[SPEAKER_01]: Welcome everyone to the 34th Middlesex State Representative Democratic Debate hosted by the Somerville Democratic Party. It is being filmed by the Somerville Media Center. This district is made up of West Somerville, Winter Hill, and South Medford. It is currently held by Christine Barber who is not seeking re-election in order to run for the second Middlesex Senate seat. No Republican, third party, or unenrolled candidate qualified for the November general election, so the Democratic Party primary is almost certain to decide the next state rep. All registered Democrats and unenrolled voters can vote in this election on or before September 1st by requesting a Democratic primary ballot. Our candidates tonight for the 34th Middlesex District are Somerville City Councilor-at-Large, Will Embaugh. Sure, sure. Somerville Ward 4 resident, Chris Oates. And Medford School Committee person, Paul Rousseau. Welcome gentlemen. The rules for tonight's debate were crafted by the Democratic Party here in Somerville, and they are as follows. Each candidate will get a three-minute opening statement. Candidates will have one minute and 30 seconds for a direct response and 30 seconds for follow-ups. We will begin in the order that they are standing to my left. The podiums were arranged by random drawing, and we will begin in the order of which they are standing. So we're going to begin with Councilor Mba's three-minute opening statement. Councilor Mba.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you, Joe. I appreciate the opportunity. Thank you. Jack and the Somerville Dems for your leadership in bringing us together. I'm pretty sure my colleague, Chris, you will be excited about this. You've been asking for this debate for a very long time, and Paula and I, we're super excited. Before I also say a few words, just the residents of the district, thank you for being here. So I'm really excited. You guys are our bosses. My name is William Barr. I'm running to be your next state representative for the 34th Middlesex District. 16 years ago, I came to this country from Cameroon in search of opportunity. And like many families around the district, you know, I have, you know, my own, I have experienced my own share, you know, of the struggle. I moved five times in six years in search of affordable housing. And my wife and I, we are raising our kids in West Somerville that are in public schools. You know, they love it. And every day we also keep wondering for how long these kids will continue to enjoy this community that they love. So those experiences have shaped how I approach public service. And for nearly a decade, you have been able to entrust me with the responsibility of leading this community as your Councilor at large. And with that, we've delivered a lot of meaningful results and not just talk about problems. I've helped create the Office of Housing Stability. and the Somerville Community Land Trust. I've led effort to protect workers from waste theft. I've championed climate action, safe streets, environmental justice, immigrant rights, and investment in affordable housing through my position on the Job Creation and Retention Trust and also on the Affordable Housing Trust. This race isn't simply about the best ideas. It is about who is ready to turn those ideas into law on Beacon Hill. There are absolutely no doubt, I have a tremendous respect for my colleagues, Chris Oates and Paul Russell, amazing gentlemen who I greatly respect, and for also just your willingness to serve. But I have something different. It is about a proven track record of governing, writing legislation, building coalitions, and passing policies, and delivering results on day one. So I won't need to learn about how government works. We need somebody who understands city hall, and then we can also take that on Beacon Hill. So all that is to say at a state house, I will fight to make Massachusetts more affordable by building more affordable housing, strengthening tenant protections, improving transportation, fully funding our public schools, protecting workers' rights, expanding access to health care. And I have personal stories behind all these issues. You know, advancing climate action and ensuring that every family has a fair opportunity to succeed. So this is what I'm going to bring, and I respectfully, you know, ask for your vote on September 1st. So thank you for being here, and I look forward to the conversation as we unfold.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you, Will and Bah. Next up, Chris Oates.
[XXXXXX00148_SPEAKER_00]: Well, thank you. Thank you everyone for being here. My name is Chris Oates. It is lovely to share a little bit of democracy with you here tonight because we don't have enough of that in Massachusetts. Massachusetts has the least competitive state legislature in the entire country. Most of our state legislative seats this year are uncontested. Many of the others will be decided on September 1st before a lot of people start tuning in like this one. And that is not how democracy should work. And a lot of the issues that we're gonna be talking about tonight from transportation to childcare, to energy. One of the reasons we don't see the urgency on Beacon Hill is because we don't have that popular pressure on our elected officials. Now I never really expected to be up here running for state representative. I thought my career was going to be in foreign policy. I was 17 when the Iraq war started and that led me to study political science at Brown and then go to Oxford for my master's and PhD in international relations. After that I got a job as a political risk analyst so I was writing The mic's not working, sorry. I worked as a political risk analyst, which was writing reports, pretty lengthy ones, advising governments and multinational organizations about everything from geopolitics to macroeconomics. But I started to notice that a lot of the stuff in my work, and then the things that I was living personally, were not being decided in Washington. They were being decided at the state level. And that is the housing that I was trying to afford, the traffic that my dad was sitting in every day on his way to work, or the mental health care that my sister has unfortunately had to have a lot of. And yet there was still less scrutiny of our state governments often than when a presidential candidate had breakfast in New Hampshire. And so I thought that needed to change. So I joined the Ranked Choice Voting campaign in 2018 to try to bring more choice to our elections. I helped lead the statewide coalition, which is really the only way you get anything done on Beacon Hill, is to have a statewide coalition. And when that campaign ended, I started a company to make state legislatures across the country more accessible. But for me, the big change in my life was when I had a son. Well, if my wife had a son, I was there. I ate a lot of gummy bears that day. But then when she went back to work, my wife's a doctor, so I became the primary caregiver. And what I saw was that all of the mailing lists that I had signed up to about come to this event, go to that event, they were all happening during bedtime and bath time and story time. And I couldn't go to them. And you see that when our elections are uncompetitive and when so many of the civic events that have the conversations that shape the decisions that affect government are happening at a time where many working families can't attend, you really are shut out. So that's really why I'm running today, because I think what we need from our next representative is someone who can understand the complexities of the policies, of the full spectrum policies, can build the statewide coalitions, because you can't get anything done on Beacon Hill unless you have a geographic and ideological breadth in your coalition. and can always remember that the people in the room with them, the people donating, the people coming to events like this, are not the totality of our district. And so our job is to always be reaching out to communities that we feel are not already involved in the political process, finding out what they need, and then delivering the results to serve them. Thank you.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you, Chris Oates. Up next, Paul Rousseau.
