The anti-Incumbents: Sean Fitzgerald takes on Joyce Spiliotis

Third in an occasional series of posts on candidates challenging Democratic incumbents in the legislature.

Sean Fitzgerald has lived in Peabody for most of his life.  Now, after having held an impressive variety of public service positions in that city, including serving on the School Building Committee and as Chief of Staff to the Mayor, Fitzgerald wants to replace Joyce Spiliotis as the 12th Essex District state representative (which includes Peabody’s Wards 1-5).

Spiliotis’ generally undistinguished career in the state legislature has been marked by her bizarre outbursts when it comes to the matter of sexual orientation.  She’s against gay marriage, even joining ringleader Phil Travis in switching her vote to oppose the “compromise” amendment in 2005 because it went too far by creating civil unions.  Even weirder is her now-famous conduct at a candidates’ forum in 2004 (this incident was apparently featured in a documentary), as recounted by an editorial in the Salem News:

While some snickered, many were appalled when state Rep. Joyce Spiliotis challenged one of her opponents in the Democratic primary, Anne Manning, by declaring, “Why don’t you tell them that you’re on gay and lesbian Web sites?”  She was referring to the SupportEquality.org site, which encourages viewers to donate to candidates who oppose a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage…. “You’re on the School Committee,” Spiliotis continued, addressing Manning. “In this city you are an elected official. The children of this city … I don’t care what your sexual preference is or anybody else’s.” …

What was abhorrent was Spiliotis’ suggestion that a person’s sexuality might affect her suitability for office, never mind what she might have been implying by her reference to “the children of this city.”  Our guess is Spiliotis knew that Manning would hold fast during the debate and refuse to divulge her sexuality as a matter of principle. (She’s straight, by the way.)  But her response when it came, at the end of the evening, was powerful. Terming Spiliotis’ remarks “unbecoming,” Manning said it was her understanding that the job of state representative is “to represent all people, not just the ones she chooses.”

Spiliotis’ comments were an embarrassment.

Immediately after that incident, the wild-eyed wing of the anti-marriage movement showed up in Peabody to show their support for Spiliotis, much to the disgust of the Mayor, the Superintendent of Schools, and other Peabody locals:

Two representatives of anti-gay organizations came here yesterday to throw their support behind state Rep. Joyce Spiliotis and to denounce one of her opponents, School Committee member Anne Manning. They wound up being denounced themselves.  Brian Camenker, president of the Parents’ Rights Coalition, a statewide group, and James Lafferty of the Traditional Values Coalition of Washington, D.C., received a chilly reception yesterday morning on the steps of City Hall….

The crowd was largely Peabody residents, or people who work in the city. It included Mayor Michael Bonfanti, School Superintendent Nadine Binkley, Holocaust Center founder Sonia Weitz, school and city personnel and several members of the city’s No Place For Hate Committee.  “These were all Peabody people,” said Martha Holden, community coordinator of the No Place For Hate Committee. “We’re not supporting one candidate or another. We’re just making a strong statement that bigotry has no place here.”

Anyway, that’s who Fitzgerald is running against.

I emailed Fitzgerald the three questions I’ve sent to other candidates challenging incumbents, but instead of answering them, Fitzgerald called me, and we talked for about half an hour.  Here’s the gist of our conversation.

First, just to get the gay marriage topic out of the way, Fitzgerald sees marriage as a civil rights issue; believes that the Supreme Judicial Court addressed and settled the matter; notes that the “sky hasn’t fallen” since gay people started getting married; and thinks Massachusetts ought to move on to other things.  He also said, in connection with this as well as some other issues, that he is looking for, and hoping to provide, leadership that leads toward a “more perfect union,” in the spirit of E Pluribus Unum, and was distressed about Spiliotis’ embarrassing record on this issue.

Fitzgerald’s focus is intensely local.  Peabody, he says, is a large city, and a great city, with tremendous potential.  However, Peabody has suffered more than its share of natural disasters lately – the devastating floods in 2004 and again in May of this year cost the city an estimated $200 million in lost valuation.  Fitzgerald wants to be the guy in the State House who is working hard for his city every day, instead of taking trips to Spain, Portugal, and Taiwan (as Spiliotis has – she was among the legislators who missed voting on the final version of Melanie’s Law because of her travels).

Fitzgerald sees repair or replacement of the city’s culverts – built in 1870 – as essential to preventing yet another round of devastating floods.  He also cites his years of experience on the city’s School Building Committee in discussing various proposals to reorganize the area’s education resources (including North Shore Technical High School and “Essex Aggie“).

Fitzgerald also noted his commitment to stem-cell research, adding that his father died of Lou Gehrig’s Disease, so he has a personal understanding of the importance of helping science move forward rather than holding it back.

Fitzgerald’s website is fairly bare bones, but it’s got the basics, including a way of contributing  (not online, unfortunately) if you’re so inclined.  Fitzgerald’s focus has been on meeting voters – he says he’s worn out three pairs of shoes in preparation for next week’s primary, and he’s optimistic.

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