“So That Reminds Me” hosts Dennis Hackett and Ryan Feyre talked with Nadia Milleron at the Hampden County sheriff’s picnic. Milleron is challenging U.S. Rep. Richard Neal for the Massachusetts 1st Congressional House District.
Reminder Publishing photo by Tyler Garnet
SPRINGFIELD — For Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi, the annual sheriff’s picnic is less about self-aggrandizing and more about informing the public about the ballot come election time.
“[The picnic] is about bringing Western Massachusetts together, not just Hampden County,” Cocchi said. “It’s about bringing [candidates and elected officials] out here to hear what our concerns are. And ultimately, at the end of the day, as we probably tally up over 1,500 to maybe 1,600 people who have come through the doors throughout the day, that’s their way of saying thank you, not to Nick Cocchi, but to the sheriff’s office for the contributions we make. And I’m very proud of that.”
A scorching summer day on Aug. 20 invited a myriad of elected officials and candidates to the hot seat to accomplish what Cocchi sets out to do each year. In an effort to talk to some of these individuals about their goals and priorities, Reminder Publishing brought its podcast, “So That Reminds Me,” to the annual gathering.
Hosts Chris Maza, Dennis Hackett, Tyler Garnet and I sat down with a dozen individuals vying for statewide seats to discuss the issues they hope to address if they were elected this fall.
One of those candidates was Belmont Select Board member Elizabeth Dionne, a candidate for state treasurer who wants to unseat incumbent Deb Goldberg. In her sit-down with Reminder Publishing, Dionne said she is running for the position because she has four children who cannot afford to live in Massachusetts.
“We have an affordability crisis, and we are hemorrhaging our 25- to 35-year-olds. And if we do not make a change fast, I fear that we’ll reach the point of no return,” she said.
The treasurer is responsible for maintaining the state funds by investing and maintaining the state budget. They also chair the Massachusetts School Building Authority, the Pension Reserves Investment Management Board, the State Board of Retirement, the State Lottery Commission and the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust.
Dionne, who will feature in the Sept. 1 primary as a Republican candidate, said that despite the fact that the state has a record-breaking budget of $64 billion, local aid has only increased 25% and is not keeping up with inflation.
She stated that $1-2 billion from that budget could solve the financial problems across the state, especially in those communities that have experienced override votes recently.
“People cannot afford to pay anymore,” said Dionne, who described herself as a “Charlie Baker-type” candidate. “And yet our frontline services are starving, whether it’s fire, police, education, road and sidewalk repair, water infrastructure. The solution to this lies with the state.”
If elected, Dionne said she’d also focus on fixing the statewide lottery system and the distribution of funds from the Massachusetts School Building Authority. She said Western Massachusetts is paying into the lottery system but not getting its fair share back. She also noted that the MSBA has historically distributed funds to wealthier cities and towns across the state.
“Rural areas and gateway urban areas are not getting their fair share of that funding for school buildings,” Dionne said. “That could easily be done. The treasurer could fix this tomorrow if she cared enough to do so … it’s an area that I want to look at.”
Another crucial race on the Sept. 1 primary ballot will have major implications for all of Western Massachusetts. Springfield City Councilor Michael Fenton is challenging incumbent Tara Jacobs to represent Western Massachusetts on the Governor’s Council.
The council is an influential body that reviews judicial appointments and advocates for the state’s judicial infrastructure needs.
At the picnic, Fenton told Reminder Publishing that he is running for the seat to cure regional inequities in all 102 cities and towns in Western Mass.
“It’s my combination of experience as an attorney and as a member of the City Council for the last 17 years, five of those as council president, that makes me the most qualified person for this job,” said Fenton, who emphasized that he’s a local voice where the majority of the justice-involved population interfaces with the region’s court system.
Fenton, who received support from the Berkshire County district attorney — the same county where Jacobs resides — said he’s been reaching out to individuals across the region to explain the importance of the position. He said the endorsements he’s received from Berkshire County elected officials, including Berkshire County Court Clerk Lisa Denault-Viale, demonstrate that he’s committed to the entire district.
