QUINCY – Mayor Thomas P. Koch today announced his candidacy for a 7th term as the City’s Mayor with plans for a campaign kick-off event at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 24 in the Tirrell Room of the Quincy Lodge of Elks on Quarry Street.
“Serving as Mayor is the honor of my life, and I’m still as passionate about the job and our beloved City today as when we launched our first campaign,” Koch said. “We have a great story to tell about Quincy – the progress we’ve made, the challenges we’ve confronted head-on and the future we’ve helped to shape for future generations. I am greatly looking forward to sharing that story with our neighbors across the City over the next several months.”
Under Mayor Koch’s leadership, the City has undergone a renaissance in a number of ways – from new schools and restored parks, to bolstered public safety departments to an unprecedented and efficient effort to restore Quincy’s aging infrastructure.
“Strong schools, safe streets and long-term investments in our public assets are absolutely vital to protecting our City’s future. We’re making great progress together as a community, but we have plenty of work to do,” he said.
The City has also faced down its share of challenges over the last several years, from a global pandemic, to devastating floods and harsh winters. The response to those events, Koch said, has shown “just how truly strong, resilient and unique” Quincy is as a community.
“In many ways, we’ve emerged faster, stronger, and more whole than a lot of communities in the Commonwealth, and that’s a testament to every single person in this City,” he said. “People should have faith that their local government is prepared and willing to handle whatever challenge may arise, and I think we’ve built a level of trust and confidence over the years that speaks to that.”
For the first time in more than a generation, the City’s downtown is once again helping to drive Quincy’s local economy, with ongoing redevelopment producing millions of dollars in new revenue, thousands of jobs, and creating a neighborhood that is once again a vibrant community gathering place as well as an economic engine. Koch said he hopes to continue building on the progress in the downtown, as well foster new growth in Wollaston Center, where a number of reutilization projects are in the works.
“Development in the right places is without question a good thing and absolutely necessary for our future. We’ll continue to pursue that growth – but always, as we have from the beginning, protecting our single-family neighborhoods,” Koch said.
Revenue from the City’s growth coupled with historically strong financial management have made the major investments in schools, roads, historic preservation, and a wide range of infrastructure possible without negative consequences to the City’s fiscal health. Single-family home tax bills in Quincy remain below the state average – even though home valuations are now higher than the state average. And unlike many neighboring communities, the City doesn’t need to raise taxes beyond limits of Proposition 2.5 to fund major projects or ongoing City operations. In fact, the City is more than $40 million below the property tax limit as set by the state.
Koch said he’s been meeting regularly with the campaign volunteer team, and is planning coffee hours, door-knocking and other events around the City in the coming months.
“We’ve always been very fortunate to have such a tremendous organization, and it’s a lot of fun to get geared up and going again,” Koch said.