OPEN A NEWSPAPER today, and you’ll find feverish headlines about Democratic primaries. You’ll hear political pundits discuss who should drop out or who shouldn’t run or where resources would be better spent.

But primaries are not about the punditry; they’re about the people. People, who deserve candidates unafraid to have their ideas tested. People, who benefit from choice and vigorous debate. People, who ultimately are the ones to say whether an elected official has earned the right to serve. Primaries energize and engage the electorate — they’re good for our party and good for our democracy.

An upcoming Senate primary in Massachusetts between Sen. Ed Markey and Congressman Joe Kennedy III has set off this debate locally. Over four terms, Joe has built an impressive record for the people of this Commonwealth. He’s smart, capable, and hard working. We are excited that he appears poised to jump in. When he does, we’re with him.

As mayors, our highest priority when it comes to partners in Congress is a leader who shows up. And Joe shows up for Massachusetts. His first initiative in office was the launch of Tour 34, open office hours where he personally meets with constituents in all 34 cities and towns in his district.

His first speech in the House of Representatives was made in honor of Dr. Irving Fradkin, a 92-year-old education advocate from Fall River. His first major congressional hearing was used to shine a light on the plight of former nuclear workers in Attleboro, stricken with cancer and forgotten by the government they had served; Joe’s advocacy helped secure over $25 million in additional benefits. His first pieces of legislation focused on manufacturing and vocational schools, using the model of Massachusetts to shape national economic policy.

On top of his congressional duties, he has helped lead the state’s science, technology, education and mathematics (STEM) education efforts for six years. Under both Governors Deval Patrick and Charlie Baker, Joe traveled to every corner of the state to fight for education equity. He has stood alongside local advocates here in the Commonwealth to ensure equality for LGBTQIA+ citizens, expand access to reproductive care, and defend voting rights. And few have worked more tirelessly, thoughtfully, and diligently to give voice to those suffering from mental illness and substance use disorder throughout Massachusetts.

He shows up in our fire houses, our community health centers, our manufacturing floors and our schools. He listens to our residents and employers. He answers our telephone calls and responds to our emails. He is laser focused on us.

It’s fitting that, when Joe was chosen by the Democratic Party to respond to President Trump’s 2018 State of the Union address, he eschewed the traditional Washington setting and stood proudly in one of our Gateway Cities, surrounded by the local community at Diman Regional Voc-Tech.

The Fall River Herald News said it best: “Trump will stand behind the podium. Kennedy will stand in the fire, among the children of working people, among the children of immigrants, among the children of the poor, in a government-run school that gives out education without thought to wealth, or social class, or color.”

 As mayors we know how much we need leaders who will stand in the fire. We know how much presence counts. There is a reason the most recent polling has Joe up by double digits. Massachusetts voters see him, know him, and trust him.

These are undoubtedly trying political times for most of us. Donald Trump is a threat to nearly everything Massachusetts stands for, and we must be united in our efforts to stop the chaos and destruction he has wrought.

But the truth is, we need leaders who know how to fight more than just one man; we need leaders willing to change the system and heal the divides that gave us President Trump in the first place. Joe Kennedy will take on the system that is leaving too many communities across Massachusetts without enough affordable housing, public education dollars, and mental health beds. It’s the system failing to keep dangerous guns off our street, to create jobs that pay enough to take care of a family, and to protect the cities and towns whose infrastructure is already under siege from climate change.

No one would look at the results in Washington and say it’s reflecting the will of the people of Massachusetts. Railing against inertia in our federal government while simultaneously criticizing anyone who dares to consider running against the status quo isn’t good for our party or our country. We need a change. And that starts with leaders who show up in our communities, listen to our families, and carry their fight to Congress.

We believe in Joe Kennedy’s leadership and endorse him for the US Senate.

Kim Driscoll is mayor of Salem. Ruthanne Fuller is mayor of Newton.

The post Why we’re with Joe appeared first on CommonWealth Beacon.

WE ARE THE MAYORS of Salem and Holyoke, two medium-sized Gateway Cities. Our communities are more than 100 miles apart, but both are feeling the impacts of climate change. We are experiencing severe storms, unpredictable flooding, drought, and damage to homes, businesses, roads, and infrastructure.  Climate change is disrupting city operations and straining budgets.

