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Come say hello at my booth at Waban Village Day this coming Sunday (May 19) between 10:30 and 2:30 in Waban Square!
Since launching my campaign for State Representative in February, I have personally knocked on more than 3,200 doors and spoken to more than 1,100 voters in the 12th Middlesex District in Newton and Brookline about the state-level policy issues that they want to see more action on. I intend to keep making my way around to thousands more homes in the coming weeks and months!
With an open seat for the first time in a quarter-century, it’s a good opportunity to check in with voters on their priorities going forward. Some issues come up all the time at the doors, while others only come up occasionally but are no less important. Voters often note that Massachusetts is a wonderful state, which is doing many things right, but they believe there is still room to improve towards making this a Commonwealth for everyone and to make sure that we don’t slide backwards on any of our successes.
Voters want to get our everyday infrastructure back on track – from road paving and bridge maintenance to the reliability of the MBTA – to keep the economy humming along. They want the state to take major, urgent steps on addressing the housing crisis to stem the growing flight of young workers and major companies to states with more housing supply. They also say that it is our duty to shelter and take care of refugees and our local homeless residents until federal help arrives, and they hope that we can do this more cost-effectively than we have been.
Voters agree overwhelmingly that the state can’t wait around for federal action on climate change because we already need to be taking steps now on flood control and other adaptations – and be helping businesses and residents accelerate our transition to a greener, cleaner economy. Voters worry about the uncontained growth of their monthly costs for health insurance and childcare. Voters are determined that Massachusetts should affirmatively expand reproductive rights and help those accessing these services from out-of-state. Voters are demanding better and more readily available mental health care and substance use treatment options, especially for the young people of Massachusetts.
And of course, many residents are asking for additional state resources to support our public schools and teachers.
We know there are solutions to every one of these problems.
Sometimes in politics, people tell you to pick one issue to focus on. But I see it differently: It’s about having the energy, the drive, and the focus to carry that banner forward across all these issues at once. If we keep only working on one thing at a time, especially when factoring in the typical pace of government deliberation, we’re not going to get on top of these problems.
Being your state representative is a full-time responsibility for tackling full-sized challenges. We can’t treat this office like a hobby. That’s why I’m out there each day checking in directly with the voters in advance of the September 3rd Democratic primary. I want you to know how hard I will be working on your behalf in the legislature next term.
In uncertain times like these, a place like Massachusetts should be a bastion of safety. Our legislature should proudly be a Beacon for the rest of the nation to follow. We can be a Commonwealth for everyone.
If you would like a lawn sign for this summer, don’t forget to request one today!
Endorsement update: Mass Alliance
I’m proud to announce that I have received the 12th Middlesex District endorsement of Mass Alliance, a 501c4 coordinating coalition of nearly 30 liberal advocacy organizations and labor unions who work together to build a progressive Massachusetts and advance an aligned, comprehensive policy agenda in the legislature and at the ballot box. The issues they work on include civil rights, climate justice, economic justice, education, housing, government transparency, healthcare, reproductive rights, and worker rights – and the organization helps coordinate the member organizations to pull in the same direction and support each other on these objectives even when they fall outside their primary focus.
Mass Alliance has a very extensive vetting process to verify that not only are their endorsed candidates solid and reliable on a wide range of intersecting progressive issues but also that they have put together a trained and experienced campaign operation that can win. A Mass Alliance endorsement signals that a candidate is both politically capable and deeply informed on policy issues currently pending in the legislature. The vetting process includes interviews by representatives from a large sample of the member organizations of Mass Alliance, who want to make sure that the candidate once in elected office will be able to work well with advocacy groups to move the ball forward.
A few recent events!
Although I may be knocking more than a hundred doors a day some days, I also recently had time to stop by the Suzuki School of Newton's Multicultural Festival (Congressman Auchincloss also came by) and the 2nd Annual Newton Highlands Klezmer Dance concert at the Hyde Center, which was a toe-tapping good time and a wonderful way to re-connect Newtonians to some older Ashkenazi Jewish cultural traditions from Europe. (It also reminded me of a Klezmer music instrumental showcase concert my parents took me to as a child.)
On Wednesday afternoon, members of the City Council and School Committee had the opportunity to tour Newton's incredible, highly rigorous comprehensive Career & Technical Education system, located at Newton North. After a lunch at the culinary program's working restaurant, we visited the childcare program, the graphic design and print shop program, the drafting program, and the TV program. These talented students specialize in a field and many go on to impressive higher education programs in the same field, while others enter the workforce at an advanced level within the profession. Many of the classes teach the aspects of running a business or managing other workers in that field. Newton's CTE programming falls under Massachusetts Chapter 74 vocational education and is fully integrated with other courses outside of the specializations.
On Wednesday evening, six of the seven declared candidates for the two House districts contested in Newton appeared at the Chinese American Association of Newton candidate forum at the Newton Free Library and had the chance to hear and discuss questions and concerns from our local Chinese-American community. This is Asian-American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and Newton’s Chinese community in particular has been a vital part of Newton culture, civic life, and the local economy since the late 19th century. Any of us who grew up in the Newton Public Schools in the past few decades know how much Chinese history and cultural curriculum content we were lucky to learn about in the classrooms. The 12th Middlesex House District, encompassing almost all of Route 9 across Newton and Brookline, includes a large and growing Chinese-American population, concentrated heavily along that state highway. I have worked hard to try to represent the diverse needs and interests of my Ward 5 Chinese-American constituents at the City Council and to city departments, and I look forward to doing the same at the state level.
If you have events in Newton or Brookline that you would like me to put on my calendar, reply to this email with the details, and I will try to make it happen!