By Caroline Enos

BEVERLY — Two local Democrats looking to take over Jerry Parisella’s 6th Essex representative seat shared their views at a candidates forum hosted by the Ryal Side Civic Association at Ayers Elementary School Monday night.

Voters will choose between City Councilors Todd Rotondo and Hannah Bowen in an April 15 Democratic primary for the special election.

The winner will face Republican Medley Long III in the general special election May 13.

Bowen and Rotondo answered questions about pressing issues for Beverly and precinct 1 in Wenham during the event. Long was also invited to participate but was unable to attend due to a prior commitment, according to the civic association.

The group plans to host a similar forum between Long and the winner of the Democratic primary ahead of May’s election.

Hall-Whitaker Bridge

A bridge that remains a massive headache since its closure to vehicles in June 2022 was the first topic to come up Monday night.

Residents have lamented the five-year wait for a temporary Hall-Whitaker Bridge to open and resume normal traffic patterns in the Bridge Street neighborhood while the state constructs permanent Hall-Whitaker and Kernwood bridges, which are set to open by 2033.

Being a MassDOT project funded from state and federal sources means the city has limited say in its logistics. But local leaders can “push relentlessly” for timely updates and community input in the project, Bowen said.

She plans to meet monthly with MassDOT and a group of Beverly stakeholders so the department can hear concerns from residents and answer questions, similar to a group she helped push for with the National Grid Regional Transmission Reliability Project in Beverly, Bowen said.

“It didn’t fix everything. It didn’t make everything go away,” she said of that group. “But it did make a huge difference and gave residents of Beverly a lot more protections than residents of other communities that have faced similar projects because we fought hard for that.”

Rotondo said he has been working with the project’s team, Parisella, U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton and the state since “day one” of the bridge’s closure and will continue advocating for its timely completion.

“We have continued to hold their feet to the fire…” Rotondo said. “We need to make sure we continue advocating, working with Congressman Moulton’s Office to make sure that the agencies that he’s overseeing are doing their job at the federal level.”

Cost of living crisis

With President Donald Trump’s administration attempting to shrink the number of federal employees and footprints of many departments, Massachusetts could face a dip in funding over the next few years.

It is important to protect funding for infrastructure, education and healthcare, the three main things money is spent on each day in the state, Rotondo said.

“There may be points that we may have to dip into the rainy day fund in order to fund those,” he said. “We also need to relook at some of the formulas that we’re funding.”

The state cannot rely on rainy day funds alone to make up for lost revenue, Bowen said.

“It will also take raising revenues creatively, and it will also take prioritizing where programs may need to be temporarily or permanently shifted to save money,” she said.

As for fighting high energy costs, Rotondo said he would help his constituents learn to navigate energy audit programs like Mass Save to find rebates and other ways to lower their energy bills. He would also work to hold energy companies that are “gouging ratepayers” accountable.

Bowen said she would advocate to protect incentive programs for energy conservation and expand relief for those struggling to pay these bills, particularly seniors.

Education

The Beverly teachers strike over the fall was a public lesson in the funding sources of local school districts. As the city remains “raw” from the experience, she promises to “work with education advocates to understand what will work better” when it comes to funding, she said.

“As someone who works in conflict resolution, day in and day out, I think we can and will do better on making sure we’re starting from the place of our shared priority, to make sure that all of our kids are getting what they need,” Bowen said.

Both Bowen and Rotondo vowed to protect education resources and services in the state.

Rotondo said he supports reworking the state’s Chapter 70 funding system for schools and that he will fight to support funding for special needs services, noting his daughter is a special needs teacher in Beverly.

“I will work with other legislators in the North Shore to make sure that we get our fair share of money to (schools) because that’s what’s needed right now,” he said.

LGBTQ+ rights

Both candidates took strong stances in support of LGBTQ+ residents.

These residents of Beverly and Wenham are not asking for different rights than their neighbors, simply the right to exist without being targeted or having their rights taken away, Bowen said.

“I will absolutely support legislation that provides the support people are asking for, and I will support legislation that protects any of our universal rights, and specifically for trans youth who right now are experiencing the highest rates of mental health crisis and suicide attempts,” she said.

Rotondo said he too would vote to protect LGBTQ+ rights and especially the rights of transgender youth. He said city officials have been informed that some of these youth in Beverly are feeling unsafe in the city because of rising tides of discrimination and anti-trans legislation nationally.

“We should be protecting everyone’s rights, regardless of their age, their race, their gender, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “The right to the pursuit of happiness is key.”

Transparency on Beacon Hill

Massachusetts voted overwhelmingly to approve ballot question one in November, which gives State Auditor Diana DiZoglio the authority to conduct an audit of the state legislature.

Some Democrats including House Majority Leader Mike Moran have pushed back against the measure over constitutional concerns, despite 71% of voters supporting it.

Bowen said she voted in favor of question 1 and would advocate for an audit of the legislature to be conducted.

“I know that saying something different from State House leadership makes us all nervous, and I know there are ways to advocate for something that don’t burn bridges, that don’t make it impossible to be productive on other topics,” she said.

Rotondo said he wants to see more transparency in the state legislature and does not support allowing officials in state departments and the Massachusetts House of Representatives to enact non-disclosure agreements.

The state’s Senate banned the use of NDAs internally in 2019 and Gov. Healey signed an executive order banning their use in the executive branch in January, but that hasn’t happened yet in the House.

He also supports posting information on votes online publicly and shifting Beacon Hill rules closer to the more strict open meeting laws he has to follow on the City Council.

“If Councilor Bowen and I sat on the same committee, we’d have to be careful of how we talk to each other in private…” he said. “We need to make sure we’re mindful. So why not extend that to the State House?”

Endorsements from local leaders

Endorsements for Rotondo include former Beverly Mayor Bill Scanlon, former Beverly City Councilors Kevin Hobin, Steve Crowley and Maureen Troubetaris, Beverly resident and Nahant Town Administrator Tony Barletta, former staffer for State Rep. Jerry Parisella Georgia Bills, former Beverly Main Streets Executive Director Gin Wallace, housing advocate Andrew MacKenzie-DeFranza and eight teachers and staff members of Beverly Public Schools .

Endorsements for Bowen include Southern Essex Register of Deeds Eileen Duff, the Beverly Teachers Association, Mass Alliance, former 6th Essex State Reps. Mary Grant and Kevin Burke, also a former Essex County District Attorney, the Sierra Club, the American Federation of Teachers-Massachusetts, former Beverly City Councilors Joyce McMahon and Pat Grimes, former Assistant Attorney for the Essex County DA’s Office Charlie Grimes and Dr. Matt Ferreira, a Beverly resident and an associate superintendent in New Hampshire.

Read the full article at Salem News.

Contact Caroline Enos at [email protected].