[Paul Ruseau]: Thank you, everyone, for being here. I hope I can project enough. I'm sure this is how everybody wanted to spend their Saturday, but I do really appreciate the Somerville Democratic City Committee putting this together. My name's Paul Rousseau. I am running to be your next state representative, well, some of you. And some of you know me, some of you don't, and I'm really glad that you're here regardless. I've lived in the Medford-Somerville area for over 20 years. I first lived in Somerville on Powder House Boulevard, but I now live in Medford with my husband, Bob, and our two kids, Nev and Matthew. They're now adults, so I don't know what to call them. and of course, our cats. By day, I'm a software engineer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, supporting technology that is behind life-saving research, cancer research. For the last nine years, I have had the honor to serve on the Medford School Committee, where I am proud to have transformed our schools in that time. This last term, I co-led the 2024-2025 Medford Teacher Contract negotiations, which got us smaller class sizes, paid parental leave, and the largest raise in Medford Teachers Association's history. We more than doubled the pay for our paraprofessionals, and that was at my demand. When I first was elected and I saw what our paraprofessionals made, I was beyond mortified, and now this year they get another 8%, next year another 8%. It's not a living wage, but we're getting there. I brought free meals to our district before the state did. I brought free dental checkups in our elementary schools. A lot of these things have a very direct connection to my own experience. I know how to get things done in government, and I also know firsthand what it feels like when government fails. Far too many people in Medford, Somerville, and across Massachusetts also know what it's like when the government fails. I grew up with homelessness, food insecurity, and all the other things that go with that. These are not just failures of government. They are purposeful policy decisions. The way we craft our policy to make, frankly, a lot of liberals feel good that we're doing the right thing. And that stuff doesn't actually land where the people that need it get it. So, that is the kind of business as usual that I'm not looking forward to continuing at the Statehouse. One of my favorite things is that Massachusetts is really the best at sustaining the unsustainable. Every year we hear about our healthcare costs being unsustainable, and it's been going on now for most of everybody here's lives. Sounds pretty sustainable. So that's, of course, why Medicare for All is my number one priority. And I'm going to run out of time before my list is done. But I really appreciate everybody being here and listening, and I look forward to answering a lot more questions tonight. And thank you so much.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you, Paul Russo. We're going on to the Q&A portion. First question. The three of you, all progressive Democrats, are seeking the same office and you agree on many of the problems facing this district. Many voters are looking not just who agrees with them, but who is most likely to successfully legislate on them. Could you each speak to what kind of legislative style you will take and how you intend to be the most effective legislator for this district? I'm going to start. These are one-minute, 15-second answers. They are very good about keeping time because the timer is right in front of them. So we're going to start with Councilor Imba going to Mr. Oates and then Mr. Russo, and we'll start changing up after that. So, Councilor Imba.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you, Joe, for that question. Just like I mentioned in my introduction that I have tremendous respect for my, you know, counterpart, and I actually, you know, started differentiating myself. about the fact that I have a proven track record of somebody who has been able to translate ideas into policy and actually govern. So I understand City Hall. I know most of the legislation that left from Somerville and they are waiting at Beacon Hill, you know, for us to kind of like push them forward. So I have my own lived experiences on top of that. So this is like I bring, you know, a very holistic approach because it's like they're saying that whoever is closest you know, to the pen should be closest to the power. So I have, you know, experienced most of these issues personally. I have spoken on most of the legislation at the Statehouse on housing. I'm a frequent flyer at the Statehouse, spoken on housing. co-founded Somerville Alliance for Safe Street, Champion for Safe Street, spoken on climate legislation on Beacon Hill, spoken on immigrant legislation, the Safe Community Act, we just passed the PROTECT Act. I have been on Beacon Hill on all this legislation. I think that is something that differentiates me. I don't just show up, you know, I show up, I get the job done, I build coalition, I know how to weave the system because this is how it takes. I'm a community guy who loves this community, loves Medford, and I have a contingent of Medford constituents right here to see how we will be having this conversation in broad daylight and how we can differentiate ourselves. So I appreciate the opportunity. Thank you, Will. Chris?
[XXXXXX00148_SPEAKER_00]: So I worked on the rank choice voting campaign and my title was senior advisor for strategic partnerships, which was the most pretentious title I've ever had in my life. And it was basically, go out and build the coalition that can get rank choice voting passed. We had four pieces of legislation on Beacon Hill. And we also had a ballot initiative. And we're trying to do both at the same time. Obviously, if you can get the legislation passed, you don't have to go to the ballot. And what I saw was, it's very simple. You need in the House 81 votes. You need in the Senate 21. So you cannot just say, this is popular in Somerville or Medford or Cambridge or Boston. You need to get allies. in the Berkshires, in Worcester County, in the South Coast. And what we had to do was basically go to a very wide range of people who did not agree on everything. They didn't agree on much. But if we could get them to agree on this one issue, then we could move it forward. And what I noticed that the best way to do that is obviously you go in there and you try to persuade them on the facts and you try to find out where their interests align with your interests. But the single best way is to do it with a coalition of advocacy groups across the state. Because when we try to go in and meet with a representative, it was off me go, sorry, we're really busy. When we said, you have five of your constituents who want to go in and meet with you, all of a sudden they had that meeting booked. So that's really how I see it. Work with the advocacy groups across the state and say, what do you need from me inside the building? to help you on the outside, whether that is some strategic guidance about where the, you know, the critical levers are, or whether it's just to be that kind of good cop in the building so after they meet with their constituents, they can come to me and say, what's really going on, and they can hopefully trust me.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you, Chris. Paul?
