Councilor-At-Large Jake Wilson is launching a campaign for mayor in the 2025 Somerville municipal election. A two-term Councilor-At-Large, Wilson is looking to bring accessible, collaborative, and decisive leadership to the job.

With a focus on innovative problem solving and communication, Wilson’s time on the City Council has seen him serve as the chair of the Finance Committee since 2022. As Finance chair, he has overseen and overhauled the annual budget review and introduced a new process for the council to identify its top shared budget priorities. Prior to his election to the City Council, Wilson worked in journalism and communications before moving into community non-profit administration in 2017. 

“I have a proven track record of inclusive, transformative leadership and bringing Somerville organizations forward with revamped communications, operations, and governance,” Wilson said. “As your mayor, I will be engaged with the public and available to my constituents. My door is always open and I’ll hold regular Thursday evening office hours to meet with the public. I’m constantly listening and asking questions from a drive to know everything possible about what’s going on in the organization. We should always be looking to improve. Whether we’re struggling or doing well at a particular thing, we can always do better.”

“With the right leadership, I believe Somerville can be a model municipal government. I want the City of Somerville to be an employer where top talent wants to come work – and keep working. By recruiting and retaining skilled workers and using data-informed approaches to work smarter, faster, and more efficiently, I know we can better deliver programs and services that improve the lives of Somerville residents of all ages, small business owners, and local workers,” commented Wilson.

“It’s critical for people to know what’s happening in their city, and I see a great opportunity to transform how we communicate and engage with the public. The City needs to have two-way communication with constituents in their preferred medium and language,” says Wilson. “I also intend to launch a map-based information portal with up-to-date information on all public and private construction projects, including project details, plans, benefits, any permits, and costs and the anticipated completion date for public projects. We know the public wants this information and we need to make it readily available in one place.”

Wilson’s mayoral campaign will focus on improving operations and communications while pursuing equitable policies that address the housing affordability and stability crises, implement proven effective public health and public safety strategies, invest in our youth, support working families, value our seniors and allow them to age in place, do better on accessibility, and meet our climate goals.

A resident of Somerville for over two decades, Wilson lives in Winter Hill with his wife, Catherine, a biotech medicinal chemist, and their children: Ingrid (age 13) and Margot (age 10), who attend the Healey School.

For more information about Jake Wilson’s campaign for mayor in 2025 or to donate, please visit https://www.jakeforsomerville.org