Joseph Anthony Curtatone (born June 28, 1966) is an American politician from

Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81,045 people. With an area o ...

who formerly served as the city's mayor from 2004 until 2022.

Early life and education

Curtatone, born and raised in

and graduated from Somerville High School in 1984. He later earned his

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

from Boston College in 1990, his J.D. from the

New England School of Law New England Law , Boston (formerly New England School of Law) is a private law school in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded as Portia School of Law in 1908 and is located in downtown Boston near the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Fina ...

in 1994, and his MC/MPA from

Harvard Kennedy School The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

in 2011.

Career

After serving as an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members t ...

for the city of Somerville for eight years, Curtatone was elected mayor in 2003. At 38, he was the second youngest mayor in Somerville history. He is serving his ninth, and final, term as mayor. In 2006, Somerville was recognized by ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

Magazine'' as the Best Run City in the Commonwealth. On March 1, 2021, he announced that he would not seek another term as mayor of Somerville.Curtatone, Somerville's longest-serving mayor, says he will not seek reelection. Boston Globe. March 1, 2021. Accessed March 2, 2021.
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Sanctuary city

In January 2017, Curtatone reaffirmed Somerville's sanctuary city policy saying "will not waver" in the support for documented and undocumented immigrants. The city will not cooperate with President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

's executive order reducing grant funding to sanctuary cities and changing deportation standards.

References

External links

City of Somerville profile
1966 births Living people Boston College alumni Harvard Kennedy School alumni Massachusetts city council members Massachusetts Democrats Mayors of Somerville, Massachusetts New England Law Boston alumni {{Massachusetts-mayor-stub