“It’s also indicative of a problem that we’re facing,” he said. “I think breaking from an incumbent from your home county and going with a challenger who’s from a different county really demonstrates that there’s a problem with regional inequities that needs to be addressed.”
An alarming story that said Western Massachusetts only has 11 Superior Court judges is what sparked Fenton’s interest in running. At one point last year, five of those positions were vacant, which led to outcry among the judiciary.
“As a governor’s councilor, I would make sure to be proactive in making sure that that type of situation doesn’t happen,” Fenton said. “I’m running on a platform to be proactive, identify vacancies before they occur, and fill them with people and qualified lawyers from the communities that they’ll be presiding over.”
If he wins the seat, Fenton said he’ll still serve on the Springfield City Council until his term is up in 2027. After that, he’ll reassess whether he can juggle both positions.
“I love my community, I love Springfield, I love Western Mass., and whatever I can reasonably contribute without shortchanging any of my responsibilities is exactly what I’m going to do,” Fenton said.
The “So That Reminds Me” hosts also sat down with the two candidates looking to unseat U.S. Rep. Richard Neal in the Massachusetts 1st Congressional House District: Nadia Milleron and Jeromie Whalen.
Whalen, a Democrat, will face Neal in the Sept. 1 primary. while Milleron, running as an independent, will face the winner of the primary on Nov. 3.
Milleron said that her decision to run stems from her longtime advocacy for American aviation safety and consumer safety following the death of her daughter in a new Boeing aircraft that was defective and fraudulently certified. She said that was the second of two crashes of that plane type.
Following that event, she gathered hundreds of people for a trip to Washington, D.C., to participate in the U.S. Department of Justice’s prosecution of Boeing for its crimes. That all eventually led to the passage of the American Aviation Safety and Accountability Act, which Milleron said would not have been possible without people power.
“What I found is that the human beings in the offices and on the street demonstrating, the human beings talking to the press all the time, the mass of people … that is what made the difference,” Milleron said.
In a prior debate, Milleron said that pressure is what creates change. When asked what that looks like to her, she said it means having polite confrontations, monitoring what constituents care about and having standouts on the streets.
She specifically noted that people are underwater financially and stated that the federal government is neglecting the common people by using funds on heinous war crimes. Additionally, she stated that federal income tax for people making $100,000 a year is not necessary.
“We need that money to live,” Milleron said. “We are not doing good things with our tax dollars on the federal level. So, it’s better to keep that money in our households and in our communities where we will use the money in a much better way.”
A high school educator of 11 years, Whalen similarly found himself jaded by the federal government, particularly President Donald Trump’s decision-making during both of his terms. He also noticed that Neal is one of the top recipients of corporate money, which Whalen found to be “unacceptable.”
“I said that we could do better,” said Whalen, who added that healthcare, education and the economy would be his three areas of focus if he were elected to the seat.
A supporter of Medicare for all, Whalen said that the 20-40% increase in health insurance costs over the past year is breaking the budgets of households and municipalities.
In the education realm, he said the federal and state governments need to look at the totality of the child by paying teachers, paid professionals and educators more. He added that tuition-free community college and vocational training are important tenets of an improved education system as well.
“And we have a model for that; it’s called the Fair Share Amendment right here,” Whalen said. “Four percent surtax on incomes over a million dollars. We proved it works since it’s enacted.”
Whalen also stated that it has not been difficult to run against a longtime incumbent in Neal because he’s shown up to every opportunity available to him.
“I look around here at this picnic and I see a lot of familiar faces and a lot of handshakes and a lot of people that say that they’re voting for me,” Whalen said. “Why? Because I’m here shoulder to shoulder with them doing the hard work. And they respect that.”
Neal’s team declined an interview when asked at the picnic by Reminder Publishing.
To hear the full conversations with more local and state elected officials, head to thereminder.com/our-podcast or search for “So That Reminds Me” on your favorite podcast platform.
