I would like to respond to the letter “Decker turns progressive advocacy into legislation, resources and results for the community” (Aug. 19). While there is much to respond to about the accuracy of some of the claims in that statement, I want to address just a few more general points.
First, the writers note that only two of the six signers of a letter in support of Evan MacKay (“Time for a change in Cambridge’s 25th Middlesex,” Aug. 12) live in the 25th District. That may be true, but all of them live in Cambridge. Both Evan and Marjorie have supporters beyond the boundaries of the 25th Middlesex District. I live half a block from the line for that district. I care deeply about Cambridge, the whole city, and want to have representatives in the state Legislature who will fight for Cambridge together. So, although I may not be in the district, I am a Cantabrigian and we all have a vested interest in what happens in this election.
Second, I find it very disturbing that Decker has consistently attacked Evan for being a Harvard graduate student. If this is meant to tap into people’s class resentments, it is misguided. Evan’s identity as an educator and a labor leader has been rooted in their work as first an undergraduate and then a graduate student. Evan has worked hard to organize graduate students who have, for years, been exploited by the richest university in the world. Graduate students make barely a living wage. Organizing these workers – and they are workers – is part of the new wave of progressive labor organizing.
Third, I’d like to respond to the sentence, “Marjorie has made her committee votes public to the press and constituents who requested them” (my emphasis). This is exactly what Evan is trying to change. The public should not have to call their legislator, or any legislator, to hunt down their vote on a particular issue. We need to fix a system that has been cloaked in secrecy for far too long. Unfortunately, Marjorie has not been willing to challenge the power on Beacon Hill. In the past three years, at least, she has voted 100 percent in line with speaker Ron Mariano.
Finally, I too would like to see “an honest, informed debate.” I resent, though, the implication in the Aug. 19 letter that Evan has lied or twisted the truth. Evan’s integrity and honesty are some of their strongest qualities.
I decided to support Evan because a vote for Evan is a vote for change in our broken state Legislature. A vote for Marjorie will continue the status quo of a lack of transparency and the stranglehold on the Massachusetts Legislature by a few leaders at the top. Marjorie has been unwilling to buck that cabal. I believe Evan will work with a new generation of elected officials willing to open up the people’s house to the people.
Kathy Greeley
Erie Street, Cambridge
