2023 Salem Municipal Elections

2023 Salem City Council Elections

Progressive Salem invited City Council candidates to fill out a candidate questionnaire. You can read questionnaires below.
 
Not sure of your district? You can find that out at www.wheredoivotema.com.
 

General Election: November 7, 2023

At-Large

Candidates:

  • Kyle Davis
  • Domingo Dominguez (incumbent)
  • Ty Hapworth (incumbent)
  • Alice Merkl (incumbent)
  • Conrad Prosinewski (incumbent)
  • Filipe Zamborlini

Read the questionnaires:

Kyle Davis
Ty Hapworth
Alice Merkl
Filipe Zamborlini

Ward 1

Candidates:

  • Cynthia Jerzylo
  • Chris Malstrom

Read the questionnaires:

Chris Malstrom

Ward 2

Candidates:

  • Christopher Fuccione
  • Caroline Watson-Felt (incumbent)

Read the questionnaires:

Christopher Fuccione
Caroline Watson-Felt

Ward 3

Candidates:

  • Joe Cultrera
  • Patti Morsillo (incumbent)

Read the questionnaires:

Joe Cultrera
Patti Morsillo

Ward 4

Candidates:

  • John Harvey
  • Ian McLeod

Read the questionnaires:

Ian McLeod

Ward 5

Candidates:

  • Jeff Cohen (incumbent)

Read the questionnaires:

Jeff Cohen

Ward 6

Candidates:

  • Megan Stott (incumbent)

Read the questionnaires:

Megan Stott
Return to Elections & Endorsements >>

Want to see more questionnaires?

What Just Happened with the Tax Bill

Last year, voters showed up in November and sent a clear message by passing the Fair Share Amendment: we need greater investment in public education and transportation in the Commonwealth, and the wealthy should pay their fair share. 

Because of the new revenue raised by the Fair Share Amendment, more kids will have access to pre-K, students will have access to free school meals, our schools will be greener, and fewer graduates of our public colleges and universities will be burdened with debt. Even more, we will see better hours for our Regional Transit Authorities, better upkeep for roads and bridges, and much-needed additional funding for the MBTA. All of this just in the first year of new revenue. 

And that is why it is so disappointing to see the Governor and Legislature focus so much energy this year on cutting taxes, particularly for the ultra-rich and large corporations. Almost 40% of the tax package —  passed nearly unanimously by the Legislature and supported by the Governor — consisted of regressive tax giveaways, disproportionately benefiting the Commonwealth’s richest residents, corporations, and estates. Multi-million-dollar estates will be getting a tax break of almost $100,000 each. Day traders, speculators, and multinational corporations also come out well ahead. 

More progressive components of the bill, such as the child tax credit ($200 per child) and renters deduction (a paltry $50), can help families struggling to make ends meet but miss the mark when it comes to actually addressing the problems of affordability in Massachusetts. We need to be investing in our child care infrastructure and in preserving and expanding affordable housing, and the regressive tax cuts in the bill siphon away vital funding for doing so. That said, the fact that the Legislature closed a loophole that could have enabled tax avoidance of the Fair Share tax is both welcome and necessary. 

It is simply not acceptable for legislators to say “We don’t have the money” when it comes to meeting basic needs, when they are willing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on unnecessary and regressive tax cuts for the rich and large corporations. 

Our commonwealth has the resources we need to solve the great challenges we face; the question is whether our elected officials have the will to do so. 

Testimony in Support of the Language Access & Inclusion Act and Indigenous Peoples Day

Tuesday, October 3, 2023

Dear Chairman Collins, Chairman Cabral, and Members of the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight:

My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the policy director at Progressive Massachusetts. We are a statewide, multi-issue, grassroots membership organization focused on fighting for policy that would make our Commonwealth more equitable, just, sustainable, and democratic. 

We urge you to give a favorable report to S.1990/H.3084 (An Act Relative to Language Access and Inclusion) and S.1976/H.2989 (An Act establishing an Indigenous Peoples Day).