In Salem, a coastal city, extreme heat, extreme precipitation, sea level rise, and storm surges present the biggest challenges.  Flooding during winter storms in January 2018 was among the worst Salem has seen in over 50 years.  Ocean waters and rain-filled city streets stranded motorists and brought down power lines.  Salem’s sea level is expected to rise four feet by 2050, and the community’s critical infrastructure – its emergency power, wastewater treatment, roadways, and even its evacuation routes – is all located within flood zones.

Meanwhile, Holyoke is challenged by changing weather patterns near and far.  Holyoke has more Puerto Rican residents per capita than any American city outside of Puerto Rico.  When Hurricane Maria devastated the island in 2018, 2,200 displaced families came to Holyoke and 247 children enrolled in the city’s schools.  The number of oppressively hot days continues to rise in Holyoke, as it has across the state, stressing the health of low-income and elderly residents, particularly if they cannot afford cooling.

Salem and Holyoke are fully committed to reducing our cities’ greenhouse gas emissions, but we cannot solve climate change on our own.  We need bold, state leadership.

The Massachusetts Legislature needs to act, this session, to pass H2810, An Act to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Promote Green Infrastructure.  Sponsored by Rep. Jennifer Benson of Lunenburg, the bill establishes a fee on the carbon in fossil fuels and returns most of the revenues from that fee to Massachusetts households and businesses.  It invests the remainder in local renewable energy, energy efficiency, clean transportation, and resilience.

A carbon fee is a charge on gas, oil, and coal. The fee is based on the amount of carbon dioxide these fuels emit when burned.  As this fee slowly rises over time, dirty energy becomes more expensive, and customers are encouraged to reduce their use of fossil fuels and move to cleaner energy options.

Many people, understandably, are concerned that this approach will cause the prices of gas and heating fuels to rise. However, unlike most governmental fees that disappear forever into government coffers, 70 percent of the revenues from the carbon fee will be given back to Massachusetts residents and businesses in the form of rebates. Every household will get two rebate checks a year.  People who use less energy – including the vast majority of low- and moderate-income households – will get back more in rebates than they pay in any increased fuel costs.

Every person will receive a basic rebate, then low- and moderate-income residents will get an additional amount, to protect them from increased costs. Rural households will also get an additional rebate to compensate them for the extra distances they often have to drive.

The remaining revenue from the carbon fee – an estimated $400 million in the first year and $600 million by the fifth year – will be invested in local projects that help people transition away from fossil fuels and prepare for the unavoidable impacts of climate change.  The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center will administer some of the funds, and municipalities can apply to develop local projects, such as community solar installations, new public transit, energy upgrades at local schools, community cooling centers, and flood control measures.

To make sure that everyone benefits, the proposed legislation requires that 40 percent of investment funds be directed to low- and middle-income households and communities with lower median incomes.  In addition, $16 million to $28 million of each year’s revenues will be added to the state’s fuel assistance program, and additional funds will be used to help workers retrain for new clean energy jobs.

We know that the federal government will not act.  It is up to our state leaders to show bold leadership, for our state and region, and for the country.

Kim Driscoll is the mayor of Salem and Alex Morse is the mayor of Holyoke.

The post Mayors of Salem, Holyoke call for carbon fee appeared first on CommonWealth Beacon.

THE MORE THINGS change, the more they stay the same. For centuries now the economic health of the city of Salem has been tied to the ocean.

In the immediate aftermath of the American Revolution and into the 1800s, ships from Salem took to the seas and returned with tea, spices, and silks that turned the port community into the wealthiest city per capita in the new nation. Later, Salem Harbor became home to a major coal depot, where ships dropped off coal on its way to fuel regional factories and, later, a large coal-powered power plant on the waterfront itself. Much has changed with the city today, but the ocean remains central to its economic prosperity. In this day and age that can only mean one thing: For Salem to survive and thrive, we must tackle the issue of climate change.

