Below Boston asked these questions:

Responses from the 2 Lt. Governor candidates I spoke to, Sam Kelley and Deb Goldberg (0.00 / 0)

Sam Kelley:

He called the President's plan for immigration "woefully inadequate".

He felt the governor of states should have "the final say" regarding the deployment of National Guardsmen -"even to Iraq"

He called for "stimulating the economy" by 1. attracting businesses to MA and 2.creating more affordable housing and 3. "stabilizing"the health care issues concerns people have and 4. better transportation options

To re-engage voters in civic life and to diminish the "eat your spinach" attitude some might have  he would "restore hope in people's lives about the future by finding credible, competent, individuals willing to serve in government who are pledged to make a difference."

He said he would not reopen a discussion regarding a LNG facility off of Hull - he said he felt it was dangerous and he had security concerns.

Deb Goldberg:

She gave a firm NO when asked if it was appropriate to send National Guardsmen to the border with Mexico. And said if the National Guard was sent over Gov/Lt Gov objections that Gen sited "would hear from me"

To stop the exodus of population she would "put together programs right away with communities; she called for an increase in Chapter 70

To re-engage voters in civic life she called for "no barriers" to serving on boards in communities. She called on communities "To outreach" and said that she has seen first hand that community boards need "new blood", that no-one has "a lifetime appointment to serve on these boards."

She answered with a strong NO to reopening a discussion of a LNG facility off of Hull.

Sam Kelley and Deb Goldberg gave a great deal of attention to these questions and took time out from a delegate rich environment to answer my questions - my thanks to you both!

I am too informed to be a Republican

---

by: Susan H @ Sun May 21, 2006 at 16:04:13 PM UTC

Secretary of State Bill Galvin's interview (0.00 / 0)

QUESTION:  As you know, 800 MA National Guardsmen were called out this week to help with the flooding in northeast MA. Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, chief of The National Guard bureau in Washington raised the possibility that guard members could be sent to patrol the border with Mexico over the objection of a state's governor. Do you have any concerns about the President's proposal to send National Guard troops- possibly MA Guardsmen- to patrol the border with Mexico? Is this an appropriate use of the National Guard?

GALVIN:   I do because I think it is not a proper use of the National Guard to secure the border.  It should be dealt with by the national government.  These Guardsmen in many instances have been called upon many times, not just for local matters that we frequently need them for, but they’ve obviously been utilized in, I think, an unfair way, in Iraq and Afghanistan.  And now to say that they’re going to be somehow used once again, that that they’re disposable, that they’re going to be sent to the border, I think is inappropriate.

QUESTION:  Right now in Plymouth County home foreclosures are up 120% over the same period as last year. The # of home listings are up and staying on the market longer, home prices are up, and recording of deeds is down. We are hemorrhaging population but specifically that important age group- the entry level buyer. What would you do specifically to stop this trend? What can a governor do?

GALVIN:   Well actually I’m very interested in this because my office administers the registries of deeds in most of the states so I’m very familiar with the problem.  I think the most important thing we have to do is improve the job market here there is no economic strategy in Massachusetts.  This Republican administration has had none.  They don’t have one now.  I think we have to build on our strengths which are healthcare and some of the educational institutions.  I think we have to pay attention.  We have unique products in Massachusetts.  We need to market them properly.  We have to make sure we’re paying attention.  We also have to deal with the need for more housing units to be built and I think part of that has to utilize some of the state lands that are under utilized right now.  We have many state lands that we, in fact, give away to developers for profit and we do not think about using them as we ought to.  Many towns are land rich and population poor and I think it’s up to the state government to do something about it.

QUESTION:   If we had emergency like Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and had to evacuate a large segment of the population, how would you deal with the election and voting problems occurring in the aftermath?

GALVIN:   What we did, we are actually helping Louisiana deal with the Katrina problem. 
QUESTION:   As consultants?
GALVIN:   No, because we had people who were victims of Katrina, we reached out to them and we provided faxing of applications we worked closely with Louisiana’s Secretary of State so on our website for instance we are able to allow people to reach out and use our facilities to reach their elections officials in Louisiana so they can vote by absentee.

If I were dealing with that I would establish remote voting locations, remote places where people could vote where they were re-located.  I do think there’s a general question [in New Orleans] whether the election should have gone forward.  I think there’s some question about whether the election should have been delayed.  That wasn’t my call.  Obviously, I couldn’t do that.  But we have attempted to utilize whatever resources we can to make sure the people’s right to vote is protected.

QUESTION:  Do you know the name of Al Gore’s new movie?

GALVIN:  No.

Keep your eyes on the prize and don't believe the lies!

---

by: Jan A @ Sun May 21, 2006 at 22:45:11 PM UTC