Recommendations for 2019 Worcester Municipal Election

This year in Worcester’s municipal elections (Tuesday, November 5th) there are seriously contested at large races with more viable candidates than in recent years.  We have preferences in all or almost all of these races but we are choosing to limit our recommendations in order to focus on the candidates about whom we feel most strongly, and in particular on the need for dramatic change on the Worcester School Committee.   

In each of the at-large races, you get to vote for up to six candidates.  If you vote for more than six (this would include a symbolic/tribute vote for recently deceased longtime School Committee member Brian O’Connell) your entire ballot for that race will be disqualified.  

We are proud of our adopted city and we recognize with great appreciation the many excellent and dedicated teachers in our public schools.  The context for our views and recommendations for this election is the extraordinary failure of the Worcester Public School Administration and the Worcester School Committee.  For us, and for many of our friends and allies, this takes the form of heightened public awareness about many problems, including:

1. large differences by race and ethnicity of out of school disciplinary suspensions;
2. failure of WPS to provide comprehensive, LGBTQ inclusive, and age appropriate sex education;
3. failure of WPS to provide consistent and appropriate support to English language learners;
4. failure to provide proper goals and guidance for evaluation of the superintendent;
5. the renewal of the superintendent’s contract with a poor process that lacked transparency;
6. failure to facilitate culturally appropriate communication among school administration, teachers, staff, students, and their families;
7. the renewal of a school bus contract with a company that has a terrible track record and at a cost significantly above an in-house option.

You can find a fairly detailed history and analysis of the unfolding of some of these issues in our previous post from before this year’s preliminary election.  

We would most especially urge you to vote AGAINST incumbent School Committee members Dianna Biancheria, Molly McCullough, and John Monfredo because, on issue after issue, they have been part of the WSC majority who are responsible for the failure to hold the superintendent and administration accountable.  

Also, we are disappointed that first-time candidate Laura Clancey has failed to express outrage or even disappointment at the many failures of the current School Committee, Superintendent, and Administration.  We urge you to vote AGAINST her candidacy as well.

On a positive note, we would most especially urge you to vote FOR incumbent School Committee member Jack Foley who has served with integrity for two decades.  We support him most especially because of his consistent calls for accountability and transparency, and his willingness to criticize policies and their implementation, the WPS Administration, and his WSC colleagues.  

Most especially we would urge you to vote FOR challengers Dr. Cara Berg Powers, Jermoh Kamara, and Tracy O’Connell Novick.

Dr. Cara Berg Powers knows the Worcester schools both as an alumna and as a parent.  She has worked closely with urban youth for over a decade, she has made it her business over several years to thoroughly understand education policy, and she has in-depth knowledge and ideas about how to meet complex needs of a diverse student body.  Her viewpoint is to treat all children as if they are your own. She has knocked on thousands of doors all spring, summer, and early fall; and has listened to hundreds of parents and other concerned community members. She has specific plans to make sure these voices continue to be heard.   

Tracy O’Connell Novick combines an exhaustive knowledge of education policy and funding streams with a fierce dedication to equity for all students.  As a Field Director with the Massachusetts Association of School Committees Tracy is very knowledgeable about who is doing what and about what works and what doesn’t.  She knows what is possible and what kind of educational opportunities we can be expected to provide for our students. She is a prolific writer and a policy expert. We can count on her to use her deep understanding to hold the school department and its leadership accountable. 

Jermoh Kamara is the one candidate in the School Committee race who we did not know at all before and who has impressed us a lot.  Her own life story as a refugee, Worcester Public School success story, emerging education and health professional, and community leader is inspirational.  Her campaign has surprised many, including us, earning significant endorsements from organizations and officials and displaying real depth and sophistication.  We did not endorse her candidacy before the preliminary election but we do now with enthusiasm. Her election would add much to the School Committee in so many ways.      

There are some resources besides our recommendations that you can access to help you evaluate the School Committee candidates.  Worcester Education Collaborative has an online forum (scroll down after clicking the link) in which each candidate was invited to comment on several questions.  The Worcester Education Justice Alliance has prepared a report card with 27 questions reflecting the organization’s values with each respondent’s responses.  You can read through these if you wish and come to your own conclusions about the candidates.  

For City Council at large we are particularly enthused about and urge you to vote FOR the candidacies of Etel Haxhiaj and Khrystian King.  

