For Your Consideration - Chris Pappas for NH-1

CSfC Members are considering supporting Chris Pappas (NH-01) for Congress - here's a bit of background.



Update: CSfC members voted to support Chris Pappas

Chris Pappas is currently an elected member of New Hampshire’s Executive Council - similar to Massachusetts' Governor's Council. He is running for US House of Representatives, to succeed retiring Democratic Rep. Carol Shea-Porter. Pappas would be the first openly gay representative from New Hampshire.


Born and raised in Manchester, Chris Pappas is a small business owner. After graduating from Harvard in 2002, Chris returned to New Hampshire to help run his family’s business, the Puritan Backroom Restaurant. He began his public service as a State Representative in 2002, serving two terms, and was subsequently elected to two terms as the Treasurer of Hillsborough County. Since 2013, Pappas has represented District 4 on the New Hampshire Executive Council.


Pappas was endorsed by three Democrats in the New Hampshire congressional delegation - Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan and Rep. Annie Kuster.


Pappas record on the issues:

• Expanded Medicaid to 50,000 people in NH
• Promoted modernizing transportation infrastructure
• Cast critical votes to keep Planned Parenthood centers funded to provide health services for women and families
• Secured millions of dollars in funding for substance abuse prevention, treatment, and recovery programs
• Supports increasing the minimum wage and indexing it to inflation
• Supports a system of paid family leave
• Supports developing New Hampshire's renewable energy portfolio and fighting climate change
• Supports citizenship for Dreamers who know no other country than the United States
• Supports comprehensive immigration reform that allows people to come out of the shadows and find a pathway to citizenship
• Embraces New Hampshire’s refugee communities and support funding for language skills and job training programs
• Wants to end Citizens United

Press/links:


https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/11/politics/new-hampshire-primary-election/index.html


https://www.chrispappas.org/


https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/09/11/kelly-pappas-win-democratic-primaries-new-hampshire/54leYZSxV0CMXzqvdgvIVM/story.html

CSfC Endorses Ayanna Pressley for CD7 and Donna Patalano for Middlesex DA

Cambridge Somerville for Change is pleased to announce the following endorsements in the September 4^tth primary election: 

For Middlesex County District Attorney: Donna Patalano

Cambridge Somerville for Change membership has voted to endorse Donna Patalano in the race for Middlesex County District Attorney. Donna is running against incumbent Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan.

The District Attorney's Office in Middlesex County, the largest county in Massachusetts, can have a major impact in the state during the upcoming implementation of the recently passed Massachusetts criminal justice reform bill and in ongoing efforts to build on this foundation.

Donna Patalano’s legal career includes time as a clerk for Justice Elspeth B. Cypher in the Massachusetts Appeals Court as well as time as a prosecutor in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.  She has also worked as an advocate and defense attorney in both the state and federal justice system, giving her experience and a view of both sides of the justice system.

Donna returned to the Suffolk County DA's Office as Chief of Professional Integrity & Ethics, creating training programs, prosecution policies, and helping to build the Conviction Integrity Program.

She was counsel of record for more than 120 Appeals Court cases and appeared more than 20 times in front of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.  Recognized by her colleagues for her work, Donna was honored with the “Best Appellate Prosecutor” and the “Unsung Hero” awards.

Read Donna’s answers to the Justice for Massachusetts Coalition's candidate questionnaire.

For Massachusetts's 7th Congressional District Representative: Ayanna Pressley

Ayanna Pressley is the CSfC membership endorsed choice for Massachusetts 7^th Congressional District Representative. Ayanna is running against incumbent Representative Mike Capuano.

The Massachusetts 7th district includes Somerville, Chelsea, Everett, Randolph, large sections of Boston, and parts of Milton and Cambridge – a map of the district is available here.

Ayanna Pressley, first elected to Boston City Council in 2009, was the first woman of color ever elected to the Boston City Council. Prior to her election to the Boston City Council, Ayanna worked as a Senior Aide for Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy II and later for Senator John Kerry.

