Since 2001, Lance Davis and his wife, Amy, have called Somerville their home, raising their two children on Highland Avenue and dedicating as much time as possible to their community, whether as members of the PTA or as supporters of the Somerville Homeless Coalition. Prior to his election to the City Council in 2015, Lance was a founder and leader of Progress Together for Somerville, an independent group of parents, educators, and community members dedicated to strengthening Somerville Public Schools citywide. A community leader who has been involved in a broad range of civic issues over the years, Lance also enjoys coaching youth hockey in his spare time.
Lance has been politically involved in the community for years, supporting progressive local candidates who work to protect the character of our diverse neighborhoods and advocate for the most vulnerable members of our community. He was a lead volunteer for Pat Jehlen’s first race for state senate and volunteered for, among others, Carl Sciortino, Denise Provost, and Rebekah Gewirtz.
The son of public school educators and a product of public education himself, Lance holds degrees from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University and Boston College Law School. Throughout his legal career, Lance has been committed to the public interest, representing pro bono clients in environmental causes early in his career and serving as a voter protection attorney for democratic presidential campaigns of John Kerry, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden.
As a City Councilor, Lance led efforts to fight the affordability crisis by successfully achieving zoning changes, fighting for creation of the Office of Housing Stability, and leveraging his legislative skills to pass ordinance changes such as the Housing Stability Notification Act, Condo Conversion Ordinance, and Short-Term Rentals Ordinance. He fought for civil rights and civil liberties, passing the strongest Welcoming Community Ordinance in the Commonwealth, facial-recognition ban, and Surveillance Technology Ordinance.
Lance understands the need to invest in our public spaces and resources. He successfully lobbied to make sure the city went through with the renovation and expansion of the West Branch Library, a new schoolyard for the Benjamin Brown School, re-seeding and upkeep of Seven Hills Park, planting dozens of new street trees across Ward Six and, most recently, new crosswalks and sidewalks in Davis Square, which will soon be followed by new pavement and new state-of-the-art traffic light signaling gear to make the Square more accessible and safer for all users.
Looking ahead, Lance is working on additional zoning changes to increase the development of both market rate and designated affordable housing and to help address the threats posed by climate change He also lobbied the administration to initiate a community process to plan and design the pedestrianization of Elm Street and to finalize the planning process that will help retain and regain the vibrancy that makes Davis Square the community we all love so much.