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Hennessy: My Goal is Truth
in Goverment
 Former Methuen city councilor and candidate
for state representative, Mike Hennessy, says he
considers himself a “conservative Democrat,”
but adds that he is an “old school Democrat”
who “would like the Democrat Party to go back to its
priorities of putting people to work.”
Hennessy said that if he is elected to replace Arthur
Broadhurst as Methuen’s state representative, he
will do the work of his constituents and not that of the
politicians on Beacon Hill, adding that his goal “is
to bring truth to government.”
Hennessy, a retired Methuen firefighter, said he is
“troubled” that elected officials ignore the
public and usurp the will of the voters on critical
issues, like gay marriage, rolling back the income tax
rate and ending tolls on the Massachusetts Turnpike.
“Whether I agree with the voters or not, issues like
gay marriage or rolling back the income tax rate to 5%
are up to them. My job as a state representative is to do
just that, represent. My job is to serve the voters, not
override them with my own political agenda,”
Hennessy said.
“The people of Massachusetts voted to roll back the
income tax rate to 5% and if I am elected I would vote in
the legislature to roll it back. It’s only right.
Gay marriage is no different.
The people of Massachusetts went out and got the required
signatures to put it on the ballot and they deserve to
vote on it. Regardless of my own opinion on some issues,
representatives cannot lose site of the fact that they
are on Beacon Hill to represent their constituents.”
Hennessy says he favors a single-payer health care system
for Massachusetts and adds that he will fight for the
lottery receipts to be returned to the towns.
“I like senator Tollman’s idea of a
single-payer health care system. Everyone pays into one
fund and you don’t have to deal with a bunch of
different insurance companies and HMO’s all at once.”
On the issue of illegal aliens, Hennessy says he opposes
in-state tuition or any other government benefit being
given to illegals. “I don’t understand how we
can be giving any government benefits to illegal aliens
who are not suppose to be here,” he said. “The
key word here is illegal. If it’s illegal for
someone to be in the country in the first place, we
shouldn’t be giving them benefits like in-state
tuition for college. I had to pay for my kids to go
college.”
Hennessy also said he favors having the School Building
Assistance Program at the state level use architectural
prototypes that cities and towns can choose from when
building new schools. “Right now, each city and town
has to pay about 10% of every school building project for
architectural fees for building designs. If the state has
prototypes of school buildings that have already been
designed, and we can choose from one of those when we
build a new school, then we can save the state millions
of dollars right off the bat and provide more money for
school building assistance.”
Hennessy is facing a crowded field of candidates,
including former Councilor Linda Dean Campbell, Methuen
Veterans Affairs Director Ed “Hoppy” Curran and
former council candidate, Cris DiBella. If successful in
winning the Democrat primary in September, he will face
Republican City Councilor Robert Andrew.
Current state Representative Arthur Broadhurst is not
seeking reelection. Broadhurst is running for Register of
Deeds and is facing Lawrence lawyer, Bob Kelley.
*Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com
The May, 2006 Edition of
the Valley Patriot
The Valley Patriot is a Monthly
Publication.
All Contents (C) 2006, Valley Patriot, Inc.
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