Blue Mass Group

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Jeff Thielman [is running] for State Representative – 23rd Middlesex

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Dear Friends:

I am running for the 23rd Middlesex House seat in the Democratic Primary on February 5th and would be honored to represent Arlington and West Medford in the State Legislature.  

I want to serve in the State Legislature to continue work I’ve been doing most of my career – helping children and families – especially those in great need.  For the past decade I have led an effort to create private, non-tuition driven schools for low-income young people in urban communities across the country, and in Arlington my colleagues and I on the School Committee have worked within the confines of our budget to ensure that all students receive an excellent education.    

I spent three years as a Jesuit International Volunteer working with street children in Tacna, Peru.  Despite their poverty, the people of Peru’s slums had a spirit that inspires and humbles me to this day.  The experience of working with the poor in Peru and with young people from low-income families across the United States will inform the decisions I make as a member of the State Legislature should I be elected.  

Because my professional career has been spent creating student centered schools and because I believe that School Committee members have to make decisions based on what is best for young people, I ran for the Arlington School Committee in 2003. I was elected that year and re-elected in 2006.    

During my term as Chair of the Arlington School Committee (2005-06), we re-prioritized our budget to fund an extensive reading program, math support teachers, and more counseling. We addressed serious issues in our English Language Learner and Special Education programs, set high expectations for all students, took steps to better define what students need to know in the 21st century, and created a process that keeps the public informed of the progress the district makes each year on approved goals.  In 2005, I chaired a successful override campaign, working with diverse groups throughout the town to pass the largest operating override in the Commonwealth that year. The override prevented catastrophic cuts to town and school services.  

I think it’s time for an honest conversation in the State Legislature about revenue.  The House of Representatives has been less supportive than the State Senate of proposals to generate additional revenue for the state, including two provisions of the Municipal Partnership Act and legislation that would close several corporate tax loopholes.  It is absolutely critical that our representative to the State House of Representatives be someone who understands the challenges we face in Arlington and West Medford, has the skills to advocate on our behalf, and is willing to work with others across the state to address serious issues.

Here are a few priorities:

1.  It is time to pass the rest of the Municipal Partnership Act, close corporate tax loopholes, and require combined reoporting by corporations so that tax revenue does not leave our state.

2.  While the state’s new healthcare law holds great promise, we must find ways to cover those who are still uninsured and assist the many families who struggle to pay medical bills.

3.  The Circuit Breaker Law must be extended to help all citizens on fixed incomes.    

4.  With nearly 200,000 young professionals leaving Massachusetts in the past seven years for more affordable states, we have to build a state that keeps our best resources, our people, here.  

5.  Increased job training and re-training is needed to help our citizens compete in the 21st century.

6.  The state must appropriately fund environmental programs in order to maintain our parks, protect our water quality, and enforce laws designed to keep us safe.  

If you’d like to get involved, please visit www.jeffthielman.com.  And if you have ideas or suggestion, please send them along.

I look forward to the campaign.  

Sincerely,

Jeff Thielman

 

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Comments

  1. Do you believe that the people should have been allowed to vote on the issue of gay marriage?

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    p>Where do you stand on certain abortion related legislation: parental involvement laws, informed consent laws, and waiting periods?

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    p>Where do you stand on rolling the income tax back to 5%?

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    p>Where do you stand on ballot initiative to eliminate the income tax?

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    p>What is your take on casino gambling?

    • Thank you for reading my post and for your email.

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      p>Here are the answers to your questions.

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      p>1.  No.  The legislature acted appropriately.  I support the the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s decision on marriage equality.  

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      p>2.  I support a woman’s right to choose under the standards set by Roe v. Wade. The government should not interfere in the most deeply personal decisions in our lives.  We can reduce abortions in this country by creating a more supportive and caring society, not through legislation, litigation and politics.  My take from studying this issue carefully in law school was that the right to marital and family privacy previously recognized by the Supreme Court included a right to choose abortion.

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      p>I support the current parental notification law in Massachusetts (a woman under 18 needs consent of a parent or judge), and I believe the current Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) requirement that providers inform women seeking abortions about the procedures available, their risks, and alternatives to abortion is sufficient.

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      p>If you are asking me about the “Woman’s Right to Know” bill in the legislature, which calls for a 24 hour waiting period, I oppose it.  This is always a difficult and painful decision for a woman.  She should be able to make this decision with her own counselors and guidance and without interference from judges and legislators.  

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      p>Obviously, we should do all we can to reduce unintended pregnancy, including ensuring that women, especially those who are poor, have access to contraception.  I support the new emergency contraception law, so that women will have timely access to the “morning-after” pill.  

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      p>3.  I am opposed to rolling the income tax back to 5%.  

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      p>4.  I am opposed to the ballot initiative eliminating the income tax.  It is a very mean spirited proposal that would harm all of us in one way or another were it to pass.

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      p>5.  I oppose casino gambling. There are other ways to raise revenue.  I favor a more progressive tax structure, which would include modest income tax rate increases coupled with higher exemptions for lower and middle income taxpayers.  Next I will support the two provisions of the Municipal Partnership Act that have not yet been enacted – allowing cities and towns to vote on a 1 or 2 percent tax on meals and hotels and updating a century-old provision that exempts telecommunications companies from paying property taxes on their poles. In addition, I am generally opposed to special tax breaks for corporations, though I believe each tax break needs to be looked at independently.  For example, the tax break for filming movies in Massachusetts does seem to have led to more films being made in the Commonwealth.  The tax rate cuts and business tax cuts over the past fifteen years have forced continuous increases in the property tax at the local level.  The costs of these tax cuts prevent the state from investing as much as it should in local services, education, infrastructure, human services, and health care.  Finally, I support Governor Patrick’s proposal to shift from the current practice of allowing separate entity reporting (each subsidiary is taxed separately) to requiring combined reporting in which companies with multiple subsidiaries are taxed as one company.

