Special to the Transcript
Michael Kinlin has announced his candidacy for the recently vacated Town Council seat for Precinct 2. A resident of the Morton Street neighborhood, Kinlin has been vocal about issues he sees in his neighborhood and beyond, including flood mitigation and environmental resiliency, municipal funding, public health and safety, and the importance of supporting our schools.
“I’m not a politician – I’m a member of this community and through my attendance at public meetings and forums, I’ve seen that the people want constituent-focused government,” Kinlin said. “They want toxicity out of this space, they want leadership that works hard. That’s why I’m running.”
Kinlin highlighted the responsibility of town leadership to be mindful of residents’ wallets, noting that the community stepped up to support the recent school override and debt exclusion for a new fire house. He noted that there is a lengthy list of additional projects the town needs to focus on in the coming years and the importance of not relying solely on tax payers to fund these needs.
“Funding opportunities abound if we’re savvy enough to seek them out. So let’s do it,” Kinlin said.
Kinlin and his wife have lived in Winthrop for twelve years and have a daughter in the Winthrop Public School system. Kinlin spent his school-age years in Methuen, though his roots are in Winthrop. His parents were both graduates of Winthrop High School. Much of his family remained in town and he spent considerable time here over the years prior to becoming a permanent resident. His daughter is now the fifth generation of his family to live here, he says.
On raising his family in Winthrop, Kinlin stated, “’I’m beyond grateful that my daughter gets to have the coolest childhood ever here and I’m going to do everything I can to ensure that she, her peers, and all the Winthrop kids who come after her inherit a town that’s been set up to succeed in the face of many, many challenges.”
Kinlin also believes that doing work to allow our senior residents to “age in place” is also of the utmost importance. “Both of my grandfathers and one of my uncles lived in the Housing Authority apartments on Overlook Drive. It’s likely they wouldn’t have been able to stay in town without those resources,” he says. “We need to do everything in our power to work with state agencies, municipal departments, and our representatives on Beacon Hill to keep living costs down and keep our families close.”
Outside of family life and keeping a pulse on happenings in municipal government, Kinlin has worked in high-end custom menswear in Downtown Boston for the last twelve years. He graduated from Emerson College in 2007 with a BFA in Writing, Literature and Publishing and spent the subsequent three years teaching English and creative writing at the high school level. He says his time in education gave him particularly good insight into the needs and struggles of a school district required to keep pace with rising costs and unfunded mandates. He believes the recent override has put our schools in a far more advantageous position and that the override campaign committee highlighted the passion and drive of Winthrop’s young families.
“I’m really, really excited about the future of this town. We’re hearing new voices and seeing hard-working, talented folks step forward with incredible energy,” Kinlin said, “Good things are coming. I’m ready to move forward and give serious, full-hearted representation to all of my fellow community members in Precinct 2 and beyond.”
The Precinct 2 seat on the council was recently vacated by John Munson who was originally appointed in 2021 and then elected in 2023. The Town Charter outlines the process for appointing a replacement and dictates that the seat will be on the ballot in the next biennial town election, which will be on November 4th. Nomination papers are currently available in the Town Clerk’s office for all open seats for that election.