Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Continuing our conversation with the candidates here on AM Quincy as we lead up to the November 4th general election here in Quincy, there is a race for the Ward 1 City Council seats. Incumbent Dave McCarthy facing a challenge from another Dave, David Jacobs, who's here in studio to tell us all about his story. Dave, great to see you. Meet you. Thanks for coming over.
[00:00:18] Speaker B: Yeah, Joe, it's so nice to be here. As I said earlier, longtime listener, first time caller. Thank you. This is my first time on with you.
[00:00:25] Speaker A: Yeah, very good. So for folks who aren't aware. Who is Dave Jacobs?
[00:00:29] Speaker B: Well, I just want to start off by saying, you know, I'm running to bring, you know, good public service, you know, back to the City Council.
You know, I grew up here in Quincy.
I'm a. I grew up here in Quincy in House Neck. I'm fifth generation in my family to grow up and live in housenack. So we've been there a really long time.
My kids are the sixth. I am a father of two.
My wife, Alice, and I live on Charles street in Housneck, which is just basically right across the street from the Atherton Howe Elementary School.
And we moved there back in 2016. 2017, actually. Maybe it was actually 2018. Sorry. So around 2018.
Got married in 2017.
[00:01:17] Speaker A: Congratulations.
[00:01:19] Speaker B: And, you know, it's funny, when we moved into the house, I remember when that house was built, and it was kind of an interesting thing because the neighbors, my parents, didn't want that house to be built, but that's how those things go. You fight something and then, you know, 25 years later, you own that thing.
It is kind of interesting. But so I lived two doors over from the house that I grew up in.
So that's fun. My brother, my twin brother Dan lives there now. So we're close. His kids are close with our. Yeah, they're all close.
[00:01:52] Speaker A: So deep roots in the Neck.
[00:01:54] Speaker B: It sounds like continuing that tradition. Yeah. Yeah. So we have other, you know, extended family members that also have been living in House Neck for a long, long time.
[00:02:01] Speaker A: Very nice.
[00:02:02] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:02:03] Speaker A: So it's an important part of your life.
[00:02:05] Speaker B: It sounds like it definitely is.
[00:02:06] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:02:06] Speaker A: Is that the reason you're running for Ward 1 City Council?
[00:02:09] Speaker B: You know, there's, you know, again, like I said, I want to bring good public service back to Quincy. I feel like, you know, after attending zoning board meetings over the years and, you know, listening to city council meetings, I just feel like that they're a little out of touch, like, with the people who live not just in Ward one, but in Quincy.
And I think that people who serve in office for a long time can sometimes get complacent. And, you know, it's not geared towards any one person. It's just, you know, when I. Every year I'm a subscriber to the Quincy sun, and I think most people in Quincy should be. It's a great place to get news also. Qatv. But when you look at the. Annually they put out, around the 4th of July, they have the historic Quincy edition they put in. I mean, the pictures of the people, some of them are the same people as when I was a kid. And so I jokingly say that I'm like, this is the same cast of characters. You know, you might see one or two move into a different position, but it's the same cast of characters 20 years later.
[00:03:12] Speaker A: Elected officials, you mean?
[00:03:13] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, it's the same people. Yeah. I mean, just in the. I'm 39 years old. I'm almost 40.
Just in my lifetime, there's only been, you know, four mayors of Quincy, you know, so I feel like that's kind of like not a lot, you know, I feel like. And there hasn't really been a lot of, you know, challenging along the way. And I'm, you know, even city councilors, you know, in Ward 1, you know, when I was a kid, you know, I remember, you know, Peter Colson was. He lived down in Germantown.
He was a city councilor. And then Greg Hanley was city councilor after him. And then Leo Kelly came back. I know he was probably city council when I was a little, little kid back when. Yeah, yeah. And then we had Margaret, and then we have. So it's not. We're not really. We don't really have a lot. It's the same people.
[00:03:57] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:03:57] Speaker A: Is this your first run at elective office?
[00:03:59] Speaker B: I ran for school committee eight years ago, I thought. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, that was back in, like, 2016, maybe. I can't remember, but different time. This is obviously a different race.
