Wilkerson vs. Diaz: the issues

By Sandra Miller
Back Bay Sun
The Second Suffolk District primary race between nine-term incumbent Dianne Wilkerson and challenger Sonia Chang-Diaz is coming down to the final weeks. For many, the choice seems to come down to whether they want someone new or the tried and true. Others may want a refresher on their platforms and background. Here’s a primer to the Sept. 16 primary race, for the district that covers the economic gamut of Back Bay, Bay Village, Beacon Hill, Chinatown, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Leather District, Mission Hill, Roxbury and the South End.
Wilkerson is again running against Democratic challenger Sonia Chang-Díaz, who came within 800 votes of beating her in the 2006 election.

Background
Wilkerson is an African-American woman in her 50s, who was born in an Arkansas shotgun shack because the local hospital did not deliver babies for black women. Her family moved to Springfield, where she attended the High School of Commerce. Wilkerson received a bachelor’s degree in public administration from American International College, and her law degree at Boston College Law School. She served as clerk to the Massachusetts Appeals Court, deputy counsel to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, and assistant legal counsel to Gov. Michael Dukakis, before becoming the first African American woman in Boston to become a partner in a major law firm, at Roche, Carnes and DeGiacomo.
Wilkerson serves on the following senate committees: State Administration & Regulatory Oversight (chair), Financial Services (vice chair), Senate committee on Ways and Means, Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets, Education, and Mental Health and Substance Abuse.
Organizations to which she belongs include Hynes Convention Center and Boston Common Parking Garage Legislative Commission, of which she is co-chair; the Commission to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities; Steering Committee for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights under the Law; board member for Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD); Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.; and Morning Star Baptist Church. She is also convener of the annual 21st Century Black Massachusetts Conference.
Chang-Diaz, 30, was raised with her sister by a single white mother who works with adults with mental illness, foster children, and at-risk toddlers and infants in Dorchester. Her father, an immigrant to the United States from Costa Rica, is of mixed Latino and Asian ancestry, and was our country’s first Latin American astronaut, and a dedicated leader in the Latin-American community. Her grandfather is a rural doctor. If elected, Chang-Diaz would become the first Latina to serve in the State Senate.
She was an urban public school teacher in the Lynn and Boston school systems, and became senior legislative aide to Sen. Cheryl Jacques. As a political adviser at the Barbara Lee Family Office, she worked nationally to increase women’s leadership in the American political system. Most recently, as the director of outreach at the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, a non-partisan fiscal policy think tank, she worked to build coalitions and educate residents around budget questions such as closing corporate loopholes and making the state’s budget process more transparent.
Chang-Diaz is a board member of MassVOTE, a statewide voting rights and election reform organization. She is an active member of the Parish Council of St. Mary of the Angels Church in Roxbury, and was recognized by El Planeta newspaper as one of the 100 most influential people for Massachusetts’s Hispanic community.

Endorsements:
Wilkerson’s endorsements include US Sen. John Kerry, Gov. Deval Patrick, Senate President Therese Murray, Mayor Thomas M. Menino, the Hon. Maura Hennigan and Rep. Elizabeth Malia and Councillor Michael Ross.
Chang-Diaz said the only endorsements that matter to her are the voters that she talks to and meets.

The issues:
Back Bay and Beacon Hill
As co-chair of the Hynes Convention Center and Boston Common Parking Garage Legislative Commission, Wilkerson prides herself with beating back former Gov. Mitt Romney’s pledge to shut down the Hynes a few years ago. “I went, ‘Not so fast!’” recalled Wilkerson, citing the Hynes revenues and importance to the Back Bay economy. That committee also oversees changes in the way the Boston Common Parking Garage is operated, stating, “No one will wake up and see the flower garden dug up. We’re setting up a process guaranteeing that won’t happen.”
She worked with Rep. Marty Walz for funding Longfellowv and Storrow Drive repairs, recalling that when she attended meetings about the repairs, she was surprised a representative from the Office of Transportation not only wasn’t attending the meetings, but apparently was serving as an adviser to the Department of Conservation and Recreation, which she called ridiculous. She said she extracted a commitment that the Transportation Department would represent itself at the meetings as a separate entity.
When the MBTA held meetings about rerouting the city’s largest bus line - the 39 bus - it held meetings only in Jamaica Plain, at one end of the 103 bus stop line. “I reminded them that this is only one end of the bus line - that there is a Copley side, too,” she said.
Both candidates said they would be monitoring the Storrow Drive tunnel repairs, and expressed sensitivity to residential neighborhoods co-existing with businesses and universities. Chang-Diaz said the recent agreement between Suffolk University and the Beacon Hill Civic Association was a positive role model for future discussions between institutions and communities. Wilkerson stressed the need for transparency in such negotiations, and working with the community.
They differ on only two major area issues: the Columbus Center project and the BU Biolab (see related story).


