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© 2021 The Somerville Times. All rights reserved.
(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries and letters to the Editor of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)
By Fred Berman
Kathleen Hornby has chosen character assassination as her strategy, presumably hoping that if she throws enough out-of-context misrepresentations and misstatements at her Democratic Primary opponent, incumbent Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven, some of her claims will stick, whether or not they are true.
So, for example, she stated that Rep. Uyterhoeven “joined the Republican Caucus in voting AGAINST emergency shelter funding in 2024.” Ms. Hornby neglected to mention that the bill that Rep. Uyterhoeven and other progressives voted against substantially undermined the Commonwealth’s 40-year Right-to-Shelter commitment to homeless Massachusetts parents, children, and pregnant women by creating an unrealistic 9-month deadline for achieving sustainability and discharge… even as it provided supplemental funding for the last two months of this fiscal year.
As Ms. Hornby knows from her years working at the State House, legislators often have to vote on bills that contain some good provisions and some problematic ones. Sometimes, the principled position is to vote “no” and reject a short-term benefit, if voting “yes” would mean supporting provisions with serious adverse consequences. And sometimes, taking the principled stance makes legislators vulnerable to misrepresentations by political opponents who fail to explain the context in which the vote was taken…
Thus, for example, Ms. Hornby claimed that Rep. Uyterhoeven “voted AGAINST child and family tax credits,” but she neglected to mention that the Governor’s $1.1 billion tax cut package, which included those tax credits, also included deeply regressive tax cuts that exacerbated income and wealth inequalities, and as originally proposed, seriously undercut the impact of the Fair Share Amendment, which had been passed by voters to bolster funding for education and infrastructure, including long-overdue MBTA maintenance.
Significantly, Ms. Hornby also failed to mention that Rep. Uyterhoeven played a leading role (along with Sen. Jehlen) in sponsoring and winning support for amendments that removed some of the worst provisions of the originally proposed tax cut legislation (See Mass Budget’s summary analysis at https://massbudget.org/2023/09/26/tax-package-statement/) … and once the legislation was thusly amended, Rep. Uyterhoeven voted for this less regressive tax cut bill, which included the very same child and family tax credits that Ms. Hornby claimed that Rep. Uyterhoeven voted against.
Ms. Hornby claimed that Rep. Uyterhoeven “filed ZERO budget amendments to bring money to Somerville in this year’s State budget,” apparently overlooking Rep. Uyterhoeven’s role in 2024 in leveraging $54M for Somerville Public Schools, $1.2M for road repairs, $150K for the Somerville Homeless Coalition and $100K for a City of Somerville pilot to provide interim housing subsidies for limited income seniors waiting to get into elderly public housing, $30K for Groundwork Somerville, $1M for Greentown Labs, $1M to expand SCALE’s adult education and English literacy programming, and $5M to improve pedestrian access to the East Somerville MBTA station.
Given Ms. Hornby’s misrepresentations of Rep. Uyterhoeven’s efforts, one wonders how much credibility to assign to her description of her own work “help[ing] shepherd multiple bills and amendments through the legislative process, from drafting to endorsement.” Presumably, Rep. Marjorie Decker, Ms. Hornby’s unmentioned State House employer, played the more substantial role in all those efforts, even if Ms. Hornby “helped.”
In terms of their positions on issues of concern to Somerville residents, Rep. Uyterhoeven (https://www.electerika.com/issues) and Ms. Hornby (https://www.kathleenhornby.com/issues) are both “progressives,” notwithstanding Ms. Hornby’s misrepresentations. Over the course of her two terms, Rep. Uyterhoeven has demonstrated a commitment to effectively partnering with her colleagues in the Somerville delegation, as well as with other progressive legislators.
Integrity and transparency have been central to Erika Uyterhoeven’s prior work with Act On Massachusetts and as our current State Representative. By contrast, Ms. Hornby’s campaign mailings smearing her opponent with out-of-context misrepresentations and misstatements appear to demonstrate a disquieting, and for me disqualifying, lack of integrity.
Next week, we will find out whether hers was nonetheless a winning approach to challenging an incumbent.