That was an interesting race. Came in fifth place out of six. Yeah. So it was interesting, though.
[00:04:21] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:04:22] Speaker A: Took a step back and now you're back trying to run for Ward One.
[00:04:25] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:04:26] Speaker A: Why, Dave?
[00:04:27] Speaker B: Well, I feel like my background.
I feel like my background really is helpful. So I'm a schoolteacher.
[00:04:35] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:04:35] Speaker B: I have been since. Well, for a long time. I went to college, went to Salem State from North Quincy High School, grad class of 2005, and went to Salem State to become a teacher. Graduated during the recession, graduated in 2008. So not a great time to towns.
[00:04:54] Speaker A: Were laying off teachers.
[00:04:54] Speaker B: Yeah, not a great time to go into employment. But while I was going to college, I actually worked for the National Park Service.
[00:05:00] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:05:00] Speaker B: I worked when I was in high school, I volunteered at the Adams Houses.
The woman who ran the park, the day to day operations, Caroline Kaina, sure. Who's retired now, but super friendly, super helpful, you know, helped me to get in to be a volunteer.
They had a. The federal government used to have a student intern program.
So when I went to college, got a job at Saugus Ironworks in Salem Maritime National Historic Sites.
Worked there as a blacksmith, as a wheelwright. Did some at the Saugus Ironworks. Did all kinds of things, you know, ran the water wheels, made nails, you know, made hooks, rings and other things, as I like to say, mowed the lawn, chased geese, all those things.
Cleaned pathways, you know, started fires, tended fires, did tours, ran the visitor center.
So those are all, I feel like things that lend themselves. The national parks are almost like little towns in themselves.
When I worked in Salem in the wintertime, worked in a major visitor center. They have the regional visitor center for the Essex National Heritage Area up there.
Hundreds of thousands of people on a weekend. So again, good customer service right there.
Then I actually went on to. I graduated from Salem State and I actually went on.
Got a. Did the program for the federal law enforcement training center to become a law enforcement ranger for the National Park Service. Yep. So I did that. I worked, went from Salem Maritime to Badlands national park in South Dakota. I did law enforcement would be considered more front country law enforcement. Had a police cruiser, pulled people over for speeding.
We did some backcountry stuff like the park ranger, naturalist would go out into the wilderness area.
It's dangerous out there.
We were doing, they were doing, I should say a wilderness enclosure where they were trying to get a hand on the natural grasses. So we went out one year and fenced off a football size field of grass. But they had to fly everything in with a helicopter. We backpacked out there and we had put some bison in there. We're trying to just kind of see what was going on. And then the next year we went out and took that stuff down and I went as a law enforcement officer for the protection of the workers who were out there in the wilderness.
Also worked on a fire crew for the National Park Service. A lot of wildfires out there in the grasslands. Did a lot of controlled burns, but also had to do maintenance stuff. You know, worked on a pothole crew, kind of have an understanding of that.
You know, public safety services are very far away out there. Badlands national park is about the size of Rhode island, so it's almost like a state in itself, you know, so we'd be the only people on call.
I remember I answered a call one night from the South Dakota highway patrol on I90.
Lost motorcyclist went out, found that person.
But, you know, they were like, oh, the state trooper is at mile marker like 291.
Where's this person? 63. You know, how many state troopers you got working tonight statewide? Three.
[00:08:25] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:08:26] Speaker B: You know what I mean? So it is big area to cover. Yeah, big area to cover. So, you know, but I have a lot of experience in doing, you know, different types of work that municipalities like that's their bread and butter is doing. DPW is doing, law enforcement is doing, you know, fire protection, things like that. Yeah.
[00:08:43] Speaker A: It seems like, though, that that background would have led you down that path continually to maybe law enforcement or National Park Service or a park ranger. But how did you transition to teaching?
[00:08:53] Speaker B: Yes. So what happened is. Well, I went to school to be a teacher. That's what actually I was doing.
So I went from the Badlands to Nebraska, and then I worked at Dry Tortugas in Florida.
And then that was around 2000, 2013, 2014.
