Manny Cruz: State Representative Candidate Profile

SALEM, MA — Manny Cruz is one of three candidates on the ballot looking to fill the open seat as the state representative for the 7th Essex District encompassing Salem.

The 30-year-old Salem School Committee Vice-Chair is a father of one who graduated from Salem High School and went on to earn a political science degree at Northeastern University.

Cruz has worked in government as a staffer to Rep. Paul Tucker and Rep. Juana Matias, worked for four years as a Salem Maritime National Park Service ranger, and two years as the Chair of Gov. Deval Patrick's Statewide Youth Council.

He has also served on the Boards of LEAP for Education, Plummer Youth Promise, MA Alliance for Early College and the Northshore Community Action Programs, and was a member of the Salem Race Equity Task Force.

He told Patch he wants to head to the State House to fight for green jobs, fair funding for Salem schools, COVID-19 recovery programs, affordable housing and a better MBTA.

Campaign website

www.mannycruz.org

Why are you seeking elective office?

I am a proud son of Salem, and I am running to succeed my former boss State Rep. Paul Tucker, as our next State Representative for the 7th Essex District (Salem). I was raised by a single mom in this city and we were embraced by this community after surviving domestic violence. I am a proud graduate of our Salem Public Schools.

With the support of my mentors like Brad Maloon, Linda Saris, Andre Daley, and Marshall Bradstreet, I became the leader I am today. Youth-serving organizations like the Boys and Girls Public, and the LEAP for Education put helped me discover my passion for civic engagement and service. Public service is my way of giving back to our community in Salem.

This community and its residents are always in my heart. I have served Salem and its residents as the Chair of the Governor's Statewide Youth Council, as a National Park Service Ranger, and as the Vice Chair of the Salem School Committee. As the District Director for State Rep. Paul Tucker, I helped secure millions of dollars for schools, community projects, and tourism jobs.

I'm ready to fight for our community on day one on Beacon Hill. I'm running for state representative to create good-paying green jobs, secure our fair of state education dollars, modernize the MBTA, recover from COVID-19, and tackle the housing crisis.

I am a champion of Salem's values and I am humbly asking all Salem residents for their vote on or before September 6th.

The single most pressing issue facing our District is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Housing: It was the number one constituent matter we would get calls about when I served in Rep. Tucker's office. Salem is facing a housing crisis. Seniors are being priced out of their long-time homes, and young families like mine are struggling to stay in the city we love and call home.

Over the last 10 years, median home prices have increased by more than 30 percent. For every four low-income Salem households, there is only one affordable rental unit. Whether you are looking to buy your first home, struggling to pay rising rents, or dealing with skyrocketing utility costs, we deserve leadership that knows the struggle that regular Salem residents face every day. We need a state representative who will push the state to once again support affordable housing in the Commonwealth.

As the next State Representative of Salem I will:

*Support affordable homeownership programs to build wealth and promote opportunities to own, and work to ensure that rental assistance programs are available when crisis strikes.
* Work to provide property tax relief for seniors, who have given so much to our community, but are being priced out of Salem
*Support legislation that reintroduces the state as a major player in the production of housing, provides greater access to legal representation in housing matters and provides more resources to municipalities to address deferred maintenance and redevelopment.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I read my opponent's profile in which he is calling into question my "ability to focus" on the job of being the next state representative. Here is my formal response on how I would distinguish my candidacy:

Experience: I am the only candidate in this race with the relevant experience of working in the legislature, as both a staffer and as an advocacy director for a statewide nonprofit, Latinos for Education.

We have both been serving Salem in our elected capacities since 2018.

Over the same period of time (2018-2022) as a school committee member I have:

Called for greater transparency from the central administration and provided consistent/strong oversight and thought partnership.

Led the charge against the privatization of our bus drivers (2021, 3-4 vote)

*Successfully led the negotiation of 5 contracts in partnership with my colleagues and the Superintendent (Salem Teachers Union-2021, Salem Paraprofessionals 2021, AFCSME Local 93-2022, and Salem Administrators Union -2022)
*Reviewed, edited and created over 100 policies as a member of the Policy Subcommittee (Policies 3000-5000)
Supported and introduced several resolutions:
*Voted to affirm transgender protections in support of Question 3 (2018)
*Voted support a resolution in support of the Student Opportunity Act (2019)
*Introduced and voted to pass a resolution in support of the fair share amendment which increases funding for public education and public transportation (2022)

Additionally, my opponent claims to have taken "a leadership position" to resolve contentious zoning and over-development. The more appropriate description of his leadership is "opposition." The councilor has not offered any viable policy at the city council level to address the housing needs of Salem residents. He has simply been a consistent "no" vote for any housing proposal that comes from the Mayor’s administration and his colleagues.

