and students as the president of the Cambridge Teachers Association and later as the president of the 118,000 member Massachusetts Teachers Association. I represented educators, pre-k through higher education at the local, state, and national level. I developed a reputation for collaborative and solutions-oriented leadership. At the local level I helped create the Tobin Montessori School, High School Extension Program and improve our schools to turn around declining enrollment. At the MTA, I steered our membership through the great recession, education reform, health care and pension issues at the state and national level.

Gerry McDonough - Paul Toner - Joel Patterson I hope to use my leadership skills, experience, and knowledge to help Cambridge during a time of change. We have a great deal to be proud of in Cambridge: high quality schools, great public services, low crime rates, and forward-thinking policies. Cambridge, however, is a constantly changing city and this creates tension.

Some of the greatest tensions are the cost of housing, changing infrastructure needs, and income inequality. The creation of more housing stock, better transportation options and higher wage jobs will keep our city strong and diverse. Cambridge has done good work in these areas, and can do more as a city, but we cannot do it alone. We must coordinate and plan with surrounding cities, towns, and state agencies. I will work on developing regional solutions with our city staff and organizations like the Massachusetts Area Planning Council.

I will fight to maintain our vibrant neighborhoods. Cambridge’s assets are its neighborhoods, small businesses, and strong sense of community. I will advocate for policies and infrastructure investments that balance the need to maintain livable neighborhoods improve our quality of life and create sustainable economic growth.

Cambridge has the capacity to improve the lives of its residents. I will be a strong advocate for public education and the wrap around services that our students and families need outside of school to succeed. We need to create pathways to prosperity for all Cambridge residents by supporting greater coordination among our city departments, nonprofits, higher education institutions, unions, and businesses to give our resident’s access to the opportunities in our robust 21st century Cambridge economy.

To provide the first-class services and programs that make our city so special, while maintaining a reasonable residential tax rate, I will work to keep Cambridge’s economy vital and strong. We must support independently owned businesses and partner with the higher education, research, and business community, to identify opportunities for economic growth and maintain a strong commercial tax base.

campaign workers with signs I am proud of my proven ability to work with people with different views and backgrounds. If elected as a Cambridge City Councilor, the most important part of my job is to listen to Cambridge residents and bring people together to develop plans for addressing our many ambitions as a city. We must do it in a way that supports and respects the work that our city staff is engaged in. So many of the issues that concern our residents are interrelated, all important parts of the urban ecosystem. As a councillor I will ensure that as policy is made about one issue, it is informed by the community and works in concert with the efforts being made in other areas.

I will focus on restoring civil discourse on the council and in our civic political dialogue. How we, as a city with a great diversity of opinions, backgrounds, and opportunities, respond to the pressure to change will define the quality of life for current and future residents. I will bridge the old and new so that we can move forward with a vision of the future that preserves the best of our past.

I hope you will support my candidacy for city council and vote Toner #1 on November 2nd!

Find out more at www.TonerforCambridge.com.

Professional Background
I am an accomplished leader that has dedicated my career to seeking collaborative, innovative solutions to improving public education. My professional background is as an experienced senior executive in education policy, association governance, board management, and labor and government relations. I have worked collaboratively with education, labor, business, state and municipal government leaders to strengthen support for public education and advocate for working families. I am proud of my reputation for thoughtful and solutions-oriented leadership in labor, education, business, and government.

photo at rally I most recently served as the Senior National Director for Policy and partnerships for Teach Plus, a nonprofit that works to engage and elevate the voices of teachers in local, state and national education policy. I started my career as a seventh- and eighth-grade social studies teacher at the Harrington Elementary School in Cambridge. In 2001, I was elected the president of the Cambridge Teachers Association. I went on to be elected vice president, then president of the 113,000 member Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) where I served from 2006 to 2014.

As leader of the CTA, I represented 1,100 teachers, administrators, paraprofessionals, clerks, and substitutes. I negotiated multiple collective bargaining agreements and resolved hundreds of grievances. I worked with the administration to improve labor-management relations and focused on improving student achievement. During my time as CTA president, the unions and administration collaborated to develop an alternative high school program, a public Montessori School, a new high school schedule, two expanded learning time schools and a new educator evaluation system.

photo with kids As leader of the MTA and CTA, I was a strong advocate for educators and students while working with district and state leaders to focus on improving student achievement through labor-management collaboration. During my tenure, I worked to make the union the voice of the education profession and an integral partner in shaping education policy and legislation such as the state’s Race to the Top application, the Achievement Gap Bill of 2010, new teacher-evaluation frameworks, the implementation of new curriculum standards and accountability systems. I also helped to create and launch the Massachusetts Education Partnership, a labor-management support organization focused on improving student achievement.