Came home, you know, went to grad school, decided I was gonna go back to graduate school, and I found a job teaching, and that's what I always wanted to do. And so that's what I was doing. And then while I was doing that, I still went back and worked at the Adams Houses for three years.
[00:09:25] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:09:25] Speaker B: Yeah. So came back home, worked for the National Park Service at the Adamses.
[00:09:30] Speaker A: So that's still a passion of yours?
[00:09:32] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, it definitely is. You know, and. And, you know, I mean, I tell people, like, I worked at the Badlands, and while I was at the Badlands, I also worked at Mount Rushmore because it was just 90 miles away. But, you know, my family would come out and visit me and my friends, you know, and my girlfriend at the time said to me, when I came back to Quincy, and she wasn't from here, you know, but when we went to the Adams Houses, you know, she went and toured and she goes, you know what? Of all the places you've worked, this is the most important place that I've ever seen.
[00:10:01] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:10:02] Speaker B: So, I mean, you're just realized the importance. Yeah, well, so she realized they really, you know, because, you know, they would. My family would visit all these Places. And then, you know, they're like, you know, this. This really is like a very important place. And, you know, in the Park Service, we.
We would talk about destination parks. Right. So, like, you know, Mount Rushmore is a destination park. Right? The Badlands Big park. Not really a destination. It's. It's. It's somewhere people go to when they're going to Mount Rushmore.
[00:10:27] Speaker C: Right? Yep.
[00:10:28] Speaker B: We're very lucky Here in Quincy. Adams National Historic park actually is a destination park. Like, people come here just to see that it's not something that they're necessarily doing on their way to someplace else. They might be coming here to see Boston or whatever, but they come out to Quincy because they actually want to see the resource that we have. It's not a passive thing. It's very active.
[00:10:52] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:10:52] Speaker A: They're interested in history, obviously, and have a passion. Passion for it. I'm sure the HBO miniseries didn't hurt either, but tell me about your teaching career, Dave.
[00:11:01] Speaker B: Yeah, so I started off teaching actually in Quincy during the recession.
[00:11:07] Speaker C: Public schools.
[00:11:08] Speaker B: Yep. Quincy Public Schools. Yeah. I was a sub at Quincy High for many years. Subbed in all the schools in Quincy. But, you know, again, this is a recession. There were no jobs. You know, travel for the Park Service. But then I came back and got a job after graduate school, got a job in Boston working with students with severe disabilities. Did that for seven years. Really? Yep. And then I've been in Holbrook the last couple of years.
[00:11:34] Speaker A: Public schools.
[00:11:34] Speaker B: Holbrooke Public Schools. And I teach seventh grade science.
[00:11:37] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:11:38] Speaker B: So to all of the kids, I'm the only seventh grade science.
[00:11:40] Speaker C: Really?
[00:11:41] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:41] Speaker C: Oh, okay.
[00:11:42] Speaker A: So how does all of this experience and background that you've had translate into wanting to be an elected Official for Ward 1?
[00:11:50] Speaker B: Yeah. So when you watch city council meetings, sometimes I feel like the elected officials, they might not actually have the experience of doing these things on the ground. They're asking questions about it, and they're asking some good questions, but they don't actually have the experience of doing that.
You might be relying on just what they hear from somebody else, but having actually done most of these things and been the person on the ground, I feel like that I have more an insight on what's going on.
[00:12:22] Speaker A: Okay, so what's going on in Ward 1? What's important? What are the issues that. What are people concerned about? What do you want to change or make better?
[00:12:29] Speaker B: Yeah. So, you know, I wanted. Like I said, I want to bring good public service back to the residents of Ward 1. Not just Ward 1, but all of Quincy. And I think that that starts with listening.
You know, when you attend zoning board meetings, if you attend not so much city council meetings, but Zoe Bermuda is like, they're not listening, you know, or the people who are in the room don't feel listened to.
A lot of times they're spoken to, talked down to by the members of the board. Right.
I have been also spoken down to by the members of the board.
