Magliocchetti Seeks To Replace Dempsey at the State House

Paul Magliocchetti on WCAP's Paying Attention Radio Program
Paul Magliocchetti candidate for State Rep.

Paul Magliocchetti has been a member of the Haverhill School Committee for eight years. He ran unsuccessfully for state senate. Magliocchetti practices law as a partner at Sheehan, Schiavoni, Jutras and Magliocchetti, LLP. Shortly after getting elected to the school committee, he joined the board of directors for the Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce. He was invited to join the board of directors for Bethany Homes. He has also been a Little League coach, soccer coach, hockey coach, and was a member of the Kiwanis Club.

Why are you running?

“I’m running because it’s a position I’ve always had an interest in. I’ve been good friends with Brian Dempsey over the years and worked closely with him while I’ve been on the school committee. I’m at that point in my career where I’ve accomplished a lot. I’ve run a manufacturing business for more than 10 years. I’ve had great success there. I built my home in Haverhill where my wife and I raised our kids. And I’m a partner in a great law firm. I believe some great things are happening in this city and I believe in strong leadership at the statehouse to keep it going.”

Do Black Lives Matter or do cops lives matter?

“All lives matter.”

Magliocchetti said his top priorities are job growth, public safety and education.

“There’s certain legislation that binds all three of those. If we work on education laws, a city like Haverhill has a lot of affordable and low income housing units and they are high density units. I think the state needs to weigh that more heavily in their education funding formulas. We’re absorbing a lot of sub-groups of people from other communities. Studies have shown people from low income backgrounds need to perform better in our schools and need more resources.”

“By addressing that, you are now dealing with a crossover to public safety because when you are taking care of these sub-groups, they are the same sub-groups that are having issues with the law. Kids end up getting into trouble as teens and when they drop out they become a problem as adults. It also helps with job growth because, by putting the resources into these kids at an early age and keep them on the right track, we have a more qualified workforce, which means we can grow the local economy.

We asked Magliocchetti what he thought about illegal immigration and sanctuary cities since one of his opponents – Andy Vargas – favors sanctuary cities and even posted a warning to criminals on his Facebook page when Law Enforcement was doing raids in Haverhill. [A Sanctuary City protects violent criminals like rapists and wife beaters – who are here illegally – from being deported once they have been arrested at the local level.]

“I am not for sanctuary cities. I don’t think Haverhill should be a sanctuary city. I believe in following the laws of the land. I don’t have a problem with the local police working with the feds. That being said, I do believe that people have rights and we have a moral obligation to take care of people. The question is, are you here for the right reasons or the wrong reason? I’m not for rounding them all up and locking them up. I don’t think that serves anyone. We need to find out who the immigrants are. All immigrants need to register with the government so we can identify them and know where they are. If they are trying to do the right thing, we should work with them.”

Magliocchetti also said that there needs to be a local, state and federal database for all criminals, “not just illegals.”

Where do you stand on taxes?

“At this point I wouldn’t support any tax increases. I think we need to be careful with tax increases because we are always in competition with New Hampshire. Haverhill is a border community. It’s a delicate balancing act in Haverhill. Being a border community is pretty harsh on the local economy.”

“One thing I will do if elected is immediately reach out to every representative and senator who represents a border community and say, our situation is very different. I proposed a tax free zone along the border when I ran for state senate, which was a graduated sales tax. The closer to the border you get the lower the sales taxes should be, so that we can keep some of that money from fleeing to New Hampshire. We could do it on big ticket items, cars, appliances, etc. I think that would help border communities like Haverhill.”

“As a small business owner, I personally know the struggles and the issues that small businesses go through. All my working life I have been responsible for making payroll. I’ve been responsible for paying those taxes, hiring and firing, getting people professional development, so I know first-hand everything required of a small business and all the obstacles and hurdles in the way. We have to look at how regulations for insurance impact small businesses, because insurance costs are through the roof.”

“It is very important to have a vibrant and active downtown commercial district. We should have a tax free downtown zone in every community. The state’s savings in the community aid will offset what they lose. We have to analyze the financial impact, but, we need to be more efficient before raising taxes.”

EDUCATION

“One thing that has happened since MCAS and Ed Reform, there’s a major shift in taking power away from teachers and giving it to administrators. They are trying to manage education like you would manage business and I think that’s wrong. It’s the teachers in the classroom that are the front lines. They are the ones that understand the kids. They know what they need.”

When you have a teacher saying they need a certain kind of reading material to bring the kids up to speed, and the administrators say we don’t have the money in the budget, we have to address that at the funding level and give more power to the teachers in purchases and decisions being made in a classroom. After all, education is the one right we have in the state constitution.”

“When you compare my experience to anyone else running it’s not even close. I know people are excited about other candidates and their youth or ideology, but I have the experience to do the job. We need someone with the ability to secure as much funding as possible and I believe I am the best candidate for state representative for Haverhill.”