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There’s a lot of weasel-wording in Mr. Berman’s piece here that sidesteps the truth of a lot of Hornsby’s specific statements about Rep. Uyterhoeven. “Rep. Uyterhoeven’s role in 2024 in leveraging $54M for Somerville Public Schools….” doesn’t, for example, call out any amendments doesn’t call out any budget amendments filed by Rep. Uyterhoeven.”
“Character assassination” is a pretty extreme characterization of what’s a pretty normal call for an incumbent to defend her record.
Myself, I’m one of Rep. Uyterhoeven’s consituents, and I’ve never been so happy to have a choice. I highly encourage undecided voters to read the Somerville Democrats statement of endorsement for Hornby. It’s high time for Progressives to refocus themselves on governance over theater.
In addition to what Somerville Democrats has to say, I’ve personally experienced Rep. Uyterhoeven’s complete disinterest in and even contempt for her own constituents. She is not our rep because she wants to represent us. I think it is high time we have a real representative.
With respect, complaining of ‘character assassination” is shrill. We are one of the only communities in the state to have a real race with real substantive arguments at play–we should be celebrating that not complaining about it when the conversation gets heated. I haven’t seen any nasty name calling or dirty laundry being aired. Hornby has focused on the issues. What’s wrong with that?
Further, everything the Hornby campaign has stated can be fact checked. If someone is applying for a job, they are entitled to point out current shortcomings and what they would do differently. There may be nuance to the incumbents decisions and you are right to point those out–so good for you. On the other hand, some of what you suggest in this article is highly suspect. $54 million for Somerville schools! Wow, they should be naming a wing of the new high school after Erika for that, right? But looking at the Student Opportunity Act (which is where I think this $54 million comes from) on the MA Legislature’s website, it seems the money is apportioned based on a series of considerations about student and district need. Also, looks like the bill was passed in 2019. Didn’t the incumbent enter office in 2021? What exactly did she do to get the $54 million? Did she really play a leading role on this or is she riding the coattails of other legislatures? Is it character assassination to ask: “what in the world are you talking about?”
Most incumbents cruise to victory. Over 70% of house races this year are uncontested, according a recent globe article. I’m proud we have an engaged electorate that generates multiple strong candidates. This is how democracy works–let’s celebrate that.
A state representative who pals around with neotodddler terrorist supporters doesn’t sit well with me. UE did not even want to hold an American flag when I asked if she would join us! A state rep who won’t be seen holding a US flag? No thanks. Happy to have a real choice this time around and I’ve already cast my vote for KH
“Rep. Uyterhoeven’s role in 2024 in leveraging $54M for Somerville Public Schools, $1.2M for road repairs, $150K for the Somerville Homeless Coalition and $100K for a City of Somerville pilot to provide interim housing subsidies for limited income seniors waiting to get into elderly public housing, $30K for Groundwork Somerville, $1M for Greentown Labs, $1M to expand SCALE’s adult education and English literacy programming, and $5M to improve pedestrian access to the East Somerville MBTA station”
Please could I have more information about this? Any links to share? If this is true then it will change how I vote. Where can I read about her role in this?
Erika Uyterhoeven is unfit for office. Having run against her in 2022, I experienced firsthand the petty character attacks she and her supporters often resort to. “Integrity” and “transparency” are foreign concepts to Erika. Susan is absolutely right, and I can personally attest to Erika’s disdain for the very people she’s meant to represent. If you want a representative who genuinely cares about the issues facing our district and is committed to making real progress, vote for Kathleen Hornby. She’s the candidate who will truly get things done—not just for Somerville, but for the entire Commonwealth.
Fred, you assisted in a campaign that assassinated my character. This is hypocrisy at its finest. Please do better.
Facts are Facts. Not Character Assassination. All of this information is available if you take the time and considerable effort to look up all this information from the State House. It is all PUBLIC RECORD. Facts. Not Alternative Facts.
I’ve seen Ms. Uyterhoeven use some alternative facts in her time quite frequently. Ms. Hornby’s factual facts are from public records.
Imagine that I ridicule you to others for displaying an emotional reaction to water. Buy I neglect to tell them that you are on your roof, with water up to the eaves, and hoping for rescue.
Have I stated a “fact?” Perhaps. But if so, I am not speaking the truth. I am reciting misleading “facts” for the purpose of manipulating others’ opinions.
It would seem that when a candidate’s only motivation is ambition, and only qualification is that she wants the job, this is her only tactic.