The special election for State Representative that will be held on March 5 for the Democratic candidates and April 2 for the General election has certainly drawn a very large field of candidates for voters .
This is the way that democracy is supposed to work in having a wide variety of candidates.
What voters should be listening for is how the different candidates will view their jobs and priorities at the State House.
In recent years, the job of State Senator or Representative has taken on the larger and key role of bringing added funds to city coffers for local city services like police, fire, street repairs and schools.
Make no doubt about the fact that the state budget is just this enormous and complicated spending machine that by the end of the day will determine in our case how many police or fire personnel will be on our streets or how many school teachers will be in our schools. And these numbers of employees rest on the amount of local aid.
In the past five years, with the state revenues down and the state rainy day fund having been depleted, local aid had been cut solely at the discretion of state officials and these cuts have had many negative impacts on our city.
Just a few months ago, state officials decided to cut local aid during the mid point of this fiscal year. While these state cuts have not yet been implemented, the specter of it happening is all too real for local officials.
In the next few weeks, we at the Everett Independent will be asking questions from all the candidates running for State Representative. In today’s issue, two candidates answer questions on how they view the job and responsibilities of State Representative.
Also, the City and Ward Democratic Committee will be holding a debate in late February for the candidates seeking this office.
We urge residents to keep their ears open for how these candidates will perform their job as Everett’s new State Representative.
For the next State Representative will be crucial to ensuring the good quality of life in Everett for ourselves and our children.
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