Etel Haxhiaj is a first-time candidate for public office.  We have gotten to know her over the last several years as a leader in a variety of social justice settings.  Her passion for justice is both fierce and compassionate. From her personal experience as a refugee from Albania as a teenager, she recognizes the challenges that marginalized people face.  She is determined to create a city where everyone is treated with respect, where everyone is welcome, where everyone can thrive. Etel has worked in the state Attorney General’s office as a consumer advocate, served the City of Worcester as a volunteer on two different committees, assisted homeless families with the Central Mass Housing Alliance, and now works for Mothers Out Front, where she organizes mothers to fight for a liveable climate for all children.  She states, “As a single mom of two boys in Worcester Public Schools and as a community organizer, I am deeply invested in the issues that affect working families, our children, and economically vulnerable communities.” She would be a fearless, remarkable, and positive addition to the Worcester City Council. (In case you are wondering how to pronounce her last name, a phonetic spelling would be Ha-jee-eye.)

Khrystian King is an incumbent member of the City Council, a longtime social worker with the Commonwealth’s Department of Children and Family Services, and a leader in his union.  Khrystian has particularly distinguished himself as a courageous leader on the Council around environmental issues including recycling, on immigrant and refugee issues, and on worker rights and protections including the fight for a $15 per hour minimum wage.  He has been a consistent voice and vote for justice on all fronts, and we believe he should be returned to the Council.  

We like Mayor Joe Petty.  He is a nice guy who stands with the right people and for the right things most of the time.  We have supported him in the past and at this juncture we are again recommending that you vote for him, both for City Council and for Mayor.  But we must honestly say that we do so with significant concern and reservations. We feel that Mayor Petty in this current term, in his role as chair of the School Committee, failed to provide leadership that was needed at critical moments.  His failure to do so made it possible for others to do real damage, both through their actions and by blocking data and transparency. We believe that with a new and better School Committee Mayor Petty will be on the right side of important questions.  In any case, we hope he will choose to step up and to lead more actively where it is so critically needed.

We also would specifically urge you to vote AGAINST at large City Council candidates Donna Colorio and Tony Economou. 

Donna Colorio claims to be an independent voice when, in fact, she is the elected chair of the Republican Party of Worcester, a Tea Party/Trumpian.  She participated in local voter suppression efforts, opposes reproductive choice, actively supported Geoff Diehl against Elizabeth Warren in 2018, and chairs the local Republican City Committee.  We don’t need her anywhere near city government. 

When on the Council previously, Economou consistently sided with business interests over those of residents.  He is determined to change the tax rate to make it less favorable to homeowners. We think that is a bad idea, and that his overall approach to policy is detrimental to our vision of a city that values equity.    

In summary, we urge you to vote FOR:

Etel Haxhiaj, Khrystian King, and Joe Petty for City Council

Joe Petty for Mayor

Cara Berg Powers, Jack Foley, Jermoh Kamara, and Tracy O’Connell Novick for School Committee 

and to vote AGAINST:

Donna Colorio and Tony Economou for City Council

Dianna Biancheria, Laura Clancey, Molly McCullough, and John Monfredo for School Committee

Feel free to share this with others who might also be interested.  Election Day is Tuesday, November 5, 2019 and polling places are open from 7 AM - 8 PM.  You can find out where you vote here.  You may not be allowed to read this message on your phone in the polling place but you can print this out in advance and have the right to bring it with you and to read it when you vote.  

We realize that these are complicated issues and everyone has their own thoughts, feelings, and perceptions about them.  We are very willing to discuss them further – feel free to contact us. 

Sincerely,

Margot Barnet and David Coyne

Recommendations for 2019 Worcester preliminary election -- 2nd installment (School Committee)

Sadly, we believe that the Worcester School Committee needs a significant shakeup.  In our three decades in Worcester we have never before been as disappointed as we are now with the incumbent members of the School Committee.  It has become increasingly apparent in the last year that, despite the sincere efforts of many excellent and well-intended educators, our public school system is failing many of our students; we can and must do better; but most of the current School Committee members have opted for business as usual with a little bit of lip service to improvement. 

Tuesday’s preliminary election will remove only one of the 13 candidates; you get to vote for up to 6. 

