The lineup for statewide candidates on the September 6, 2022, Democratic Primary ballot was set yesterday at the party’s state convention in Worcester. Besides collecting the requisite number of nomination signatures, statewide candidates must also receive the votes of 15% of the delegates at the annual state convention to make it onto the primary ballot. The offices affected by that rule this year are Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Attorney General, and State Auditor.
With Republicans now holding the office of Governor and Lieutenant Governor, those offices are “open” as far as Democratic candidates are concerned. So are the offices of Attorney General and State Auditor, but they are “open” because incumbent Attorney General Maura Healey is running for Governor and incumbent Auditor Suzanne Bump is not seeking reelection. Incumbent Secretary of State William Galvin is seeking reelection, but he is being challenged for the nomination by Tanisha Sullivan. State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg is also seeking reelection, but she has no Democratic opponent.
Here are the results of yesterday’s voting:
Governor:
Maura Healy (incumbent Attorney General) – 2,858 votes – 71.2%
Sonia Chang-Diaz (State Senator) – 1,155 votes – 28.8%
Lieutenant Governor:
Kim Driscoll (Mayor of Salem) – 1,641 votes – 41.4%
Tami Gouveia (State Representative) – 911 votes – 23%
Eric P. Lesser (State Senator) – 839 votes – 21.2%
Adam Hinds (State Senator) – 493 votes – 12.4%
Bret H. Bero – 81 votes – 2%
Secretary of State
Tanisha M. Sullivan – 2,578 votes – 62.4%
William Francis Galvin (incumbent) – 1,553 votes – 37.5%
Attorney General:
Andrea Campbell – 1,622 votes – 39.2%
Quentin Palfrey – 1,605 votes – 38.8%
Shannon Liss-Riordan – 906 votes – 21.9%
Treasurer
Deborah Goldberg (incumbent) – only candidate so endorsed by acclimation
Auditor:
Chris Dempsey – 2,148 votes – 52.6%
Diana DiZoglio (State Senator) – 1,931 votes – 47.3%
The candidates whose campaigns ended yesterday were Adam Hinds and Bret Bero, neither of whom reached the 15% threshold in their quest to be Lieutenant Governor.
Besides being “nominated” by reaching the 15% threshold, candidates who receive a majority vote from delegates are “endorsed” by the convention. Candidates who reached that 50 percent level were Maura Healey for Governor, Tanisha Sullivan for Secretary of the Commonwealth, and Chris Dempsey for State Auditor. In the Attorney General’s race there was a runoff between the two top candidates. That gave Quentin Palfrey 54% of the vote to Andrea Campbell’s 46% which made Palfrey the endorsed candidate of the convention. In the Lieutenant Governor’s race, the candidates who achieved the 15% threshold agreed to forego a runoff ballot so there was no endorsed candidate for that office.
Most of the delegates to this convention were elected in local town and ward caucuses back in February. In Lowell, for example, each ward held a separate caucus although they are usually conducted simultaneously and in the same place, however, this year, the caucus was done virtually due to the pandemic. The number of delegates per ward varies, but it’s usually about five.
There are two other routes to becoming a delegate. Most elected officials who hold partisan offices (like state representative but not city councilor) are ex officio delegates which means they are delegates by reason of the office they hold (although ex officio delegates must still pay the $75 delegate fee just like everyone else). The second path is “add on” delegates. These are members of underrepresented groups who may apply to be “added” as a delegate. There is a set number in each category and the selections are made by vote of the Democratic State Committee.
This year’s convention was held at the DCU Center in Worcester, but it also permitted delegates to participate remotely so in that sense it was a hybrid convention. By reason of the elected office I hold (Register of Deeds), I am an ex officio delegate. I participated remotely. I usually look forward to seeing politically active people from across the state at these conventions but with Covid, it seemed best to avoid being inside with several thousand people. I watched the proceedings on my computer via live stream and when the time came to vote, I used a smart phone app named Voatz. It worked well for me but I wouldn’t be surprised if some people encountered technical difficulties.
My candidates fared pretty well. I was an early supporter of Maura Healey when she ran for Attorney General eight years ago and am happy to support her run for Governor. For Lieutenant Governor, I voted for Tami Gouveia who is a Lowell native who now represents part of Chelmsford as a state representative. I got to know Tami during the 2018 campaign when we were both on the ballot and have been impressed with her work in the legislature. For Attorney General, I voted for Quentin Palfrey who I got to know during the 2018 campaign when he was the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor. For State Auditor, I voted for Diana DiZoglio who represents Methuen in the State Senate. I’ve been impressed with some of the strong positions she has taken there on various issues.
For Secretary of the Commonwealth, I supported Bill Galvin who I’ve worked with for nearly 30 years. When Middlesex County was abolished in 1997, my office fell under the Secretary of the Commonwealth and we’ve had a great, collaborative relationship ever since. While I’m sure he would have preferred to win at the convention, when he was challenged in 2018, he lost at that year’s convention but won big in the primary. There’s no guarantee that will happen again, he’s been in this position before.
If you’re a Democratic or an unenrolled voter, mark Tuesday, September 6, 2022, on your calendar. It’s the day after Labor Day but more importantly, it’s the state primary election.
