State Sen. Steven Tolman’s town hall forum on Tuesday, August 24, by John Kelly.
Relaxed and among some of his many Fenway friends, State Sen. Steven Tolman said that it felt good to be campaigning in the upcoming Democratic primary, to be held on September 14. With drenching rain holding down attendance, the Senator’s “Town Hall Forum” in the Fenway CDC’s conference room was more of an intimate give-and-take between senator and constituents than between candidate and voters. Tolman showed off his labor union background and progressive record, upholding as the highest priority the “human capital” of the Commonwealth. For example, he voted against the transportation reorganization because he believed that individual workers from the merging agencies (DOT and MBTA) would suffer.
He highlighted his work on the OxyContin-Heroin epidemic, capped by the bill just passed by Gov. Deval Patrick; the bill requires pain management training for those who dispense addictive pain medications. He lambasted the manufacturer of the drug, which he said overwhelms and changes the brain’s chemistry. Addicts soon enough turn to heroin, which is drastically cheaper than the exorbitantly priced OxyContin. Snorting turns into injection.
Neither Tolman nor those gathered mentioned the name of his opponent, William Feegbeh, the 40-year-old vanity candidate from Brighton. Feegbeh, who has no organization or website, mustered 2 write-in votes last year for mayor, a position which he characterized as “an entry-level position in government.” He told the Dorchester Reporter “I should be running for higher office, maybe congressman or senator, But I don’t have money so that causes me to run for a little one.”
Long-time Tolman friend City-Councilor-at-Large Felix Arroyo Jr. did a cameo, ticking off now-taken-for-granted victories of organized labor (e.g., weekends and freedom from the 12 hour workday), and paying tribute to Senator Tolman as a mentor and ally in his own work on behalf of struggling people
Residents raised diverse issues, from the need for caring and neighborly community to improved protection for Fenway’s victory gardeners, soon to benefit from an Army Corps of Engineers project to open up the Muddy River. We discussed the difficulty of earning money while on disability benefits, and the value of medical marijuana as a civil rights issue for people with disabilities. Former Fenway CDC Executive Director Matt Thall discussed the threat to the independence of limited equity housing co-ops posed by a bill that would require co-ops to accept applicants based on ability to pay.
Senator Tolman urged people to reject all three state ballot questions, which would reduce state revenues and cause terrible cuts to necessary services. (He suggested the bumper sticker “No! No! No!”). He re-affirmed his support for taxes, which would have prevented cuts like closing a clubhouse for people living with mental illness. A few of the abandoned members acted out violently, thereby needing medical care more expensive than any original savings.
He was here in the Fenway. He spoke, he listened and he took notes. Now be sure to get out and VOTE! A photo essay of the Town Hall Forum with Senator Steven A. Tolman held Tues., August 24, 2010 from 6 pm to about 8:40 pm in the Fenway CDC community room. For more information about Senator Tolman click here ! Photo Essay by Valarie Seabrook (c) 2010
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