S.1990/H.3084: Language Access and Inclusion Act

Massachusetts is home to a vibrant immigrant community. One in six Massachusetts residents is an immigrant, while one in seven residents is a native-born US citizen with at least one immigrant parent.

Massachusetts, correspondingly, is home to great linguistic diversity: more than 1 out of 4 residents report speaking a language other than English at home, with the most common languages being Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese (including Mandarin and Cantonese), Vietnamese, and Russian. However, as the pandemic demonstrated, our state agencies and departments have a patchwork of different policies around language accessibility, and there is no current statute to ensure that non-English speaking residents have a fair and equitable opportunity to obtain an education, apply for benefits, receive housing assistance, or represent themselves in court.

The Language Access and Inclusion Act would help our Commonwealth better meet the needs of all residents by standardizing and enforcing language access protocols and practices at public-facing state agencies. Everyone should be able to interact with and seek help from their own government, no matter what language they speak.

S.1976/H.2989: Indigenous Peoples Day

For decades, Christopher Columbus has been celebrated as a “hero” who “discovered America.” Indigenous people have made it clear that, to the contrary, these lands were invaded, not “discovered,” and that Columbus and his men were responsible for the enslavement, rape, and murder of countless Indigenous peoples in the Caribbean. Since the 1970s, Indigenous people have asked that Indigenous Peoples Day should instead be celebrated on the second Monday in October as a positive day to learn about and honor Indigenous history and peoples.

Our neighbors in Maine and Vermont already celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day, as do an increasing number of cities and towns in Massachusetts. The Commonwealth should join them, and S.1976/H.2989: An Act establishing an Indigenous Peoples Day will make that happen.

Thank you again for all your work on today’s hearing, and again, please give a favorable report to S.1990/H.3084 (An Act Relative to Language Access and Inclusion) and S.1976/H.2989 (An Act establishing an Indigenous Peoples Day).

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Policy Director

Progressive Massachusetts

News Roundup – September 30, 2023

Alison Kuznitz, “Bill would ensure tenant access to lawyers in eviction cases,” State House News Service, September 27, 2023.

“I know the difference a lawyer can make,” Spencer said at the hearing. “It feels like when you’re by yourself in an eviction, you don’t have a chance at all.”

Lindsay Schachnow, “Advocates call for increased minimum wage in Mass.,” Boston Business Journal, September 26, 2023.

“Many local business owners in Massachusetts understand that raising the minimum wage means their customers have more money in their pockets to spend at their businesses,” he said. “Every dollar minimum wage increase represents a dollar in the pocket of a worker who’s gonna spend in their community and that is money that’s gonna circulate in our local economy.”

James Aloisi, “The MBTA is in crisis. Let’s treat it that way.,” CommonWealth, September 23, 2023.

“Without a high functioning transit and rail system, Massachusetts will not meet any of its climate, public health, or equity goals, because mode shift and transit access are critical elements of those goals.”

Jamie Eldridge and Steve Owens, “Polluters should fund measures to combat climate change,” CommonWealth, September 22, 2023.

“We must ensure that the responsibility of handling this cost does not rest on the residents of the Commonwealth but rather the oil and gas companies most responsible for the damage….Our bill would ensure that all parties engaged in the business of extracting fossil fuels, or refining crude oil, are held accountable for more than 1 billion tons of covered greenhouse gas emissions.”

Bhaamati Borkhetaria, “Another union push from legislative staffers,” CommonWealth, September 21, 2023.

“I have spoken to dozens of Senate staffers about why they’ve joined the union,” she testified. Simko said staffers have talked to her about “being unable to afford to live in Boston, experiences of harassment, and being shut down if they try to advocate for change…Every story I heard had a common thread running through it. Staff desperately need a seat at the table.” 

Gregg Hersh, “My Jewish faith spurs me to back prison moratorium,” CommonWealth, September 20, 2023.

“The Massachusetts criminal legal system is also rife with stark racial disparities, with spending on incarceration outpacing investment in wellbeing depending on the zip code. Is that the best use of our tax dollars?”

Sophie Hauck, “Holyoke School Committee seeks end to state receivership of school district,” Daily Hampshire Gazette, September 20, 2023.

