Amy Mah Sangiolo and Vlad “Steve” Yanovsky, candidates for the 11th Middlesex district representative seat, faced off Tuesday in a debate hosted by the Charles River Regional Chamber.
Sangiolo is the Democratic nominee, having defeated Alexander Jablon in the Sept. 5 primary. Yanovsky, meanwhile, ran unopposed in the Republican primary.
The winner of the Nov. 5 general election will succeed Democrat Kay Khan, who’s held the district seat since 1995 and will retire at the end of the year.
The 11th district consists of parts of Wards 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 in Newton.
Here are some highlights from Tuesday’s debate.
Political Views
The moderator, Max Woolf, asked both candidates how their life experiences have shaped their political views.
Yanovsky said his experiences both serving in the military and owning a small business have convinced him that the proper role of government should be limited.
“Government doesn’t truly contribute anything to the growth of the economy under any circumstances except limiting private enterprise from generating more revenue and employment opportunities for others,” Yanovsky said. “I think that particular segment of our existence needs to be curtailed and private enterprise needs to be expanded.”
Sangiolo said when she was younger, she had to advocate on behalf of her mother, a Japanese immigrant who spoke little English at the time. She said this experience shaped a belief that the government should support all its citizens.
“I’ve always served as an advocate, not just for my parents, but also for myself,” Sangiolo said. “Later in life, I became an advocate, whether it was for the environment, whether it was for immigrants, people with disabilities, and now people who are facing homelessness because of eviction or foreclosure.”
Housing
Woolf asked Yanovsky what, if anything, he would do to make housing more affordable in the district. The average price of a single-family home in Newton is $1.6 million.
Yanovsky said he doesn’t think there is a shortage of housing in the district, and he doesn’t think subsidized housing would be good for the community.
“Housing projects, we have tried that before,” Yanovsky said. “It doesn’t work under any circumstances. We’ve tried many things, [like] Section Eight housing, I mean, there’s no investment of the person into the community or into the home that they’re living in.”
Yanovsky recommended that people who can’t afford Newton prices should move somewhere else.
“People should live where they can afford to live,” Yanovsky said. “We cannot transplant people from one community into another and make them part of our community”
Sangiolo said Newton does need more housing stock. To address the issue, Sangiolo said the state should look into tactics like workforce housing, an option to subsidize housing for people who make too much money to qualify for traditional affordable housing, but who still can’t afford market rents.
“We need to increase supply of housing at all income levels,” Sangiolo said. “In particular, my focus has always been about being more intentional about the deeply affordable housing needs that are out there, as well as middle income and workforce housing.”
The T
The moderator asked how each candidate would tackle the lack of funding for the redesign of Newton’s T stations, which are currently only accessible by stairs and therefore noncompliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Yanovsky said he would look to fund MBTA reforms with private donations.
“If it were possible to have more community involvement and for people who support the enterprise to help improve the infrastructure by private donations, if that were a possibility, I think that would be a better way to go,” Yanovsky said. “That would also provide people agency in how these operations are run in their communities.”
Sangiolo said she would put pressure on the state and federal governments to get funding for the Newton station redesigns.
“The more pressure that we can put on our state and federal government to fund these stations, the better, so I’ll be there to advocate and fight for it,” Sangiolo said. “I’m really ticked off about that.”
Ballot Question
Candidates were asked whether they support Massachusetts Ballot Question 5, which would require tipped-wage workers to be paid the state minimum wage instead of their current rate of $6.75 an hour.
Sangiolo said she upports the minimum wage for these workers, though she mentioned the state should keep an eye out for complaints of wage theft by tipped-wage workers if the question passes.
“I think that we owe it to our earners, particularly our tipped-wage earners that are usually folks that are at the lower earnings spectrum,” Sangiolo said. “We owe it to them to ensure that they get at least the minimum wage.”
Yanovsky said he will vote against the question because he thinks all minimum wage requirements harm the businesses required to implement them.
“I don’t support minimum wage for anything,” Yanovsky said. “It’s going to destroy businesses, destroy restaurants, and it’s going to destroy anyone’s ability to go out and eat in a restaurant, because the prices on food and services are going to be exorbitant.”
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