Of the five incumbent members of the school committee seeking re-election, we feel strongly that only Jack Foley deserves our support.  The field of challengers this year includes some candidates with a wealth of experience and many with perspectives that need to be heard.  Among them, our strongest recommendations are for Cara Berg Powers and Tracy O’Connell Novick.  (Full disclosure:  we have both volunteered a lot on Cara’s campaign.)  It appears that Laura Clancey is the one challenger who is most in line with the incumbents and that the business-as-usual establishment is backing her.  We feel she would not be a good addition to the body.  Among the other five, it is not clear who are the strongest voices, and all would be an improvement over the incumbents. 

Why Cara Berg Powers?  She knows the Worcester schools both as an alumna and as a parent.  Cara has worked closely with urban youth for over a decade, she has made it her business over several years to thoroughly understand education policy, and she has in-depth knowledge and ideas about how to meet complex needs of a diverse student body. Her viewpoint is to treat all children as if they are your own.  She has knocked on thousands of doors all spring and summer and has listened to hundreds of parents and other concerned community members; she has specific plans to make sure these voices continue to be heard.   

Why Tracy O’Connell Novick?  She combines an exhaustive knowledge of education policy and funding streams with a fierce dedication to equity for all students.  She knows what is possible and what kind of educational opportunities we can be expected to provide for our students.  We can count on her to use her deep understanding to hold the school department and its leadership accountable. 

Two major issues have exemplified the need for change on the School Committee.  

1)      Sex education.  Comprehensive, age appropriate, evidence-based sex education saves lives, empowers young people to take charge of choices that profoundly affect their futures, and has been shown to reduce teen sexual activity.  By state law, any such program includes a parental opt out provision.  It is unconscionable that in Worcester we have none of it in our public schools, while the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases has been rising dramatically since 2015 and Worcester’s teen pregnancy rate is significantly above the state average.  The Worcester Impact on Sexual Health (WISH) Task Force was convened in 2017 to find an appropriate curriculum for Worcester schools. 

Composed of a broad base of community groups and health organizations, WISH engaged in an exhaustive and community-based process, eventually recommending three viable curricula.  One of these was deemed to be a political hot potato because it was associated with Planned Parenthood.  The curriculum that was ultimately recommended was scuttled by School Committee members.  Chaired by Brian O’Connell with additional members John Monfredo and Molly McCullough, the subcommittee that was supposed to hold a public hearing on the curriculum abruptly cancelled the meeting when the hearing was to take place.  O’Connell and Monfredo went public with criticisms of the curriculum, convincing Superintendent Binienda to pull it.  McCullough did nothing to blow the whistle.  In contrast, Jack Foley criticized the cancellation of the hearing.  You can read more details of how this all happened here and here.  This is beyond lack of leadership.  It is moving us in a regressive, dangerous direction.  At a public forum earlier this week, we heard Senator Harriette Chandler speak passionately on this issue:  that it is unconscionable to put political pressures before the lives of children.  We agree with Senator Chandler, and that is one major reason we recommend replacing these incumbents. 

2)      Racial disparities in educational opportunities and discipline.  These issues are by no means unique to Worcester, but we need better leadership to address them.  We have been involved in the local struggle around this perhaps more closely than many of you, so we will share our experience and perspective.  There are several links to go into the weeds. 

Both anecdotal reports of students’ lived experience and data collected over the last several years shows that public schools around the country, including the Worcester Public School system, have not lived up to their obligation to many of their students.  Worcester’s school population is about 70% students of color.  There are marked disparities between white students and students from communities of color in both educational achievement and the way they are disciplined.  In 2017-2018, Worcester’s students were predominantly Latino (42.9%).  English Language learners (ELs, students where English is not the predominant language in their homes) comprised a third (32.8%) of our student population.  Our ELs have the highest dropout rate at 5%, followed by Latino students, of whom 3.4% dropped out of school.  Latino students have the highest chronic absenteeism (19.9%) and disciplinary exclusion (11.5%) rates.  These numbers come from Massachusetts’ Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).  All of this suggests that Worcester Public Schools are failing our students of color, particularly our Latino students and English Language learners. 

The Worcester Coalition for Education Equity (WCEE) was formed to address these issues, calling for several steps to remedy the problems.  They hoped that school department leadership and its elected oversight body – the School Committee – would receive feedback and constructive suggestions for improvement with open minds and an eagerness to address the issues.  What they encountered instead from the School Department was defensiveness, withholding of key data, and disregard for the expertise of community stakeholders from different racial/ethnic groups. 

