Yes We Will Lawrence » ywwlawrence

YWW Lawrence website No Longer Available

ywwlawrence — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:23:07 +0000

This site will no longer be available. Please visit the Lawrence CommunityWorks website for more information and ways to continue to stay engaged and involved www.lcworks.org .

Thank You.

Offices on the Ballot: November 2010

ywwlawrence — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 20:07:44 +0000

Offices on the Ballot November 2, 2010

Federal Offices:

United States Representative

State Offices:

Governor

Lieutenant Governor

The Lieutenant Governor acts as a standing successor for the Governor if something should happen that he/she cannot fulfill their duties, presides over meetings of the Governor’s Council, and serves as a liaison to cities and towns.

Secretary of the Commonwealth

The Secretary of the Commonwealth administers elections, maintains public records, manages regulations, public documents, and corporate registration, and preserves historical sites and data.

Attorney General

The Attorney General is the principal lawyer and law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and will serve to represent the Commonwealth when necessary. The Attorney General also provides assistance to residents in specific matters such as consumer protection, fraud, civil rights violation, health care, and insurance issues.

Treasurer and Receiver General

The Treasurer and Receiver General is the custodian of all state funds and is the only party authorized to make payment from those funds. All state agencies must report their finances to the Treasurer. The Treasurer is also the Chair of the State Board of Retirement.

Auditor

The Office of the State Auditor (OSA) audits the various agencies of the state government to ensure that public funds are being used appropriately and effectively. The audits that the OSA performs can concern finances, performance, or information technology.

Governor’s Council

The Governor’s Council votes to approve the Governor’s nomination of judges, appointment and removal of public notaries and justices of the peace, issuance of pardons and commutations, and the payment of the Treasury’s money.

State Senator

State Representative

County Offices:

Sheriff

Democrat-Niki Tsongas (incumbent)

ywwlawrence — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 16:00:15 +0000

In a special election to replace Marty Meehan in October 2007, Niki Tsongas was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where she currently serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the Budget Committee. She grew up in a military family and spent her childhood living all over the world. After she graduated from Smith College, she and her husband Paul Tsongas moved to Lowell, where they worked to establish themselves in the community. Over the years, Tsongas supported her husband as he ran for various offices, including a successful Senate campaign. Meanwhile, she obtained her law degree from Boston University and raised three daughters. After losing Paul to cancer in 1997, Niki has continued their work as a community leader in Lowell, which she has exemplified by starting her own law practice there and serving as the Dean of External Affairs at Middlesex Community College.

Stance on the Issues:

Afghanistan- Tsongas believes that the federal government must operate with a clear strategy and purpose in Afghanistan to bring regional stability and must commit to a clear exit strategy.

Iraq- She believes there should be a clear timetable for U.S. involvement in Iraq, including the removal of troops and transfer of responsibility of both security and governance to the elected Iraqi government.

Environment & Energy- Tsongas asserts that climate change must be addressed now by pursuing alternate energies, which will both create jobs and reduce dependence on foreign oil. She supports a cap-and-trade system to reduce emissions.

Homeland Security- She thinks that the government must support community policing, restore the Assault Weapons Ban which expired in 2004, increase firefighter funding, and work to decrease gang involvement and activity through local street worker and after school programs.

Veterans- Taking care of veterans and their families is one of Tsongas’s highest priorities, and she has worked to increase medical funding and college education opportunities for veterans.

Education- Tsongas believes in support for public education and has supported the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in its focus on education. In the Budget Committee, she has built upon the Recovery Act in the budget, has expanded the Pell Grant Program, and has advocated for early learning programs. She has also supported the College Opportunity and Affordability Act and wants greater congressional oversight of student loan programs.

Social Security- She opposes the privatization of Social Security and the diversion of Social Security payroll taxes into private investment accounts.

Economy- She supported the stimulus package and has called for the federal government to create a public works program to create jobs and to help small businesses through loan funding. In the Budget Committee, she has worked to reduce the federal deficit and has sponsored the pay-as-you-go rule which prevents new spending or tax cuts unless it saves money in other areas of the federal budget.

Website: http://tsongas.house.gov/

http://nikitsongas.com/

Republican-Jon Golnik

ywwlawrence — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:50:53 +0000

Originally from Connecticut, Jon Golnik moved all over the country throughout his childhood. After completing high school, he took a year off, spending 6 months learning Spanish in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and another 6 months as an intern in Chicago for Mayor Harold Washington’s administration. After his father lost his job, Golnik worked his way through Dartmouth College, graduating with honors in 1984. He later received a Master’s degree in International Studies from Johns Hopkins University and an MBA in Multinational Management from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Though he has always been involved with politics, working for different presidential and senatorial campaigns, he has never run for public office himself. Instead, he owns two small businesses and spends his time being a husband and father to two children in Carlisle, MA.

Stance on the Issues:

Economy: Golnik did not support the federal stimulus package and instead proposes a tax credit for small to mid-size businesses that hire new employees, lowering the corporate tax rate, and giving small investors tax credits for investing in small, not publicly traded companies.

Energy- He believes that the alternative energy sector is a necessary means to battle climate change and can create many jobs, but that the government should not punish traditional, less efficient technology as a means to support new technology and should leave it up to the free market instead.

Health Care- Golnik proposes that individuals be allowed to buy insurance across state lines and to deduct health care costs, that the government ends health care mandates, and that the government implements tort reform.

