6 Medford Officials Endorse Helina Fontes For Governor's Council

MEDFORD, MA — The following letter was submitted by City Councilors Zac Bears and Nicole Morell and School Committee members Jenny Graham, Melanie McLaughlin, Mea Quinn Mustone and Paul Ruseau.

The position of Governor’s Councillor isn’t the most well known elected office here in Massachusetts, but the Governor’s Council is responsible for vetting and approving the nomination of judges, Supreme Judicial Court justices, clerks and parole board members made by the Governor. That’s why the six of us are proud to endorse Helina Fontes for the District 6 seat on the Governor’s Council.

Medford and district residents deserve a Governor’s Councillor with the personal lived experiences as a family member of people who have been hurt by our judicial system. Helina has faced the incarceration of her own son, while also witnessing the use of jails and prisons as “mental health” facilities when she was a recovery program administrator. The Council and its members have a key, unique role in looking at issues of character, values, and experience to make sure that our judicial system is truly representative of the people of Massachusetts. Helina will push the rest of the council to fully take on its role and use its power for good.

Right now, the Governor’s Council is a body without racial or economic diversity in its membership. The idea that there are no people of color on the Governor’s Council when its decisions so deeply impact and sometimes hurt Black and Brown communities is shameful. We can be leaders in our Commonwealth by electing an experienced, qualified, and devoted woman of color to represent our district on the Governor’s Council.

We need to root out the harmful implicit biases we see from so many people in our judicial system. We need to stop using our courts and parole boards to perpetuate racial and economic injustice and the mass incarceration of mentally ill, poor, Black, and Brown residents. Everyone in Massachusetts deserves education and healthcare, not incarceration and neglect.

Please vote for Helina Fontes in the Democratic Primary for Governor’s Council, District 6 by mail, at early voting, or at your polling place on Tuesday, September 1st. You can find out more voting information for Medford on the city website, medford-ma.gov.

Zac Bears and Nicole Morell are Medford City Councilors. Jenny Graham, Melanie McLaughlin, Mea Quinn Mustone, and Paul Ruseau are members of the Medford School Committee.