When WCEE issued a statement outlining the problems, offering a range of constructive action steps, and calling for the School Committee not to renew Superintendent Binienda’s expiring contract, several School Committee members responded with defensiveness and outrage.  Dianna Biancheria told Hank Stolz that WCEE was “pointing fingers” and “throwing a log on the fire;” saying that she didn’t know who the statement came from even though it came out with 23 signatories on it several days before this conversation.  (Hank also spoke with Isabel Gonzalez-Webster, who laid out how WCEE came to its recommendations, so you can hear why WCEE felt the need for action.) 

What followed got convoluted with a lot of people getting upset about accusations of racism, even though WCEE tried to keep the focus on structural racism and what could be done about it.  Mayor Petty tried to defuse the situation by issuing this statement accepting many of the recommendations of WCEE.  The School Committee, clearly unwilling to outright vote against renewal of Superintendent Binienda’s contract, could have taken action steps to actualize Mayor Petty’s statement.  They could have given her a one-year contract with specific benchmarks to meet the conditions outlined, with further renewal contingent on meeting them.  But that wasn’t what happened.  Instead they extended her contract for three years, with a substantial raise, with no conditions written into it.  The vote was 5-2 (the Mayor gets a vote) with Petty, O’Connell, Monfredo, McCullough, and Biancheria voting in favor, and Jack Foley and Dante Comparetto voting against.  (Dante Comparetto is not seeking re-election.)  Members of several communities of color felt that this had been a slap in the face.  We agree and believe that the School Committee members who voted in the affirmative should not be re-elected. 

If you want to learn more about the candidates’ views, you can browse the Worcester Education Collaborative’s online candidate forum .

To clarify our recommendations, you can vote for up to six candidates in the preliminary for Worcester School Committee on Tuesday, September 10.  Polls are open from 7 AM to 8 PM.

We would enthusiastically urge a vote FOR:

Cara Berg Powers

Jack Foley (incumbent)

Tracy O’Connell Novick

We sadly but strongly urge you to vote AGAINST:

Dianna Biancheria (incumbent)

Laura Clancey

Molly McCullough (incumbent)

John Monfredo (incumbent)

Brian O’Connell (incumbent)

Finally, we believe that all of the remaining challengers in this race would bring an improvement over the incumbents we have recommended against.

We realize that these are complicated issues and everyone has their own thoughts, feelings, and perceptions about them.  We are very willing to discuss them further – feel free to contact us. 

Sincerely,

Margot Barnet and David Coyne

Recommendations for 2019 Worcester Preliminary Election - first installment (City Council)

Some people wonder if municipal elections are important.  Some might say there is not a progressive way to fill a pot hole or to collect garbage (we would disagree); but surely there is a progressive way to promote affordable housing or to bring about greater equity in the public schools.  Especially now, with cruelty and scandal stripped bare every day on the national scene, our answer is a resounding, “YES,” local government is where the rubber hits the road.  In our blog from a year ago, commenting on state elections, we wrote, “…we feel that it is crucial to use whatever power is available in state government to address the problems we face and hold a firm line on further erosion of human rights.  We need leadership.”  We believe strongly that this is also true of municipal government. 

This year we have a larger than typical field of candidates running for both City Council At-Large and School Committee.  This post will focus on City Council.  Stay tuned for a separate one on School Committee in a few days. 

The preliminary election on Tuesday, September 10^th will narrow the 15 candidates seeking At-Large positions on the City Council to 12, since according to the City’s charter the final election must have no more than twice the number of candidates as positions to be filled.  There are no district City Council races which require a preliminary election.  In the At-Large race, you get to vote for up to 6. 

One incumbent, Konnie Lukes, is not seeking re-election.  This means that at least one person not currently on the Council will be elected.  Theoretically all of the seats are “open,” since we do not have staggered terms.  It is unusual in this system for incumbent at-large councilors to be defeated, but it can and does happen. 

Our very strongest recommendation for your vote this year is Etel Haxhiaj.  We have gotten to know Etel over the last several years in a variety of social justice settings.  Her passion for justice is both fierce and compassionate.  She herself was a refugee from Albania as a teenager.  She recognizes the challenges that marginalized people face and she is determined to create a city where everyone is treated with respect, where everyone is welcome, where everyone can thrive.  Despite being under 40, Etel has a wealth of experience in public service.  She worked in the state Attorney General’s office as a consumer advocate, served the City of Worcester both on the Community Development Block Grant Committee and the Citizen’s Advisory Council, assisted homeless families managing The Village at Central Mass Housing Alliance, and currently works for Mothers Out Front, where she organizes mothers to fight for a livable climate for all children.  She states, “As a single mom of two boys in Worcester Public Schools and as a community organizer, I am deeply invested in the issues that affect working families, our children, and economically vulnerable communities.”  We think she would be a fearless, remarkable, and positive addition to the Worcester City Council.  (In case you are wondering how to pronounce her last name, a phonetic spelling would be Ha-jee-eye.)