Modern-day Salem is a bustling city on the rise. Between tourism, health care, and higher education, the city’s economy has transformed from the days of importing tea from China. But it will never move on from its connection to the ocean. With a new natural gas power plant opening up acres of waterfront land, Salem has the opportunity to sustainably develop an area that will link oceanfront resources to economic development.

With this vital opportunity looming, addressing climate change is an economic imperative for Salem. The city’s 2014 Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Plan outlines serious challenges that may be in store for the coastal community by 2050: a sea level rise of more than four feet, storm surges of more than 13 feet by the year 2100, a 30 percent increase in the likelihood of a “100-year storm,” and a 157 percent increase in the number of days over 90 degrees.

The plan identified 22 prioritized vulnerabilities facing the community as a result of climate change, many of them with significant economic impacts. Property damage or loss of Salem’s historic and culturally significant properties, some of the city’s greatest tourist attractions, is seen as being “very likely.” Most certainly, any economic growth realized or possible as a result of redevelopment along the city’s historic waterfront would be severely jeopardized.

Salem is hardly alone. Last month, Mayor Marty Walsh’s administration released “Climate Ready Boston,” which predicts a rise in sea levels of three feet by 2050, with heavy impacts in economic centers like the newly developed Seaport District.

MassAudubon has estimated that more than 5 percent of Gloucester – a community with an economy long driven by its connection to the ocean — will be underwater by the end of this century, and that the more than one dozen ski areas in the Commonwealth will face higher operating costs in the years ahead as they struggle to maintain a snow pack due to rising temperatures. On Cape Cod, fishermen and cranberry farmers are already reporting the impacts of climate change on their businesses, and the local economy. The Cape Cod Commission projects that six feet of sea level rise by 2100 would mean the loss of $1.07 billion in sales and 8,222 jobs. Even the more conservative estimate of a two foot rise would yield a loss for the Cape of $188 million and 851 jobs.

Amidst all of this economic gloom and doom, there is opportunity. Fighting climate change will require innovation, and no place innovates like Massachusetts. The clean energy sector in our state is thriving, creating jobs and infusing our state coffers with new funds: 98,000 jobs, 6,400 companies, and $11 billion in investments across the Commonwealth to date.

Meanwhile, in addition to preparing to mitigate the impacts of climate change, Salem is working to address its own impacts on climate. A certified Green Community, Salem is reducing its own carbon footprint by taking such steps as converting all its streetlights to more efficient LED fixtures, installing solar panels on schools and city buildings, converting its municipal vehicle fleet to hybrid and electric vehicles, and entering into a municipal electrical aggregation supply contract that will supply every home and business in the city with electricity generated from green sources. Across the state, 154 other Green Communities are taking their own steps to reduce their carbon footprints.

Since its earliest days, Salem’s waterfront and oceanic identity has been a source of creativity, growth, and prosperity. America’s first millionaire, Elias Hasket Derby, was one of many Salem merchants whose ships traveled the globe and made Salem famous and prosperous. As the city approaches its 400^th birthday in 2026, it remains no less connected to the ocean and its harbor. It is a fixed and permanent piece of what makes Salem so vibrant and successful. The piece of the puzzle that is changing is our climate. Salem, and the Commonwealth, must not fail to adapt.

Kimberley Driscoll is the mayor of Salem. Jesse Mermell is president of the Alliance for Business Leadership.

The post Salem is taking on climate change appeared first on CommonWealth Beacon.

Fly over Fitchburg, Salem, or any of the state’s roughly two dozen Gateway Cities and you’ll get a glimpse of the industrial past in the outlines of old mill buildings. The future will also be in plain view, from the campuses of colleges and regional hospitals, to the stately slate roofs of museums and the clusters of homes near public school buildings. For Gateway Cities across Massachusetts, the future is leveraging large regional institutions—universities, companies, and cultural organizations—to create exceptional learning experiences.

Gateway Cities working to realize this vision must first expand the state’s current education reform dialogue. As a Commonwealth, our approach to the pressing challenges of urban education is overly reliant on the school choice and school turnaround models. Charter schools may help us uncover innovative teaching strategies, but they tell us very little about bringing these new methods to scale. Turnaround schools, by definition, must experience years of struggle to get the resources and attention that come with this designation. These policies might be economical to implement in the short term, but if we fail to complement them with investments in more systemic solutions, it will cost us dearly in the long run.

