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As he vies to become the next mayor of Boston, City Hall employee Kerry Augustin recognizes he faces an uphill battle. But it’s one that he is willing to fight.

“Boston is in need of new leadership — of new direction,” Augustin said.

Augustin, a receptionist at Boston’s Age Strong Commission, declared his candidacy for mayor of Boston earlier this month. He said he “always” planned on running for office.

“I’ve always loved politics, ever since eighth grade civics class, so I always knew that one day I’d go for an office,” he said. “Mayor would be a good place to start.”

He now faces three other candidates — incumbent mayor Michelle Wu ’07, philanthropist Josh Kraft, and organizer Domingos DaRosa — in the race for Boston mayor. While Augustin said he does not have the same experience and influence as his competitors, he is still determined to run.

“I may not have the currency like Wu does, or the influence or the money like Josh Kraft does, or even the experience,” Augustin said. “None of those things really matter, because at the end of the day, the people will decide based off of their beliefs and values.”

While he appreciates Wu’s progressive politics, Augustin said the current administration has not done enough to increase affordable housing and improve public transportation.

“We’re in a housing crisis, and I feel as though we've been in one for a long time,” Augustin said. “I don't know about you, but a crisis should be dealt with more urgently than how we’ve been progressing.”

“We’re just putting band-aids on situations,” he said.

The first three years of Wu’s administration have seen more affordable housing developments in any three-year period in over two decades. While more than 5,000 income-restricted units were constructed from 2022 to 2024, Augustin said this is not enough.

“I don’t want to assume I have all the answers, but I know for a fact that we can’t keep doing these small things and hoping that the outcome is different,” he said. “That’s the definition of insanity, and it’s literally driving people out of Boston.”

Augustin committed to pushing for more family housing and rent control to mitigate the problem, adding that “wages haven’t kept up” with rising rent costs.

“People just can’t afford even these affordable units,” he said. “The studies have shown to live comfortably in a metropolitan city like this, you need to be on the verge of 90 to 100K. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think average, everyday people are making that.”

Augustin also pointed to the frequently-criticized MBTA, noting the ongoing construction and frequent delays will “throw a wrench in regular day people's lives.”

”Seems like we’re throwing a lot of money into something that just doesn’t seem to be getting any better,” he said.

He attributes the worsening traffic in part to the Wu administration’s push for the expansion of bike lanes across the city.

“Bike lanes are great, but they’ve also kind of added to the traffic,” he said.

And with Wu repeatedly noting Boston’s ever-improving safety statistics, Augustin laid out his own plan for public safety in the city.

“I want public safety to be something that is not always going to be solved by muscle — maybe it’s going to be resolved through compassion,” he said. “Some sort of mental health training.”

“We need people to understand that there are people out there who are going through some things and maybe having figures like that who hold weapons aren’t always going to be the best,” he said.

Augustin said that across policy areas, the city “can do better” if it commits to listening to its residents.

“I have this old proverb that I had when I was young: God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason,” he said. “You should probably listen a little bit more.”

—Staff writer Megan L. Blonigen can be reached at megan.blonigen@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @MeganBlonigen.