Transportation for Massachusetts and the MA Smart Growth Alliance asked the Democratic, Republican and Independent candidates for governor to respond to ten questions. The questions were submitted in late May, and received in June/July. Responses from seven candidates are available here:
http://www.t4ma.org/candidate-questionnaires/
Transportation for Massachusetts does not endorse candidates. We and many of our coalition members are involved in ballot question 1, working on a campaign to maintain gas tax indexing in order to repair and invest in our transportation network. The three democratic candidates for governor and both independents oppose Q1, while both republican candidates support Q1. The DSC is opposing Q1 along with a cross section of business, environmental, labor, civic and other groups. I’ll write more about that later.
For now, BMG readers may be interested in the candidates’ views on mobility, development, GHG reduction and more.
Here are some more convenient links:
Response index page
Don Berwick response
Charlie Baker response
Martha Coakley response
Mark Fisher response
Evan Falchuk response
Steve Grossman response
Jeff McCormick response
…if they had formatted the responses side by side for comparison purposes.
But there was really no way to do that and have it be readable online given the length of the candidate responses. For convenience, if anyone reading this wants the responses in one document, just email me at jostroff@t4ma.org.
Link to pages for each question and then have all responses to that question on the page.
Why wasn’t the first paragraph of his response here the ad, it would’ve taken him less time and it’s such a broader message for the voters just tuning in!
A few awards:
Most Vapid Responses – Charlie Baker
Could it be more obvious Baker has no thoughts on the subject of transportation beyond cutting corners and doing as little as possible? He’s beyond clobberable on this issue.
Most Surprisingly Good Responses – Evan Falchuk
He grasps the issues and I’m pretty sure he gets smart growth better than anyone else in the race.
Now That’s What I Call Comedy – Mark Fischer
It’s like you pull a string in his back and out comes right wing doctrine. I can’t get enough of him. His main transportation object surely has to be eliminating the black helicopters from our skies. It would be Christmas in September if he won the Republican primary.
That’s Nice, But … – Berwick, Coakley, Grossman
Solid stuff in all their responses, yet all lack a big idea and none of them have got a transportation elevator pitch down. It’s not about the individual projects, it’s about where the projects are designed to get us.