What Beverly City Councilors Bowen, Rotondo Are Telling Patch Ahead Of Tuesday's Primary

BEVERLY, MA — Beverly City Councilors Hannah Bowen and Todd Rotondo are making their respective final pushes for votes this weekend ahead of Tuesday's state special primary to fill the vacant 6th Essex state representative seat.

Bowen cited her "track record of delivering real, tangible results for our community" while on the Council and in her professional career, while Rotondo called himself a "big tent Democrat" who will push for increases in state aid and will be more electable against presumed Republican opponent Medley Long in the May 13 special election.

• Beverly City Councilors Bowen, Rotondo Face Off Ahead Of Special Election Primary

"Hannah Bowen and I both share the same strong Democratic values but we have different perspectives on what people expect from their state representative," Rotondo told Patch on Friday.
"Simply put, my opponent is a smart person of words and I am a determined person of action. Writing Council resolutions to solve problems can only accomplish so much — and sometimes can create division. I prefer bringing people together in respectful discussion to solve problems and to work together to get things done."

Bowen said her time on the Council has been spent advocating for more government transparency and auditing, finding innovative ways to expand housing options through the accessory dwelling unit ordinance, and protecting residents' interests by establishing a citizen's advisory council and other resident protections during the National Grid Transmission line project.

"Throughout my 20-plus year career in public service — both professionally as a non-profit executive and as an elected official, I have always been driven to deliver for the needs of my community," she told Patch. "Now, I am ready to work with the residents of Beverly and Wenham to deliver what we need from the state."

Bowen said she is proud to have earned the support of local unions, advocacy groups, elected officials and former elected officials, "who share this same idea of community and who work tirelessly every day to protect the interests of our families." An often-vocal member of the Council as an At-Large representative, she credited her background in working her way through to degrees and Harvard and Yale, as well as her time in the Peace Corps, with forming her ability to "go toe-to-toe with any economist, attorney, or legislator to deliver what my community needs from laws and budgets."

She said her priorities on Beacon Hill will be transparency and accountability — "you'll always have my number and know where I stand" — securing funding for expanded early education/pre-k, and increasing vocational education seats, expanding property tax work-off programs to ensure seniors don’t lose their homes, investing in quality of life improvement like recreational activities, and stopping any and all cuts to in-home personal care attendants, as well as to continue former Rep. Jerry Parisella's efforts to end veteran homelessness and increase housing affordability overall.

"We need to make it easier for long-term residents, first-time homebuyers, seniors, and public servants like police officers, EMTs, firefighters and teachers to find affordable places to live and stay in our beautiful coastal home," she said. "As state representative, I’ll secure funding to protect our homes, businesses, and open spaces from flooding, erosion, and sea level rise."

Rotondo said "we have reason to worry" about forthcoming federal cuts and their impact on programs and services, with his priorities at the State House being to fight back against those cuts and secure more of what could be a shrinking pie of state aid for Beverly schools, public safety, elder and veterans care, infrastructure, transportation and economic development.

He said he would oppose "unfunded mandates," make constituent services a focal point, and be an independent voice representing all of Beverly residents with Democratic ideals.

"A state representative is a community's first line of connection to state government," Rotondo said. "It will be more important than ever for our state representative to be laser-focused on the core responsibilities of this office: to secure our fair share of local aid funds that help Beverly and Wenham. ...

"I have sought the support of the people I will represent and received dozens of individual endorsements from people representing every sector in our community. My opponent has sought the support of many special interest organizations whose leaders do not live in Beverly or Wenham. I support campaign finance reform and do not accept donations from special interest group PACs —even the well-meaning ones. My opponent does. I believe a state representative is more effective when they are only answerable to the people they represent with no outside strings attached."

"It has been incredibly inspiring to have so many people from across Beverly and Wenham give their time and energy to this campaign," Bowen concluded, "many as first-time volunteers — to make our local politics what we want it to be: transparent, thoughtful, well-informed, caring, welcoming, and effective."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)