State Sen: What Affects Marblehead?

As a way to inform our readers about the candidates, Patch asked the two candidates for the state Senate five questions that focused on topics affecting Marblehead.

Sen. Thomas McGee (D)

Home: Lynn

Profession: Attorney

Family: wife Maria, two children

Education: 

• St. John's Preparatory School
• Worcester Academy
• University of Lowell
• New England School of Law
• Democratic State Committee Member
• State Representative 1995-2002
• State Senator 2002- current

Christopher Dent (R)

Age: 29

Home: Nahant

Profession: Full time candidate since mid-September. Most recently employed by Genscape Inc. of Boston

Favorite place in the district: Tudor Beach in Nahant at sunset in summer.

Family: Mother only, unmarried, no children

What do you think is the #1 issue facing Marblehead?

Sen. Thomas McGee (D)

The potential cut in local aid that would occur if Question 3, the initiative to roll back the sales tax to 3%, passes on Nov. 2.

Also, the issue of charter school funding continues to pose an ongoing challenge for Marblehead. Cities and towns, such as Marblehead, lose a significant portion of their local aid to fund a charter school, which serves a limited number of students in the community.

The difference between average cost per pupil paid to the charter schools and the actual cost per pupil in aid from the state means more money follows the student than what is being funded by the state. We have seen cuts in local aid over the past two years and we cannot afford to lose more money from our already underfunded public schools.

I believe that we need a more equitable funding formula to reimburse the cities and towns who have students attending charter schools.

Christopher Dent (R)

Taxation. Communities all across the state are faced with the problem of preserving the tax base while generating enough revenue to provide services.

The town government in Marblehead must do this with a perpetually uncertain amount of state aid and a tax base that is already heavily burdened by the state government. Beacon Hill must reduce the burden it places on the tax base so that towns like Marblehead are able to generate revenue and provide services without driving residential and commercial taxpayers away.

Check back for question 2 - where the candidates stand on education reform.