Democratic State Sen. Candidates Speak to Reading Residents

Democratic State Senate candidates Michael Day and Katherine Clark Wednesday told a Reading civic group how they, if elected to replace departing State Sen. Richard Tisei, would improve Massachusetts' government.

Clark, currently the State Representative for Melrose and part of Wakefield, said she supports giving municipalities incentives to cooperate, share services and save money.

She highlighted a state-level initiative that encourages school districts to save money by using pre-drawn architectural plans instead of commissioning their own architect for each project. The state encourages participation, she said, by offering more funding to districts that use the program.

On a local level, she pointed to Melrose and Wakefield, which combined their health departments because neither needed their own. While Clark said New Englanders hesitate to cede local control, programs like these can empower municipalities.

"We are provincial,... we like the way we do things in our town," Clark said, "[but] once you do it, and it actually creates more money to allow you to do what you want to do for your town, it's a really positive thing."

Day Outlines His Plans

Day, an attorney from Stoneham, outlined his plans to apply the state's money more intelligently.

Instead of relying on shelters to house the homeless, Day said, the state should give them vouchers for rental units. These types of programs, he said, give individuals pride in their homes and reduce the need for shelters, which Day said can aggravate lodgers' economic and mental difficulties.

He also said the state should lend legal advice to homeowners facing foreclosures – a group that is typically unprepared for court battles with bank lawyers – and use the tax code to encourage small, local businesses to hire the currently-unemployed.

"One of the things I think they [the state] really needs to step up with is providing very targeted and very specific tax incentives to business owners who are going to start hiring employees," Day said.

The candidates spoke in separate 45-minute blocks in an intimate setting without podiums, notes or prepared speeches. Neither candidate mentioned their opponent or made more than passing criticism of state Democratic leadership. Clark noted that the past three speakers of the house have left under indictment, and Day characterized Democratic leadership as turtling after losing Ted Kennedy's seat in the senate.

Their choice to not attack state government fit the talk's host. Making Reading Better - an organization that believes that Reading is a good place to live, but could be improved - arranged the event at the Century 21 Office on Lincoln Street. Eight residents attended.

Day and Clark will face off Sept. 14 in the Democratic primary. The winner will face Craig Spadafora, the president of Malden's City Council and the lone Republican running for the seat. State Sen. Tisei, who has held his seat for 20 years, opted not to run for reelection to instead run as lieutenant governor under Charlie Baker.