It's not a good feeling, you know, people. It's a forum, you know, for residents, you know, to go and attend a meeting. I'll never forget how Many Scoops, which was an ice cream shop, like, right across from the fire station.
I got an invitation to come and speak because I live within 150ft of there.
And I got up to speak and, you know, you get the invitation at the end. Someone pulled me aside, like, who are you to, you know, say this, that, or the other thing? And I was actually speaking in favor. They wanted to build a new building there, and I was actually speaking in favor of the project. But it's like, I got an invitation to come and speak here. You know what I mean? So it kind of, you know, kind of gives you not a great feeling.
[00:13:45] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:13:46] Speaker B: But, you know, there's a lot of development going on.
I'm not opposed to development, but, you know, I think it needs to be your smart development. It needs to be within reason. One of the developments going on right now is the.
The China Star or the Imperial Terrorists.
You know, that was kind of a heated issue.
The residents in Marymount really felt like they weren't being represented. I remember I went to a meeting, and I don't remember the gentleman who spoke, but he basically got up and said, are you people here representing us or you're representing the developers? You know, that was on the city, you know, and that's kind of. That's like the feeling that people have.
[00:14:31] Speaker A: Is that what you're hearing as you're outdoor knocking?
[00:14:33] Speaker B: Yes.
There's a lot of interesting things. There's things that you don't necessarily expect. I mean, I knocked a door a couple weeks ago as a younger couple, Price, actually maybe a little younger than me.
And their biggest concern was, when are we getting a hospital?
And I don't want to say that surprised me because they were younger. I was a little surprised that that was their number one issue, but I don't know what their health concerns are. But, you know, and, you know, running for Ward 1 counselor. Just running for counselor. I have no idea how to, how you would even start that. But, you know, in just engaging them in conversation, I said that to them. I was like, that is a really big issue. And more than, you know, I think any counselor could really just tackle. And, you know, just through talking to them, you know, they understand that we don't have a hospital now, but they want to see a plan for how we could have one. Okay, what is, you know, I don't want to say it's a contingency plan, but, you know, like, you know, Quincy Hospital failed for a lot of different reasons. Right. It's an old building and my great grandmother worked there. You know what I mean? My grandmother worked there, my mother worked there.
So, you know, they talk about the infrastructure, how it was not, you know, done correctly. The new building, all the infrastructure was tied to the old building, and it wasn't. Yeah, but, you know, it was also not really near the highway. You know, it was kind of a. I remember working at the Adams House, you'd be sitting on the front porch giving a tour, ambulances going by, like, you know, it was kind of. It was a little distracting. But, you know, in Ward 4, you know, they're talking about, you know, I think some rezoning for like the crown colony area. And I don't know exactly. You know, what if they want to do like some residence type stuff?
[00:16:15] Speaker A: It's like a transit oriented development.
[00:16:17] Speaker B: Yeah. And, you know, that sounds good, but you know, what if we ever want to have another hospital, you know, we might want to think, you know, could that be a good area? Should we maybe set aside some space there? Because it's right near the highway.
You could feed. You know, there's basically an off ramp right there. You know, it would that, you know, in the future, I might not attract somebody now, but in the future, might that attract somebody? And if we build something there now, are we locking ourselves out for utilizing some of that space?
[00:16:45] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:16:48] Speaker A: So ward councilor, people not being heard. How would you hear people?
[00:16:52] Speaker B: Dave as Ward 1 Council so I'm going to host office hours. I don't. I think I hear people say that, and I don't know what that looks like.
They'll say, maybe that's like a Dunkin Donuts. You know what I do, I live at the end of a dead end street and I have a rocking chair and I sit out in front of my house and my neighbors walk by and I talk to them. And I have a picnic table out on my front lawn. And my neighbors must think, like, why does this guy have a picnic table out on his front lawn. It's because we live on a dead end street and my kids want to ride their bike on the street. But you know, but you know, our neighbors that live next door to us, our kids are the same age and you know, will, you know, come and sit at my picnic table with us. You know, this is my address. Like you know, I'm going to have a Google calendar where I'm gonna have hours that people can just sign up.