“We’re, from the bottom of my heart, certainly ready,” Garcia said after reading a series of metrics to demonstrate growing student achievement in Holyoke. “There’s a lot of improvements [to come], but we’re ready to do that on our own.”

Alison Kuznitz, “Debt-free college framed as cure for workforce woes,” State House News Service, September 18, 2023.

“Even after a good semester, I feel ashamed of what little has come from my investment in my education,” Parkison said. “The funding that the CHERISH Act seeks would get me closer to dignified working conditions.”

Alvin Buyinza, “Debt-free college? Mass. advocates say its time has come,” MassLive, September 19, 2023.

“State funding cuts toward higher education have forced the commonwealth’s public colleges to take more from students’ wallets. After accounting for inflation, tuition and fees at four-year colleges in Massachusetts have skyrocketed 135% over the past two decades, according to a report from the Hildreth Institute, a Boston-based education think tank.”

Niki Griswold, “Mass. approves new health and sex ed guidelines for the first time since 1999,” Boston Globe, September 19, 2023.

“The new framework emphasizes skills like healthy decision-making and problem solving, social awareness, media literacy, and communication and relationship skills, as well as topics like the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity, and sexual health.”

Adam Reilly, “Healey unveils ‘groundbreaking’ policies on biodiversity and single-use plastic,” WGBH News, September 18, 2023.

“She announced that, later this week, she’ll sign an executive order directing the state to create new biodiversity conservation goals for 2030, 2040 and 2050, as well as strategies for meeting them. Those targets, which will include coastal and marine habitats, will be “the strongest in the nation,” Healey vowed.

In addition, Healey said, she’ll sign another executive order that immediately bans the purchase of single-use water bottles by state agencies, a step she described as unprecedented among U.S. states.”

Phil Johnston, “Today’s UMass students deserve the same opportunities I had,” CommonWealth, September 19, 2023.

“As much as students like me have counted on public higher education to help us secure our futures, the state is also counting on those colleges and universities to secure the economic future of the commonwealth.”

Vick Mohanka, “Utilities need to stop building natural gas infrastructure,” CommonWealth, September 13, 2023.

“Rather than spending billions of dollars on unnecessary fossil gas infrastructure, Massachusetts should pause fossil gas expansion and pipe replacement projects (except where necessary for safety) and prioritize electrification of building heating instead.”

Massachusetts Needs a Right to Counsel

Green affordable housing

Wednesday, September 27, 2023

Chair Edwards, Chair Arciero, and Members of the Joint Committee on Housing: 

My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the policy director at Progressive Massachusetts. We are a statewide, multi-issue, grassroots membership organization focused on fighting for policy that would make our Commonwealth more equitable, just, sustainable, and democratic. 

We see it all the time in polls, we hear it on the doors, and we see it in the data: Massachusetts has a housing crisis. More and more residents are unable to afford to live in our commonwealth anymore, priced out from one community to another and then out entirely, or face severe housing instability. 

We need a comprehensive approach to the housing crisis, and strong protections for tenants must be a part of it. We urge you to give a favorable report to S.864/H.1731: An Act promoting access to counsel and housing stability in Massachusetts.

These bills would provide legal representation for low-income tenants and low-income owner-occupants in eviction proceedings. The eviction moratorium that the Legislature passed earlier in the pandemic was a vital lifeline for so many, but eviction filings have now been climbing past what they were in 2019, pre-pandemic. Tenants enter such eviction proceedings at a major disadvantage: according to FY2022 Trial Court data, while 86% of landlords are represented, only 11.5% of tenants are represented. Tenants facing eviction are disproportionately poor, female, and BIPOC, and evictions can have lasting negative impacts on physical and mental health.

Connecticut, Maryland, and Washington have already passed Right to Counsel policies, and Massachusetts should join them. 

Sincerely, 

Jonathan Cohn 

Policy Director 

Progressive Massachusetts 

Making Our Criminal *Justice* System More Just

Figure of Justice holding the scales of justice

Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Chairman Eldridge, Chair Day, and Members of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary:

My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the policy director at Progressive Massachusetts. We are a statewide, multi-issue, grassroots membership organization focused on fighting for policy that would make our Commonwealth more equitable, just, sustainable, and democratic. 

