Hopefuls for Kennedy's seat square off

Three Democrats debate COVID-19, military spending, transit

Zane Razzaq
zrazzaq@wickedlocal.com
Moderator Clare Kelly, Jesse Mermell, Ben Sigel, and Ihssane Leckey participate in a virtual candidate forum.

Three Democratic candidates vying for Joe Kennedy III's Congress seat offered their views on COVID-19, military budgeting, and sustainable transportation during a virtual candidate forum Tuesday afternoon.

Wall Street regulator Ihssane Leckey, former Brookline selectwoman Jesse Mermell and attorney Ben Sigel faced off in a virtual one-hour forum hosted by the Environmental League of Massachusetts. Topics ranged from renewable energy, climate resilience, environmental protection and more.

The league will host another forum on Thursday with candidates Becky Grossman, Alan Khazei, Chris Zannetos and Republican Julie Hall; and another on June 16 with Natalia Linos, Dave Cavell and Jake Auchincloss. Sessions can be viewed on Zoom or via Facebook live. More information is available on the league's Facebook page.

The 4th Congressional district stretches from Milford to Brookline and includes Hopkinton, Franklin, Medway, Millis, Hopedale and most of Bellingham. The primary is set for Sept. 1.

Whoever emerges as the Democratic nominee will face either Hall or David Rosa of Dighton, both Republicans, on Nov. 4.

Here's how the three candidates answered these three questions.

What's something Congress gets wrong about transportation policy?

Ihssane Leckey: "What it gets wrong is that they are not investing nearly enough to make sure we have a 21st-century green transportation system that would actually open up economies for our brown and black communities ... If you look at Milford, for example, there is a hub of economy in western Mass. that Milford communities cannot get to, because they do not have the transportation to get them there ... These are problems that effect the communities and make them lose their jobs."

Jesse Mermell: "One of the areas where I think Congress really gets it wrong is understanding the intersectionality between how we're funding investments in transportation and lifting up the focus on climate change ... as we try to tackle our climate crisis, as we try to tackle the public health crisis that surrounds it, as we try to regrow our economy out of this very dark several months we've had, we need to reassess how Congress is thinking about the intersection of transportation funding and the climate crisis and making sure we are investing more money in transit."

Ben Sigel: "We need to make an ultimate investment in our low-income communities and communities of color, so we can combat the environmental racism that has been the subject of this. Making sure that transportation is efficient and effective and affordable to get low-income communities to places of business where they can raise their standard of living."

Would you support "defunding the massive military budget"?

Mermell: "Yes to reassessing the ways in which we fund the military. Those of us in the progressive community have been incredibly frustrated decade after decade watching the military or corporate interests or Donald Trump's friends need a tax break, the money for that seems to be there instantly. But the second we need investment in climate mitigation or schools or transportation or housing, that's when the spreadsheets have to open up.

... Money being spent on the military, money being spent on the police, could instead be spent on things that actually keep us safe. You know what is a public safety and a public defense crisis? The climate crisis."

Sigel: "I 100% agree with Jesse (Mermell) in that we have to relook at how the military is spending its money. We have never seen a full audit of the military -- what happens is certain programs get audited and it happens in a small little vacuum. Instead, we need a massive audit to see if we're spending for 21st-century needs and security. Are we spending in the right places on cyber security, versus aircraft carriers that are no longer needed in the way our military is using?"

Leckey: "We need to be the country that has promise to be promoters of peace and give back to the conversation table and diplomacy. We need to make sure instead of continuing to increase the military budget, we actually decrease the military budget and fund our schools, fund our transportation system, fund the Green New Deal ... I will not vote to increase our military budget."

What are your top priorities for using federal aid to help Massachusetts recover from COVID-19's most devastating impacts?

Sigel: "The first thing I would do is massive federal investment into our truly defined small businesses, especially our black, brown and women-owned businesses. They fell through the cracks with the Paycheck Protection Program. They didn't have the proper banks who could move forward for them, they didn't have the resources to get there fast enough ... we need to be there to support them."

Leckey: "Right now, as we speak, the debt collectors are suing people and people are not able to pay their credit card debt. We are going to need to bail out the people. We need to give people $2,000 a month for the duration of the pandemic and 6 months to one year after that so we can make sure they can put food on the table."

Mermell: Mermell pointed to the Evergreen Action Plan as a priority. The plan is touted by former aides of Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and revamps his climate change proposals for the COVID-19 era.

"Quite frankly, if we're failing to integrate the two (the climate change crisis and the COVID-19 crisis), we are not looking at a recovery correctly ... (the plan) includes incredibly important things, like aid for weatherization, disaster relief, and investment in transit programs. That's the type of lens with which I think we need to be looking at direct aid for states, cities, and towns."

Zane Razzaq writes about education. Reach her at 508-626-3919 or zrazzaq@wickedlocal.com. Follow her on Twitter @zanerazz.