I have served on numerous local, state and national committees. I am an appointed member of the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education and the Education Commission of the States. I was a participant in Governor Patrick’s Readiness Project and served on Governor Baker’s Education Transition Committee. I am a past member of the Massachusetts Group Insurance Commission and the Board of Blue Cross Blue Shield – Massachusetts. I am an Aspen Teacher Fellow and graduate of the Broad Academy.

I attended Somerville and Cambridge public elementary schools and graduated from Matignon High School before attending Boston University's College of Liberal Arts where I earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science and international relations. I hold a master’s degree in secondary education from the University of Massachusetts in Boston and a Juris Doctorate from Suffolk University Law School.

Top Priorities

Promoting civil and inclusive dialogue
Our political climate is polarized. As a councillor, I will promote a civil dialogue and work collaboratively with council members, residents, and city staff to develop effective solutions to the challenges we face.

Hiring a City Manager through a transparent process
One of the most important decisions the next city council will make is hiring a new city manager. I believe we must hire a city manager who will maintain our public services and strong financial standing while minimizing growth in residential taxes. A new manager must also engage our residents, businesses, the council, and city staff to develop a vision for a more equitable future that we can all work towards.

Supporting Climate Resilience through Regional Collaboration on Housing and Transportation
Cambridge and the rest of Greater Boston must address climate change through our housing and transportation policies. I believe that Cambridge should work to develop more housing stock for residents of all income levels. I will support transit-oriented development to increase density near centers of public transportation and scaling development to reflect the surrounding neighborhood. We must provide better transportation infrastructure for cyclists and incentivize alternative modes of transportation to reduce carbon emissions. However, these issues aren’t unique to Cambridge and are impacted by local, regional, and state forces. We must engage other cities and towns in the region, our state legislative delegation, and organizations like the Massachusetts Area Planning Council to develop regional solutions to our housing and transportation infrastructure challenges.

Maintaining livable neighborhoods
Cambridge’s assets are its neighborhoods, small businesses, and strong sense of community. I will advocate for policies and infrastructure investments that maintain vibrant and livable neighborhoods, improve our quality of life, and create sustainable economic growth.

Expanding early childhood education and care
Cambridge provides a wealth of services to our children and families, but I believe there is room for improvement in the area of early childhood education. The cost of sending one child to preschool coupled with rising housing costs is making our city unaffordable for many families. I believe we should allocate some of the American Rescue Plan’s relief money to expand access to pre-K education. We should prioritize this issue and treat it with the urgency it deserves.

Restoring our local economy and supporting equitable growth
I will work with our business community, especially the small retail and hospitality sector, to support their return to full operation and growth. This is essential to the character and quality of life of our city. It is also essential to maintaining our strong municipal finances that provide residents with the array of public services that we have come to expect from Cambridge. As property values increase, maintaining residential tax rates is important for individuals and families whose incomes are not rising at the same rate.

Ensuring Public Safety and Reform
I will partner with the community to address their concerns regarding policing practices and reforms to protect our civil rights. I believe Cambridge has been leading the way on this front. We must, however, continue to provide our police officers, firefighters, and other first responders with the funding and resources necessary to maintain the high quality of public safety services.

Creating pathways to prosperity and reducing income inequality
Our city has many educational and employment opportunities, yet large numbers of our residents do not have access to them. We need to create pathways to prosperity for all Cambridge residents by supporting greater coordination among our city departments, nonprofits, higher education institutions, unions, and businesses to give our residents access to the opportunities of the 21st century economy.

Supporting public schools and out of school programs
I have advocated for students, parents, and teachers my entire career. My own children have attended Cambridge Public Schools. As a teacher and president of the Cambridge Teachers Association, I fought for improvements to our schools and support for our educators. As the local president, I developed a strong and collaborative relationship with the school administration. Together we created the Tobin Montessori School, Cambridge High School Extension Program, block scheduling at CRLS, and extended learning time programs at the Fletcher Maynard and King schools. I believe that all students deserve a high-quality education and access to a robust set of internships, enrichment activities, and wrap around support. I will be a strong advocate for public education and the wrap around services that help our students succeed.

