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Jacobs wins primary in bid to become first Berkshire resident on Governor’s Council

North Adams School Committee Member Tara Jacobs won an upset victory in last Tuesday’s Democratic primary for the Massachusetts Governor Council’s District 8 seat. Facing three candidates from the more populous Hampden County, the Berkshire County resident received about a third of the votes, just a few thousand more than Springfield City Councilor Michael Fenton. For the past three two-year terms, the council seat has been held by former Springfield mayor and retired judge Mary Hurley, who did not seek re-election. If Jacobs prevails in the November 8th general election over Republican John Comerford, she’ll make history as the first Berkshire representative on the eight-member body that advises the governor on judicial and parole board appointments, commutations and pardons, and more. She spoke with WAMC.

JACOBS: My motivation for running for this is what's going to drive me into how I ideally win this general and step in are to really promote the values of justice for all and hoping to help dismantle the systemic injustice in our state. But as to how it is now in the Governor's Council versus how I would love to see it, be the change you want to see: Transparency, civility, the Governor's Council becoming a place where people are aware of what they're doing and how important they are, and are engaged in the process of community members weighing in when there's a local candidate they know about and being aware it's even happening. And so I intend to out of the gate do the work of promoting transparency through continuing to post, but posts from the standpoint of what's on the agenda, where are the decisions being made, and inviting people to communicate with me, but also on the ground, continue to do the kind of work I've been doing during this campaign to be present and actively listening in each of the four counties every month with office hours that can establish ongoing relationships and awareness around what Governor’s Council is all about. I really think the transparency issue is probably the one that I can most immediately jump in and start to do that work because communication is key for that.

Let's dig into that one. What's a way that the Governor's Council can be more transparent?

Well, first off, I'm really glad that cameras were returned. And I absolutely advocate for them to remain on into, from now on. They should never be removed again. Secondly, I think doing the work of – so, this also ties back to being a school committee member, but – educating our kids, going to high schools and talking about what the Governor's Council is and inviting kids from Western Mass to come to the State House to actually see the Governor's Council chambers, to watch their proceedings. It's a level of civics education that I feel like I'm completely ready to start to do that work. And I think that that has a bubble over effect, talking to their parents and their community members about something that is just so important. Judges matter so much, who’s on our parole board matters so much, and so many people have no idea how those roles are determined. There's so many different avenues that I see going forward where I can boost transparency around what the Governor's Council is all about and increase awareness and in Western Mass and hopefully, that will bubble over beyond too.

WAMC: You'll be coming into the council, if you are elected, in the waning days of the Baker era. What are your thoughts on how Governor Baker used the Governor's Council? Any thoughts there?

This is definitely the outsider perspective on it, just having watched a bunch of their hearings and seeing the nominees that came through. And honestly, I can't really talk to the early Baker days, but in this last year, there has been an increase in diversity candidates. And to be fair, it's a long process to get to the Governor's Council. So that must have started years ago, because it's literally at least 18 months to two years from the time a candidate is nominated by the governor until they finally make it through the various stages to the Governor's Council. So that equity focus I very much appreciate coming from the Baker administration. and I absolutely hope that not only will it continue, but even increase in the next administration.

Now we've got to talk about it, Tara, your election day upset. You were facing three male lawyers from Hampden County, one of whom, Michael Fenton, is on the Springfield city council. You know, Hampden County, much larger than Berkshire County. Springfield, much larger than North Adams. How'd you do it? And don't just say hard work- What was the strategy here?

I mean, it was hard work. You can't underestimate the fact that I literally put more than full time hours, every single week, every single day into going everywhere I absolutely could. We have 102 cities and towns and I wanted to interact with every community that I could in those 102, and I got pretty close to 100% on that, and doing the kinds of interactions that were meaningful because it was about meeting people where they were and actively listening to their needs, their concerns, and educating them on Governor's Council. To be fair, that's not all we did. We did more. We did a multi-pronged approach that included social media and included grassroots efforts like flyering and handing out business cards that had little bags of Werther’s Originals in them to people to leave an impression. I often heard from people, A, we've never met a candidate for Governor’s Council, but even just a candidate in general has never come to us and talked to us in this way. It was very much a grassroots approach, and [I] always ended every interaction action with a request to, of course, please vote for me, but if you can tell your friends that you have this conversation, that you learned about something you hadn't heard about before and is so important and help spread the word- And I think that is the secret sauce, was that people did that. I probably talked to, you know, 5,000 to 10,000 people, but to get the votes I got, I believe they took up the banner and they did go home and say, let me tell you about something happened today. I talked to this person they told me about Governor's Council, did you know that's how we get all of our judges? That's who chooses our parole board? And it paid off with people supporting me at the ballot.