[Paul Ruseau]: So I love this question a lot. So I was the first Our Revolution Medford candidate in 2017. I was sworn in in 2018. And in that time, the coalition has grown so that all of the school committee members are on that slate. Six of the seven city councilors are on that slate. I know how to build a coalition, keep it together, which is an unrelated activity, frankly, and ensure that we are all staying true to the thing that brings us together. And what made our revolution in Medford so successful was that we didn't have a big pile of policies. We had value statements. So somebody else was talking about this earlier, but we've got to talk about our values because policy is frankly, very detailed and is hard to digest for most people, but values are not. This coalition has 12 of the 14 local officials all on the same slate every single election. And that is not a testament to a click. That is a testament to the fact that we said we would do something, and we've done it. and we continue to do it. And when I say Medford Public Schools has changed dramatically in nine years, I don't think you can comprehend how dramatically it has changed. It is an unrecognizable school system after five terms in office. And I plan to take that same approach to the State House, where I'm going to subvert my other 750 priorities to the ones that are most important now, like Medicare for All.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you, Paul. So in one word, gentlemen, this is the moderator's discretion. One word. What is your legislative style? Let's go to Paul first. One word.
[Paul Ruseau]: Prepared for five minute long answers. I would say coalitions. Chris.
[XXXXXX00148_SPEAKER_00]: Oh, he stole mine.
[SPEAKER_01]: I was going to say coalitional. All right. You can both have the same answer. Will. Chris stole mine.
[SPEAKER_00]: Corporation, corporation, I would just say.
[SPEAKER_01]: All right. I'm looking for some debate here, folks, but let's go to question two.
[SPEAKER_00]: I say corporation for myself.
[SPEAKER_01]: On which one legislative committee would you most like to serve, why, and how do you expect to get that assignment? Let's go to Mr. Rousseau first.
[Paul Ruseau]: Sure, so I'll be quick with the answer that is my real answer, and I know that I can't have it, so I'm going to move on past that. The first one I would really want is rules. I wrote all the rules for Medford's public schools, the school committee, there were none when I was elected, and I understand that rules are not just a little thing. They're really how the machinery works. There's no way a freshman's getting on that committee. And there's probably a 0% chance they don't stick me on education. I care about education. I've been a school committee member, so of course I'd be happy to be on education. The one I really want to be on right now, though, is health care financing. The title of it alone tells you that it is not about Medicare for All. It is about How do we deal with the freak out every year of the 10, 12, whatever percent increase that we have? And every year we say we can't sustain this, and somehow we just keep sustaining it. So, I want to be on the Health Care Financing Committee because I would like to try to steer the conversation away from not just the annual freakout, which we have to have because we have to figure it out, but it can't be the whole conversation. If it's the whole conversation throughout the entire year, year after year, when do we talk about implementing Medicare for all? So healthcare financing is my final answer.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you very much. Councilor Mbah, how about you?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, thank you, Joe. And just to mirror what Paul said, even myself, there's so many things I want to be on, besides housing, which everybody cares about housing. I've been thinking a lot about, like, all this, like, recently the MBTA actually wasn't really working, so I was, when I was taking the bus, you know, by, I was like, oh, this is like, we can, I would love to be on this, on this committee. And then I thought about my own healthcare, you know, experience in the United States. When I moved here, I applied for MassHealth. They rejected me. They said I wasn't below 21, and I didn't have independent. And then at the end of the year, they penalized me for not having health insurance. I'm like, oh, I want to be on health care policies. And so as an environmental scientist myself, also, they just passed the environmental bond bill. So you need people to push for those funding into communities to enable them to do climate resilience and all these different things. So there's all these different things I'm excited to be on. immigration, I don't want to be the whistleblower, but again we just passed the PROTECT Act, but again there's a lot that we can do to actually push, you know, communities forward.
[SPEAKER_01]: Councilor Mba, I'm not putting you on a committee so you don't have to look at me, but which one committee?
[SPEAKER_00]: I think I want to be on, not one, I want to be on a few. I want to be on housing and I want to be on environment.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you very much. Who's up next? Sorry, let's go to Chris Oates.
[XXXXXX00148_SPEAKER_00]: So I thought about this a lot because I feel like econ development fits with my background. Housing is obviously something important, so is transportation for this district. But as a first term representative, you don't get to choose the big committees like Ways and Means. And so I've been thinking a lot about how do I make the biggest impact as a first term representative? And what I think I want to do is be the person to go in there and say, what are the specific issues that have too often fallen through the cracks? As everyone focuses on the big deal, the big ticket items, and a lot of folks on the committee chairs are pretty inundated. So for me, that would be the Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities. Because I feel like you have a really big chance to make an impact. Even a small change can have huge implications for a family, or a child, or someone who is trying to get a handicap spot on their street. That is the thing that is why you do this job. So yeah, I still got 35 seconds. Can I talk about econ development a little bit more? Sure, you can.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's your time.
[XXXXXX00148_SPEAKER_00]: So the other one is, if I can't get children's, it's econ dev because so much of probably what we're going to be talking about tonight is, oh, we're going to do this and we're going to pay for it. How are we going to pay for it? We're going to pay for it either by raising taxes, which is always a fight, or we could just pay for it through economic growth. And that is a lot easier because you don't have to go into huge battles. So that would probably be the other one. If I can't get children, families, and persons with disabilities, is go for EconDev and try to build the economy that can pay for all the probably other things that we're going to be talking about tonight.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you very much, Chris. Next question. Councilor Imba, during your time on Somerville City Council, you voted to send Beacon Hill many home rule petitions, including on rent control, a real estate transfer fee, tenant opportunity to purchase, municipal voting rights for 16 and 17-year-olds, among others. All of these proposals have languished in the legislature. If you are elected, what specific tactics would you use to get Somerville and Medford's home rule petitions through the State House?
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you, Joe. I have been thinking about this and really been excited about it. I think I even texted a few colleagues. Not that we actually know the outcome, but there's been, you know, excitement about how to push some of this legislation forward. That's why I talked about somebody who understands this, City Hall, and now is moving to Beacon Hill. I think one of the things we need to do is education. Our education and outreach methodology has to change, because you've got to bring people together so you understand that Medford and Somerville, these are two different communities. I've been convincing in Medford, I've knocked thousands of doors there, The idea about rent control is not very popular in Medford, and so that's why we have enabling legislation, you know, to give communities the option to do what it shows that works for their community. So this is how you kind of like push legislation forward and bring meaningful change that is tailored to each community here in Massachusetts.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you. Chris, if there's if there's a difference there between your style and Councilor and Boz, kind of highlight that.
