Will It Be Stoneham First Or Outside Money On April 3?

A Letter to the editor from Marlene Cook:

No fewer than nine opinion pieces supporting Caroline Colarusso for Board of Selectmen have appeared in the Stoneham Patch in the last few months. These testimonials laud her reputation as a good neighbor and her determination to defend the interests of the average people of Stoneham against the “status quo.”

While I admire the industriousness of her supporters in publishing these letters regularly, and I am sure she is a good neighbor (most people are), I’m writing this to bring a different perspective to the question of whether or not she should keep her seat on the Board of Selectmen. That perspective is her Campaign Finance Report, compiled by her campaign treasurer and available for public viewing on the Stoneham Town Clerk’s website as of Tuesday, March 27.

Ms. Colarusso took in a whopping $26,195 in campaign contributions since January 1, with 65% coming from people outside of Stoneham. By comparison, her opponent, Raymie Parker, raised $6500 with only 18.4% coming from outsiders. Ms. Colarusso took in more money from outside interests than the people of Stoneham contributed to the Colarusso and Parker campaigns combined.

Reports for the Tom Boussy and John Depinto campaigns were not available at the time of this writing but reports from Andover’s Selectmen race, held last week, have totals ranging from $2700 to $5800. The vast majority of those donations came from Andover residents.

So why are so many people, in so many places, so interested in our small town board race? And why are they willing to put so much money into it?

Ms. Colarusso is a very capable campaigner who knows how to build a following. These interests want her advocating for their agenda and are willing to spend big money to make that happen. Real estate developers, liquor stores, the Republican Party and anti-LGBT activists donated as much to the Colarusso campaign as her supporters in Stoneham.

Three real estate developers contributed a combined $4000. A liquor store owner and a liquor distributor contributed $500 each. The Winchester Republican committee contributed $500. The Massachusetts Republican Assembly (aka MARA PAC) contributed $500.

Confirming those claims about her anti-LGBT positions, Belmont resident Scott Fitzgibbon, well known for his anti-gay marriage activism, contributed $1000. Watertown resident Deborah Dugan donated $1000. She chairs Keep MA Safe, an initiative to repeal the transgender “bathroom bill” by ballot question. Keep MA Safe shares a Woburn address with the MA Family Institute, who’s connection to Ms. Colarusso has been debated.

Outside contributions are not necessarily bad and they are not illegal. Candidates have family and friends in other places that want to support them. Former residents may have an interest in the town and races all over the country attract outside attention. All of that is understandable, but it should give voters serious pause when these outside donations dwarf those of the people directly affected by the results and dwarf the normal budget of a typical Selectman candidate.

Ignoring her own government job with the Post Office, Ms. Colarusso has accused other board members of bias because they are current or former state employees. So if a government job makes one biased, then surely mountains of cash from outside interests with agendas will make her biased too. Biased against whom?

Ms. Colarusso proclaimed that it would be “Stoneham first” (a quote from her Stoneham TV statement) when it comes to development projects in Stoneham and her efforts to reform the state affordable housing law. So what “fresh perspective” will she bring to the table with three different real estate developers donating big money to her campaign?

Ms. Colarusso has also styled herself as the lone opponent of pot shops, despite the fact that her fellow board members voted unanimously to settle the issue at Town Meeting, knowing that the people of Stoneham voted against legalization by a very comfortable margin. Pot shops lost big at the meeting. In a mid-March fundraising email, she said, “We must compete with others running and I don't have the lucrative pot industry supporting me.” While it is true that the pot industry doesn’t support her, her implication that it supports her opponents is ludicrous, fear mongering and exemplifies Colarusso’s willingness to alter reality to promote her career. Ms. Colarusso also claims to be a staunch supporter of substance abuse initiatives. How does alcoholism and her support from liquor stores figure into that work? Is any of this the “old fashioned Stoneham values” one of her supporters claimed she represents?

Her supporters claim that she is a fighter who will take on the “good old boys.” What about the “good old boys” the Republican Party have come to represent? In her, they see someone that can build their brand in liberal Massachusetts and that brand is the same deception, chaos and disruption we see in Washington. Traditional conservatives and liberals alike find that disturbing. Her reputation as a “fighter” comes at the cost of a working relationship with board members and town employees. Her promises of tax and fee cuts ignore or don’t bother to ask the obvious question of what has to be cut to do so? When she says “My donations are from average people just like you” in a fundraising email, she is neglecting to mention that she takes in twice as much from big moneyed interests. She fear mongers about sanctuary cities and the LGBT community but still claims she doesn’t discriminate and welcomes everyone.

Although I fall on the liberal side of the political spectrum, I strongly believe that a balanced government is the best government. When both sides seek solutions that address the interests of the business community and the residents, we all win. When both sides seek balanced solutions that benefit the people who voted for them and the people that voted for someone else, we all win. When elected officials recognize that democracy will not always go their way and still work with the other side, we all win. We need that in Stoneham. With her track record and so much money from people who don’t want compromise, I do not believe that Ms. Colarusso is capable of that.

I hope you will read up on the Stoneham Town election that is happening on Tuesday April 3 and make an informed vote. This is clearly a contentious, but important race and it needs to be decided by the people of Stoneham, not outside interests pushing their own agendas. Let’s make sure it really is “Stoneham First!”

Marlene Cook, Christopher Street