Framingham Democratic Town Committee

Minutes of June 19, 2005

Held at Framingham Green from 7:00pm to 9:00pm.

Attendance

Members: Debby Blumer, Nancy Coville Wallace, Bill Haberman, Shahid Khan, Dave Magnani, Stephanie Mercandetti, Cesar Monzon, Phil Ottaviani, Joan Rastani, Norma Shulman, Rochelle Sivan, Parwez Wahid

Associate Members: Pam Roberts

Recent associates members: Paul Fahey, Laura Medrano

Guest speakers: Senator Jarrett Barrios, Andrea Silbert

Guests: Ruth Barlow, Melquirdes Carvellio, Kate Donaghue, Nancy Engel, Kerry Johnson, Ed Mills, Ilma Paxicon

Other elected officials: Rep. Tom Sannicandro

Treasurer’s report

Previous Balance	$1138.72
Dues received	$270.00
Expenses	$0.00
Balance as of 6/19/05	$1408.72

There are 2 members who still owe dues for 2004-05.

There were 12 paid associate members during 2004-05.

Treasurer’s report was accepted.

Minutes for the May meeting had several corrections made to the attendance. Parwez Wahid read the corrected attendance for May. The minutes were accepted with the corrections.

The schedule for 2005-06 that was distributed with the June agenda will be published. The schedule shows September 18th as the next DTC meeting.

Announcements:

Event for Tom Sannicandro, June 20 at TJs Spirits in Ashland at 5:30pm.

Public Forum on Health Care, with John McDonough and Debby Blumer. Memorial Builidng, June 21 7pm.

PROGRAM:

Andrea Silbert, candidate for Lt. Governor was introduced by Kerry Johnson and Ilma Paxicon. Kerry mentioned her business that Andrea helped to establish.

Andrea has helped thousands of individuals establish businesses in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. If elected to the office of Lt. Governor, she hopes to re-energize the state through job creation and innovation; an area in which she offers a great deal of experience and expertise. Through organizations that she has co-founded she knows aspects of small business very well. She has established offices for Center for Women & Enterprise (CWE) in Boston, Worcester and Providence, RI. From these offices she has engaged some 10,000 entrepreneurs who have created some 14,000 jobs resulting in $400,000,000 in good wages. Many of her clients were single mothers. She helped the establishment of the IRobot company in Framingham. (Most known for automated vacuum cleaners, IRobot technology is also being used in the war in Afghanistan to detect land mines.)

Given her experience Andrea feels that as Lt. Governor she can play a significant role in economic development by creating jobs that pay well and offer good benefits.

Andrea Silbert lives in Harwich and this gives her the perspective of life outside of the metropolitan area. She describes her family as middle-class, she is married with 3 children and is her family’s primary wage-earner. She pays her family health care through COBRA.

Given her backgound in job creation and with the issues faced by the regular middle-class families who are working hard for their livelihoods, Andrea Silbert believes she has the experience and the concern to be effective as Lt. Governor of Massachusetts.

Issues such as environment, education and higher education are just as important to Andrea. However she places job creation as paramount as she sees this as an area most critical for Massachusetts at present. She describes jobs as a “mega-issue” and she states that she is the best candidate on the ticket to tackle this issue. Simply stated: more jobs, better paying jobs create more revenue that in turn pays for the services.

At CWE she operated with a staff of 30 in three offices with a $2 million budget (that she fund raised). Given the resources of the state, a larger budget and a larger staff, she can make effective use of her skills and expertise to boost job creation. Where the Romney Administration states figures showing how jobs have declined in the state, Andrea Silbert believes she can bring jobs back to Massachusetts.

Senator Jarrett Barrios, candidate for Middlesex County District attorney was introduced by Cesar Monzon and David Magnani. (Dave also announced his support for Mr. Barrio’s campaign.)

Senator Barrios began first by mentioning his apprehension as a parent when his elder son reached his 13th birthday and felt he was old enough to walk to school with his younger brother on their own. The boys finally convinced their father to let them go on their own and as they did, Jarrett described how he watched them go past the corner, and then he followed them in his car. The simple point he was making is that all parents are naturally concerned for the safety of their children. Jarrett stated he was running for District Attorney to address that concern of safety, to assure that our communities are safe for everyone.

Jarrett recognizes the prosecutors’ duties of a District Attorney but also stresses the responsibility of assuring the county is safe for its residents. He feels it is not enough to be tough on crime, but it is just as important to be smart on the causes of crime.

Jarrett Barrios came to Massachusetts from Florida and attended Havard College and Georgetown law school. He practiced law for several years. He was elected to the State House of Representatives in 1998 and was elected to the State Senate in 2002. He has been the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Public Safety.

He has addressed the issues of gang violence, which is a major issue in parts of the district. It is a serious issue that is impacted through misunderstanding of language and culture. Senator Barrios described a sad incident in which a New Bedford resident came to testify at the State House on a gang violence incident that resulted in the death of that man’s son. When asked if he wanted to see the death penalty for those responsible for the murder of his son, the man replied that he was more concerned for his surviving children and that their neighborhood would be safe for them. Senator Barrios stated it was the DA’s duty to make the communities safer for its residents.

In describing his candidacy Jarrett Barrio stated that he offers a record of leadership and achievement in the area of Public Safety. He mentioned how the state spends $44K per year to house convicts in the jails. He believes money should be spent on programs to keep youth and teens away from criminal activities so they do not end up in jail. He described how the higher percentage of convicts end up back in jail because there are not enough adequate parole programs to monitor them after their release. Programs such as drug testing and job training are needed to keep the released convicts from returning to jail.

The County used to be able to address hate-crimes, white-collar crimes and complaints on violations of civil rights. Barrios believes these should be re-established.