[XXXXXX00148_SPEAKER_00]: Sure. So I think the big reason why so many of our home rule petitions don't make it very far in the statehouse is because the state leaders think it would be bad for Massachusetts. And really, you can say, well, it's just about Somerville. But they say, well, if that has a negative impact on the Commonwealth overall, they're not going to support it. So I think really the only way you do that is by building a reputation within the statehouse and with leadership that when you go to them and say, this is a home rule petition, but trust me, I've looked into it. It is good for the state overall. It is not something where we're going to do it. It's going to be a disaster. The state has to come in with extra money. So you have to, I think, build that reputation of, a serious thinker that when you go to them, it's not like you go to them every day and say, I need this, I need this, I need this. You know when to pick and choose what you think is the most important for your district that you can then get through the leadership. And that involves working a lot with the city officials and with advocacy groups to see that of the, you know, 5,000 bills that get filed up there many of which are home rule petitions. These are the ones that I'm really going to fight for because you have limited political capital up there and so you have to be able to understand and that is mainly through listening to others what it is that we really need to fight for and then you need to translate the demands of your community into why it is good for the state overall so that leadership on Beacon Hill will say yeah we'll go with this because we think that even though it's a home rule petition, it will be good for the neighboring towns and it will be good for the overall state budget. So I think that's the most important thing. You have to demonstrate to leadership why this is not just for Somerville or for Medford, but really for Massachusetts overall. Thank you, Chris.
[SPEAKER_01]: Paul, same style, different style?
[Paul Ruseau]: Very different, very different style. Okay. I see the use of a lot of home rule petitions. There are 511 of them filed so far this term as a failure of the legislature. I had a great conversation on the door with a person who was very uncomfortable with the Somerville ballot question around divestment. I didn't agree with her, but I did agree that there's a problem with this use of Whether it's ballot questions, I don't think that these local home rule petitions are terribly different, frankly. There's a law, and then we want an exception. That means the law's the problem. And it is not, in my opinion, an approach where 27% of those local home rule petitions have been signed into law this term. And that's a lot, considering only 43 real bills have actually been signed into law. What is going on at the statehouse? What's not going on is legislating. With 5,000 bills filed in a single term, that is a tsunami of bills. And so when I talk about wanting to get on the rules, one of the rules I want to do is to dramatically restrict the number of bills legislators can file. If there is a mountain of stuff that has to be processed every term, it's not a mountain. It's, you know, much bigger than a mountain. How are we going to have the bandwidth to focus on things like Medicare for all? We don't have the bandwidth, and I have a little sympathy, frankly, for the folks trying to keep the ship afloat.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you very much. On to the next question. Somerville and Medford have some of the highest costs of living expenses in the nation. Councilor Lombard, you support allowing municipalities to adopt rent stabilization. Mr. Oates, you have emphasized removing zoning and permitting barriers to private housing construction. And Mr. Rousseau, you've called for a substantial expansion of publicly owned mixed income social housing. Which of those approaches would reduce housing costs most quickly, and what evidence can you provide that will support your answer? Councilor Mba first. If you need me to repeat the question, I can. Those are kind of long preambles. Please do it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Do it. Thank you, Joe.
[SPEAKER_01]: Good. So really, which of the approaches would reduce housing costs most quickly, and what evidence supports your answer? So in your case, you're saying rent stabilization. In Mr. Oates' case, he's saying removing the zoning and permitting barriers. And in Mr. Rousseau, he's saying substantial expansion of public housing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, no. I wouldn't disagree with Mr. Oates and Mr. Russo. I think we need a multi-pronged approach for this housing situation. for mayor of this city on rent control, you know, even though they cannot, like, massage the change in more of itself into rent stabilization and all, I still believe in rent control as the only pathway forward. But again, you know, we also need to, you know, embrace, you know, the YIMBY bill to remove barriers, you know, for this, you know, like, all this legislation that needs to build more housing. We also need to encourage, yes, in God's backyard, that facilities should be able to build multifamily housing. So there are multiple approaches to be able to put this housing forward. It's not like a silver bullet. So this is my stand, and this is how I will approach this conversation.
[XXXXXX00148_SPEAKER_00]: Great, Chris Oates. So the reason I led with housing production is that we see from Auckland, New Zealand to Austin, Texas, that the fastest way to drop rents is a large increase in supply. But the nice thing when you do that is that you also then generate the revenue to pay for affordable housing, public housing, social housing, whatever you want to call it, non-market rate housing that is partially subsidized, usually by the government or by tax incentives. And if you talk to anyone who works in affordable housing, They will always tell you the big problem is where do they get the money? Is it federal tax credits, which might be going away, affordable housing trust funds, anything else? The question is always, where do we get the money? So the reason why I emphasize production is that generates the revenue that you can then use to subsidize all the other types of non-market rate housing that you need. And the other thing I should mention is that by bringing down the cost of construction through permitting reform, you then have Cheaper homes that you can actually build, because now if it costs less to build that home, there are more projects that pencil out. But more importantly, the subsidies for affordable housing go a lot further. Here in Somerville, the Somerville Community Land Trust recently did a project, and it required between $607,000 of subsidies per unit. Now, we don't have that much money to do those subsidies statewide. We need 220,000 units across the state. So if we did all of those at that rate, it would be $154 billion. We don't have the money for that. So by bringing down the cost of construction, making those subsidies go further, we have more people who need help getting the help that they need. Thank you.
