[Cross posted on .08 Acres]
Monday night, I attended the state senate debate between candidates vying for former Senator Jarrett Barrios’ seat in the Middlesex, Suffolk and Essex District. The debate was held in Charlestown and was sponsored by three local organizations, Friends of the Charlestown Navy Yard, Charlestown Business Association, Charlestown Waterfront Coalition. As you might imagine, local issues dominated the discussion. The candidates, as mentioned previously, are Chelsea City Councilor Paul Nowicki, Cambridge attorney Tim Flaherty, Cambridge attorney Jeff Ross, Cambridge City Councilor Anthony Galluccio, and Cambridge teacher and activist Laurie Leyshon [Who has since been disqualified from the ballot]. The debate was moderated by Michael Jonas of MassINC’s CommonWealth Magazine.
The debate, I thought, was well attended for a special state-senate election debate. I estimated at least 80 spectators, most of whom seemed to be Charlestown residents. Outside the debate, Ross had the biggest presence early; his (mostly young) supporters carrying signs and wearing matching T-Shirts. Flaherty supporters were also out, but I didn’t notice anyone for the other three candidates (I got there a little early to get a seat by an outlet!). I did notice that Leyshon and Ross seemed to be the ones who worked the crowd inside before the debate began.
The debate was largely cordial, with the candidates agreeing on many of the questions asked, particularly on the need for community involvement in development issues. Nowicki was the most forceful in his support for casino gambling in Massachusetts, and Ross was the only one who said he would not seek state funds to match city funds for Charlestown Navy Yard, but all were skeptical of MCAS as a graduation requirement to varying degrees. None of the candidates had anything particularly nice to say about the Boston Redevelopment Authority. There were only a couple of pointed moments during the two-plus hours. Earlier in the debate, Flaherty had mentioned that he wanted the seat because now was “a new and exciting time in Massachusetts politics.” Galluccio countered later that he “wanted this job when it wasn’t a new and exciting time in Massachusetts politics” and that he’d had the most time to think about the needs of the whole district. Also, having the last word in the debate was Paul Nowicki, who in his closing statement noted that he is proving his commitment to the district by declining to run again for his safe seat on the Chelsea city council. Unspoken, of course, was that this is in contrast to Galluccio, who is running for re-election as a Cambridge City Councilor at the same time he’s running for the special election.
On style issues, I thought Galluccio, Nowicki and Flaherty were the most polished, though the two city councilors had more to say on their specific accomplishments in their respective cities and I felt like they could relate better to the problems of Charlestown residents. Galluccio noted that he wants to be “like a City Councilor, but with more power’ and that he’d go to every community meeting in the district. Frankly, I don’t see how that’s possible given the insanely gerrymandered district comprising nine communities spanning three counties — is he really going to go to every meeting from Brighton to Saugus? If he can’t, he shouldn’t promise it. Leyshon came off as very approachable, and I felt afterwards that she must have talked to half the neighborhood in preparation for the debate. She also, however, came off as very “Cambridge” and I’m not sure how that plays in the rest of the district. Ross has an interesting and varied resume, but he seemed much more comfortable when the conversation turned to statewide issues rather than the minutia of city planning.
Read the full blow by blow at .08 Acres.
Awesome write-up. Was the event covered by any other media outlets, do you know?
There was someone from what sounded like a Charlestown neighborhood paper there taking pictures. I would expect one or two of the weeklies will have a story on Friday. As of now, though, my writeup is the only one I can find online.
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And thank you, by the way, for pointing this debate out and subtly demanding that I go. I must always obey my BMG Overlords!
Yes, nice writeup.
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I was there, and found it very helpful. I didn’t know any of these folks beforehand, but it was clear to me that Galluccio had the deepest, most nuanced understanding of the issues.
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I really liked his response to the “Will you get money for the Charlestown Navy Yard?” question. He answer was effectively, “Yes, that’s the job of a state senator, and I will do it. But that’s not what’s going to improve the area. It has to be a broader, more complex solution incorporating zoning, public/private partnerships, etc.” I agree.
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The crazy thing about this race is that nobody knows it’s going on. The person who wins will have a mandate from a tiny percent of the population …
Is that there are two special elections in the city of Boston right now and neither of the Boston dailies is really paying attention to them.
Sco,
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Thanks for the write-up. I wasn’t able to make it due to a work commitment, but your reporting was definitely helpful.
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On your point about the Boston dailies not covering the race, I’m not the least bit surprised. They’ve barely covered any of the races (city council, state legislature) that have happened over the last couple of years in Charlestown/East Boston.
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It’s too bad, really, since this could be a very interesting, close race.
I just added it to the OpenMass front page.