Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone announced last Tuesday his intention to seek a fifth consecutive term as mayor in the upcoming 2011 election.
Curtatone, a Democrat, first took office in 2003 and subsequently won three successive two-year terms, running unopposed in his latest election.
Curtatone told the Daily on Monday that he has been honored to serve as Somerville's mayor.
"I hope that the people of the city will give me the honor of serving them for another term," he said. "I would love that opportunity to work collectively with this community to make this a great place to live."
No potential mayoral candidates, including Curtatone, have yet taken out papers officially indicating their intention to run for the office, according to Somerville Election Department Chairman Nicholas Salerno. With the election scheduled for November, the campaign would launch in earnest this summer, according to Curtatone.
Economic concerns remain at the forefront of priorities, Curtatone said, as the city aims to protect its core services in the face of "historic" cuts in local aid that will squeeze the municipal budget.
Curtatone has overseen several successful city initiatives, including the implementation of a 311 non-emergency phone service and the childhood obesity-fighting Shape Up Somerville partnership with Tufts' Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.
The National Civic League in 2009 awarded Somerville one of ten All-America City awards.
"I still feel we're gaining momentum as a city," Curtatone said. "But we have a long way to go, and I want to be a part of that as mayor."
Curtatone announced his plan to run again on the Somerville Community Access Television program "Greater Somerville." The show's host, Joe Lynch, told the Daily he learned of the mayor's decision shortly before the show began.
"About fifteen minutes before the show, I asked him point-blank, ‘Would you like to make your announcement for re-election?' and he agreed," Lynch said.
This is the second time Curtatone has announced his decision to run for re-election on "Greater Somerville," Lynch said.
Primary elections will take place in September, with the general election set for Nov. 8., Salerno said. He said the Board of Aldermen would set the calendar in the coming months.
Former City of Somerville spokesperson Tom Champion said that for mayors, aldermen and other politicians operating on two-year terms, the job of campaigning is never quite finished.
"The reality for every candidate is that they have to continue to raise money and prepare for campaigns pretty much year round," Champion said. "You're never wholly out of a campaign cycle."
Curtatone said that the demands of a campaign are one more part of the mayor's job.
"It's retail politics. You've got to meet people and talk to people, hear their concerns and listen to them," he said. "I actually enjoy that very much — it's a lot of work, but it's really nice to get out there and meet people."
Lynch said Curtatone's popularity might have played a role in dissuading would-be challengers thus far.
"There's been rumblings from a couple of the aldermen, but I think they're all wise enough to understand that Mayor Curtatone has a favorability rating in the mid-60s, and that's kind of hard to beat," Lynch said.
Despite the present lack of challengers, Curtatone said his approach to the campaign remains the same.
"If there isn't [a challenger], I'll still be working just as hard. We don't take it for granted," he said.
Lynch praised the mayor's accomplishments, but cautioned that his agenda will likely be curtailed by economic constraints for the foreseeable future.
"I suspect that the coming years are going to be harder for him to sustain that ambitious agenda … in light of the fiscal problems all municipalities are having," Lynch said.
Curtatone's popularity and successes have raised questions about whether the mayor will seek higher political office. Champion said such speculation is a natural byproduct of success.
"Rumors and speculation about whether or not Joe may ultimately run for [another] office have been around since he was first elected and quickly emerged as one of the stars of the mayoral scene across the Commonwealth," Champion said.
For his part, the mayor rejected the idea that his focus lies anywhere but on his current job and affirmed his intention of keeping it.
"I ran for office to do this job. The people of Somerville did not elect me to await the next political opportunity," Curtatone said. "I intend on fulfilling all my commitments here for the long term."
"When I reach that point in time that I feel like its time to pass the torch, to move on … that'll come. But I haven't sat back," the mayor said.
