Endorsements, Round I

Da Silva, Desloges, and Gouveia

Dear Readers:

This publication was founded six months ago, at the beginning of April, in response to several concurrent and intensifying crises that were and are rocking our entire region: the threatened dumping of irradiated wastewater from the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth into Cape Cod Bay; the attempt by out-of-town corporate developers and their local apparatchiks to build a casino/racetrack on the County Woodlot in Plymouth; and the continuing despoliation by various economic aristocrats of our common resources — our common waters, lands, and other resources that have been guarded by the Common Law since the days of Magna Carta.

Pursuant to those threats, this publication has spent thousands of words attempting to discern a clear picture of what actually is going on, who is proposing what, what the law is, and so on, and what the appropriate response of our local democracies ought to be to this ongoing and outrageous aggression by the forces of economic aristocracy.

There is a primary election next Tuesday, and I have been impressed with several candidates, and their defense of the commons, to such an extent that I believe it appropriate that I formally endorse them. All are running in the Democratic Primary: Carlos Da Silva, who is running for Plymouth County Commissioner; Art Desloges, who is running for State Representative in the 1st Plymouth District (The Town of Plymouth, excepting Precincts 1, 9, 11, and 13); and Tami Gouveia, who is running for Lt. Governor.

All three candidates understand the threat that untrammeled aristocracy — understood as the power of the few over the many, by so early an authority as Aristotle — poses to our Towns, our Commonwealth, and to the American Republic as a whole. I am honored to endorse all three, and will discuss each in turn:

Endorsement: Carlos Da Silva for Plymouth County Commissioner in the Democratic Primary

Carlos Da Silva, Democrat of Hingham, first came to my attention shortly after the travesty of a Plymouth County Commission that I attended on March 31st — in which the Commissioners shamefully voted for a lease with the Boston South Group while refusing any public comment, including by Plymouth Town Meeting Members — and which formed the subject of the first article in this publication.

Da Silva is the candidate in the race who came out against a horsetrack/casino on the County Woodlot from the very beginning. A Hingham Democrat, husband, and father, who served two terms on that Town’s School Committee, as well as a current elected State Democratic Committee Member, and with experiencing negotiating labor contracts Da Silva brings a passion for transparency, good government, and the preservation of our common resources to this campaign, and I believe will do so again if elected to the Plymouth County Commission. He strikes me as having a genuine commitment to reflecting the democratic and popular will of our Towns  — rather than acting expressly contrary to it, as is currently the case.

( Da Silva, center, stands with protesters outside the Boston South Real Estate public meeting in May at Memorial Hall in Plymouth, including your humble correspondent, at right, and Plymouth Planning Board Member and longtime environmentalist Frank Mand, second from right; photo credit — Committee to Elect Carlos Da Silva. )

For all of these reasons, The Plymouth County Observer is very glad to endorse Carlos Da Silva for Plymouth County Commissioner in the Democratic Primary on September 6th.

 

Endorsement: Art Desloges for State Representative for the First Plymouth District in the Democratic Primary

Approximately eight months ago, on Jan. 31st, I attended, and ended up speaking at, an emergency meeting/rally of the group that would end up becoming Save Our Bay, a grassroots coalition of Native people, everyday citizens, environmentalists, fishermen and oyster farmers, realtors, and more, opposed to the proposed dumping of irradiated wastewater into the Bay by Holtec, owners of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth. One of the speakers who preceded me was Art Desloges, of Plymouth, a member of the Executive Leadership Committee of the Massachusetts Sierra Club, who voiced his opposition to this iniquitous — and frankly illegal (cf. M.G.L. Ch. 132A Secs. 12A through 16K and Section 18) — proposal to dump.

In the months since, I learned that Desloges — a proud father and environmentalist — was running for the Democratic nomination for the First Plymouth District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, currently occupied by Rep. Matthew Muratore (R-Plymouth). In fact, Desloges commitment to public policy is so great that, after a successful career in the banking sector, he went back to school, obtaining two Master’s degrees in public policy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, while also serving as a legislative intern for a number of local office-holders, including Rep. Tami Gouveia (D-Acton).

( Desloges greets a voter at the Waterfront Festival in Plymouth; photo credit — Art Desloges for State Representative. )

Desloges will make an excellent Representative to the Great and General Court, i.e., the Legislature, for Plymouth. His dedication to preserving our common resources, to good and transparent government, and indeed, to informed and participatory democracy, is laudable and deeply necessary at this particular historical moment. His experience on Beacon Hill means he will be able to hit the ground running, and his demonstrated work ethic will be very useful in that position.

For all of these reasons, I believe it is clear that Desloges is the best candidate for Plymouth to represent it on Beacon Hill, and one that the Plymouth County Observer is glad to endorse. 

Endorsement: Rep. Tami Gouveia, DPH, for Lieutenant Governor in the Democratic Primary

At the same Jan. 31st meeting at which I first met Mr. Desloges, I also happened to hear, and meet, Rep. Tami Gouveia (D-Acton), who is running for Lieutenant Governor. Rep. Gouveia holds a doctorate in public health (DPH) from Boston University, and her approach to public policy struck me as being very much premised on that background, as well as her experience as a working mother here in the Commonwealth. In fact, it was first and foremost on public health grounds that Rep. Gouveia argued against the proposed dumping by Holtec, and it was her broader (and correct) notion that all people, regardless of their station, background, beliefs, or any other category of difference, have a right to public health, including a healthy environment, that struck me as genuinely visionary.

She reiterated that point in our snowy Save Our Bay Rally at Plymouth Rock on February 13th, and her advocacy for this and other causes, causes that represent the resistance of common people, in defense of their common waters, common lands, and common rights, to economic aristocracy and corporate aggression, is notable.

( Rep. Gouveia on the campaign trail; photo credit — Tami Gouveia for Lt. Governor)

Rep. Gouveia strikes me, especially based upon some of the difficult votes she has taken, as someone for whom doing what is right is important, and I am confident she will bring that moral courage and independent judgment to the office of Lieutenant Governor. For all of these reasons, The Plymouth County Observer is glad to endorse Rep. Tami Gouveia for Lt. Governor of the Commonwealth in the Sept. 6th Democratic Primary.

There may be a second round of endorsements, but for the moment I will leave it here. These three candidates stand out, and this publication is proud to endorse all of them.

The Primary Election is on September 6th.