I am ready on day one to lead Salem on Beacon Hill, my opponent has consistently shown a lack of preparation for the Role:

In contrast to my opponent, I am putting forward two bills that I will prioritize supporting to address the housing crisis. I believe that H1448 and H.1439 (which have been listed on my website since we launched our campaign) will help us as a Commonwealth respond to the housing crisis by having the state play a larger role in developing housing.

H.1448 An Act Relative to Housing Production: which would increase remove zoning barriers to the production of housing, prioritize state land for affordable housing, increase access to ADUs and inclusionary zoning, and requires multi-family zoning around public transit.

H.1439 An Act Relative to leveraging additional resources for our local housing authorities: this bill identifies and allocates state funding for the redevelopment of local housing authorities and for them to address deferred maintenance.

In his Salem Patch profile my opponent has stated he would support H1401 and H3270 to alleviate housing concerns for "seniors and low-income people." While I am sure both bills have their merits, neither of them will do anything to solve the housing crisis.

H1401 is legislation that is aimed at tackling elder abuse and discrimination against people living with disabilities. H3270, An Act Relative to Double Poles simply gives municipalities the ability to impose fines on telecommunication companies that do not complete telephone removal within 180 days.

My opponent had plenty of time to identify meaningful legislation which would alleviate the Housing Crisis, but simply lacks the experience and qualifications to do the job of being our next state representative.

Integrity & Transparency: Integrity and transparency are two values that as a public servant and community leader that I live by. I firmly believe every elected official must hold themself to the highest standards of ethics. My opponent consistently struggles to do this.

As an example, in a social media post on July 17 my opponent highlighted his experience as a small business owner and how that would best position him for this role. He claims "that he learned to manage and operate a small business." My opponent is not being transparent with voters about his record as a small business owner. The last time my opponent owned a business he proactively engaged in tax preparation fraud as the principal DJD Professional Tax Services from 2003-2006. After auditing 163 of the 8000 taxes prepared by Domingo Dominguez the DOJ Found;
1. My opponent’s actions caused harm to the public and the United States
2. The IRS issued erroneous refunds based on fraudulent returns prepared by my opponent
3. My opponent had his tax filing privileges revoked in 2007 and yet he continued to electronically file using other individuals' Electronic Filing Identification Numbers, including his wife and brother.
4. My opponent harmed his customers because the customers paid him to prepare the returns, and after the fraud was detected, they were responsible for paying all taxes, interest, and penalties.

The case, Dominguez v. United States of America Case 1:08-cv-10407 is a public record for anyone to read the US Districts Courts Determination. These were not youthful offenses. Nor was this a result of poor bookkeeping or false allegations. This was a willful and international action to defraud the US Government by my opponent and he left his customers to bear the brunt of the consequences. While my opponent was permanently barred from preparing taxes and paid a fine, he couldn't even at a minimum acknowledge his wrongdoing and that he caused significant harm to his customers who left on their own to pay fines, interest, and fines from the IRS.

The legislature has already had its fair share of state representatives who have abused their positions and betrayed the public trust. While I believe in second chances, however there is a limit as to how far a second chance should take you in public life.

My other opponent similarly lacks the relevant experience to serve in the legislature, has not released any platform, and still has not filed the proper paperwork with OCPF and yet is still spending his own money on the race.

I have led my public life with great integrity and transparency and would ask that voters consider that at the ballot box on Sept. 6.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

Public Transportation. We have kicked the can down the road far too long when it comes to our public transportation system. I took the commuter rail and public transit for 10 years to get to Boston for school and work. Despite being the brain capital of the United States we have a 20th-century transportation system that is unsafe, unreliable, and literally on fire. If we are to have any hope of reducing emissions then we must address the fact that transportation accounts for 43 percent of our emissions in Massachusetts.

