CLM recently asked all candidates for Governor and Lt. Governor to answer a basic set of questions related to our members' work and our priorities as a League.
Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll, a candidate for Lt. Governor, sent us her thoughts on these issues, including these highlights:
On addressing issues of poverty:
As the Mayor of Salem, we have been able to engage stakeholders to achieve real policy results on a range of factors impacting poverty - including food security, housing affordability and availability, and access to reliable transportation options to connect residents with work. Government must be able and willing to implement innovative policies and practices and, if it
fails, learn from that failure to constantly improve.
On disproportionality:
To address racial disparities that impact child well-being and poverty, we must work intentionally to take on the disparities from the generational wealth gaps that persist. We know that access to an adequate public education and pathways to homeownership are two of the strongest determinants to addressing the racial and ethnic wealth gap
On fostering collaboration:
In Salem, where I chair the School Committee, we convened a Children’s Cabinet several years ago and that body has been invaluable as a tool for coordination, communication, and collaboration on behalf of our kids...and it has served as the backbone of the Our Salem, Our Kids effort to ensure every child has the full range of emotional and social supports they require both inside our schools and outside of the classroom walls. I would work with Governor Healey to set up a similar advisory working group on
a statewide basis as Lt. Governor.
Read candidate Kim Driscoll's complete responses to our Q&A here.