Increasing programs for our seniors
Cambridge provides many services to our seniors. I will work to maintain and expand our programming to improve the quality of life for our seniors throughout the city and provide resources and supports for them to be able to age in place.

Implementing the Digital Equity Plan and investigating a Municipal Broadband Plan
Internet access, device ownership, and digital skills are essential for our residents to learn, connect, and work in the 21st century economy. The inequities in access to these tools before the pandemic were made even more apparent because of the pandemic. I will work to implement the recommendations of the recent Digital Equity Study to provide our residents and businesses with more affordable access to broadband and digital resources and tools, including examining the possibility of municipal broadband.

Energy, Waste Reduction, Recycling, the Environment, Climate-related issues and planning, Resiliency
Cambridge has been a leader in making local changes to combat a global crisis. Moving forward we need to continue our efforts to support local initiatives to reduce our carbon footprint. We need to assure that our waste management programs, transportation plans and building design requirements promote energy efficiency and environmentally sound practices while balancing with issues of affordability and capital resources. Several community concerns focus on new building construction, affordability, resiliency and energy efficiency. We need clear and predictable building design guidelines that are reasonable and balance impact with additional cost, especially when it’s an affordable housing development.

Traffic, Parking, Transportation, Cycling and Pedestrian Safety
Unfortunately, the issue of bicycle lanes has become very contentious and polarizing. I certainly want cyclists to be safe, but we need a comprehensive approach that keeps everyone safe. The most recent bike lane proposals and implementation are being quickly implemented and not take all parties concerns into consideration. They need a thorough review, and all impacted residents need to be engaged in the discussion.

I believe the citywide plan for future road and sidewalk improvements need to be reviewed by the city staff and a broader constituency of residents and business owners to make sure that all perspectives are included in the future implementation of any significant changes to traffic patterns, bike lanes, parking, and/or sidewalks.

We need to continue to add safe bike lanes across the city but we need to do so in a way that engages and meets the needs of a broader constituency. Engagement with a variety of residents and local businesses should be seen as an educational opportunity for all involved and increase in communication effort. Concerns from residents and businesses need to be heard and addressed. I question the effectiveness of having multiple separate advisory groups for each transportation mode and the size of the groups. My concern is that policy ideas are being discussed and implemented without the necessary input from all constituent groups. I’d like the council to assess how the process has worked to date and if there are ways to improve it. We are not building a transportation system for just one type of user. Working together we can develop plans that work for everyone.

I believe that in sharing the roads we need to have a common set of understandings about the rules of the road and how we each use the roads and sidewalks. First, enforce the current laws and regulations. I would ask cyclist groups to work with the city in peer policing - essentially asking cyclists to help reinforce the message with fellow cyclists to follow the rules of the road, drive defensively and avoid aggressive behavior towards motorists and pedestrians. I would ask the same to motorists and pedestrians. I would request that the Cambridge Police focus more on traffic enforcement throughout the city but especially in key high traffic areas and where there have been accidents involving motorists and cyclists to make sure that everyone - cyclists, motorists, and pedestrians are following the rules of the road. I would support additional funds for CPD Traffic division for additional officers and resources to enforce the rules of the road for all - cyclists, drivers, and pedestrians.

Building development needs to be considered in the context of transportation issues, including bike and pedestrian safety, and realistic off-street parking needs. Impact studies cannot be just project specific. They need to reflect the planning and building in broader neighborhoods and the cumulative effect it has on the city. I would want this information to better inform infrastructure planning. Many of our transportation and traffic issues are caused by the large number of people coming to or cutting through Cambridge to get somewhere else. We cannot solve them on our own.

Income Inequality, Economic Opportunity
I consider it my responsibility to do everything I can to ensure all our residents, not just some, benefit from the increased investment in Cambridge’s real estate, research, innovation, and tech-based economy. The increase in wealth over the past 30 years has also seen an increase in the income gap.

During my tenure as president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the largest union in New England, I fought against income inequality, advocated for increases in the minimum wage, paid sick leave, investments in public education, universal healthcare, and quality pensions.

A top priority of mine as councillor will be to build Pathways to Prosperity through partnering with higher education, trade unions and the business community (Pathways to Prosperity Network). If we coordinate our efforts, we can provide pathways to prosperity for all our residents. I am eager to work with the more than 15 unions who have endorsed me to enroll more Cambridge young people in their union apprenticeship programs. I also hope to establish vibrant internship programs in our cutting-edge innovation sector to prepare our young people for the high wage, high tech jobs right in our backyard.

Endorsements