Democratic State Rep Hopefuls Talk Pizza, Red Sox In Debate

WILMINGTON, MA -- Five Democrats running for the 19th Middlesex state representative's seat-- three from Wilmington and two from Tewksbury -- squared off for their only debate before the September 4 state primary. The winner of that race will meet independent Patricia Meuse of Tewksbury and Tewksbury Republican Pina Prinzivalli, who is running unopposed in her party's primary.

The race is significant. The seat was held by James Miceli, a Wilmington Democrat, for 42 years before his death on April 21. Except for Prinzivalli, all of the candidates joined the race in the days following Miceli's death.

The debate was held at WCTV's studios in Wilmington and broadcast live in both Wilmington and Tewksbury and on the Internet. Here are the highlights from the debate, broken down by the key issues facing the two towns.

Economic Development

Wilmington Selectman Michael McCoy veered from the other candidates on economic development. While former Wilmington Selectman Judy O'Connell and Erika Johnson, chair of the Wilmington Democratic Committee, said they would try to secure as much state funding for the district as possible, and Tewksbury Selectman Mark Kratman talked about the need to improve infrastructure, McCoy said the towns need to look at zoning at the local level while the next state rep should focus on state-level job training programs.

The candidates were more aligned when it came to Chapter 40b, the state affordable housing law that allows developers to circumvent a town's local zoning laws if the town does not meet stat-mandated thresholds for a percentage of housing deemed affordable. "40b as it stands gives too much power to developers," Johnson said.

O'Connell, a Realtor, said there is a housing crisis in both towns, with not enough supply to meet the demand. She stressed that she is "pro smart development" while noting the towns need to do more to increase housing in Wilmington and Tewksbury.

Opioid Crisis

Candidates mostly tried to choose their words carefully when asked about the location of drug treatment facilities. On one hand, both communities have been hard hit by the epidemic, but voters generally don't want drug treatment facilities in their neighborhood. McCoy has been leading opposition to a drug detox center that wants to locate in north Wilmington.

"The property is zoned for that use," O'Connell said, being the lone candidate from Wilmington to not emphatically state her opposition to the proposed project, but adding she did not think it was an ideal location. "It's imperative that we as a community, a state and a country address the opioid crisis. I don't think it is an ideal location but I think it's imperative we have one in town," she said.

Fiscal Policy

The state and its municipalities have billions of dollars in unfunded pension and retiree healthcare costs -- the so-called "taxpayer time bomb." Political candidates are often reluctant to tackle the issue because the results are not flashy, Robertson said.

"This is not a simple and its something that is going to be ongoing," O'Connell said.

Four candidates said they would support the millionaire's tax which would apply equal tax rates across people in all income brackets. In June, the State Supreme Court blocked the inclusion of a ballot question calling for the tax on the November ballot. "Millionaires are getting tax breaks the middle class people just aren't getting," said Tewksbury Selectmen Mark Kratman said.

"I'm not going to vote the party, I'm going to vote the person," Kratman, the only candidate to not at least partially commit to submitting the winner of the Democratic primary, said.

Politics As Usual

Kratman has been criticized for continuing to vote in Boston for several years after he moved to Tewksbury. He said he chose to do so because he was caring for his mother, who still lived in Boston. O'Connell, meanwhile, has been attacked for a tax lien on her home. The candidates were asked whether such attacks were fair play in a campaign like the one they are running in.

"I'm not here to give you five reasons why you should not vote for the people around me," O'Connell said. "I'm here to talk about why you should vote for me."

"I'm not ashamed" of the allegations against me, Kratman said. "I was working two jobs and maintaining two homes and I was doing exactly what the Secretary of State said you should do in those situations."

All five candidates said they would support the eventual winner of the primary. "Absolutely," said David Robertson, who was legislative aide to Miceli. "Given the alternative? Absolutely."

Who Has The Best Pizza In The District?

• O'Connell: Wilmington House of Pizza
• Robertson: Tewksbury House of Pizza
• Johnson: A.J.'s Kitchen in Wilmington
• Kratman: Wicked Cheesy and Wilmington House of Pizza (based on daughters' preferences)
• McCoy: "I never met a pizza I didn't like," the former owner of Michael's Place said.

In the final question of the debate, all five candidates said they believe the Red Sox will still be playing when the debate for the general election is held in October. "Would anybody say another team on that question?" McCoy said.

For Those Of You Keeping Score At Home...

While no candidate lost the election as a result of their performance Wednesday night, no candidate threw a knockout punch, either. Overall, the candidates were cautious and did not do much to differentiate themselves from one another. They all oppose the construction of a transrail facility in Wilmington, for example, and, to varying degrees, believe in some form of gun control.

O'Connell did try to point out that she was the "only candidate in this race to work in both the public and private sector." But three of the five described themselves as moderate Democrats and all five offered some sort of variation of "listening to constituents when making decisions" as their mantra if elected. Johnson described herself as a "proud progressive," while McCoy said he was a "JFK conservative" who would "vote the person, not the party....you need to broaden, reach across the aisle, to get things done."

For more information on the candidates, click on a link to read Patch's candidate profile of the remaining candidate's below. If a candidate's name does not include a link, they have not responded to Patch's request for information to compile the profiles:

Republicans

• Pina Prinzivalli (R-Tewksbury)

Democrats

• Wilmington Democratic Town Committee Chair Erika Johnson (D-Wilmington)
• Tewksbury Selectman Mark Kratman (D-Tewksbury)
• Wilmington Selectman Michael McCoy (D-Wilmington)
• Former Wilmington Selectwoman & School Committee member Judy O'Connell (D-Wilmington)
• Jim Miceli's Chief of Staff Dave Robertson (D-Tewksbury)

Independent

• Shawsheen Tech School Committee Member Patricia Meuse (I-Tewksbury)

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Photo by WCTV.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).