For state Senate
TO SUCCEED in the sprawling Middlesex, Suffolk, and Essex state Senate district, a candidate must grasp the priorities of voters in the progressive precincts of Cambridge, the immigrant neighborhoods of Chelsea, and the working- and middle-class sections of Everett, Saugus, Charlestown, Somerville, Revere, and Allston-Brighton. Cambridge attorney Timothy Flaherty, a former Norfolk County prosecutor, projects the right mix of energy, agility, and experience to serve the district. The Globe endorses Flaherty in the special Democratic primary on Sept. 11.
Four candidates are vying to win the seat formerly held by Jarrett Barrios, who retired in midterm. Flaherty, the 42-year-old son of former House Speaker Charles Flaherty, says he "won the lottery of life" that derives from a supportive family, sound education, and good connections. He knows others aren't so lucky. Narcotics abuse plagues some sections of the district, especially Charlestown, where Flaherty says there are no drug treatment beds. He says addressing that deficiency will be his immediate priority, if elected. A prosecutor for eight years, Flaherty lists his proudest accomplishments as winning justice for victims of violent crime. But he has seen enough of the system to know that flexibility in sentencing best serves the cause of justice.
Flaherty's legal training should be an asset in a district where major developments are now in play. He says he will fight to ensure that North Allston neighborhoods won't be "overrun" while Harvard University rolls out its ambitious campus expansion plans. And he can be expected to back sensible development at NorthPoint in East Cambridge while the Legislature struggles to make sense of regulations for developments on tidelands. Flaherty also wants to look with fresh eyes at school funding issues stemming from an earlier, unsuccessful lawsuit claiming that low-income students are routinely denied the resources they need to succeed.
One area of concern with Flaherty is his quickness to tap the state's rainy day fund to advance his agenda. That's a dangerous instinct. But his common sense comes through in other areas, including his support for the state's high-stakes MCAS test, cautious backing of casino gambling as a possible means to provide property tax relief, and insistence that transportation and housing improvements will be crucial to the Patrick administration's efforts to expand the state's biotechnology industry.
Flaherty is the clear choice to meet the district's need for forceful, principled leadership.
