Endorsements Highlight School Committee Chair Sousa: Letters

The following letters to the editor do not reflect the views of Framingham Patch

When I left the Framingham School Committee, one thing that I looked forward to was not getting caught up in the hyperbole, deception and misinformation in the media during election season. However, after reading Geoffrey Epstein’s “endorsement” of Margareth Shepard, I cannot sit quietly. I put the word “endorsement” in quotes because anyone who knows the three parties involved knows that Epstein’s letter is simply a hit piece designed to exact political retribution for Sousa unseating Epstein’s personal choice for Chair of the Framingham School Committee rather than backing down to Epstein’s bullying and attempts to directly influence the votes of his former colleagues. However, Epstein is likely betting on the fact that the average reader is not going to know all of this “inside baseball”, is not going to do their own homework, and is simply going to take him at his word and vote against Sousa simply because he was once an elected official.

Setting aside the clear motive behind this letter, the arguments within it are also flawed and not backed up by facts or historical events. Regarding the $4.5 million that was redirected from Chapter 70 state aid, that was an action taken by the mayor and the City Council, not by the Sousa or the School Committee. Epstein would have you believe that this happened because Sousa was asleep at the wheel, however it was done with the full knowledge of the School Committee. Epstein’s letter also attempts to paint Shepard as a champion of school funding by talking about a single vote in 2019 in which the city council upheld the Chapter 70 funding rather than diverting it as had been requested by Mayor Spicer. The only way in which Shepard was “an important contributor to that effort” was by siding with her colleagues instead of her friend the mayor. However, Shepard then reversed course the following year when she attempted to delay a vote on the school budget, which would likely have triggered layoffs in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Regarding Epstein’s other argument regarding work on environmental sustainability, in one sentence he says that “if you could call anyone a sponsor there would be dozens” but then he contradicts himself by claiming 90% of the credit for himself and the remaining 10% for his beloved former chair of the School Committee. How those two statements are reconciled is beyond me.

At the end of the day, my ego is not so big that I expect voters to blindly vote based on what I have to say — I always suggest that voters do their own homework and cast an informed vote. Reach out to the candidates and talk to them directly, go back and watch previous public meetings to see them in action, and for this race check out the 6th Middlesex Candidate Forum being sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Framingham.

Although I don’t live in the 6th Middlesex District, I have several family members who do. They will be casting their vote for Priscila Sousa on Sept. 6 and Nov. 8, and I humbly ask that you consider doing the same as well.

—Scott Wadland, Framingham

Priscila's energy is impressive. We need a new generation of leaders in our government to help pave the way for our future. She has the skills, enthusiasm and work ethic to get the job done. She is what Framingham needs.

—Jane Abro, Framingham