By Derek Hawkins

Matt Geary, like any of his peers at UMass-Boston, misses the occasional class. His professors, however, have learned to be forgiving: This fall, Geary is running for one of four at-large seats on Boston’s City Council.

At 22 years old, Geary is the youngest person in the nine-candidate field, as well as the only student. The next youngest candidate, Marty Hogan, is 28.

For Geary, the age difference is an asset.

“Being young gives me a very unique perspective and helps me,” he said. “Young people, especially students, are criticized for not being involved, so when people see a 22-year-old, they’re usually prepared to hear something different.”

Geary’s youth isn’t the only characteristic that separates him from his opponents. He’s also the first person to run for City Council as a member of Socialist Alternative, a national nonprofit organization that promotes democratic socialism.

Last spring, after several months of deliberations, Boston’s two chapters of Socialist Alternative selected Geary to enter the race on the organization’s behalf. In May, he collected the 500 signatures required to enter the race and has been campaigning alongside candidates more than twice his age ever since.

“I think I’m going to surprise a lot of people, including the incumbents,” Geary said. “As tough as it’s been, it has only motivated me to burn the candle at both ends.”

Geary’s campaign has not been without setbacks. He’s running on a budget of less than $4,000 in a field where some candidates’ financial figures rank in the hundreds of thousands.

“The biggest obstacle we’ve faced has been a lack of resources,” said Jesse Lessinger, Geary’s campaign manager.

Geary said the campaign has also had its highlights, one of which came with a July 2 article in the Boston Globe.

According to, the article a quirk in Boston’s electoral law would require the city to hold a preliminary election for City Council in September, to narrow the field by a single candidate. The primary, it said, would cost the city as much as $750,000.

When the article ran, Geary had recently opened his campaign’s bank account, which at the time contained one cent. The Globe referenced Geary’s bank balance in the fourth paragraph and quoted Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin’s criticism of Geary’s meager funds.

“I’ve heard of $1, but one penny, that’s a new low,” Galvin told The Globe. “That doesn’t strike me as a likely success story. Presumably someone is going to need more than one penny to get a message across. Assuming that person even has a message to get across.”

Geary said the article, and Galvin’s quote, which he called an attack on his candidacy, were an inspiration.

“I couldn’t believe anyone would take the time to think about me,” he said. “Even as a ‘longshot’ candidate, our campaign drew the attention of the third-ranking state official on the front page of the most influential paper in the city. I felt I must have been doing something right.”

The state legislature has since voted to forego the preliminary election and allow all nine candidates to run in the general election Nov. 6.

Issue by issue, Geary shares some views with his opponents. He, along with five other candidates, supports Councilor Felix Arroyo’s plan to remove city planning powers from the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) and create a democratically-elected planning department.

He agrees with City Councilor Sam Yoon and others that Criminal Offender Record Information system demands reform. And like at-large candidate Martin Hogan, Geary opposes casino gambling in Massachusetts.

On one issue, however, he stands alone: his paycheck. City Councilors receive a salary of $87,500 annually, of which Geary has pledged to take no more than the wage of the average Boston worker. If elected, he has promised to donate at least $40,000 of his pay to community organizations and grassroots movements.

“If all elected officials had to make the same wage as their working constituents they’d be more likely to fight in their interests,” Geary said. “I’ll challenge any of my opponents to do the same.”