Just like a sign up genius thing I'm saying every Thursday night I'm Gonna set aside 3 hours, 30 minute increments or whatever and you can just sign up. And you want me to come to your house? I will sit in your living room. I've done that already. I've sat in backyards in Marymount and Adam Shore.
If you wanna come to my house and sit at my picnic table with me, you know, we can certainly do that. I think that that's what that looks like.
[00:18:12] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:18:12] Speaker B: I don't think that that's happening right, you know, right now, as it should.
[00:18:16] Speaker A: Did you want to comment on some of the issues of the city right now?
[00:18:20] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:18:21] Speaker A: The raises. Right.
Do you want to talk about the process that.
[00:18:25] Speaker B: So I want to start off by saying I 100% believe that the mayor and the city councilors deserve a raise.
[00:18:33] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:18:34] Speaker B: That is number one.
I, I don't think there's anyone out there that actually thinks the opposite of that.
I do think the raises are a little high, especially for mayor. I think that that's way too high. A 79% raise, that's a lot. You know, I don't get 79%. If I go back over the last 10. I didn't get a 79% pay increase over the last 10 years.
I do agree with the fair raises group.
I know that they're putting out a petition and I have collected signatures for that. My porch is a spot where you. 10 Charles street you can certainly sign the petition there.
But like I said, I do believe that both deserve a pay raise.
Like I said, 79% is too high.
The ward councilors and the councilors at large.
It's obviously not as high as, as the mayor. While I was collecting the signatures back last year, I did find that more people were upset about the mayor raise and they were like, eh, the city council, that didn't seem to bother. I think it has to do more with the number than the percent, you know what I mean? Than the percentage.
[00:19:44] Speaker A: Do you have a number you think is appropriate?
[00:19:46] Speaker B: Well, I do, you know, myself personally, I think that the elected official should get what the city union employees get.
[00:19:55] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:19:56] Speaker B: If it's good enough for their workers, it's good enough for them.
[00:19:58] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:19:58] Speaker B: Yeah.
I think anything more than that is. Is unfair.
We know the world is not fair. But, you know, if that's what we're giving, if we're giving a DPW worker 3, 3 and 3, and we're giving the teachers 3, 3 and 3, we're giving the police 3, 3 and 3.
Why does, you know, the mayor and the city council get, you know, 79%?
[00:20:20] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:20:20] Speaker B: You know, 50, 48%, whatever it is. So I know that they. I know the group right now has. I think it's 183,000. That's like two to, you know, that would be if it was like 2% over that last 10 years.
Myself. I mean, I'll go with that because that's what they. That's what they're coming up with. But myself personally, yeah, I feel like they shouldn't get more than what they're giving the workers.
[00:20:41] Speaker C: Okay, fair enough.
[00:20:42] Speaker A: Another issue, right, in Ward 1, actually, the new public safety complex is the statue issue.
[00:20:48] Speaker B: Well, so first off, public safety complex, you know, 100% we needed that building.
I think sometimes there's this like, thing out there where it's like, if you're opposed to one thing, like, you know, back then it was about the copper roof and, you know, people had some concerns about that. And it's like, you're against this building. You know, my great grandfather worked in that building, you know, back in the 20s, the 30s, the 40s.
[00:21:11] Speaker A: Oh, the original building.
[00:21:12] Speaker B: Yeah. My twin brother works in that building right now. He's a 911 operator.
So just the idea that somebody in your family was working in that building in the 30s and someone in your family is working in that building in the 20s, that tells you something's probably not right.
But I do think there were some things we could have done to save money on that project. I think the way you build things says a lot about what your values are.
I value a good looking building too, but I value a building that's 100% environmentally friendly. And I know there were some more things we could have done had we not put on a copper and slate roof. There were some more environmentally friendly things we could have done. Okay, but not opposed to the project. I think the building looks great.
You know, really looking forward to it coming online, especially since, like, sometimes my brother will say, hey, can you Drop me off my lunch like 9 o' clock at night and you pull it into the parking lot and it's about this big. You know, it's. It's tough in there right now. And I have to say that the city workers who work in that building have, you know, they've put up with a lot. Yes. As all the workers in any of the buildings, the schools that have been redone over the years, they, you know, it is. It can add time onto your day trying to get a spot to park. But I am opposed, you know, to the statues.
