Candidates for Senate seat debate again

Knuuttila, Flanagan look to solidify platform before primary

By Owen Boss

FITCHBURG — With only five days left before residents cast the vote that will decide who will take the state Senate seat being vacated by longtime incumbent Sen. Robert Antonioni, D-Leominster, former state representative Brian Knuuttila of Gardner and state Rep. Jennifer Flanagan, D-Leominster, engaged in a debate Thursday at Fitchburg State College. The candidates were asked similar questions to those presented at a debate at Mount Wachusett Community College last week, which solidified home heating prices, education and the use of funding in the state’s stabilization account as key issues. The candidates, both of whom graduated from Fitchburg State College, used their opening remarks to show those in the audience that they were qualified to handle the problems facing the region. Ms. Flanagan, who has been representing the city of Leominster, said that although she is the younger candidate, she does not lack the experience needed to serve the 11 towns and cities within the district. “I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to have done so much at such a young age,” said Ms. Flanagan. “And I am looking to expand upon that service and I am looking to become your next state senator because I think it is important to have someone in office who is actively advocating on Beacon Hill.” As was the case with earlier debates, Ms. Flanagan fought to show herself as a regional leader and not as a one-city candidate. “I can’t help that I represent one city, that is the way the districting goes,” said Ms. Flanagan. “Very few of us in state government have just one city, but I can tell you that time and time again I have worked with the entire region.” Mr. Knuuttila used his opening remarks to show that although he has been labeled as the candidate from Gardner, he has a lot of history in other parts of the district. “A lot of people associate me as the individual from Gardner because I’ve been in Gardner for the last 25 years, but I’ve also lived in Leominster and Lunenburg as well,” said Mr. Knuuttila. “I joined the Marine Corps from Fitchburg after graduating from Fitchburg High School, and after serving more than five years in active duty I obtained the rank of platoon sergeant at the age of 21, and I was a police officer here at Fitchburg State College and patrolled these very halls.” Similar to earlier debates, Ms. Flanagan defended her decision to vote against using the money in the state’s stabilization account, something she said she did for the good of the commonwealth. “When you talk about the stabilization account you certainly talk about that it is the people’s money,” said Ms. Flanagan. “I voted that way because my mission is to make sure that our cities and towns are taken care of, but at the same time we have to be responsible with that; it is reckless to keep allocating money without being sure where it is going to end up.” Another question posed that had been asked of Flanagan at an earlier debate was her stance on prison reform, something she said she had advocated for during her time in office. “These prisoners have to be rehabilitated and entered back into our society,” said Ms. Flanagan. “I absolutely support this reform and I would again if it came up in legislation.” Among the key questions presented to Mr. Knuuttila was potential solutions to rising home heating costs, a problem that he said could literally leave less fortunate residents out in the cold this winter. “Make no mistake ladies and gentlemen, this problem is going to hit the next senator in the head like a brick when they take office in January,” said Mr. Knuuttila. “This is going to be catastrophic, people are just not going to be able to pay four or five dollars a gallon. I will support any feasible attempt at green or renewable energy but there are alternatives to raising the gas tax.” One area where the candidates were in agreement was the need for increased funding for schools across the region, an initiative they both consider crucial to future success. “Funding for education is quite frankly the most important thing we can do as legislators in the state of Massachusetts and in any state,” said Mr. Knuuttila. “Education is always and will always be one of my top priorities.” Although they agreed on education, the candidates strongly disagreed with the direction the recently implemented health care reform was going. “I am proud to have been part of the first in the nation health care reform, I am proud of the fact that Massachusetts has insured more than half a million people, far more than we expected to insure in the first year,” said Ms. Flanagan. “We understand there are still bugs to work out that is what happens when you are the first in the nation, that what happens when you want to insure every single citizen in the state.” Mr. Knuuttila said he supported the idea behind the health care reform, but said the system was flawed. “Even though it is the first of its kind in the nation, it is broken,” said Mr. Knuuttila. “You raided the uncompensated care pool until you sucked it dry to fund this program, you’ve increased stakeholders’ contributions to this program until employers quite frankly are going to start to move out of the commonwealth. You penalize them to the tune of $295 per employee per year for not adequately funding programs for their workers, you’re penalizing those individuals that have lost their tax deduction when they file their taxes at the end of the year because they haven’t gone to an appropriate health care program.” This was the last Senate debate before residents hit the polls in the deciding Democratic primary Sept. 16. oboss@thegardnernews.com

Appeared on Page 1 on 9/12/2008 (Vol. 206 No. 216)