Letter to the Editor: Conservative Supports Finegold

To the Editor:

My conservative friends are surprised when I tell them I am supporting
Barry Finegold for the State Senate, especially when they know I share
their anger and frustration with Beacon Hill.  For years many in this
legislature have been ignoring the concerns of their constituents,
instead concerning themselves with their own needs.  Thankfully for
those of use living in the 17th Essex District for the past 13 years,
Barry is not one of them.

Barry Finegold has been my representative to the General Court since 1997.
My first contact with Barry was in 2005 when I needed someone to
represent me to the Andover School Board.  (Although I live in
Tewksbury my daughters attend school in Andover.)  I had never sought
help from an elected official and expected an experience in accord
with an afternoon at the Registry of Motor Vehicles.  I couldn't have
been more wrong.  Barry answered my initial email within an hour.  And
he answered it himself.  He championed my problem as if it were his
own and became my (and my girls') advocate. I have since troubled him
with other matters and he approached all of them with the same
selfless determination as the first.

While I will always be grateful for his direct help as my
representative I have also come to appreciate how hard he works for
all his constituents.  He is one of the few Democrats who has
challenged Beacon Hill on issues that matter to all of us like
pensions, legislature raises, per-diems, hack jobs for friends and
family, hack holidays, the list is long. And Barry understands we need
tax and regulatory policies that encourage business to stay and grow
rather than flee.

On November 2nd, we will vote to get our State back on a path worthy
of its heritage.  Barry Finegold is the candidate who can help us get
there.  I know Barry will work hard with a (hopefully) more
conservative legislature, doing what we, his constituents, need him to
do to restore this Commonwealth to its greatness.  And I know he will
be there for us individually if we need him.

W. J. Wyatt
Tewksbury