In our assessment, Etel’s strongest competition for the “open” seat will likely comes from Tony Economou, who previously held the District 1 seat on the Council, and Donna Colorio, a former School Committee member.  We urge you NOT to vote for either one of them. 

When on the Council previously, Economou consistently sided with business interests over those of residents.  He is determined to change the tax rate to make it less favorable to homeowners.  We think that is a bad idea, and that his overall approach to policy is detrimental to our vision of a city that values equity.    

Donna Colorio participated in local voter suppression efforts, opposes reproductive choice, actively supported Geoff Diehl against Elizabeth Warren in 2018, and chairs the local Republican City Committee.  We don’t need her anywhere near city government. 

As to incumbent councilors, we feel strongly that Khrystian King should be returned to the Council.  He has been a consistent voice and vote for justice on all fronts.  Other incumbent at-large councilors have mixed records, and we are not making recommendations about them at this time. 

We have tried to do our due diligence regarding other challengers for the Council.  A couple of the new candidates don’t have a web page, campaign facebook page, or twitter account, and we can’t find out anything substantive about them.  This suggests to us that they are not taking the race very seriously.  This includes Sean Parretti-Noone and Ralph A. Tiscione, Jr.  A few others do have campaign sites.  James Bedard is a friend and we share a fundamental political outlook, but he doesn’t seem to have put serious work into his campaign; his web page just went up in the last day or two.  Evan Corrigan has a Facebook page and a twitter account, and his motivation seems to be only that he wants to be on the City Council; there is no evidence of him standing for anything.  Jesse Gibson has a web page where he raises some important issues about racial disparities, but he is a graduate of (Jerry Fallwell’s) Liberty University and that raises a red flag for us.  We would not vote for him unless we saw a statement that he does not share its point of view of Christian hegemony married to unfettered “free” markets.  Owurakwaku Poku Sarkodieh has a web page (which I had trouble finding, probably because of the complexity of his name; google just his last name and you will find it) and might be worthy of consideration if he makes it past the preliminary.  Bill Coleman is a nice guy and a perennial candidate who consistently fails to put together a serious campaign.  Unfortunately there is no evidence that that will change this year.

If you want to get into the weeds like we do, you can take a look at candidates’ financial records on the web site of the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF).  City Council candidates are classified by OCPF as “depository candidates,” which means that they have to file a financial report showing donations, expenditures, and cash on hand every two weeks.  Click on “Browse Registered Filers & Reports” to find out about a specific candidate.  There are multiple ways you can use the search function on this site; check them out. 

Please feel free to contact us if you have further questions; and to share these recommendations with people you think might be interested in and benefit from them.  (A link to this post is the most efficient way to do that.)

Thank you for allowing us to share our opinions about elections with you.  We are honored that many of our friends actually ask us for them.  We also appreciate that some people who like us and who we like don’t share our views.  Whether you agree with us or not, please be sure to vote!

Sincerely,

Margot Barnet and David Coyne

Recommendations for 2018 general election

Dear friends and neighbors around the state of Massachusetts,

Here are our recommendations for the upcoming election, this time for the General Election which will be held on Tuesday, November 6, with early voting options also available.

To see who is on your ballot, follow this link, and after you fill in your address information, click “my state election ballot” in the box under “view my ballot.”

Both of us voted early this year (you can still do that through Friday) and we both voted yes on all three ballot questions and for Democrats up and down the ticket.  We are giving you our list to keep it simple, with detailed rationale and links below if you choose to read further.  We elaborate in particular detail for some races: 1) where we think we have something to offer for your consideration, 2) that are more seriously contested, and/or 3) where the outcome seems to be in doubt and really matters.                                                                     

The candidates for statewide office that we strongly recommend are: 

Elizabeth Warren for United States Senate

Jay Gonzalez/Quentin Palfrey for Governor/Lieutenant Governor

Maura Healey for Attorney General

Deborah Goldberg for State Treasurer

We also strongly recommend a YES vote on all three ballot questions.  A quick summary of the questions is below, with our reasons later. 