Five years ago, the Legislature took significant strides toward curbing mass incarceration by passing a comprehensive criminal legal reform package. But there is more work to be done to make our criminal justice system more deserving of the word “justice.”  

We urge you to give a favorable report to the following bills:

  • H.1710/S.942: An Act to Promote Public Safety and Better Outcomes for Young Adults.
  • H.1495/S.940: An Act promoting diversion of juveniles to community supervision and services
  • H.1802/S.931: An Act Improving Juvenile Justice Data Collection
  • H.1650: An Act Protecting Youth During Custodial Interrogations
  • H.1756/S.954: An Act Ensuring Integrity in Juvenile Interrogations
  • H.1494/S.993: An Act Updating Bail Procedures for Justice-Involved Youth
  • S.1049: An Act relative to diversion for primary caretakers

Our testimony will focus on the first and the last.

Raise the Age (H.1710/S.942)

These bills would gradually raise the age of juvenile jurisdiction to include 18, then 19, and then 20-year-olds over a five-year period. The recidivism rate of teens in the juvenile system is less than half of that of young people automatically prosecuted as adults. In the juvenile system, such emerging adults have access to the educational and counseling services that are so vital when they are still developing.

Young adults, especially young adults of color, are overrepresented in our criminal justice system. Reducing the number of young people who experience a system that is not designed for their developmental needs will have a positive impact on such young people, helping them to better be productive, engaged citizens and whole people upon release. And that means stronger, more resilient communities.

Primary Caretakers Diversion (S.1049)

We are grateful for the work the Legislature did to advance racial and gender justice by including Primary Caretakers alternative community-based sentencing as part of the Criminal Justice Reform Act in 2018.

Whenever a parent or other primary caregiver is incarcerated, the children suffer. A criminal record puts up barriers between caretakers and housing, employment, education, and other resources that are essential to allow them to take care of their families.

Passing the Primary Caretakers Diversion bill would build on recent progress and provide more opportunities for healing, recovery, treatment, and resources, rather than punishment.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Policy Director

Progressive Massachusetts

Today at the MA State House: Raise the Age & Raise the Wage

This afternoon, Committees in the MA Legislature will be holding hearings on bills to bring the minimum wage closer to a living wage and to create better outcomes for youth in our criminal legal system.

Here’s what both are about — and, importantly, how you can help.

Time to Raise the Minimum Wage

From 2013 to 2018, Raise Up Massachusetts, a coalition of faith, labor, and community groups, worked to bring the statewide minimum wage closer to a living wage, and given the stagnation of the federal minimum wage, our $15 is something to be proud of. But it’s still not a living wage.

And given the rising costs of health care, housing, child care, and basic goods, it doesn’t stretch as far as it did in June of 2018.

That’s why Raise Up organizing to raise the minimum wage again.

New legislation, filed earlier this year by Sen. Jason Lewis and Reps. Tram Nguyen and Dan Donahue (H.1925/S.1200) would raise the minimum wage to $20 and index it to inflation so that it doesn’t lose value over time. And it would include municipal employees, who were left out of the last minimum wage increase.

Can you urge the Joint Committee on Labor & Workforce Development to advance these bills?

Time to Raise the Age

In 2018, Massachusetts passed a comprehensive criminal legal reform bill, but we have much more to do if we want to make our criminal justice system more just.

One of those things: keeping 18 to 20-year-olds in the juvenile system.

H.1710 and S.942: An Act to promote public safety and better outcomes for young adults would do just that.

When young adults are kept in the juvenile system, they are able to have better access to school and rehabilitative programming. Research has shown that similar adolescents have a 34 percent lower recidivism rate when in the juvenile system than in the adult system.

We know that such reforms work: a decade ago, Massachusetts raised the age of juvenile court to keep 17-year-olds out of the adult system, which has led to better outcomes for youth and for public safety.