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      p>Thank you for the questions.

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      p>Sincerely,
      Jeff Thielman

  2. I was wondering if you could tell us a little bit more about your professional life before the Arlington School Board. I googled your name, and a foundation working on improving public education came up. You say you’ve been to law school. What do you do professionally? What is your educational and professional background like?

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    p>Thanks!

    • Thank you for the question.  I apologize for the length of this answer.

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      p>I am a 1985 graduate of Boston College (B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science) and a 1992 graduate of Boston College Law School.  Between college and Law School, I served in Peru for three years as a Jesuit International Volunteer.  I wrote a book called Volunteer With the Poor which was originally published by the Paulist Press.

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      p>I practiced law from 1992-94 at a small firm doing criminal defense, personal injury, and workers compensation cases for Spanish speaking clients.  Providing legal services to Latinos was enjoyable, but the practice of law was not for me long term.  While I no longer practice law, I still keep licenses in Massachusetts and Connecticut.  From 1994 to 1997, I sold insurance and mutual funds and learned a great deal about the business world.    

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      p>In 1996 the Jesuits started Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, a new and unique school that sought to serve low-income Latinos on Chicago’s southwest side. The dropout rate in this part of the city was more than 50%.  What’s unique about Cristo Rey is that students share entry-level clerical jobs in order to pay tuition and gain real world job experience. The school is open only to young people from low-income families. Cristo Rey schools serve students of all faiths and adhere to all non-discrimination laws.

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      p>The school President was someone I worked with in Peru. In 1997, he hired me to be the Development Director, responsible for raising funds, interfacing with community groups (I speak Spanish fluently), and serving on the school’s management team.  I also handled some relations with the school’s attorneys. From 1997 to 2000 I oversaw an $18 million capital campaign that helped put the school on the map.  

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      p>While working in Chicago, I lived on the city’s south side in the Pilsen/Little Village neighborhood, right near the school.  The neighborhood was inhabited by a number of gangs. Living on the southwest side was an education in life in America’s center cities.  

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      p>In 2000, a Venture Capitalist, B.J. Cassin, started a foundation to replicate the Cristo Rey and NativityMiguel Middle Schools across the country. NativityMiguel schools (nativitymiguelschools.org) are middle schools with a longer school day and year; like Cristo Rey, they serve only low-income children.  I was moving back to Massachusetts with my wife (who is from Lexington), and Mr. Cassin hired me to run the foundation, which was named the Cassin Educational Initiative Foundation (please see http://cassinfoundation.org/).  Since 2001, the foundation has been located on the Newton campus of Boston College.

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      p>The foundation has funded the start-up of 40 NativityMiguel middle schools and 18 new Cristo Rey high schools across the United States.  In 2003, the foundation helped start two Networks to support the growth of these schools, the NativityMiguel Network and the Cristo Rey Network (www.cristoreynetwork.org). Since 2002, in addition to directing the foundation, I have spent most of my time as a Vice President of the Cristo Rey Network, overseeing fundraising and the start-up of new schools.

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      p>I’ve managed 30 feasibility studies for new schools, working with community and religious groups in cities across the country.  Up until now, I’ve also overseen all fundraising for the Cristo Rey Network. I was responsible for securing two grants totaling $15.9 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

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      p>If elected to the Legislature, I will continue to train leaders of new Cristo Rey schools and will play a very limited role in fundrasing (not responsible for day to day activities, but maintaining the relationship with Gates and other original funders).

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      p>There are currently 19 Cristo Rey schools serving 4,300 young people across the country. The average family income of our students is $33,700, and 94% of our students are young people of color. Our schools reach out to young people who qualify for the free/reduced lunch program. Last year 98% of our graduates enrolled in college after graduation.  A new book about the Cristo Rey schools, More than a Dream, is being released. To learn more about these unique schools please visit http://www.morethanadreambook.com.  

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      p>My ten years with the Cristo Rey and NativityMiguel schools has been incredibly rewarding and will inform the work I do in the State Legislature if I am elected. One of the reasons why I’m running is because Legislatures need to have people in them who understand poverty and who have done something to address it.

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      p>I’m happy to answer any other questions people have about any subject.  

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      p>Sincerely,
      Jeff Thielman

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      p>  

      • And it continues the tradition of Catholic education in the innner city.  Congratulations to you, and good luck.

  3. …make a difference, gets elected, surrenders the agenda to leadership and eventually even his vote to leadership (i.e. Sal) just like the rest of the House.
    Good Luck voters.
    None of Jeff’s platform matters until Sal says so!

      • Looking at the records and performance of almost all 160 other Reps. All of whom wanted to “make a difference” but soon became more concerned with bonus pay or proving loyalty to the speaker to get that bonus pay .

        • So you know nothing about Jeff, but you don’t like state representatives.  If Jeff wants to be a state representative, he must be someone you don’t like.

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          p>I know Jeff.  I like Jeff.  

  4. …could someone please indicate where these districts are?  I can’t vote for (or against) the candidates anyway (I’m in Norfolk Cty, but our state senator Creem is from Newton), but it would be nice if someone were to indicate where the districts being discussed actually reside.

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    p>Is there a map on the Internet that shows the districts?

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