Candidate Profile: Raul Fernandez For Brookline State Representative

BROOKLINE, MA — Former Brookline Select Board Vice Chair Raul Fernandez is running against incumbent Rep. Tommy Vitolo to represent the 15th Norfolk State House seat in North Brookline.

Patch asked the Brookline representative candidates to answer questions about their campaigns ahead of the Sept. 6 primary.

Here are the answers provided by Fernandez:

Raul Fernandez

Age (as of Election Day)

45

Position sought (including ward or district number if applicable)

State Representative, 15th Norfolk

Party Affiliation

Democratic

Family

My wife, Christina, and I have three kids: Aiyanna (19), Tyler (9), and Maya (17 months).

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

I’m from a proud family of union transit workers! My parents are retired, and my sister is a train operator in New York.

Education

Boston University (EdD in Higher Education ‘16, BS ‘00), Barry University (MA ‘04), Northeastern University (Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management ‘06).

Occupation

I’m a Senior Lecturer in Higher Education at BU, where I’ve been teaching since I earned my doctorate in 2016.

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

I served on the Brookline Select Board from May 2019 to May 2022, and as a Town Meeting member before that. I also serve as an appointed member of the Racial Imbalance Advisory Council in the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and as a member of the Democratic State Committee.

Campaign website

www.raulforrep.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

I’m running for State Representative because we have all the tools we need to make Massachusetts a state where every person can thrive, but our state government hasn’t used those tools or made meaningful progress toward that goal. In my work on the Select Board, I’ve seen that the kind of transformative change we need at the state level is possible when we bring new voices into the process and are adaptable in the way we approach policy. I saw it through our Task Force to Reimagine Policing, which allocated funding toward the creation of a new social services position in town and made meaningful progress toward public safety infrastructure that puts mental health and equity first. I saw it when I led a community effort to deliver justice to Gerald Alston. I saw it in the work we did through our Working Group to support the Brookline Housing Authority.

Unfortunately, I haven’t seen that same commitment to transformative progress at the state level, especially when it comes to racial, economic, and environmental justice. I’ll talk more about that in later questions — but what it comes down to is that I’m running because Brookline deserves a State Representative who knows that we need bold progress, and who has a track record of getting big things done.

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

The single most pressing issue facing our district is the cost of housing. High rents and high homeownership costs make it challenging or impossible for too many of our neighbors to stay in the community they love, and the state has systematically underfunded production and maintenance of affordable housing.

I’ve experienced our overlapping housing crises from multiple angles. My wife Christina and I both grew up in public housing, and as the only renter in the race, I know the anxiety of worrying that a sudden rent increase will price my family out.

I’ve got a comprehensive plan to address our housing crisis at RaulForRep.com/housing, and I know that we need every tool in the toolbox to take this on. I support tenant protections, including rent stabilization and a universal right to counsel for tenants facing eviction. I also know that we need more housing, both in Brookline and across the state, and I support zoning reform to get us there. We also need more funding for affordable housing production and preservation—on the Select Board, I created and led the Town-Brookline Housing Authority Working Group, and we secured millions of dollars in new funding for critical renovations to our public housing, but we need consistent state support. No one policy tool will address every aspect of our housing crisis, and as a Rep, I’ll take it on across multiple policy tracks and always look for new solutions to make sure everyone in our community can afford to live and thrive in Brookline.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

We have several critical policy differences—to cite two examples, my opponent voted against repealing the state’s ban on rent stabilization, and three of his first votes as our Representative were against transparency reforms to the legislative process. Both stances put him at odds with the Massachusetts Democratic Party platform, and I strongly disagree with him on both votes.

More broadly, though, this race is about the differences between our visions of how to make change. My opponent’s vision is about building relationships with people who hold the most power, and especially with state house bosses—that’s why his first votes in the legislature were against the transparency amendments I described above. I value relationships too—I’m proud to have built them with my colleagues in municipal leadership in Brookline and around the region and with unions, advocacy groups, progressive elected leaders, and people across town, and my endorsements reflect that—but we can’t make transformative change if our Representative votes against our progressive values out of political convenience.