[Paul Ruseau]: Paul Rousseff. All that. Obviously, I actually think rent stabilization is probably the answer to the question of what will most quickly bring down the costs. I think that one of the challenges is that, you know, we hear a lot about build, build, build, and my response to that is if the market was going to solve this problem, well, The market's been around for a long time, and I haven't seen it solve the problem. I only see the problem getting worse. I think if we don't address the issue of decommodifying housing as an actual asset, which for anybody who owns a home, don't worry, it's not gonna go down. If we could just have it go down to just maybe one or 2% increase a year, or even just inflation, that would be a dramatic improvement in the fact that housing is just a commodity, just an investment. For a lot of people, it's their only thing for retirement. that problem that was invented, we're pretty good at inventing these things in our end-stage capitalist society, but it has to be directly addressed. And one of the other things, the reason I said public housing and public-owned housing, social housing, housing that isn't just for folks at the bottom income scale, but folks who are, you know, not the folks at the top, they don't want it anyways, but folks that are in the middle income. Frankly, folks that are now making six figures and can't possibly buy a home in Somerville. ever, ever, like six figures. And there's no hope for buying a home if you did not inherit it. And this word I heard on a podcast called an inheritocracy, that's what we live in. We live in an inheritocracy.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you very much. So can I encapsulate? Stabilize the market while continuing to build and make sure the public housing portion of that is included in everything that we do. I'm not running. Question. Somerville schools have repeatedly been under financial strain and the city has dedicated substantial funding to try to improve educational outcomes. Mr. Rousseau, you have a solution. Rewriting the Chapter 70 education aid formula and removing its inflation cap. How much additional funding would your proposal require? where would that money come from, and how would you persuade legislators representing communities that might receive a smaller share? And I'm going to ask you both a follow-up to that.
[Paul Ruseau]: The idea that any community will receive a smaller share is probably not necessary. We have a floor in our Chapter 70 formula. I don't agree with it on principle. There's a floor. So if you're Weston, Wellesley, Manchester-by-the-Sea, you get state aid for your students, even if you could easily afford to pay for it all. And every one of those dollars is dollars that's not going to Somerville and Medford and lots of other communities that, frankly, need more. The floor, I think, is something that should be removed from the Chapter 70 formula. I think that is as likely to happen as climate emergency will be over tomorrow. But increasing the amount of money that is going to communities. So there's this hold harmless part of the Chapter 70 formula. This is really boring stuff if you don't know what it is. It's how the state decides how much money to give cities and towns to pay for education. When you are not technically supposed to get any more, they give you a token amount, it's called hold harmless, and it's per pupil. So some years it's $20, some years it's $120, but if you can do math at all, you quickly realize that number is dramatically lower than inflation. So for Somerville and Medford for the last decade, we get hold harmless, which means we get less money every year from the state. if you include inflation. And somehow we do that by not paving the roads or not hiring enough teachers or being inappropriate in negotiations and not giving appropriate raises. And I'm out of time. Sorry.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you, Paul. Councilor Mbarra and Chris Oates, let's do this. Do you agree with that approach? And if you don't, what's the difference?
[SPEAKER_00]: With the approach that, you know, that Paul has described? No, I mean, I appreciate, you know, like I think that it's whatever I think Paul is saying makes so much sense because you're even supposed to add the fact that, you know, there's also the evaluation is also based on property values, you know, and so and meanwhile, there are people in the city, Somerville and Medford, you know, they have their property values very high, but they are cash poor. So, you know, there's like all these different evaluation that people, that it doesn't really match the reality of everyday, you know, like life. So, I support, you know, like what Paul is saying that, you know, the state can do more, you know, to be able to like change this formula so that it is more just and equitable across municipalities. Thank you.
[XXXXXX00148_SPEAKER_00]: Chris? Well, this is, yeah, this is going to be personal for me because my son's starting pre-K the day after the election. So I will be a public school parent, but not until the election. But I think if we're going to reopen the Chapter 70 funding formula, I think what we're likely to get into is not just what's going on today, but what is going to be happening over the next 15 years. which is that with birth rates falling right now, student populations are going to be falling over the next generation. So in 2050, it's projected that we'll have 19% fewer students in Massachusetts than what we have today. And that's not going to be distributed evenly across the state. So Somerville and Medford might be constant, but places in the Berkshires might have their student population go down by over a third. And you cannot just heat the building a third less in winter if you have a third less kids. So I think if we're going to be reopening, you know, the actual formula for funding to try to get more for Somerville and Medford, I think what we're likely to get into is a different debate driven by the representatives out in the Berkshires and in Worcester County. What are we going to do with student falling populations? Because a lot of education spending is per pupil. So if they start getting less, you know, less money because they have fewer pupils, they're gonna have difficult situations of are they laying off teachers, are they closing buildings, are they regionalizing? And so while I'm not opposed to what Paul is saying, I'm saying if we're going to get into a big education funding debate, I think it's very likely to turn into what does Massachusetts need, not just right now, but what do all the different communities need in 2035, in 2040, in 2050, and that's probably gonna be ending up what the new formula is going to be. Joe, can I respond to that?
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you. Sure. Follow up.
[Paul Ruseau]: I do. Thank you so much, Chris, because one of my main points was that Massachusetts does funding for education in a way that is actually, you know, if you live here and you've always lived here, you think that's how it goes. Maryland does it by county, which is a much bigger unit. Vermont does it by state. That's obviously a bigger unit. Our willingness to accept that you live one house over in Cambridge, you can have twice as much money spent on your education than in Somerville, let's not talk about Medford, is a values problem.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you. Next question. Mr. Oates, you have never held elected office. What experience do you have that Councilor Mba and Mr. Rousseau do not that voters should consider you?
[XXXXXX00148_SPEAKER_00]: So I worked, as I said, on the Rank Choice Voting campaign, 2018 through 2020. And so that was a statewide ballot initiative. So we were doing two things. First, we were trying to get a majority in the legislature because that is an easier way to pass it. We were also trying to build the popular support for election reform without a real local example. We were basically trying to set an example for the rest of the country. When ranked choice voting had worked in the past, it was in Maine, they had a specific person, Paul LePage, the governor, very likely to be the next congressman from the second district, to point to. So we had a harder job. So that involved me going around to Democratic and Republican town committees across the state and trying to tell them why this issue, which might seem abstract and anodyne and kind of technical, was actually in their interest. I had to talk with Libertarians and Greens. I spoke with the League of Women Voters. I sat in with legislators when their constituents would try to talk to them about it. And I had to be the subject matter expert answering that. And really, that is the job of a legislator. If you want to pass legislation on Beacon Hill, you need a majority from across the state to be with you. So my experience, I think, that is most relevant is the fact that I've already done that. I've already tried to build that coalition. I've learned what is it like to talk to someone from Worcester and say, yes, we care about this a lot in Somerville and Cambridge and Medford, but here's why you should care about it as well, even though you think it doesn't apply to you. Here's why it helps your interests as well as ours. Because if you want to get something passed, that's how you do it. You make it so that it's their interest to help you out and to help the people here out.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you very much. Will and Paul, you were once candidates who had never been elected yourselves. You got anything you want to offer to Chris on first-time candidates?