If you reside in the 2^nd Congressional District, you have the opportunity to vote to re-elect our good friend, the amazing James P. (Jim) McGovern for United States House of Representatives. 

There are contested elections in some local races; for some offices we have listed candidates in a few different districts who we feel are worthy of your vote if you live in one of those districts. 

In the contested races (we omitted those that are uncontested) we recommend the following:

In the Worcester area:

Paul DePalo for Governor’s Council (listed as Councillor)

Joseph D. Early, Jr. for District Attorney

Dennis P. McManus for Clerk of Courts

Kathryn A. Toomey for Register of Deeds

You are allowed to take a list of recommendations or your own voting plans with you when you go to vote, but you are not allowed to share it with anyone else within the voting location. 

In area State Senate districts that are contested, we recommend:

Tom Merolli, Worcester and Norfolk district

Anne Gobi, Worcester, Hampden, Hampshire and Middlesex district

Susan Chalifoux Zephir, Worcester and Middlesex district

In contested State Representative races, we recommend: 

David LeBoeuf, 17^th Worcester district

Jean Strauss, 5^th Worcester district

Tanya Neslusan, 1^st Hampden district

Ballot Question 1 would set minimum legal requirements for safe nurse staffing levels by limiting the number of patients who can be assigned to each registered nurse in MA hospitals and certain other healthcare facilities.

Ballot Question 2 would create a commission to advance an amendment to the US Constitution to limit the Influence of money in elections and to establish that corporations do not have the same rights as human beings.

Ballot Question 3 maintains the existing law adopted by the legislature in 2016 that prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity in places of public accommodation, including hotels, restaurants, and hospitals.

If you want to read further, here is why we are making these recommendations. 

Our views and priorities in state campaigns are of necessity colored by the current national scene.  We feel that it is no exaggeration at all to say that we are in a state of emergency.  It is more urgent than ever before that we address economic injustice, racial disparities, and environmental degradation including climate change. 

The federal government and our country are racing in precisely the wrong direction.  Instead of using its power and resources to find equitable solutions to these pressing problems, the Trump Administration ignores or exacerbates these challenges.  It has functioned as a slush fund to enrich the president, his family, and other government officials.  It threatens human rights, attacks the free press, and foments hatred and scapegoating.  Simultaneously, Republicans have moved to enact policies that plunder the earnings of people with low and moderate incomes in order to benefit the wealthiest people on earth.  They have stripped workers of basic protections, endangered consumers and the environment, and suppressed the institutions of basic democracy including the right to vote. 

In this context, we feel that it is crucial to use whatever power is available in state and local government to address the problems we face and to hold a firm line on further erosion.  We need effective and compassionate leadership that will resist the party of Trump. 

Senator Elizabeth Warren displays this kind of leadership.  Because of her distinguished background in bankruptcy law, she knows more than almost anyone else about why families are struggling to make ends meet.  Her research on this led her to advocacy and then to running for office, and she is driven by her passion for justice, never by personal ambition.  She never fails to stand up for what she believes in, challenging officials appointed by Democrats as well as Republicans.  We need to keep her voice in the U.S. Senate.  Senator Warren’s Republican opponent was the 2016 chair of the Trump for President campaign in Massachusetts.

We feel that the administration of Charlie Baker and Karyn Polito has been characterized mostly by timidity, mediocrity, and mean-spiritedness.  Baker has stood by while our transportation infrastructure crumbled, failed to take bold steps to stem the opioid epidemic, tried to undermine public education, taken only baby steps to slow climate change, favored corporate interests over those of workers and consumers, and shrunk rather than expanded access to health care coverage.  As environmental activists, we are especially disturbed by Baker’s undermining of the solar industry in Massachusetts and his support for public funding of pipelines carrying fracked gas.  All this is unacceptable and unnecessary.  Baker is depicted as tall, handsome, affable, and moderate (or at least not Trump).  But he has repeatedly supported allies of Trump and proposed policies pushed by ALEC, a major right-wing think tank.  This article sums up how we can do better and expect more.  If you want to know even more about how the Baker/Polito administration has failed us, read about a whole range of issues here.