Our criminal legal system disproportionately harms communities of color in Massachusetts. Only 25% of Massachusetts’ young adult population is Black or Latino, but 70% of young adults incarcerated in state prisons and 57% of young adults in county jails are people of color. Our criminal legal system is limiting young people’s access to opportunities, exacerbating economic inequities.

Can you urge the Joint Committee on the Judiciary to advance these bills?

Every Worker Deserves a Living Wage.

Time for $20

Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Chair Jehlen, Chair Cusack, and Members of the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development:

My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the policy director at Progressive Massachusetts. We are a statewide, multi-issue, grassroots membership organization focused on fighting for policy that would make our Commonwealth more equitable, just, sustainable, and democratic. 

We urge you to give a favorable report to H.1925: An Act relative to the minimum wage, S.1200: An Act relative to raising the minimum wage closer to a living wage in the Commonwealth, and S.1188 / H.1872: An Act requiring one fair wage.

Raising the Minimum Wage (S.1200/H.1925)

In 2018, Massachusetts set an example for other states and the country by passing a $15 minimum wage. As of January 2023, the full increase has now taken effect, but $15 has lost significant purchasing power due to the rising cost of food, utilities, rent, and other basic necessities. Indeed, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, today’s minimum wage would need to be more than $18 to have the same purchasing power as $15 in July 2018. 

The $15 minimum wage, while an improvement, is also not a living wage. According to the MIT Living Wage Calculator, a living wage for a single adult with no children would be $21.35 per hour. When children enter the picture, that threshold for meeting basic needs gets higher and higher. Moreover, if the minimum wage did rise in step with productivity growth since 1968, it would have met this standard for a living wage. 

It’s time to raise the minimum wage again. These bills would raise the minimum wage to $20 per hour and index it to inflation, so that the value does not erode over time. Moreover, these bills correct a glaring omission from the last minimum wage increase: the exclusion of municipal workers. Paraprofessionals and cafeteria workers in some municipalities are still not receiving a minimum wage (let alone a living wage), and we should not be allowing such carveouts. All workers deserve a living wage, and this increase would move us in the right direction.

One Fair Wage (S.1188/H.1872)

The existence of subminimum wages for certain industries, particularly ones where workers are disproportionately women and people of color, is a part of a longstanding history of discrimination and economic exploitation.

Although employers are supposed to guarantee that workers get the full minimum wage with tips, this has never been common practice, and wage theft is rampant in the food service industry. The tiered wage system allows this to happen. We need greater enforcement of wage theft laws, but we need to change the systems that make such wage theft more prevalent.

Moreover, it is well-documented that sexual harassment remains widespread in the restaurant industry. As our country is continuing to grapple with the problem of sexual harassment and sexual assault across industries, we must face up to the fact that unequal wage systems create the breeding ground for such inappropriate and predatory behaviors.

Workers across Massachusetts deserve better and are demanding better, and we urge you to listen and to swiftly report out these bills favorably.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Policy Director

Progressive Massachusetts

It’s Back to School at the MA State House. Here’s How You Can Support Public Education.

Earlier this month was back to school season. The backpacks big and small. The school buses. The returning college students. The proud parents taking photos.

Back-to-school season is always a reminder of how critical a reminder of is how critical our investments in public education are. Schools open doors to students for skills, experiences, and pathways to their future lives. Our public schools are anchors of communities. They are engines of democracy and economic opportunity. And they are essential vehicles for reducing economic and racial disparities.

That’s why we’re fighting for legislation this session to improve the full spectrum of education, from child care and pre-K to K-12 schools to public higher ed. Here’s what’s happening–and how you can help.

This Past Monday: Cherish Act Hearing

On Monday, more than a hundred people were in Gardner Auditorium at the State House to support the Cherish Act.

The Cherish Act lays out a comprehensive blueprint for supporting public higher education:

  • debt-free public higher education
  • increased student supports
  • better wages and working conditions
  • green & healthy buildings

Over the course of the hearing, the Joint Committee on Higher Education heard powerful testimony from students struggling to make ends meet, graduates facing mountains of debt, and adjunct faculty lacking basic benefits on the job, underscoring the importance of investing in public higher ed.