Death Penalty- Golnik supports the death penalty in justified cases.

Illegal Immigration- Golnik wants to cut down on illegal immigration and believes the first steps are to secure our borders and to implement strict penalties on businesses that employ undocumented workers.

Website: http://www.jongolnik.com/

Republican-Frank G. Cousins, Jr. (incumbent)

ywwlawrence — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:11:08 +0000

Frank G. Cousins, Jr. has been the Sheriff of Essex County since 1996, when he was appointed by Governor William Weld and has since been re-elected twice. Before becoming Sheriff, he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Services and a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Springfield College. He served two terms as a state representative, four years as a Newburyport City Councilor, and was the chairman of the Massachusetts Black Legislative Caucus in 1996. In his tenure as Sheriff, he has implemented reforms in the department, has provided assistance and services to the administrations of both Governor Romney and Governor Patrick, and was chosen in 2006 for a two-year term as the President of the Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Association.

Priorities:

Open a regional police lock-up

Introduce new rehabilitative programs to reduce incidence of repeat offenders

Get American Correctional Association accreditation of the Lawrence Correctional Alternative Center

Website: http://frankcousins.net/

Democrat-Damian Anketell

ywwlawrence — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:08:01 +0000

For the ten years from 1995 to 2005, Damian Anketell was a Correctional Officer at the Middleton House of Corrections and Jail. After that, he obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree with a Concentration in Public Law from Salem State College and during that time had an internship at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office in the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) division. Following his time there, he worked as a Community Specialist and Juvenile Probation and Parole Officer with the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice. Anketell has since worked as an Opiate Prevention Specialist for the City of Gloucester’s Health Department. He lives in Peabody with his wife, Lori, and their two dogs.

Priorities:

Competency Development- to better promote offender rehabilitation

Offender Accountability

Public Safety

Website: http://www.anketellforsheriff.com/

Democrat-Patricia Commane

ywwlawrence — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:56:08 +0000

Pat Commane grew up in Milton, MA and was educated by the Sisters of St. Joseph. She received her Bachelor’s Degree from Regis College and her Masters Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from Boston University. She works as a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor for the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission and helps disabled individuals, specifically disabled Veterans and high school seniors, transition into the workplace. She has volunteered for the Andover Commission on Disability for the past ten years, has worked with the Andover Police Department to acquire Project Lifesaver for the town, and last year organized the first annual town-wide clothing drive for Cradles2Crayons. She lives in Andover with her husband Tom.

Priorities:

Economic Development- Commane thinks that directing federal stimulus moneys to industries with potential for growth, like biotechnology and other green businesses, would boost the state economy and jobs. She believes that small businesses should get some relief from tax burdens, more affordable health care, and easier access to credit.

Local Health Care- She thinks that state municipalities should be able to provide their employees with health care from the Group Insurance Commission without needing union endorsements.

Lawrence- She believes that Lawrence should have a five-member control board to oversee fiscal issues and to put Lawrence on the track to economic recovery. Mayor Lantigua should be included in this board, and they should implement a public recovery plan with weekly and monthly benchmarks.

Website: http://www.patcommane.com/

Republican-Paul Adams

ywwlawrence — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:53:38 +0000

Paul Adams grew up in Andover, where he played tennis and became an Eagle Scout, prior to attending Suffolk University and earning his Bachelor’s degree in International Relations. Fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, he spent two years in South America as part of a faith-based volunteer program and spent two summers working with the Council on Hemispheric Affairs in Washington D.C., where he focused on Latin American affairs and policy. Since Mitt Romney’s U.S. Senate campaign in 1994, Adams has been involved in many political campaigns, most recently that of Scott Brown. He has also served on the Massachusetts Republican State Committee since 2008.

Priorities:

Economy- He wants to pursue pro-growth business policies, place a moratorium on new business regulation, roll back the income and sales taxes to 5%, and establish sales tax holidays once a month.

Government Reform and Spending- He would like to seek program funding through grants and other non-budgetary measures, reduce municipal health care costs, and establish a non-partisan Debt Reduction Commission.

Accountability- Adams wants to reform the state pension system, end pensions for politicians, privatize MassHealth, and establish yearly performance reviews for state programs.

Website: http://www.votepauladams.com/

Democrat-Marcos Devers (incumbent)

ywwlawrence — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:40:54 +0000

Marcos Devers won a special election in June 2010 to fill Willie Lantigua’s State Representative seat after he became Mayor of Lawrence, and is now running to be re-elected to keep that seat. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering from la Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo and has taken Graduate courses at UMass Lowell, Salem State College, and Endicott College. Between 1984 and 1998, he taught in various places: Santurce Community College in Santurce, Puerto Rico, Greater Lawrence Technical School, and Lawrence High School. Since 1987, he has been a Massachusetts Registered Professional Engineer and is the CEO of MDJ Inc. Engineering and Construction. He served on the Lawrence City Council from 2000 to 2006 as Councilor At Large, Council Vice President, and Council President and was the Interim Mayor of Lawrence from September to December, 2001.

Website: http://marcosdevers.com/

Republican-Enrique Matos

ywwlawrence — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:38:58 +0000

Enrique Matos came to the United States as a refugee from Cuba at the age of 14 and has lived in Lawrence since 1968. He works at the State House and for the Lawrence School District. He was a member of the Exchange Club in Lawrence and a founding member and first Treasurer of the Club Cultural Latino Americano.

Website: http://www.matos2010.com/