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Last Tuesday’s Lowell City Council meeting was unusually brief, lasting just 2 hours rather than the usual 3.5. The brevity was partly due to fewer motions being filed but also because there were no testimonials at the start of the meeting. Usually, the agenda will begin with several public information type things like introducing a new business, giving a proclamation to a departing employee, or having organizers give a presentation about an upcoming event.
Doing these types of things at the start of the council meeting only became the practice within the past ten years. The desire to officially honor people and publicize events is understandable but it does take up a good chunk of the time available for the meeting which has a 10 p.m. curfew. At least one councilor sees this as a problem: Paul Ratha Yem filed a motion last week to set aside at least 30 minutes at the end of the meeting to take up new city council motions. New motions are arguably the most important item on the agenda, but they come at the end of the agenda and when meetings drag on, there is little time left for them. Councilor Yem’s motion was referred to the Rules Subcommittee for further discussion.
Although there was a dip in the number of motions filed this week, the time crunch will only get worse now that the council is on its summer schedule of meeting every other week. Even in years past when meetings were relatively brief, summer sessions tended to be much longer because the volume of business was doubled due to the reduced meeting schedule. (Although this coming Tuesday, June 7, is an “off” meeting week, there will be a special meeting of the council to vote on the FY2023 budget).
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The property tax increase contained in City Manager Tom Golden’s proposed budget is motivating councilors to seek more revenue from other sources. Councilor Erik Gitschier advocated increasing the fee charged for birth and death certificates, especially for those the city must mail to the requester as opposed to ones that are picked up at the Clerk’s Office.
Several councilors were very interested in fees from marijuana sales. While state law has a big say in that subject, the details are controlled by local ordinance set by the city council. The council adopted rules on “marijuana licensing” on June 26, 2018. Specifically, the council limited the number of recreational/adult use marijuana dispensaries in the city to five.
The “Zoning Book” which was adopted by the city council on December 7, 2004, but which contains all approved amendments through January 11, 2022, also includes limits on marijuana dispensaries. Here are some of the things covered by the code: Dispensaries must be in permanent buildings; no odor may be detectable from outside the building; it must be at least 1000 feet from another dispensary; it must be 500 feet from a school. The dispensary cannot sell, or be co-located with a business that sells tobacco and related products. Only people 21 and older may be allowed on the premises. No walk up or drive through windows are permitted.
I believe Lowell currently has three recreational dispensaries and at least one medical dispensary and one cultivation facility.
The state imposes a 3 percent sales tax on the sale of marijuana. At least some of that money comes to the city as do property taxes on the buildings housing these businesses. The city received the following amounts of marijuana excise tax in the years indicated:
FY19 - $30,786
FY20 - $322,587
FY21 - $296,188
FY22 - $300,000 (projected)
FY23 - $500,000 (budgeted)
Another flow of money from the marijuana sellers to the city comes from “host agreements” which are governed by Massachusetts General Laws chapter 94G, section 3. Here is the relevant portion of that law:
An agreement between a marijuana establishment or a medical marijuana treatment center and a host community may include a community impact fee for the host community; provided, however, that the community impact fee shall be reasonably related to the costs imposed upon the municipality by the operation of the marijuana establishment or medical marijuana treatment center and shall not amount to more than 3 per cent of the gross sales of the marijuana establishment or medical marijuana treatment center or be effective for longer than 5 years.
The city’s FY23 budget shows the following amounts received pursuant to these host agreements:
FY19 - $93,750
FY20 - $471,552
FY21 - $518,159
FY22 - $384,000
FY23 - $850,000 (budgeted)
At Tuesday’s council meeting, much of the cannabis-related discussion involved the five-year limit on these host community payments. Although the existing Lowell agreements mention the ability of the parties to negotiate extensions, it seems evident from state law and from the remarks made by city councilors that the revenue from these agreements will end at the five-year mark which is rapidly approaching.
Councilor Dan Rourke had many questions about how many of these dispensaries may be opened in the city. Assistant City Manager Christine McCall said that the limit of five set by the council is self-imposed, that the council can amend the ordinance to allow as many dispensaries as the council wants. (The limit of five is a minimum amount imposed by state law).
By allowing new dispensaries to open, the council can create a new set of five-year long host agreements and use the 3 percent of gross sales payments flowing from them to the city to replace the current money that will be lost when the existing agreement expire.
That’s a logical approach from a purely revenue-generating perspective but whether the market will support more dispensaries and whether there are locations where new dispensaries can be sited that don’t create a furor among neighbors remains to be seen.
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Tomorrow, June 6th, is the anniversary of D-Day, the allied landings on the coast of France on June 6, 1944. Today on richardhowe.com I’ve written about Lowell’s John J. Shaughnessy who was killed in action that day on Omaha Beach while serving with the 1st Infantry Division.
Tomorrow’s blog post will profile others from Lowell who died in the aftermath of the D-Day landing.
June 5, 2022
In addition to the original cultivation facility on Lincoln St. There are also one's on Bolt St. and Stedman St. that are in operation as well as 2 others on Wellman St. and Dix St. that were under renovation for this purpose and may be operating by now.
Thank you. We too support Maura Healey. I voted remotely on that app on my apple phone and my other half used the web interface and we had no issues at all.