Jay Gonzalez, by contrast, has a comprehensive set of proposals to take on these and many other issues.  Jay was the Director of Administration and Finance in the Patrick administration and had a lot of private sector experience before that and since then.  In running for Governor, he brings this administrative experience as well as a passion for improving our quality of life and we feel he can bring his vision to fruition.  Jay believes, as we do, that it is time for ambitious vision and goals, not timid management and handouts to big business.  Take a look at Jay’s issues proposals here.  We think you will be impressed, as we have been when hearing Jay speak about his vision and plans for action.  Jay’s running mate, the Lieutenant Governor candidate, Quentin Palfrey brings strength to the ticket with both passion and a wealth of experience in finding innovative solutions to some of the pressing problems outlined above.  You can learn more about Quentin here. 

We love Attorney General Maura Healey.  She has been doing amazing work as “the people’s lawyer” during her term in office.  She has brought millions of dollars back to Massachusetts residents by making polluters pay, challenging overcharges by utility companies, and getting exorbitant student loans discharged.  She has stood up against Trump Administration policies including offshore oil drilling, immigrant travel bans, and restrictions on family planning.  She has cracked down on sex trafficking, on firearms sellers exploiting loopholes in our commonsense gun safety laws, and on predatory trade schools.  She is fearless and tireless. 

Deb Goldberg has been a hands-on State Treasurer, delivering on promises to help families save for college (at no cost to taxpayers), help residents develop financial literacy, fight for greater diversity on corporate boards, and promoting sustainability and accountability practices in corporations that do business with the state.  She continues to fight for wage equality.

Many people don’t know much about Governor’s Council and why it is important.  This body approves or rejects the Governor’s judicial nominees.  Judges and their basic perspectives matter.  Paul DePalo, a former schoolteacher and an attorney with experience representing children in juvenile court, is running to bring a community perspective to this office.  He will fight for the selection of judges who will affirm gender equality, find help rather than incarceration for troubled youth, and enforce worker rights and civil rights.  Learn more about Paul here.  

Joe Early deserves to be reelected as Worcester County District Attorney.  His office has done an excellent job of securing criminal convictions.  His focus is also on crime prevention and on helping nonviolent drug offenders, especially youth, to find alternatives to incarceration, giving them a chance to become productive members of society. 

Dennis McManus deserves to be reelected as Worcester County Clerk of Courts.  He has done a very good job in this role for several years and his office has been highly rated.

Kathryn (Katie) Toomey (not the Worcester City Councilor) is an experienced practicing real estate attorney running for Registrar of Deeds.  The person elected to this post manages the county office that is responsible for keeping the legal documents to ensure that the property that you own is legally recorded as yours.  Her opponent has no experience in law or real estate.  You can find out more about Katie and her campaign here.

David LeBoeuf is a first-time candidate with a remarkable track record of community service and civic engagement, running against a very right-wing Republican in a swing district.  Details about David here.  If you live in the 17^th Worcester district, please be sure to vote for David!

We strongly support Ballot Question #1 because we believe in regulations that promote safety.  The organization that represents 70% of bedside nurses in the state wrote this law in response to the large and growing number of incidents that put both patients and nurses in jeopardy.  The opponents of this ballot question (hospitals and their very highly paid executives and administrators) have spent tens of millions of dollars to confuse voters and to sow doubt.  They have couched their arguments against government mandated safe staffing levels by claiming that the requirement for minimum staffing will endanger patient safety.  They have claimed that other staff will be cut, but in fact the proposed law explicitly forbids this.  It is clear to us that a key part of their strategy is to pit lower paid and lower level staff against one another.  The state already mandates minimum nurse staff levels in Intensive Care Units.  There have been measurable reductions in hospital-acquired infections since that was implemented.  Please see this article for an analysis of the issue and the misleading claims of the campaign waged against it by the most powerful lobbying group in Massachusetts. 

We think Ballot Question #2 is a no-brainer; it is the first – and very measured – step toward developing a state position in favor of a constitutional amendment to overturn the disastrous Supreme Court decision that allowed unlimited money without disclosure of its source to flow into politics.  See this for a succinct explanation of the question. 

We have been very active in support of Ballot Question #3 because we feel it is crucial to defend the civil rights of this very vulnerable population.  You can read all about this issue here.

Thank you for allowing us to share our opinions about elections with you.  We are honored that many of our friends actually ask us for them.  We also appreciate that some people who like us and who we like don’t share our views.  Whether you agree with us or not, please be sure to vote!

Sincerely,

Margot Barnet and David Coyne