Now, this is going to make you one of the rare Berkshire County representatives on a broader, state-level body like the Governor's Council. What issues from the Berkshires do you hope you can bring to wider attention with this platform should you be elected?

First off, I think this might be historic. We went back as far as we could, we even talked to [Secretary of State] Bill Galvin to see if he knew of any earlier ones. We haven't found a single representation from Berkshire County on the Governor's Council ever. So in that way, it is a very exciting opportunity to have the voice of the Berkshires, representing Western Mass on the Governor's Council and at that table in that work. Having said that, and of course, I'm a Berkshire resident, I’m a North Adams resident. But from the outset, my focus has been on representing all of Western Mass and all of our needs. And I will say that having had so many of these conversations, there's more that connects us and that we share in Western Mass than divides us. We have so many issues in common across all of Western Mass, all four counties, and into those few towns in Worcester County too, where our voices are underrepresented in Boston, our needs are not well understood in terms of the specifics of the problems and the challenges, so often the solutions don't exactly land because, here there be dragons. And it's sort of a murky, after Worcester, there's more, but we don't really, you know. So, you know, we share challenges in transportation and healthcare access and mental health care access and economics with job development. There's so many, and I can go on and on. There's so many issues where I heard it everywhere. And then there's unique specifics which are Berkshire related or North Adams related versus North Adams versus Lee. Different things are you know, and often to each county, there's unique challenges that individual communities are facing. But while those are super important to understand and to advocate for, we really do have so much in common in Western Mass. We are sharing so many of the same challenges and needs and so I plan to represent all of Western Mass, all 102 cities and towns with the same vigor and attention, and not just be the, okay, North Adams, North Adams, North Adams. As much as I love North Adams, and I absolutely will be advocating for our city, it will be one of 102 that I embraces my district.

Now heading into the general you'll be facing John Comerford of the Republican Party. Any thoughts on strategy going into the general? Certainly, the bellwether would tilt in your favor as a Democrat in this, but any strategies is going into the general?

I mean, definitely the messaging changes. A lot of my messaging during – not a lot, but a big part – was I am the only non-lawyer in the primary. So, when neither of us are lawyers, that's not really relevant anymore. But to continue on what I was just saying, I really think the pivot now is what's best for Western Mass. Who's going to be the best voice to represent us in Boston, to do the work of the Governor's Council for us and was with us in mind, but also to advocate for our needs through the access with the governor and lieutenant governor. And I will say during this campaign, I didn't only talk to Democrats. When I was getting signatures, I talked to many Republicans. When I was out campaigning, people would almost abashedly be like, well, I can't vote for you, I'm a Republican, and the conversations I had there- Again, the commonalities. We have so much more in common than we have that divides us, even when you go down party lines. We all are Western Mass residents, we all experience that same feeling of wanting Boston to hear us, understand us, and serve us better. And so I hope from the standpoint of- I very much am all about right now bringing the Democrats to unity and under this big tent to come together and galvanize, but I really think you know, what I want to do as a member of Governor’s Council is to serve everyone, those who vote for me and those who don't. And that what I'm talking about in terms of what we need in Western Mass, really, whether you're a Democrat, whether you're an enrolled, whether you're a Republican – I think more moderate republican, probably because there is definitely a Republican base that just absolutely won't vote Democrat – but in terms of our experience as Western Mass and my desire to serve it, I think it extends beyond party lines.

Josh Landes has been WAMC's Berkshire Bureau Chief since February 2018, following stints at WBGO Newark and WFMU East Orange. A passionate advocate for Western Massachusetts, Landes was raised in Pittsfield and attended Hampshire College in Amherst, receiving his bachelor's in Ethnomusicology and Radio Production. His free time is spent with his cat Harry, experimental electronic music, and exploring the woods.
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