There is a primary race in the Second Middlesex Senate District, which includes parts of Cambridge, Somerville, Medford & Winchester.
The candidates for the Democratic nomination are the incumbent, Sen. Patricia Jehlen, and challenger, Cambridge City Councilor Leland Cheung.
The state primary is September 8 (a Thursday!?)
I fear that there will be little time to organize any event in late August/early September, so the Democratic Party City Committees of Cambridge and Somerville, along with the Porter Square Neighborhood Association, are hosting a candidate forum this coming week, Wednesday, June 8, 2016.
All are invited.
Cambridge Civic Journal’s Robert Winters will moderate the forum.
When: June 8, 2016, 7 pm – 9 pm
Where: Amphitheater at University Hall, Lesley University; 1815 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge (2nd Floor)
If you have specific questions or topics that you would like to hear the candidates discuss please email me privately at dpparadis@gmail.com
We look forward to seeing you there! Please pass this information along to all who may be interested.
Thank you,
Dan Paradis
Robert Winters gave us all “homework” to educate our neighbors because most people probably don’t know the name of their State Senator, so, in that spirit, I will tell Blue Mass Group a little of what I recall.
Leland Cheung and Pat Jehlen agreed on a great many issues, and Leland even said she was representing the community well.
The main difference was on charter schools, including the November ballot question about raising the cap on charters to 12 per year, in perpetuity. Pat vociferously urged us all to vote “No,” telling us how when a 2nd charter school applied to open in Somerville, the people of Somerville realized it would drain their budget so much they would have to close a public school and because of size considerations, it would close the small school that was the most preferred school. So that charter would have taken choice AWAY from some parents.
Moreover, the unelected board of education that would grant charter applications told her that it was against the rules for it to consider how a new charter school might affect the community it would open in.
That’s not good policy, IMHO.
Leland Cheung did speak in favor of voting for the ballot question, saying he wished the legislature would offer more funds so that charters didn’t take away from district schools.
I have some more info, but I’m tired at 10PM, so maybe this weekend I’ll post it. I did learn something about “independent expenditures” in political campaigns by groups like DEFR (Democrats for Education Reform) and how they do not have to disclose donors, and that sounds like a good place to start shining a light.
It sounds like Leland Cheung’s position on the ballot question has significantly evolved since last month when, at the Somerville candidate forum, he categorically refused to answer how he would vote (to the great consternation of most of the audience).
I was there for about the first hour, and I can’t say that I learned much – the questions were unfortunately rather repetitive, and I couldn’t discern much in the way of policy difference between the two candidates. Both candidates agree that income inequality is a problem; both support the Fair Share/millionaire’s tax amendment (which won’t be on the ballot until 2018); both agree that investing in fixing and expanding the T is a good idea. *Yawn*
What I also could not discern is why a voter looking for basically progressive representation would choose to unseat Jehlen and replace her with Cheung. He didn’t seem to me to offer anything especially new or creative, and Jehlen has been doing the job well for quite a while now.
Here is a thorough write up of how the forum turned into a debate at the end.
Read it and find out why Leland Cheung said, “The Legislature has pulled off an incredible con and have us pointing fingers at each other.”