That is why as our next state representative I am prioritizing the electrification of the MBTA, supporting efforts to allocate annual and consistent funding for maintenance and capital projects, and advocating for increases in services across the public transportation system. South Salem residents have also been in desperate need of a South Salem Station stop for decades.

This is a top priority of the Salem Partnership and for my campaign. During my time in the legislature, I helped advocate for the MBTA real estate board and worked with key stakeholders to help advance this project. We have a unique opportunity to leverage federal funding and record revenue collections for the purposes of investing in this type of regional transportation project.

The South Salem Station is something I have indicated my support for since my days as a staffer for Representative Tucker because it is an economic lever. My campaign was the first to release this as a priority back on Feb. 28, and one I have consistently brought up as a top priority throughout the campaign.

Climate Change. As a community leader of a coastal city, I know that our future cannot be guaranteed unless we address the urgency of the climate crisis. That is why in my platform I have prioritized the passage of the Green Futures Act, the modernization and electrification of the MBTA, and accelerating our transition to a clean energy future by investing in renewable energy such as offshore wind which will create strong green jobs for Salem residents.

I fundamentally believe that climate justice communities must be at the center of the policy-making process and that we need to pass legislation that will transform our infrastructure, create clean energy jobs in industries such as offshore wind, increase the efficiency of our buildings, modernize our public transit to reduce emissions and liberalize access to renewable energies for our residents.

As a school committee member, I have deep concerns about our coastal resiliency and energy efficiency of our school buildings. It would take one Category 4 storm, and the Bentley Academy, which primarily serves Latino and low-income students, would be underwater. We need to reform the MSBA and provide additional state dollars to modernize our school buildings to ensure that we are properly mitigating the negative impacts of coastal flooding, and increase the overall energy efficiency of our buildings. There are far too many schools in the Commonwealth with outdated systems and deferred maintenance. As a legislative staffer in the city of Lawrence, I lived through the Merrimack Valley Gas explosions.

I have seen firsthand how dangerous our country's over-reliance on gas, and oil can be for residents. I am proud to share that my climate justice platform has been endorsed by both the Environmental League of Massachusetts and 350 Mass Action. I am the climate justice candidate in this race.

Education. Salem is not receiving its fair share of state education dollars as we only received $125,000 in additional Chapter 70 aid. Salem saw a 0.48 percent increase in Chapter 70 aid in 2022, but the average increase for gateway cities other than Salem is 12.95 percent. This almost led to very significant cuts this year in our Salem Public Schools district budget. At a time in which we are returning from interrupted learning, and significant mental health concerns in our schools we simply need more resources from the state not less.

We have a bold vision that has been laid out by our superintendent and school committee to expand social and emotional support, increase our support for Career Vocational Technical Education across our high schools, rebuild our schools, and offer more early education seats to families. All of this is in jeopardy if we do not fix the Chapter 70 formula to better serve Salem students, families, and educators. In my first month in office, I will file stand-alone legislation for a Gateway Cities Education Fund with the intention of ensuring that Salem and other communities that have been short-changed by the Student Opportunity Act are made whole.

Additionally, I am very concerned about the impacts of the childcare crisis on our children and families. With the record revenues that have been collected by the Commonwealth, we have a rare opportunity to bolster our early education system and push for universal Pre-K and a more expansive childcare system. That's why I have been a strong supporter of the Common Start legislation which would help address critical issues with staffing and salaries, increase funding for subsidies for families, and set up a strong state system for technical assistance and support similar to DESE in the Early Education Space.

Families in Salem and across our state are forced to either spend more than 10 percent of their income on early education and childcare or exit the workforce altogether. This has had a disproportionate impact on women who have tried to return to their professions since the height of the pandemic. Universal Pre-K and expanded childcare support would be a net benefit to our entire economy and the educational well-being of our children.

I am proud to share that I have strong relationships with critical stakeholders in our state and have been endorsed by the AFT-MA, and both of the Chairs of the Joint Committee on Education, State Representative Alice Peisch and State Senator Jason Lewis. I will be ready to hit the ground running to find a solution for this very pressing challenge when it comes to the education of our children.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I am the only candidate in this race who has the relevant experience of serving the legislature as a legislative staffer, and a proven track record of success as Advocacy Director of Massachusetts at Latinos for Education for the past two years. For the last 12 years, I have been building my capacity to be a leader in our state and in our local community of Salem. I have previously served as the Chair of the Governor's Statewide Youth Council (2011-2013), co-oped in the Attorney General's Office, and I have also twice been elected to the Salem School Committee. I also served as a legislative staffer to both Representative Matias and Representative Tucker for four years. These positions have provided a firsthand look at the inner workings of government, how to provide high-quality constituent services, policy making, budget formulation, and the interplay between law, policy, and economic forces in our communities.