Together, the state’s 26 officially designated Gateway Cities educate one-quarter of all public school students in Massachusetts. New data show that too many of these students aren’t getting the preparation they need to succeed in the state’s economy: 70 percent of all jobs in Massachusetts will soon require a degree or credential beyond a high school diploma, yet fewer than one in four Gateway City students are completing a post-secondary program.

Massachusetts needs all of these youth to reach their full potential to replace hundreds of thousands of older workers aging out of the labor force. If we don’t do more to prepare them for tomorrow’s economy, the consequences will slowly become apparent as the state’s skilled workforce shrinks, employers decamp, and revenues decline.

The long-term consequences of underperforming Gateway City schools are even more serious when you factor in the fiscal health of these communities. Residential property accounts for about two-thirds of the tax base in most Gateway Cities. Lagging education systems deter middle-class families from purchasing homes in these communities, reducing property values considerably. The longer Massachusetts delays more systemic approaches to school improvement, the more local aid Gateway Cities will require from state taxpayers.

What’s needed is a two-tier education policy: one tier of strategies that close achievement gaps by giving disadvantaged students additional support, and a second tier of strategies that help Gateway Cities leverage their significant educational assets to draw middle-class families back into their neighborhoods. Policies that accomplish both goals simultaneously should rise to the top.

Universal preschool is an example of a policy that could cut both ways. Only about half of Gateway City children attend preschool, which means too many enroll in kindergarten without the early literacy skills today’s rigorous curriculum demands. Teachers are forced to slow instruction, penalizing kids who enter kindergarten well-prepared. Investments in high-quality early education will better position economically integrated Gateway City elementary schools to excel. Moreover, public preschool for three- and four-year-olds would provide one more reason for young middle-class families to give public education in Gateway Cities a try.

As children progress into higher grades, opportunities to take advantage of unique Gateway City institutions to the benefit of families across the economic spectrum emerge. For example, public universities are located in nearly every Gateway City. Offering high school students an early college experience is one of the most effective models to boost college completion for disadvantaged students. But dual enrollment leading to free college credits also has real appeal for middle-class families looking to overcome the escalating cost of higher education.

The concentrations of cultural institutions and employers in Gateway Cities present opportunities to make experiential and work-based learning a larger component of the curriculum. Solid research shows that having internships, participating in student-run enterprises, and taking interdisciplinary courses with real-world projects makes learning more relevant and increases graduation rates among low-income students.

Health care providers in Gateway Cities should be enlisted to provide programs fostering social and emotional development and to steer troubled students to proper care. For low-income students who often experience trauma, these courses and services are critical to prevention and healing. However, in a collaborative age, where interpersonal skills are of increasing value, all students can reap lasting benefit from schools that invest in practices to augment social and emotional growth.

There are also opportunities to exploit more modest policy initiatives that would help high-need Gateway City students, while enriching the educational experience of youth from middle-class families. Dual-language immersion schooling is one such example. For newcomers, dual-language immersion offers a chance to preserve and enhance their native tongue. English-speaking students, meanwhile, get a unique opportunity to master a second language through a true immersion experience. Research shows dual-language schools generate lasting academic and cognitive benefits for all students.

While there are many such “twofers,” there are some targeted investments that Gateway City schools will require specifically to better serve disadvantaged students in challenging settings. Extended learning time tops this list. It’s become increasingly clear that high-performing, high-poverty schools get results by adding substantial time to their schedules.

Leveraging the assets of our regional cities to build more dynamic community-wide learning systems will require a substantial investment. In the months ahead, Gateway City leaders will work to initiate a dialogue around devoting resources to this more systemic approach to urban education. Working with state leaders, we hope to develop a better understanding of how much these models would cost to deploy at scale and the return on investment Massachusetts taxpayers could expect from them over the long term.

Lisa Wong is the mayor of Fitchburg. Kimberley Driscoll is the mayor of Salem.

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