MOORECOL. No11 10-15-2004 hed : State Senator - more than a part-time job! By BOB MOORE I'm not sure you're quite ready for this but less than two weeks before the long-anticipated election to pick a new state senator from MetroWest, Republican candidate Atty. Jim Coffey of Hopkinton shows up to say he'd be glad to represent 300,000 voters in this heavily-Democratic district . . . . part-time! This week Coffey's been telling campaign forums that, if elected, he will not give up his position with a Boston law firm. He said Rep. Paul Loscoco, R-Holliston, had told him that working at the State House is not a full-time job. So he will not consider it a full-time job. One staunch Republican backer reacted : "What! He must be kidding!" And Democratic candidate Rep. Karen Spilka of Ashland was equally blunt : "He wants to do this as a hobby?" Spilka, known as a full-time legislator, had just won an overwhelming victory in the seven towns in the Second Middlesex and Norfolk district over two heavily favored Democrats from Framingham. What makes it intriguing is the fact that Coffey is one of the candidates hand-picked and financed by Gov. Romney who seeks to increase GOP membership in the Democratic-dominated Legislature. Coffey told me that "the governor is going to give us plenty of funds to do the job." My impression at the time was that this attorney knew the law much better than politics. Plenty of apples on the Romney tree but they don't fall of their own accord. Coffey's headquarters in Framingham is just across the street from where I live. Two months have passed since our meeting and Coffey's not been seen until he began to attack Spilka with some "off the shelf" mailings from some outsider who didn't know the territory. One in particular denounced Rep. Spilka as one who did nothing to protect school children from sexual predators. Her "crime" : She failed to vote for a bill that presumably would make such checkups easier. Republican senators didn't agree and the bill died. One of Spilka's strongpoints is her work in upgrading efforts in education funding and improving transportation throughout the district. Some feel that Spilka's diligence in following through on residents' needs and her strength in Framingham where she represented 26,000 residents made her the favorite on Nov. 2. It's possible Coffey soon caught on to her bi-partisan support. This senatorial district includes Framingham Natick, Ashland, Holliston, Hopkinton, Medway and Franklin. It's called Second Middlesex and Norfolk District but it rims the industrial-rich Rte. 495 at both ends. Spilka's predecessor, Sen. David Magnani, transplanted the plan of a California-based industrial-residential cooperative venture to the independent towns along 495. Spilka's attention to details and friendships in both Houses points to an increased voice from MetroWest on Beacon Hill. In working to gain the nomination, Spilka spent considerable time welding alliances through the district. It used to be known as "Framingham's own." But the primary election may well have proved that all seven towns have a common basis. Largely, that's what the Nov. 2 election is about. Extending that relationship. It will take full-time effort. MAKING CERTAIN - Next Tuesday we have a Special Town Meeting that can erase some of the uncertainty about what's official. That's a big move and it comes through Article 3. This article has a history. It comes from the mixup over what should be a Housing Plan for Framingham. It also brings up what is needed in the way of a Master Plan for the town. And it says a lot about what constitutes a hearing and how far must it go. A big order. In plain words, Article 3, backed by 30 Town Meeting members and three special committees that say : For a Housing Plan to be official, in Framingham and wherever the town deals with other agencies in housing, it needs to pass three steps: After widespread hearings conducted jointly by the Board of Selectmen and the Planning Board, a Housing Plan for Framingham will be come official - if its zoning and other provisions meet with a two-thirds vote of Town Meeting. The problem has been that a Housing Plan devised in the Planning and Economic Development department went through like the north wind and passed on to a planning agency to hire a consultant to work out details of a Housing Plan. It was deemed official. Whoops. Objections arose : too fast and too little diversity of opinion. Hearings defective. And back to TM for a more considered set of zoning bylaws. The object : Slow the hearings down, draw wider perspectives in. Less emphasis on ballooning affordable housing bylaws. One further point this article brings to your attention. Any Housing Plan must meld with a general plan for future development. With rules tightly drawn. You can see that this TM session will be looking far down the road when it shapes Article 3. And we may approach something defining what's official. That is . . . . official. And not simply "sounds" official. ________________________________________\ You can reach Bob Moore at edmoore4@aol.come or at 1-508-620-1449. [He's listening.] To unsubscribe, send email to majordomo@syslang.net with body unsubscribe frambors (the subject is ignored). Please read the Frequently Asked Questions maintained online at http://frambors.syslang.net/faq/about.html before posting or replying.