[Paul Ruseau]: I have, sure. Sure, go ahead. So I will say that I miss that being a first-time candidate. I very much miss it. My hope levels were different, really very high. I will say that local city elections and governance is really such a different It really is. You know, there's 160 House members. You know, I know all, I have every single Medford city council and school committee member on a group chat to say, you know, where are we going for dinner and, you know, or whatever. That's not a thing at the State House. And the thing that bothers me a lot about the State House is that a majority of the electeds can think we should pass a bill and they can co-sign a bill and it doesn't do a thing. We, for seven years, we've had the menstrual products bill sitting and going nowhere. Driver's license for homeless youth, ten years. Nobody would be opposed to it. Nobody. It costs nothing, but we can't do it. It just can't happen. The recess bill for kids, the Healthy Youth Act, all a decade, never get their day for a vote. I think that addressing the machinery itself directly is the only way to really make any big changes. I don't think I am the guy that's going to change the State House. Me and a coalition of three or four other folks who are attached at the hip and are unwilling to do anything other than talk about one issue at a time.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you. Councilor Mbarra.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you. Thank you, Paul. I was just, I mean, for me, all I have is just deep respect for Mr. Oates because it takes a lot of courage you know to step up to run so uh that is why When I made my introduction, I appreciated, you know, your leadership and Jack and the Dems for putting this together. And I said, Mr. Oswald, be happy because this is where, you know, you can see the contrast. You know, we can hear what you stand for, what we stand for, what everybody stands for. So this is, for me, this is huge. So that is all, man. Congratulations for stepping up.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you, Will. Something tells me I'm not going to get them to argue. I'm trying my best here, folks. Next question. Councilor Mba, you have stated that if elected, you will step down as a Somerville City Councilor. Mr. Russo, you have said that you would continue working at Dana-Farber while serving in the legislature. To each of you, would you intend to serve as a full-time state representative? Let's go to Councilor Mba. You are going to give up? your seat.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, and here was my methodology. When I started collecting signatures, again, people, my supporters, fans, they're like, oh, well, are you going to keep your seat? I'm like, I haven't even thought about it. They're like, oh, we want you to finish your term. I'm like, sure, I'll finish my term. So then they started getting excited. when after I've submitted my papers and everything, like the majority of people that signed my nomination paper, they wanted me to finish my term. But when I started looking at reality, some people approached me in good faith and said like, well, I think it might be too much. And then I'm like, wow, I think also I have never been in that office before. Just to respect the city of Medford and the city of Somerville, I think it is in my interest to resign so that I can fully focus on both districts and serve them with the skills and ability that I've been entrusted with.
[SPEAKER_01]: Mr. Rousseau.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sure.
[Paul Ruseau]: So I don't see this as choosing between two forms of public service. My work at the Dana-Farber supports technology behind cancer research, and I am proud of it. I've also spent nine years on the school committee while working, raising a family, negotiating contracts. I've been at the administrative offices at least four days every single week for probably the last seven years or so, all during the day while I'm allegedly working. Don't tell my boss. So, I do not want to walk away from my work that matters, but I also know that when I take on a responsibility, I organize my life around it. I could not have been on the school committee and done the work I do. if I had a nine to five job that required me to be there. I wouldn't have done it because that's not who I am. Whatever time is required is the time that a project gets. So my schedule will be fine. My boss is fine. As he says, we're never waiting on you. You're always sitting around waiting for us. Different problem. But the real question is not whether I have another job. It is whether I show up, prepare, remain accessible, and deliver. And I have a record for doing that.
[XXXXXX00148_SPEAKER_00]: Thank you very much. Mr. Oates. Yeah, I said from the beginning that this is going to be my full-time job, because that's what you deserve, and that is what is required to actually do the job well. I know a lot of folks who've worked in and around Beacon Hill, and they can tell you that the legislature might be transparent to the outside, but those on the inside know who are the workers and those who are getting reelected but maybe not showing up all the time. Because ultimately, if you want to get something passed, it's not that it gets passed in the budget in July and you start working on it in July. I'm going to start working on September 3rd. I'm going to give myself one day off, but start working on September 3rd to get my entire legislative agenda for the first term done by December, know who I'm working with, what is the actual legislation we're firing, what is the strategy. Of course you're going to have to adapt when the session hits, but I would much rather be adapting from a place of preparedness and knowing that all of my effort is going into representing this district and having the meetings on the issues that might not even seem at the time like they're worth my time. You know, it might be, oh, we're going to have a meeting on this thing. I don't know if it's really worth it, but I'm going to do it anyway. Because those are often the ones where you discover the cracks in the system, the things where people are falling through, where you can actually really make a difference. So I know a lot of people who have worked in and around Beacon Hill, as I said, and they tell me that there's really no question, if you want to do the job well, if you want to do the work, You really need to be putting in the time. So that's why I've said from the beginning, this will be my full-time job. I'm going to give up my company to someone else. And I will have nothing else other than this and child care, obviously. Thank you very much. Joe, can I add on to that?
[Paul Ruseau]: Sure. So a legislator makes $82,000 a year. And if you live in Medford or Somerville, and you can live on $82,000 a year, you already own your home. The legislature's methodology for providing pressure is to give you committees where you can make a lot more money. And frankly, if you don't need that money, then you already come from enough wealth where it doesn't matter. But for a lot of regular folks, and I count myself along that line, I can't live on $82,000 a year. I would have to live in my car. So.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you very much. Do we have a timer problem or?
[Paul Ruseau]: I don't know what that is.
