AJQ co-founder to run for office
About a year ago, A Just Quincy began to take shape. It grew out of the efforts of many residents who stood up against the mayor and city council raises—people who cared deeply and acted boldly. Among them were Maggie McKee and Joe Murphy, who helped coordinate early efforts and create a shared identity for what became A Just Quincy.
As many of you learned last week, Maggie McKee, one of AJQ’s co-founders, has announced her candidacy for Ward 5 City Council.
As part of stepping into the race, Maggie has resigned from all leadership roles in community organizations she was involved with, including the executive committee of AJQ, and the boards of Quincy Tree Alliance and Quincy Votes. While we’re proud of her decision to run, her presence will be deeply missed in these spaces.
AJQ was founded with a dual mission: to provide clear information and analysis to help Quincy residents engage in local democracy—and to support candidates and leaders who promote government by and for the people. With a smaller core team moving forward, we’ve decided to narrow our focus. AJQ will not be providing direct or significant support to candidates. Instead, we’ll concentrate fully on what we do best: helping residents stay informed and connected to their local government.
We won’t be raising or spending money, and we won’t provide in-kind or financial support to any campaign. However, all candidates are welcome to complete our questionnaire, and those who do may share announcements for inclusion in our newsletter.
If you have any questions, please reach out to us at info@ajustquincy.com.
Thank you for being part of this work.
New Video on the budget hearing
On Monday, May 5th, the mayor presented an overview of the proposed city budget to the City Council. A public hearing was held on May 12th, giving residents an opportunity to share their concerns. That same evening, and continuing into May 13th, the City Council voted to approve individual departmental budgets.
Despite residents nearly begging for responsible budgeting, the council did not reduce the proposed budget by even a single dollar. Throughout the hearing, residents expressed serious concerns—not only about the size of the budget and the city’s pension obligations, but also about what many saw as the council’s failure to represent the will of their constituents. This is described in the above video (YouTube link.)
That’s all for this week.