Accountability
Wilkerson recently settled with the attorney general’s office to close up a decade’s worth of financial problems, ranging from having to pay fines for campaign finance violations, battling a campaign-finance lawsuit, a 1990s income tax evasion conviction, and fighting the foreclosure on her home in 2000 after failing to pay her mortgage.
In a press release, Wilkerson called the settlement "timely and fair,” stating that her committee will install new practices and policies to prevent further accounting errors.
Chang-Diaz pointed out that Wilkerson’s legal problems has created doubts among the district’s voters. “I’m hearing a lot of frustration from voters on this. It’s a significant one, for sure, regarding years of misleading the public,” she said. “This is what turns people off to politics, which makes it harder for us to do things that need to be done.”
Wilkerson barely beat Chang-Díaz in the 2006 primary. Both ran a write-in campaign, Wilkerson after missing the deadline to file the required 300 certified signatures with state election officials, and Chang-Diaz as a late entry. Wilkerson won in the November election with more than 70 percent of the vote.
“We need new leadership to tackle some serious problems,” said Chang-Diaz. Chang-Diaz called for open and accountable government, “from setting high standards for the responsiveness of my own office staff to constituents to pushing for clear disclosure and evaluation on corporate tax incentives and grants; from maintaining strong campaign finance laws to making our annual state budget more transparent and understandable to the average citizen.”
Chang-Diaz understands that both she and Wilkerson are progressive Democrats, and therefore support most of the same issues. “It’s important to remember the fundamental difference is voters should not be asked to choose, on one hand, good progressive issues, and ethics and accountability on the other hand,” she said, adding that she’d use Rep. Marty Walz as a role model. “I’ve heard wonderful things from the community about the job that Rep. Walz is doing, and how she is an active partner,” she said.
Wilkerson said her 16 years in office has created valuable seniority. “The difference is, I’ve been doing it,” said Wilkerson.

In other issues, each candidate released the following statements:

Health
Wilkerson pushed for: $37,166,608 for HIV and AIDS Disparities Funding; Health Care Reform involvement; the Needle Bill, for those 18 and up to be able to purchase hypodermic needles without a prescription at pharmacies, to help reduce transmission of AIDS and other diseases; emergency contraception; and an oral-health bill to give children under MassHealth access to dental care.
Chang-Diaz supports affordable health care for all, and to maintain the state healthcare program by combining efforts among employers, insurers, the public sector, health care providers, and individuals. She also would work with legislators and experts to pass cost-containment measures to keep health care prices down. She is pro-choice and supports increasing access to reproductive health services and education.
“How can we contain healthcare costs, so individual families can be able to keep up? How can we control costs? The state healthcare system is venturing into uncharted territory,” Chang-Diaz said, and the Legislature can help to control costs with such initiatives as electronic health care records, and setting up an infrastructure with health care providers, eliminating duplicate offices and commissions. “Our system is weighted toward surgeries,” she added. “We have a huge primary care shortage because it’s not as rewarded,” she said. “We need to shift some of our reward focus system earlier on, toward primary care and prevention, and healthy lifestyles.”

Housing
Wilkerson supported or sponsored: a bill creating a 180-day moratorium on foreclosures resulting from unfair sub-prime loans, giving tenants four to six months of relief from eviction, and providing a fair review process; a judicial review process that would give homeowners the opportunity to have their cases heard by judges before being removed from their homes; and other bills supporting affordable housing protection.
She also supported homelessness programs such as health care and the creation of a homelessness commission.
Chang-Diaz also supports affordable housing programs and mortgage-protection help, including options that help families to stay in their neighborhoods and searches for affordable housing programs beyond the local level. “I will push for both long- and short-term solutions to stabilize the housing market and keep the dream of home ownership within reach for working families,” she said. “I will work closely with affordable housing advocates, development experts, and municipal leaders to target immediate resources into programs that have shown the most success — both locally and at the national level.”
She cites the need to invest in “smart growth” and mass transit in the commonwealth, to expand housing options across the state and distribute demand pressures more evenly between Boston and other areas.


