Candidates who were not invited react

Long

UPDATED: A forum for five House candidates in the Fifth District at Arlington Town Hall set for Thursday, Sept. 26, has drawn comments from those who were not invited. They are responding to comments from George Bachrach, president of the Environmental League of Massachusetts, one of the sponsors. He wrote:

“Our broad-based coalition of nonprofit environmental/energy organizations established minimum standards for electoral viability for both our recent forum for Boston mayoral candidates and for our upcoming forum for US House candidates.

“In both cases, we invited all candidates (D & R, elected and non-elected) who met these minimum standards. The requirement was a campaign website, office, staff and raised $25k by the most recent reporting period.

“While we understand interesting and talented people might not meet that standard, given the large number of candidates in both races, our audience is interested in hearing from candidates who are demonstrably viable.”

The forum, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., moderated by Erin Ailworth of The Boston Globe, includes state Senators Will Brownsberger, Katherine Clark and Karen Spilka; Middlesex Sheriff Peter Koutoujian and state Representative Carl Sciortino.

The other two Democratic candidates, Martin Long and Paul John Maisano, as well as the three Republicans — Frank Addivinola, Mike Stopa and Tom Tierney — have been asked to comment.

For those who have responded, see below.

Long comments

Long responded by email Sept. 18:

“I find George Bachrach’s response as to why he hasn’t invited me to the environmental forum puzzling. His criteria are a campaign website, office, staff and $25k raised by the most recent reporting period. Well, I have the first three. The stickler is the last one — $25k by the last reporting period.

“According to the FEC, there is only one reporting period before today — and that ended June 30, 2013. The Senate special election was held on June 25. Ed Markey’s win was certified on July 10. To be strict about it, there wasn’t an official campaign going until AFTER the official reporting period ended. Or, to be more generous, one had only five days to mount a campaign and raise $25k. I think that’s asking too much.

“I suspect that George is using criteria left over from other, regular campaigns. I wish he had cut a little slack for me considering the unusual circumstances.

“It’s also curious that I probably am the only candidate who was a cofounder of a green energy company within the district.

“Of course, I would like to be included in this forum. There are important issues to discuss. It’s another instance where independently minded candidates are denied admission to the ‘elite’ events.

“Finally, I will be attending and making my presence know regardless of my status as an excluded candidate.”

Tierney comments

Tierney responded by email Sept. 18:

“I’m not buying Bachrach’s viability theory. It’s actually a contrivance to promote incumbent Democrats. There are ballot-certified candidates [myself included] who could argue they meet his criteria who have been excluded; and, it should also be noted, that whatever Republican prevails on October 15th will certainly have funding viability. But that’s another story.

“The real story is that the people of Arlington and surrounding communities are being cheated out of the information they’ll need to make an informed vote next month. None of the incumbent Democrats have yet to speak with knowledge on the root cause of the environmental problems that will be discussed at the forum and that makes me question the forum’s value. You’re probably just going to see a lot of tap-dancing.

“That noted root cause is a current world population of 7 Billion-plus when Mother Earth’s present equilibrium capacity [where we use resources at the pace that Nature can replace them] is about 4.2 Billion]. That imbalance means more carbon dioxide, habitat squeeze, food scarcity, etc.

“I hope those sleepy participant/sponsor organizations [shame on you, Boston Globe] wake up and sponsor a useful public-service debate on these important issues after the October 15th Primary.”

Addivinola comments

Addivinola responded through his campaign via email Sept. 18:

“Mr. Bachrach’s approach to giving legitimate candidates who put their name on the ballot a fair chance to state their positions on issues is questionable for few reasons. First of all, assuming that few individuals can judge a candidate’s viability is presumptuous to say the least. Voters will determine their viability on the Election Day. Not inviting certain candidates to the Town Hall does not do any service to voters who are entitled to know positions of all candidates on issues being discussed.

“Furthermore, the criteria outlined by Mr. Bachrach are not indicative of so called ‘viability.’ For that matter, our campaign has a fully developed web site, an office and staff. As for fund-raising, Mr. Bachrach refers to a figure of $25,000 in the most recent reporting period leaving out the fact that the most recent reporting period finished on June 30th, 5 days after Ed Markey won the US Senate special election and two weeks prior to the 5th Congressional District special election being announced. Some candidates only started their campaign after the reporting period finished and Mr. Bachrach has no way of knowing how much money they raised up until this point.

“For our part, our campaign was never contacted to check whether we are meeting their criteria for invitation.”

Maisano responds

Paul John Maisano wrote Tuesday, Sept. 24:

I finally have a minute to address the exclusionary tactics being practiced by a few small groups in this Congressional race.

However, I find it more important to report a fact that I consider more important — those who practice fairness in politics. The following Democratic city, or town, committees endorse an even playing field for all candidates having submitted the required 2,000 signatures according to the state election statues. These groups far outweigh the small faction of those practicing political discrimination.

I commend the following Democratic committees from the 5th Congressional District for their sense of fair play, but more importantly their leadership. Framingham, Wayland, Cambridge, Arlington, Belmont, Waltham, and Watertown, were the first to invite all candidates into the process. I have personally spoken with the chairpersons of each of these individual groups, and they endorse an open transparent process in our political arena. The Massachusetts state Chairman John Walsh stated to me: “exclusionary practices are counterproductive, and has no home within the democratic process.” These are the true patriots of our democracy.   

Public opinion is that politics…. is a dirty game. The fact that eighty percent of the registered voters traditionally remain absent speaks to this fact. Voters want a clean political environment. We have to work harder to accomplish this goal.

I have great respect for former Senator George Bachrach; I thank him for his years of dedication and service to Massachusetts. Now is time to pass the torch of democracy to the next generation of Democrats, those demanding equality, fairness, mutual respect, in our communities, workplace, and political process. We shall stamp upon even the smallest sign of discrimination regardless of how small it may appear. To allow even the smallest act of discrimination to go unnoticed potentially cultivates this malignancy to proliferate, endangering all the social progress made thus far.

With specific regards to the Arlington forum scheduled for Sept. 26, I recommend residents attend this event and enjoy the discussion. In the event that this event be televised by the Arlington cable access channel my campaign shall require equal air time as prescribed under federal regulations.

I intend to work for the public interest as your Congressperson, not the politicians, or special interests. The power of our collective voice shall speak louder on Election Day Oct. 15. I forward this message to all political leaders once stated by private sector businessperson, Lee Iacocca, “Lead, follow, or get out of the way.”

Link to all candidates

Boston.com, Sept. 13: Notes from the Fifth

This story was published Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2013, and updated Sept. 24.