[00:22:30] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:22:32] Speaker B: Primarily because of the way it was handled.
You know, in Quincy, there's a lot of beautiful things that happen, but it happens behind a cloak.
I remember when the. Well, you know, like we didn't see those statues. We didn't know about that.
I have a feeling if we had known about that, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now. I don't think that that ever would have happened. I do think something should go there, but I think it needs more community input, especially on a building that we just spent, you know, $340 million on and we're spending a million dollars on statues. I just don't understand how something like that could happen without any type of community input. I know that the mayor and the director of operations think that that's okay, but I think that the citizens of Quincy would disagree with that.
[00:23:23] Speaker C: Okay. All right.
[00:23:23] Speaker A: Any other ward specific issues you want to talk about?
I know getting in and out of House Neck is always a concern, for sure.
[00:23:32] Speaker B: I will say this.
Getting in and out of Hausneck, I get in and out of Housneck, I leave at 6am so I'm getting out of there pretty early. I do hear about it or see it online afterwards, especially with all the construction going on.
I will say this about C Street. It's not in great shape right now, but we all know that this is how it goes. We've been through this enough. I will say this much to the credit of the current administration and obviously the contractors who are actually the ones doing the work on the ground.
C Street, in the deplorable condition that it currently is, is far better than Newport Ave. Or any of those other streets were during their lowest point. So kudos to the contractors. Could it be better? Always could be, but it certainly could have been a lot worse.
[00:24:20] Speaker C: Okay. All right.
[00:24:21] Speaker A: Flooding is another main concern on the Neck, right?
[00:24:23] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:24:24] Speaker A: Has that been addressed adequately, do you think?
[00:24:27] Speaker B: You know, it's tough.
Flooding is a tough situation. So, you know, A couple years ago, they started seawall repair in Marymount and they came down to Adam Shore and I think it stopped, like, just by the by, like the House Neck sign. That's where it stops. Yeah, that was phase one.
So now we're in phase two.
Only thing I know about phase two is what I've seen on Facebook, other social media sites in that phase two is beginning.
And that's what most of the people in House Neck know.
[00:25:02] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:25:03] Speaker B: That phase two is beginning.
[00:25:04] Speaker A: So it sounds like communication is an issue.
[00:25:06] Speaker B: It is low. I mean, I can tell you. I mean, as someone who's involved in this race, involved in the community, I can. That's all I can tell you is that it's starting.
Also in regards to C Street, I see the work going on. It's looking, you know, like it's getting done. But I also couldn't tell you when they're actually planned to pave it.
[00:25:24] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:25:25] Speaker B: So we don't actually know that. I mean, I would imagine it's probably not this year because usually they like to have those trenches settle for a winter. So if I had to guess, I would say it's probably next spring. But the fact that we don't know that or have, like, this is what the timetable is. Maybe in six months, they're like, actually, you know what, we're gonna pave it in the fall. You know, there's no time table that's at least publicly available.
[00:25:47] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:25:48] Speaker B: You know, to us. So that is also, you know, a problem.
[00:25:50] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:25:51] Speaker A: When it comes to money, Dave's finances, spending. How would you kind of define yourself?
[00:25:56] Speaker B: So I'm very financially conservative.
[00:25:59] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:26:01] Speaker B: You know, I am also. I consider myself very lucky.
You know, my wife and I own our house. No mortgage, so just the taxes, you know, and my wife actually said to me a couple like this maybe, well, whenever the last tax bill was, you know, and she didn't grow up in Quincy, she grew up in Boston. And she actually said to me, she pays the taxes, I pay for the food and utility bills. You know, she goes, wow, the taxes are really high here, you know, and we're both teachers, you know, and I'm not saying we make a lot of money, but we do well and we don't have a mortgage. I drive a 15 year old car, she drives a 14 year old car. We send our kids. Well, our kids went to private, like preschool, you know, in daycare that cost us about $33,000 a year.
