10-03-2024 4:49am

A Debate in Print Between Charles Bailey and Jeff Roy #3

Alan Earls Editor

Above, Jeff Roy and Charles Bailey.

Long-time Franklin-Medway State Rep. Jeff Roy, who is from Franklin and challenger, Charles Bailey, also from Franklin, have agreed to an in-person debate, scheduled at the Medway Middle School, 45 Holliston Street, on Tuesday, Oct. 8 at 7pm, sponsored jointly by the Democrat and Republican Town Committees. Doors open 15 minutes before the start and the event is expected to last about 1 hour. The debate will be broadcast live on Medway Cable and Franklin TV as well as Medway Facebook and Franklin YouTube, both with captions. All four platforms will have replays available.

In addition, both candidates agreed to participate in a debate -- responding to questions suggested by Observer readers -- in writing, in the Observer. One question and the candidate's respective responses will be published for a total of seven weeks leading up to the election. The sequence of responses will be altered each week (eg Roy first then Bailey first).

QUESTION #3 : Regarding, shelter for migrants, many attracted to Massachusetts
by an extremely generous ‘right to housing’ law and/or brought to
the state with the help of NGOs. What can or should be done to keep
this from becoming a real crisis, to protect the state budget, and to
protect local towns from the many disruptions this has caused?

CHARLES BAILEY

Ours
is a Nation of immigrants and our diversity is one our greatest
strengths.

My
in-laws immigrated here from Southern Italy, and they did it the
right way. They came in through Ellis Island, learned the language,
and proudly became U.S. Citizens. Nothing was given to them. They
earned every bit of what they had.

Unfortunately,
the Massachusetts right-to-shelter law has already created a crisis
and has exacerbated the existing housing problems for our own
citizens. The State had a surplus just 2 years ago and we now find
ourselves in a deficit. There is more pressure on the towns to make
up the difference with things like Overrides and the creation of new
local taxes. Small businesses and people with fixed incomes are being
priced out of our towns while the legislators continue to do little
to help.

The
nonstop rise in the cost of groceries, gas, utilities, and interest
rates are unsustainable. Governor Healey could very easily sign an
executive order to end the right-to-shelter law for illegal
immigrants but chooses only to throw more taxpayer money at the
problem. Policies enacted by this administration and my opponent have
proven to be unsustainable and costly. The decision to guarantee
unlimited housing under this law has overwhelmed our shelter system
costing the state millions of dollars and endangering our
communities. T

he
new policy to convert overflow shelters into temporary respite
centers with a maximum stay of five days acknowledges the failure of
the previous approach. Representative Roy has notably remained silent
on these critical issues. His lack of public statements, transparency
and action highlights his failure to put the citizens of Franklin and
Medway first.

On
April 26th Representative Roy and his colleagues
voted “No” to defeat House Amendment 698, denying homeless
veterans’ prioritization for shelter assistance.

I
attended the August 8th Franklin Town Council meeting
where Senator Rausch and Representative Roy appeared for their annual
Legislative Delegation. A Franklin resident expressed her concerns
about the migrant situation here in town and stated, “we have not
been updated with the migrant situation in this town” among other
related issues starting at the 2:29:00 mark on the video linked
below. Representative Roy responded by stating, “I didn’t hear a
question, so.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucR5rvaR-Pk&t=7040s

This
lack of transparency is making us all question what is really going
on with our tax dollars and when does it end? The Massachusetts
right-to-shelter law should be eliminated immediately.

JEFFREY ROY

Out of concern that his comments had been altered by removal of a graphic in a previous posting, he has instead provided a link to his answer to Question 3 on his web site (below) and also asked that the editor acknowledge his own support for Mr. Bailey.

In fact, I the editor, Alan Earls, as an individual, contributed $150 to Mr. Bailey’s campaign. Furthermore, I am the former chair of the Franklin Republican Town Committee and currently serve as the clerk/secretary. This is and has been an open secret. Many people in Franklin are aware of my political affiliation and I am happy to discuss that with anyone. I also always work to deliver balanced coverage of news in Franklin and Medway.