Parks and the Environment
Wilkerson secured funding in the recently passed Environmental Bond Bill to rebuild the docks at Community Boating on the Esplanade, an inline skating facility and kiddie pool at Melina Cass Rink, and a new ice skating rink in Jamaica Plain. She sponsored legislation to, or voted for: Environmental Justice Program, establishing a commission to study the local impact of any fossil fuel, energy generation and storage facilities; $2 million for cleanup of the old Modern Electroplating Building, and to protect trees in the Emerald Necklace.
Chang-Diaz calls environmental protection “a moral responsibility to future generations and a health and quality-of-life issue.” She wants to protect the low-income residents from environmental problems, and to find ways that the federal government can help the commonwealth. She seeks to set achievable goals for reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions over the next few decades, and seek out renewable energy alternatives, strong clean air and water standards, investment in public transportation, the “green” building codes, and rigorous environmental justice standards; and investment in public parks and green spaces.


Education
As the senate chair of the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight, Wilkerson presided over the hearing process for Governor Deval Patrick’s 2008 Education Reorganization plan. She also supported a bill strengthening graduation and drop-out data and programs; a House bill that strengthens the universal Pre-K program and develops early education and care; bills that help teachers with retirement increases; MCAS remediation; a statewide initiative for state education guidelines; “Smart Growth” state school aid; $21 million for METCO program, of which she is senate co-chair of the METCO caucus, and $31 million for adult basic education; and the $430 million Higher Education Bond Bill. She is opposed to lifting the cap on charter schools, until the funding formula is fixed.
Chang-Diaz, a former public school teacher, says she knows first-hand about what students, parents and schools need for support. “I will work ceaselessly to ensure that our schools have the resources and tools they need to complete this job: quality teachers, small class sizes, well-rounded curricula, excellent school leadership, and active community and parental involvement. I will also work to give parents the support they need to be active participants in their children’s education.”


LGBT and discrimination
Wilkerson fought for the following initiatives: legislation to establish domestic partnership for same-sex couples in Massachusetts; repeal of the 1913 Law banning out-of-state residents from marrying in this state – which not only will let out-of-state same-sex couples marry, but also welcomes increased wedding and travel spending; supported same-sex married households gaining access to MassHealth; secured funding for public school Violence Prevention Education and other youth services for LGBT youths; and nursing home diversity training to protect LGBT seniors against discrimination.
She also was the lead sponsor on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act; secured Boston voting ballots in both English-Chinese and English-Vietnamese; and helped repeal the Indian Prohibition Act, a 1675 law which stated that any Native American caught in Boston after sundown will be imprisoned.
Chang-Diaz is also a strong supporter of marriage equality: “I will actively work to ensure our government protects, respects and values all families,” she said.


Public safety
Wilkerson has fought against racial profiling in traffic stops, helped secure $3.5 million for violence prevention, $100,000 for the Gun Prosecution Task Force, co-sponsored the Anti-Gang Package, helped Massachusetts become the second state requiring “Fire-Safe” cigarettes that self-extinguish; and supports interstate tracking for adult offenders, and the drunk driving legislation, Melanie’s Law.
Chang-Diaz recalls her days as a teacher and seeing youths who had little hope for their futures and therefore chose a violent lifestyle. “Working in the classroom, I fought every day to change that equation for young people by equipping them with skills and high expectations for themselves,” she said in a written statement. “We should not resign ourselves to crime and recidivism rates that are preventable. We have successfully reduced youth violence rates in Boston before, and we can do it again. Likewise, a wealth of data points us in the right direction for reducing crime by adults. As a city and as a state, we need to reinvest in the tested solutions that we know work and be willing to try new ideas that have gotten results elsewhere.”
To prevent youth violence, she helped prevent the 2005 closing of St. Mary of the Angels Church in Egleston Square. She encouraged parishioners and non-parishioners to try solutions such as direct canvassing in at-risk neighborhoods and grassroots fundraising to expand youth services. To combat youth violence at its roots, she supports “giving kids a more hopeful sense of their own futures,” she said, through rigorous education and after-school and summer programs, fostering relationships between youths and caring adults, and decreasing access to weapons. She also supports drug courts, sentencing reform, and re-entry programs, but is opposed to the death penalty.

Miscellaneous:
Wilkerson helped senior citizens with bank fee exemptions when applying for MassHealth, home heating assistance, increased burial benefits for veterans, help with seeking tax discounts and generic prescriptions, and helping to fight foreclosures.
Wilkerson also voted for Hurricane Katrina aid and the Welcome Home Bill that increased benefits for servicemen and women serving in Iraq and in Afghanistan, and also for their families.
Chang-Díaz favors publicly funded elections, while Wilkerson doesn’t.
Both are opposed to casino gambling.