If you weren’t able to attend on Monday, here are two things you can still do:

  1. Action Network: Urge the Higher Education Committee to report the Cherish Act favorably out of committee: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/urge-your-legislators-to-support-the-cherish-act/.
  2. Follow the Higher Ed for All coalition on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mahigheredforall

Wednesday, October 4: Thrive Act Hearing

Sign up to share that you’re joining us for the Thrive Act hearing on October 4th!

Location: Gardner Auditorium

Time: 2pm – 8pm

The Thrive Act would end the state’s ineffective approach to educational assessment and improvement by:

  • Replacing the undemocratic and ineffective state takeover of local public schools with actual improvement plans and processes
  • Replacing the (mis)use of MCAS as a graduation requirement with graduation based on successful completion of coursework that meets state standards and frameworks
  • Establishing a commission to create an authentic, whole-child system for assessment and accountability.

The state has a responsibility to help all students and schools succeed, but, even by their own measures, the state’s interventions have not worked. It’s time to replace top-down ineffective punitive approaches with approaches that build local capacity, address root causes, and truly help students thrive.

In addition to showing up, here’s how you can help:

  • Testify in person or virtually! Share your story about why this is important to you. Sign up to testify here! (deadline: October 3rd at 3 pm)
  • Join a Testimony workshop: If you’d like support with your testimony, attend a testimony writing workshop hosted by the Thrive Act Coalition.
  • Help us spread the message about the hearing!


Tuesday, October 17: Common Start Hearing

Massachusetts families need affordable and accessible child care and early education. Instead, our state has some of the highest costs in the country, while at the same time many providers are at risk of closure and early educators are not compensated enough for their work. It’s clear: we need a new system.

The Common Start bills would strengthen our commonwealth’s child care and early education infrastructure through a combination of direct-to-provider operational funding and family financial assistance to reduce costs to families while compensating providers for the true cost of providing quality care.

The legislative hearing for the Common Start bills will be on October 17th at 1:00 PM. While the room is yet to be announced, we know that it’s critical for Common Start to show up in full force and pack the hearing room so the Legislature and the Joint Committee on Education know how much support there is for affordable, accessible, early education and care!

The coalition will be organizing buses from various parts of the state and wants to gauge interest. If you can join on October 17 at the State House and would be interested in organized transportation, please fill out this form.

If you would like to write testimony in support of H.489 / S.301, feel free to reference our written testimony guidelines and written testimony template, and if you have any questions about writing testimony, please reach out to James at james@field-first.com.

Legislators Should Support Labor at the State House Too.

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

Chair Collins, Chair Cabral, and Members of the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight:

My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the Policy Director of Progressive Massachusetts, a statewide grassroots advocacy group with chapters across the state committed to fighting for an equitable, just, democratic, and sustainable Commonwealth.

We urge you to give H.3069/S.2014: An Act relative to collective bargaining rights for legislative employees.

This bill would give State House employees the right to organize a union for the purpose of negotiating their wages, benefits, and working conditions—a right held by almost all other workers in the commonwealth.

State House staffers do so much work to keep the Legislature running. They are the reason that today’s hearing will go smoothly. They will be the ones collating submitted testimony for you to read later and taking notes for your colleagues who could not attend. They are case workers, responding to countless constituent services requests and directing people to the right agencies to address their problems. They are schedulers, policy analysts, strategy partners, networkers, meeting-attenders, and so much more.

Despite all these things that they are, one thing that they are not is adequately compensated.

When State House staff are not provided fair wages, safe and healthy work conditions, or a seat at the table, we lose talent and limit who can even consider entering public service in the first place. When we don’t have all of the diverse voices of the Commonwealth at the table, we miss vital perspectives in crafting policy.

We are very appreciative of all the recent pro-labor reforms that this Legislature has passed over the past few years and your commitment in your own districts to show solidarity with workers fighting for better pay, better benefits, and a better voice at the workplace. We ask you to show that same solidarity here and support the rights of your staff.

Thank you again for your time and for holding this hearing, and we again ask for a swift favorable report for H.3069 and S.2014.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Policy Director

Progressive Massachusetts