As a member of the Boston City Council, Ayanna worked to establish the Committee on Healthy Women, Families, and Communities. This Committee addresses the causes that Ayanna has been most devoted to: stabilizing families and communities, reducing and preventing violence and trauma, combating poverty, and addressing issue that disproportionately impact women and girls. Ayanna consistently has strived to improve the lives of people who have too often been left behind.

In 2016, Ayanna was named one of The New York Times 14 Young Democrats to Watch. In 2015, she earned the EMILY’s List Rising Star Award and was named one of Boston Magazine’s 50 Most Powerful People. In 2014, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce named her as one of their Ten Outstanding Young Leaders, and the Victim Rights Law Center presented her with their Leadership Award. She is also an Aspen-Rodel Fellow in Public Leadership, Class of 2012.

Read Ayanna's answers to the Progressive Mass questionnaire.

CSfC is excited to support both candidates for the Tuesday September 4^th primary election. Announcements will be coming soon for phone banks and canvassing events to support each candidate in these last few weeks.

Don’t forget to vote on September 4^th and hope to see you at a phone bank or canvass in the next two weeks!  

CSfC 2018 Candidates Forum for Governor and Secretary of the Commonwealth on April 15

Cambridge-Somerville for Change is hosting a candidates forum on April 15, at 2:30 PM, at Lesley University's University Hall Amphitheater.

This will be a series of structured Q&A sessions, with each of the candidates.

Sign up here

We're collecting questions from the CSfC community, to ask each of the candidates

Submit your questions for candidates here

Invited Candidates for Governor:

• Jay Gonzalez
• Bob Massie
• Setti Warren

Invited Candidates for Secretary of the Commonwealth

• Bill Galvin
• Josh Zakim

March for Our Lives in Boston on March 24

On February 14th of this year, Nikolas Cruz, a former student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, walked into the school from which he had been expelled and began shooting.

The resultant massacre, aided by the legal purchase of an AR-15 assault rifle despite his prior mental health issues, quickly became one of the world's most notorious and deadly school shootings. Cruz The shooter pulled a fire alarm and, amidst the chaos, proceeded to execute seventeen former schoolmates and teachers in the following six minutes, in one of the most horrifying acts of senseless violence that our nation has ever seen.

What happened next, in the wake of that horrific act, defies explanation has been a national inspiration: the survivors of Parkland refused to embrace victimhood. Instead they set their sights on change, on shocking the system that led to their tragedy. They used their social media savvy and reach to begin a long-overdue movement to reform gun laws in this country and end gun violence altogether. Thanks to the efforts of those motivated and dedicated young people, the #NeverAgain movement has gained so much traction that Florida, long a bastion of NRA support for 2nd Amendment rights, has introduced new commonsense gun laws that would make it vastly more difficult for weapons to wind up in the wrong hands.

But this fight is not over with just Florida. The survivors of Parkland have inspired a nationwide action on Saturday, March 24th, that will show the entire country that there is overwhelming majority support for across-the-board gun law reform. Boston's part in the March for Our Lives is projected to be among the largest such demonstrations in the country, and while it is student-inspired and student-led, adults are more than invited to volunteer and provide both personnel and logistical support for this worthwhile endeavor.

If there is ever going to be a moment where we can effect positive change to keep our loved ones safe from gun violence, this is it. Please join together with us as we make this a safe and well-executed demonstration of our solidarity in peace, to prove definitively that no child should ever have to fear going to school. If you can donate time, money, or both, to make sure that this event receives the attention it rightly deserves, please click the following links.

There are two ways to help today:


Volunteer to help at the event: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfx_xEL8_5Xic6JLV0PvNICTp-DvsrD9O5-d786FHTT9ivlAg/viewform

Donate money now: https://www.youcaring.com/publichighereducationnetworkofmassachusettsinc-1126572


There is a great need for event marshals dedicated to maintaining basic crowd control/movement, peacekeepers to manage counter-protestors and ensure the safety of all, legal observers, street medics, accessibility facilitators, etc. Whatever your level of experience, there will certainly be a job for you. There will be two trainings in advance of the event, this coming Saturday, March 17th from 10 am – 1 pm at the Boston Teachers Union in Dorchester, and the following Wednesday evening at a location still TBD. Please fill out the marshal form at the above link and you will be added to the email list for more details.