I know, it seems like one of those things. I remember I would hear Parents say, like, I'm like, there's no way it costs that much. It costs that much.
And I look around at, like, my neighbors, the kids I grew up with, and the people that live just right next door to me. And I'm like, you know, people live right next door me, they're both teachers. I grew up with the girl who lives next to me. She's a couple years younger than me. And so we're living, like, kind of parallel lives. You know, it's very similar. And I'm like, how are they doing it?
You know, I'm sure they have. I mean, I'm sure they do have a mortgage, right? But it's like, you know, my wife and I are, like, just barely getting by, and I'm like, how are these people actually paying a mortgage? Like, how are they actually doing? They have three kids. You know, they're putting in daycare. I just. I don't know how people do it, but I like to think that, again, fiscal conservative. When we paid off our house, we could have sold it and bought a bigger house. But I like to live within my means. We're putting solar panels on. We could have financed those. My wife and I saved for a couple of years. We just put a new roof on the house the other day. Solar panels are coming on August 12th. We paid for all that in cash or up front.
That's how we operate. So, again, I would say fiscally concerned.
[00:28:03] Speaker A: Okay, so as a counselor, that's how you would address the budget.
[00:28:06] Speaker B: I think there's always ways to save money. I mean, granted, we want things to look good, and they should look good, but we do need to look at ways.
Is this something that we need to finance, or is this something that we can do in different phases and use the money as it comes in, or should we set an account up for this? And this is something that we're looking at doing.
We want this in the ground in 10 years, and we can put money aside in this account for 10 years, and I think we need to start doing more of that.
[00:28:35] Speaker A: Okay, going forward for the campaign, what's the game plan?
[00:28:39] Speaker B: The game plan is we're knocking those doors.
I've done the whole city. So this is just Ward 1. Ward 1 is, land wise, pretty big.
Ward 1 is one of the wards that's getting bigger as the census goes on.
[00:28:54] Speaker A: We're sitting in Ward One right now, right?
[00:28:56] Speaker B: Not always. Well, I think this actually was, at least in my lifetime. But, you know, as the other wards get more dense, densely populated, they're getting smaller. Like, Ward 2 is getting smaller, but Ward 1 is taking up portions of Ward 2 in the last two censuses. So it's getting bigger. And that has to do with, like, you know, in Ward 1, it's mostly single family residences. You know, in my.
Although my. When my parents were kids, there were like, five, six, seven kids. Now there's like, two, you know, so you got less people living in those houses.
So that makes the ward, like, actually bigger. So. And it's interesting, like, when I do a knock in the Quincy Point part of Quincy Center, Quincy Point part of Ward 1, and a lot of the people don't even understand, like, why they're like, oh, I live in Quincy Point, like, why are. You know, you're from housing. And, you know, I just try to tell them, like, you know, you are getting more densely populated and they know it. And you tell them that, they're like, yeah. Like, there's this one guy I spoke to on Mill street, and he was telling me he lived in the house for, like, 20 years, and he's got to be the only single family house left on the street. He's probably two or three houses in from Washington. And, you know, all around him is townhouses. And I'm not saying that they're not great. You know, he wasn't even saying they weren't there. He's just saying is like, you know, he's like, yeah, it's obviously getting more densely populated here. Where I live, that doesn't happen, you know, so at least not yet.
[00:30:18] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:30:19] Speaker A: Campaign website for you, Dave.
[00:30:20] Speaker B: Yeah, it's jacobsforquinsey foi dot com. Yeah, f o I JacobsForQuinsy. And that's Jacobs with an S. Okay.
[00:30:28] Speaker A: Fourquinsey dot com.
Okay, very good. Anything else you'd like to share with folks?
[00:30:33] Speaker B: No, that's it. Thank you so much for having me.
[00:30:35] Speaker A: Pleasure. Thanks for coming by. We'll see you on the ballot on November 4th.
[00:30:38] Speaker C: Right?
[00:30:38] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:30:39] Speaker A: All right, thanks for watching us here at AM Quincy. I'm Joe Catalano, and we'll see you next time.
