On Thursday June 29, 2006, I headed on to the T to make my way to Roxbury where I was meeting up with Ravi Sakhuja and Lee Mohapatra as well as this year’s interns with the New England Chapter of the Indian American Forum on Political Education (IAFPE).  I was an intern last summer at the ACLU of Massachusetts and had such a wonderful experience that I have remained involved in IAFPE and so, when Lee told me that they were meeting at some event in Roxbury, I agreed to join them.

As I came out from the station at Roxbury, the first thing I noticed were the tons of people on the streets holding up signs for various candidates running for Governor in the upcoming election.  I made my way across the street to Roxbury Community College’s Media Center, where the event was being held, and was immediately approached by a member of the Deval campaign who asked if I was supporting him.  While I actually didn’t know enough about the candidates to say at that point, I found myself stating that I did support him, if for no other reason than we had IAFPE interns working at his campaign, and gave them my contact information.  Eventually, I made my way inside and ended up sitting in the middle of the row directly behind the one cordoned off for the press.  When I came in a little after 5:30, the auditorium was fairly empty but by the time the event started, it was packed full with barely an empty seat in sight.   

The event was called Building a 21st Century Workforce: A Forum on Jobs and Opportunity with the Candidates for Governor and was hosted by SkillWorks: Partners for a Productive Workforce, an organization that works to create a workforce development system that “helps low-skill, low-income residents move to family-sustaining jobs and helps employers find and retain skilled employees” through workforce partnerships, strengthening capacity, and public policy advocacy.  It was organized in partnership with Workforce Solutions Group and Jobs for the Future.

The Forum began with an opening statement from Ada Riggins of the Workforce Solutions Group, one of the co-sponsors of the event.  What struck me the most from her speech was an African proverb she quoted which says, “If you want to walk fast, walk alone, but if you want to walk far, walk together.”  This set the tone as to the purpose of the discussion and the message that they were trying to bring both to the candidates and the audience, that we need to work together in order to create the workforce of tomorrow.

Moderating the discussion was WCVB-TV's Janet Wu.  I had never seen her before but I was impressed by how she kept the event running smoothly and on schedule by strictly enforcing the time limits and ensuring that the candidates kept on topic while still answering all the questions.  The basic format was that each candidate was introduced and called to the stage one by one, with other speakers interspersed in between, and were given an opening statement, asked 3 questions they were given before hand, and then given a closing statement.  The 3 questions put to the candidates dealt with what the candidates would do in terms of workforce development should they be elected and if they would support a $21 million Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund and an $8 million increase in Adult Basic Education in their first budget.

One of the things that I found interesting is that each of the candidates related to the issue in a personal way.  Kerry Healey, the Lt. Governor and only Republican candidate, talked about how she taught English as a Second Language while she was in New York and saw first hand the transformative power of it and recognized its value.  Deval Patrick, the first of 3 Democratic candidates, talked about  his childhood growing up on welfare in the South Side of Chicago and how his mother used skills training programs to get a job so he knew first hand the impact of education.  Chris Gabrieli, the second Democratic candidate, told the audience about being the son of immigrants and how he became successful because of such education and living in a community where there was “equal opportunity for all, special privilege for none.”  Attorney General Tom Reilly, the last Democratic candidate to speak, discussed how he too was the son of immigrants and how he barely graduated high school and worked his way through college.  The Independent candidate, Christy Mihos, related to the issue on the other side of the equation, as a small business owner who sees first hand the skills he needs in his workforce.  Lastly, Green Party candidate Grace Ross highlighted her work as a community organizer working to support the disempowered and how valuable this education is to them in bettering their lots in life.

Out of all the candidates, in my opinion , Tom Reilly came off the worst by taking a very reserved stand and stating that while he supported everything in principle, he was unwilling tocommit to anything.  Deval Patrick, on the other hand, though he also promised little specifics framed his hesitancy in wanting to ensure that proper structure was in place so that any funds ultimately allocated would be put to the best use. Researching how much the problem actually needed, which even if it were more than the questions indicated he said he would be willing to support.  His motto was “chance comes to the well prepared,” a rephrasing of a quote from Louis Pasteur.  He was also without a doubt the most dynamic of the speakers and the one that earned the most applause from the audience.  Christy Mihos was the most vocal of the candidates, answering an unequivocal yes to all the questions, and loudly stating how much he wished this was a debate.  Kerry Healey, as Lt. Governor, had to be more diplomatic in her speech, especially when questioned about Governor Romney’s recent decisions regarding the issue.  In the end she simply stated that “It’s not how I would do things.”  The other two candidates Chris Gabrieli and Grace Ross were both personable and good speakers, but did not really stand out like some of the other candidates.

In the end, I ended up having a surprisingly enjoyable experience.  As a student of International Relations in college, I have never had much interest in local politics but going to this event made me realize how important it is to be involved, even when things may not directly affect you because there are thousands of others who still are impacted by how and whether you vote.  So those of you who ignore local elections thinking that it has nothing to do with you, start thinking about those it does effect and the difference it can make in their lives.  You can play a major role in building the workforce of tomorrow, a dynamic economy for Massachusetts, and countless other things and all you really need is to show some interest, take some time, and go out and vote.

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