My approach is about building coalitions of directly impacted people inside and outside of government to push my colleagues for change—not just behind closed doors, but where our constituents can see where we stand. Sometimes, this means voting in the minority—I was proud to stand with older adults fighting for a property tax exemption to help people age in place in their homes, even though I was the only Select Board member to vote for it. I’ve convened and led groups to secure funding for public housing renovations, to expand our safety net fund, to reimagine policing, and to support local businesses and nonprofits throughout the ongoing pandemic, and each has delivered real policy successes that have changed the lives of people in Brookline for the better. I’ll take the same approach to convening, transformative leadership as your Rep.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)

I respect Rep. Vitolo’s commitment to our community and his work, and I would not describe him as having failed Brookline. But there are two major areas where Brookline needs and deserves better representation than he has been able to provide, and each impacts his ability to make the change we need across policy areas.

First, he has not trusted his constituents to participate in the policy process. He voted against transparency amendments that would let voters see how representatives vote on Beacon Hill, expressed opposition to local options for real estate transfer fees, and voted against lifting the ban on rent stabilization. I’ll champion these initiatives because I have seen in town that open and democratic policy-making yields the best results—we need more of it on Beacon Hill, and Rep. Vitolo has voted to maintain the status quo.

Second, he has taken a cautious and politically safe approach to Brookline’s ongoing conversations on racial justice and equity. One of the best examples of my leadership is my work to bring a just end to the persecution of Gerald Alston by our Select Board. Gerald was a Brookline firefighter who faced racial harassment and spent more than a decade seeking restitution. I pledged to work with Town Meeting Members and racial justice advocates to make it right – and we did. My opponent stayed quiet for the entire saga, as he has in many of the toughest conversations in town.

These two areas stem from the same fundamental difference in our approach. Rep. Vitolo rarely takes on hard conversations—whether with colleagues on House rules or with our neighbors in town. I take them on: I brought people together to work toward justice for Gerald Alston, reimagine public safety in Brookline, and hold five community conversations about policy while I was developing my platform this year. We’re facing big issues as a town and as a state, from the climate emergency to the housing crisis to the high cost of childcare to the obstacles older adults face to aging in place. We can’t solve them without courageous conversations—the kind of conversations I’ve devoted my career to, and the kind that my opponent has consistently avoided.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

I’m the only candidate in this race with a comprehensive policy platform, and it helped earn me an endorsement from Progressive Massachusetts, a leading group advocating for progressive policy at the State House. In addition to the housing platform I described above, I have written detailed platforms on climate, racial justice, education, economic equity, reproductive justice, and legislative transparency (available at RaulForRep.com/policy!), and the bottom line is that as a town and as a state, we have everything we need to make sure every person can thrive if we pass transformative policy to get us there.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I have secured substantial policy accomplishments on the Select Board by bringing people together to make transformative change. As Chair of the Task Force to Reimagine Policing in Brookline, I led a community process to imagine a crisis response system that puts mental health and well-being first. This effort laid the groundwork to make new social services investments in Brookline. I also cosponsored Brookline’s language access warrant article, which creates a funded position to oversee language access across town government and requires language access plans from every town department. Additionally, I created and chaired Brookline’s Small Business Development Committee, which gives a voice to small business owners and residents dedicated to fostering vibrant commercial districts anchored by locally-owned businesses and nonprofits. As I described above, I led the effort to negotiate a settlement with Gerald Alston to provide monetary compensation for the harm he suffered from racial discrimination in Brookline, bringing an equitable end to more than a decade of conflict. Relatedly, I also championed the successful warrant article to ban the Town from requiring non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) as a condition of future settlements for allegations of racial or sexual harassment or police misconduct. I’ve also secured a seat dedicated to environmental justice on Brookline’s new Zero Emissions Advisory Board. These accomplishments showed me that progressive change is possible when community members work together and stand up to fight for it.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

I’m lucky to consider Deborah Brown a close friend. When I was first elected to the Select Board, she gave me this advice: Change doesn’t come easy. Expect resistance from those who benefit from the status quo, and be adaptable enough to overcome it.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I’m honored that my track record and my positions have earned me support from progressive leaders in Brookline and beyond, including champions like Jesse Mermell, Sonia Chang-Díaz, Joe Kennedy, and Natalia Linos and advocacy groups like Progressive Massachusetts, Act On Mass, and Mass NOW. As a proud union member, I’m also honored to be supported by the Massachusetts Teachers Association and SEIU Locals 509 and 888. Finally, I’m proud of support from the many community leaders in Brookline whose trust I’ve earned over the past years, including Select Board member Miriam Aschkenasy, School Committee member Mariah Nobrega, Julie Johnon, Pat Maher, and Chi Chi Wu. Each of my endorsements reflects a working relationship built on mutual trust and respect, and these are the kinds of relationships I’ll rely on as your Rep.