[SPEAKER_01]: Sorry, he lowered the volume on us. All right. Thank you very much. Are we done? We're done with that. Let's go to the next question. And I'm going to kind of eliminate follow-ups for the next couple of questions, because we're running a little bit behind. Mr. Rousseau, you support establishing a state single-payer health care system. Mr. Oates has said he doubts that single-payer health care is workable at the state level, more so with federal cuts more so with federal cuts making state budgets even tighter. Mr. Rousseau, how would you finance single payer, especially without federal cooperation? And Mr. Oates, if state single payer is unworkable, please explain your alternative for improving health care costs and access in Massachusetts.
[Paul Ruseau]: So paying for it is not actually a challenge. It's only a challenge if if you're really, really, really rich. We have the millionaire's tax, 4% on every dollar you earn over a million. So the first, you know, the first million, you're not paying any more than you, me, or what I assume is most of the people in the room. After that, the first million, you start paying 4 cents additional per dollar. I propose that for every additional million, we add 1% more. up to 12%. There are people in Massachusetts, and I don't mean one, whose income last year was over $50 million. And don't forget, these are folks with a lot of lawyers and CPAs that can figure out how to not pay taxes. Their actual taxable income was over $50 million last year. So I'm going to struggle to cry if we add another 1% or if you are up that high, 12%. That would generate $8.7 billion a year. The reason you can't go over 12% is you end up with a situation where they then stop taking their income because people in that kind of an income bracket can just decide to not take income. So we don't want to go too high, although in my heart I would like to go higher. But 8.7 billion is a lot of money. And I think we could do an awful lot for Medicare for All and probably a lot of other things.
[SPEAKER_01]: Chris Oates, why is it unworkable?
[XXXXXX00148_SPEAKER_00]: So I've lived under a single-payer health care system. I lived in England. And I remember when I showed up, they said, oh, by the way, here's your doctor. And I was like, OK, what's the co-pay? What's the insurance? And they're like, what are you talking about? You just go to the doctor. Just go to the doctor. And it was great. I mean, it's not utopia. problems with wait times, they have problems with how much they pay their staff, but it is a better system. So if we could get Medicare for all, I would be very happy. And if we could have a budget that could make that work, I would be very happy. I would gladly pay for it. But the fact is that our healthcare system is split between the state and the federal government. and the federal government can run deficits. So if healthcare costs go up, the federal government just prints more debt. Massachusetts cannot run deficits, meaning if healthcare costs rise more than expected, that money has to come out of somewhere else. We might be cutting teacher salaries, cutting the MBTA, cutting other things. And we've already seen this in Boston, where they had to lay off teachers in part because healthcare costs were rising. So I am not against single-payer healthcare. I want to be very clear. If there is a plan that we can do it, and we can do it with enough of a buffer so that we're not putting everything else in the state at risk every single year. I'd be happy to sign on to it. But, yeah, I don't want to promise something knowing that we may do it and then it may not work out. And that is specifically because of the state-federal balance of who can run a deficit.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you very much. Councilor Mba, which one is right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Mr. Russo. Mr. Russo, plus one. Because, again, as somebody who, you know, came to this country and struggled with health insurance, like I mentioned in the beginning, And I lived in Sweden for three years. I never saw a single bill, just went to the hospital. We can do this stuff. It's the political will. Look how much money we spend in war, bombing people across the world. We can use just a fraction of that money. And also, just to plus one again to Mr. Rosa, that talk about the millionaire tax. He's done so much. I think, you know, this is like a no-brainer. We just need the political will and the drive to push, you know, for this, you know, policies to happen. So, thank you.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you. Next question. This next question is about the Commonwealth Stabilization Fund, also known as the Rainy Day Fund. Hopefully, all of us have a little rainy day fund socked away as individuals, but some don't. So this question, Mr. Rousseau, you've advocated using part of that fund to prevent cuts resulting from reductions in federal assistance. Mr. Oates, you have expressed some reluctance to use the Commonwealth's Rainy Day Fund outside a recession. So Mr. Rousseau, should we dig into the Rainy Day Fund to protect Massachusetts residents from the effects of the Trump administration's budget cuts?
[Paul Ruseau]: Yes, I'll say more than that. If we end up with Trump for the next 25 years, which I can't fathom how he would live that long, but if Trump really just never goes away and we don't have another election, frankly, I think this is not one of our biggest problems. If, in fact, three years from now, we have a somehow sane administration, then I imagine that these kinds of cuts will not stand. We can afford three years of another $600 million coming out of our rainy day fund so that we don't have to kick all these people off of mass health. If it was a permanent problem where there was no future where we could imagine this wasn't going to happen, where we might someday stop having to have this huge hole, then I think we should have a different conversation. We're not talking about 20 years of having to keep this up. In my mind, we're talking about three years. And then if the federal government is in fact no different than it is today, we have a lot of other bigger problems to solve. And obviously, I don't think the entire Rainy Day Fund should just be used to plug the MassHealth hole. But $600 million, it's a lot for the budget of MassHealth. but it's not that big a chunk of the rainy day fund. So yeah, when is it raining? I don't understand when our government thinks it's raining. It's freaking pouring out.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you very much. Mr. Oates, is that a responsible way to use the rainy day fund?
[XXXXXX00148_SPEAKER_00]: It can be. I mean, I think it comes down to the numbers and what it is like we're looking at, because if we get elected, it is going to be July of 2027 when our first budget is coming in. And one of the problems that we had during the Great Recession of 07 to 09 is that a lot of state governments, again, because we can't run a deficit, had to cut We had to take out teachers and nurses, police officers, a lot of other positions, which not only hurts the economy, but really affects the people involved. So one of the reasons we did that is because rainy day funds across the country got depleted or they were not seen to be large enough. So if we have a situation next year when the budget is coming up, where it looks as if we can afford it and we're not going into recession where we are going to need that rainy day fund for every other thing that the government does, sure. But I remember when we filled this out, it was like March or April of this year. And we were not, you know, I cannot promise what the economy is going to be 14 months in the future. And I don't think it's responsible to say we will spend a certain amount of money on a certain thing when that money is supposed to be for everyone in the event of a recession. And so, yes, if we're not in a recession, that's a different story. But if we are, that is what it is there for, so that our teachers and our hospitals do not go under, again, because Massachusetts can't run a deficit and we don't know if the federal government will come in and bail us out as they did during COVID.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you very much. Councilor Imba, you've had to make these kind of decisions on Somerville City Council. you've utilized stabilization funds in the past. Do you agree with the approach here?