I firmly believe that I am the most experienced candidate in this race, and the only candidate who has a proven track record of building successful coalitions on Beacon Hill. I have helped build three major coalitions and successful advocacy since leaving the legislature; The Massachusetts Alliance for Early College, The Educator Diversity Act Coalition, and the #TechParaTodos for Digital Equity Campaign.

In my leadership capacity in these coalitions, I have helped advance critical investments in our educator workforce, expanded access to high-quality dual enrollment programs for our historically underserved students, and secured critical state funding to help close the digital divide.

It is because of my record of accomplishments in the legislature that Attorney General Maura Healey, 40 state representatives and senators, 22 current and former Salem Local elect officials, and 16 Statewide advocacy organizations (i.e Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts, The Environmental League of Massachusetts Action Fund, the American Federation of Teachers, and the MA AFL-CIO) have endorsed my candidacy.

Below is a short list of the success I have had in this legislative session alone since leaving the legislature:

191st Legislative Session (August 2020-December 2020)
*Passed a Broadband Equity Commission (Amendment #684 to H5150) Broadband Equity Commission to study the impacts of the digital divide during the pandemic and to recommend solutions to increase equity in access to devices, digital literacy, and broadband adoption. This Commission unanimously recommended the legislature create new funding through the use of ARPA dollars for communities to innovate in this area.

192nd Legislative Session (January 2021-Present)

Secured $10,000,00 in ARPA FY22 to diversify the educator pipeline (H.4219 New Line Item-Educator Diversity Funding 7061-9805)
Secured $15,000,000 FY23 Budget for the Tomorrow Educator Scholarship & Education Debt Repayment assistance (H.4701 New Line Item-Tomorrow’s Educator Scholarship & Ed. Debt 7061-9805)
Secured $50,000,000 in ARPA FY22 (H.4219 1599-2033) or a Broadband Innovation Fund closing the digital divide in gateway cities
Founding member of the Early College Alliance; We secured $11,000,000 in FY23 budget to scale up Early College and put our state on track to serve 45k students

*Built a coalition of education leaders who helped pass landmark legislation as an amendment to the economic development bill (Amendment #799 to H5007), The Educator Diversity Act, in the House of Representatives to diversify our teacher workforce

The best advice ever shared with me was:

"You have two ears and one mouth. You must learn to use them in that proportion in order to listen, learn, and then lead."

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

Serving as a state representative is at its core about advocating, introducing and changing laws, passing budgets that reflect our values, and partnering with both statewide and local leaders to deliver results for the city and state.

However, it is also so important for our next state representative to understand just how much of an impact we can have on the daily lives of our residents through constituent services and by advocating for their needs.

As the district director for Representative Tucker, I had the privilege of assisting hundreds of Salem residents with getting access to vital resources like unemployment insurance, legal assistance, MassHealth, retirement benefits, and mental health support. I also provided timely and helpful insights to residents about what was happening with respect to the legislative process.

As it relates to constituent service I am most proud of the work that I did on behalf of two Salem residents, Leland and Barbara, who came to our office to advocate for our state to recognize the contributions of Cadet Nurses during World War II. Rep. Tucker entrusted me with leading the process to help these residents and to advocate for the installment of a plaque to go along with legislation that was up for passage commemorating the contributions of Cadet Nurses during World War II. I liaised with various members of the State House Historical Commission, the legislature, and I successfully leveraged the resources of our office to help advance this critical installation at the State House.

Most importantly, I kept in touch with Leland and Barbara almost every single week to ensure that they knew if there was an update or no update at all. That’s what it means to provide high-quality constituent services with a personal touch.

The families of the 9,000 cadet nurses who served from Massachusetts will now always have a place where they can honor the heroic contributions of their relatives in Nurses Hall at the State House. I am happy to know that my high-quality constituent services played a role in that.

This is the type of leadership I will bring to Beacon Hill, and I am humbly asking our residents to vote for me on Sept. 6.