Rep. Carmine Gentile, at LDTC Forum
On Saturday, January 21, Forty two Lincoln residents attended the Lincoln Democratic Town Committee to meet with Representative Carmine Gentile.
Because of the recent redistricting, Rep. Gentile, Precinct 1, and Representative Alice Peisch, Precinct 2, are now representing Lincoln on Beacon Hill in the state legislature. Rep. Peisch was unable to join us today because of a death in her family, and she will meet with us at a later date.
Rep. Gentile described his work and priorities. A resident of Sudbury, he serves on various town committees including the Council on Aging, the Housing Trust, and the Boy Scouts, and in addition he serves on a regional domestic violence round table. He believes that local action is the basis of statewide action. He was elected in 2015 to be the Representative of 13th Middlesex, the district that Lincoln’s Precinct 1 has joined. His interests include housing, education and health care. Noting that Massachusetts needed 200,000 more housing units, yesterday, Rep Gentile said that a housing caucus is being formed by both branches of the legislature.
Representative Gentile has filed 39 bills this year; 30 having statewide implications and 9, local home rule bills. Two pertain to Lincoln: one to authorize Lincoln to establish a needs-based senior tax reduction and the other to allow charging for check out bags.
Among his key interests, he listed the environment, health and veterans affairs. Rep Gentile talked about two issues relating to education. He is concerned about food-challenged students, and he wants to help find a way to support parents who need, but can’t afford, child care. Massachusetts has the highest cost of child care in the nation. A bill was passed last year to help pay child care teachers, but it has not been fully implanted.
At this point, Barbara Slayter and Joan Kimball, Co-Chairs of the LDTC, asked for questions from the audience.
Questions included:
Our Priorities:
Now that we have both federal and state funds—and this is perhaps a once in a lifetime opportunity—what is the best way to pull together towns, advocates, legislators to ensure that our priorities are met? Priorities include, but not limited to, housing and infrastructure.
Rep Gentile: Please let legislators know your priorities, partner with other towns, and be specific.
Prison Reform:
Do you support two bills important to us: (1) Five year Moratorium on building new prisons; and (2) the no cost phone bill that would stop the high cost of phoning for prisoners?
Rep Gentile: He supported the no cost phone bill to remove the exorbitant fees that prisons (as a money making program) place on prisoners. The Moratorium bill was passed by the legislature and vetoed by the Governor. The devil is in the details with this one. Rep Gentile thought we should look proactively at Germany and the Scandinavian countries where their prisons look like graduate student housing.
A second prison related question: Why not look at alternatives to prison especially for those in jail for minor offenses and not being able to post bail?
Rep. Gentile, a defense lawyer, said the legislature has been working on this: bail is now gone, a lot of mandatory sentencing has vanished. He will continue to work on these issues.
Education:
What are your specific interests?
Rep. Gentile: In the 1970s, Western Europe promoted free higher education and it would be good here for students to be able to graduate from colleges without huge debt. The Senate President, Karen Spilka, advocates for community colleges to be free. We are working hard on this issue.. The Fair Share Amendment stated that funds were to go to education and transportation. The money is there: if not now, when?
Asylum Seekers:
What is the state doing for asylum seekers?
Rep Gentile: It’s really a federal issue; but people in Massachusetts want to be helpful.
Local Online Newspapers:
Because local paper newspapers are not healthy, many towns have news blogs. If the state allowed towns to advertise public hearings in news blogs, towns such as Lincoln would not have to advertise in the Lowell newspapers and could pay fees to local papers. This would benefit online news.
Rep Gentile: Would be happy to cosponsor. A second person pointed out that Bedford town Meeting passed a home rule petition asking the legislature to allow the town to overrule the state requirement. Home rule petitions take a long time to get through the system.
Immigration:
There are 200,000 undocumented immigrants in Massachusetts. Shouldn’t we put American labor force first and not be allowing drivers licenses, instate tuition to these undocumented workers until American workers have been able to achieve the American Dream?
Rep. Gentile: These undocumented workers are here and they are working and paying taxes. They are doing jobs that others may not want to do. We should pay all workers more. Years ago people could work the minimum wage and have a roof over their heads. The recent $15 minimum wage is still not enough.
A second person noted that the LDTC had supported the Family and Mobility Act to allow undocumented workers the ability to drive. We appreciate that there is a range of views on all these matters.
Health Care:
There are not enough beds for people with mental illness. What can be done? People are waiting in the ER for long periods of time and it takes years sometimes to get a bed in a hospital.
Rep Gentile: There are definitely not enough beds. Bills have been filed. We need to give incentives to hospitals to create beds. Also there must be a way to help those with substance disorders to get care they need.
Climate Change:
While the legislature has made good progress on things such as the Road Map, they still need to find ways to decarbonize existing houses. They are working on new house regulations, but what about existing ones?
Rep. Gentile: We are getting funding for insulation, heat pumps and windows.
Priorities:
Now that we have funds, how will priorities be made to fund what we really need?
Rep. Gentile: Committees will be formed in a month from now. The only way things happen is through advocacy. The three major players on Beacon Hill are the Speaker of the House, The Senate President and the Governor. They need to hear from Reps and Senators who in turn must hear from their constituents.
What Committees will you be on?
Rep Gentile: it’s up to the Speaker. I have served on Elder Affairs for the last four sessions….but its up to the Speaker.
Working together:
What are the best ways to interact with Representative Gentile? Do you have a newsletter?
Rep. Gentile: Please send an email telling me about your issue. Even if you know I am on board, let me know so I can tell the leadership that my constituents demand. You can leave a voice mail message, write a letter, or meet with me on Zoom. I have 20 minute office hours on zoom. Join me this Friday.
Ravi Simon, Rep Gentile’s aide and a Sudbury resident was introduced. All the candidates who were present and running for offices in March were introduced: Sarah Cannon Holden, for Moderator; Kim Bodnar running for Select; Lynn DeLisi running for Planning Board, and Ravi Simon for LS School Committee. Matina Madrick was present but had to leave early.
Thanks to Trish O'Hagan and Mothers Out Front and LDTC members for refreshments, and to Jerry Gechter and Travis Roland for technical support, and for all the volunteers who served as greeters and set up volunteers.
Contact Information for Representative Gentile:
Email:
carmine.gentile@mahouse.gov
Phone:
(617) 722-2810 X8
Address:
State House 24 Beacon St. Room 167, Boston, MA, 02133
Legislative Aide:
Ravi Simon, ravi.simon@mahouse.gov
Office Hours:
Rep. Gentile will hold virtual office hours for constituents (which include residents of southwestern Lincoln in Precinct 1) on Friday, Jan. 27. Meetings will take place via Microsoft Teams video call from 10 a.m.–noon. Any constituent who wishes to speak to him may sign up for a 20-minute time slot by emailing his legislative aide, Ravi Simon (a Sudbury resident), at ravi.simon@mahouse.gov. Constituents signing up for a meeting must provide their full name, address, phone number, email, and their discussion topic.
This announcement found at:
https://lincolnsquirrel.com/event/rep-carmine-gentile-virtual-office-hours/?instance_id=7187
If you missed the meeting, here is the link to see the recording: Please note the closed captions option.https://youtu.be/0bP0t8UEf6U .
Notes by Joan Kimball
