Steve Iskovitz wants to bring a fresh approach to Cambridge politics—both literally and figuratively.

The Mass. Green Party candidate for a spot on the Cambridge City Council has crafted a platform that mixes anti-establishment political ideals with environmentally friendly agenda proposals such as reducing traffic and using solar heating in new housing developments.

A newcomer to the political scene, the 41-year-old Iskovitz, who has lived in Cambridge since 1985, has never held public office.

But while he admits that his lack of name recognition and a proven record present problems for his campaign, he says his non-political background may actually be the quality which makes him the most appealing to Cambridge voters this Election Day.

“I’m not a career politician,” Iskovitz says. “I’m concerned about the community, and that’s really why I’m running.”

The Agenda

The need for more affordable housing in Cambridge is one of the central issues on Iskovitz’s platform.

He says that the repeal of rent control put into effect by a 1994 statewide referendum has caused rents to triple—and in some neighborhoods quadruple—and has displaced a large number of working-class and poor families.

“The city had no backup plan, and people just got forced out of the city,” Iskovitz says, adding that the City Council did not do enough to offset the upward pressure on rents that followed the abolition of rent control.

Affordable housing is a cause that has long been dear to Iskovitz’s heart. Throughout the late 1980s, Iskovitz worked with a group from the Cambridge Tenants Union, and in 1999, he became a member of the Cambridge Citizens Union for Rent Equity, which tried to bring rent control back to Cambridge through a referendum.

Though that referendum was kept off the ballot due to a technicality, reinstating rent control remains one of Iskovitz’s top priorities, even if changes in the city’s political climate since 1994 may make that a quixotic quest.

Iskovitz says he agrees with those who say that the old system of rent control had several fundamental flaws that would need to be corrected.

“I shy away from using the term ‘reinstating,’ because I think we need a fair system of rent control that doesn’t pit landlords against tenants,” Iskovitz says. “We need rents that are low enough to be affordable to tenants but high enough that landlords can afford to do upkeep.”

Iskovitz also favors reducing traffic in Cambridge, a problem which he says not only pollutes the city but also is reflective of commercial interests that take up valuable space that could be used for more housing.

“Progress means reducing automobile traffic,” Iskovitz says. “In Cambridge, they still seem to think progress means increasing automobile traffic.”