Senator Rausch Comes to Franklin for One Hour ‘Town Hall’

Senator
Becca Rausch came to the Franklin Senior Center Tuesday evening to
tout her accomplishments in a “Town Hall” event that attracted
25-30 attendees, more than double the number that attended a similar
event in her hometown of Needham. 

Indeed,
the presentation was nearly identical. Attendees were offered a
chance to write down questions, some of which her staff member read
at the end of the event. But the bulk of the event was a carbon copy
of her Needham Town Hall a few weeks. She described her view of State
Government as the “middle child” and outlined her legislative
goals and accomplishments, including the controversial Community
Immunity bill.

Rausch said she had brought more than $53 million in funding to Milford and nearly $34 million to Franklin.

Among
the initiatives she has launched, she included her Small Business
Advisory Council, formed during the pandemic, to ‘create
a consistent dialogue about issues facing our local businesses to
inform economic policy on Beacon Hill.' The
Council consists of eight firms, three of which were in Franklin.
Among them, LaCantina is the only one still doing business in 02038,
67 Degrees Brewing having moved, and Escape into Fiction having closed.

Another five or six questions posed to Rausch at the end of the event was whether she would debate her opponent, Franklin's Dashe Videira. She responded that she ‘always’ does debates but
this year her schedule has completely filled all the way up through
Thanksgiving.

Another
question had to do with “raising the age” – which she said
likely referred to raising the age for prosecuting offenders as
adults from 18 to 19. Because of the way children’s brains develop
she said she did support raising the age.

The
event was attended by State Rep Jeff Roy, who introduced Rausch, and
by Rep candidate Charles Bailey, Town Councilors Ted Cormier-Leger , Patrick Sherican, and Bryan Chandler and School Committee Chair David Callaghan.