[SPEAKER_00]: 100% again to Mr. Russo. You know, so on the city council, we have all these various stabilization accounts. It's like almost like 55 of them. If you add all that money, you know, like it's probably not of Mr. Marshall Bone is right there. This is our finance director. This is my number one thing. Follow the money. And I instructed the administration to consolidate all this money, because when IKEA was coming to Somerville, they would give like $500,000, and IKEA never came. is sitting somewhere. Another company will come. They will put some money. And this money, they're all sitting there. I said, consolidate this money. We can repurpose it, legally possible, and help our constituents. And that money, we've created a community stabilization account that has been helping, food for free, all these different needs that we have in the community. So yes, it is pouring. We are in a rainy emergency. I don't know if that is even a word. So we need to use that rainy day money to be able to help stabilize. the community.
[SPEAKER_01]: Still got some time on the clock there councilor you want it?
[SPEAKER_00]: No again it's just I'm passionate about you know these kind of like issues and so and we've led on that that's why I'm talking about I bring my experience I have a track record That's the good and bad, is that there's nothing to figure me out. I have led the city for nearly a decade. So there's nothing, that's why you go on my website, I only have my record. I don't have all these good ideas. I wanna do X, Y, Z. Thank you very much.
[SPEAKER_01]: We're gonna look to our timer. We got time for closing statements. We sure do. So the closing statements from each of the candidates for the 34th Middlesex District. We're going to start with, how about, let's go to Mr. Rousseau first.
[Paul Ruseau]: All right, it's me. When I was a work-study student in college, I discovered computer programming. I didn't discover it. I discovered that it existed, which turned into a passion for problem-solving and then into a career. And I was lucky. But chance alone shouldn't decide who builds a life of meaning. Years later, I co-led a programming club at my kids' elementary school. And when I asked the question, what does the school offer afterwards? Because the kids were so excited. And if you know anything about computer science, it's mostly men. And frankly, the girls were the ones that were shining in the class. So I was very excited. And so I asked what was next. And the answer was, there's nothing. There's no curriculum. I was very dismayed by the answer. Then came the election. the election of 2016. And when my kids went to bed, we all knew Hillary Clinton was going to be the president. And then I went upstairs in the morning to wake my daughter, who was nine, and I told her who was going to be the next president. And she opened her eyes, just so cute, and they were just barely open, and she said, well, shit. I was very proud as a parent to know that that's the right way to use those words, even though I wouldn't like you to use them. And then we talked about what we could do next. So instead of doing nothing, I ran for office, and I won by 28 votes. And the incumbent, longtime incumbent, wanted a recount, so I won by 32 votes. I had to pay $1,000 for each of those votes. So, I have a real passion for changing things because my own experience was a government that failed, but that experience tells me all the things that a government could be doing and it's not. So, I really am looking forward to working with the different agencies and working with everyone, frankly, because that's, you know, I'm in the Medford Public Schools, I'm working with everyone. And I look forward to serving you and being your working for you. Thank you.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you, Paul. Let's go to Councilor Mba.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you, Joe. And to everybody here, thank you to my notable candidates and colleagues. First of all, I have a suit and a tie. I bike, yes, and it was warm, so that's why I don't look this spiffy. So we've had two different perspectives about the future of our district. And I have one simple question for you all. Who is prepared to get results on day one? You know, this district deserves more than good intentions. It deserves proven leadership. And throughout my life, from immigrating to this country, to raising my family here, to serving on the city council, I have never forgotten why I entered public service. I believe every family deserves an affordable home. Every worker deserves dignity and fair wages. Every child deserves a great public education. Every senior deserves security. Every neighborhood deserves safe streets, clean parks, and a reliable public transportation. And every resident deserves a representative who listens, who shows up, and who gets things done. I'm that person. And I respectfully ask for your vote on September 1st. Thank you for the opportunity.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you, Will and Bar.
[XXXXXX00148_SPEAKER_00]: Chris Oates? Well, thank you very much for being here. It has been great. And yes, Will is right. I have been asking for debates because you deserve to be able to choose who your next representative is. As I said at the beginning, we live in the least competitive state legislature in the country. And we deserve to be the ones making those choices and making real choices. I think I alluded to it, but I've lived kind of surrounded by medicine my whole life. My dad's a doctor, my wife's a doctor, her dad's a doctor, her sister's a doctor. And medicine is pretty simple when it comes down to it. A patient comes in, you listen to them, you diagnose the problem, you treat them. And I think government should basically be the same way. Your representative should listen to you, work with advocates and activists and experts to try to diagnose the problem, and then actually solve them. And you need to actually solve them. You need to deal with the reality of what your situation is. If you're at the statehouse and you need to get a majority of the legislature on your side, you need to meet them where they are and bring them to your side. You know, no one has ever said of my doctor, oh, I've got a great doctor because he shook my hand once, or I got a great doctor because he promised he would look into getting me better. The only thing that matters is that your government actually delivers results. And the only way you do that is by working hard, to go out and knock on thousands of doors, as I have done, and listen to people of what they need, whether it is universal child care, because it's a second mortgage, whether it is housing that they can afford, roads that don't have massive potholes in it that blows out their tires or twist their ankles. And both of those were just yesterday on the doors, people telling me this. But the only way you do that is if you can go to Beacon Hill get the votes for it, get the money for it, and then get it done. And so that's what I want to do. If I go, if I'm lucky enough to get your vote, there's three questions that I'm going to be asking myself every day, which is what is the problem, what is the solution, and how do we get it done? And if you do that every single day when people are paying attention and not paying attention, that's how you get at the end of the year a little bit better than it is now and a little bit better after that. And that's how the people who are living here get the government that they deserve and get the representative that they deserve too. Thank you.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you very much. My fellow voters, these are the three candidates for the 34th Middlesex District, Will Embar, Chris Oates, Paul Russo. Candidates, best wishes. Thank you very much. Thank you, everybody.
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