Seven candidates for Legislature address housing, energy, state aid at forum

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NEW BEDFORD — Seven candidates running for South Coast seats in the Massachusetts Legislature addressed housing, energy, and other key issues during a forum hosted by The Light and the League of Women Voters SouthCoast on Wednesday. In some areas they found common ground; in others, they disagreed on causes and solutions. 

Five of them are running in contested races. 

Rep. Mark Sylvia, a Democrat elected to represent Bristol’s 10th state House district two years ago, and Brendalee Smith, his Republican challenger, both spoke at the forum.

Other participants included Democratic state Rep. Steven Ouellette, running to keep the 8th Bristol seat; Edward Pacheco, the Democratic candidate for the Bristol 9th district; and Robert McConnell, a Republican challenging longtime incumbent state Sen. Mark Montigny.

Longtime state Reps. Antonio Cabral and Christopher Hendricks for the 13th and 11th Bristol districts, who are running unopposed, also participated.

Montigny, a Democrat; Jesse St. Gelais, the Republican candidate in the 8th district; and Chester Tam, the Republican candidate in the 9th district, declined to attend because of previous commitments.

Jack Eklund, of the League of Women Voters SouthCoast, served as moderator of the forum, which was held at Keith Middle School. The questions were prepared by The Light and the League.

Housing 

The state and South Coast face a housing shortage and increasing costs. Much of the Bristol 9th district race has revolved around three large housing developments in the pipeline in Dartmouth. While acknowledging the need for affordable housing, Pacheco said the state needs to properly support cities and towns in implementing the current 40B housing statute, which grants automatic approval to developments with a certain percentage of affordable housing.  

Smith, running in the Bristol 10th district, turned her attention to building permit fees as a possible culprit for a lack of affordable housing. 

“I think that’s discouraging some of our builders,” Smith said. “It’s important that we get on the same page with that.”

Sylvia said accessory dwelling unit policies, which allow building an extra home on a lot “by right,” can act as one mechanism to bridge the housing gap. More flexible funding that lets local officials figure out the best way to address the issue is important too, he said.  

McConnell called out the state’s “right to shelter” program as a potential reason why Massachusetts residents may have difficulty affording housing. At the same time, he called for checks and balances on the state’s 40B law.

“We need to respect home rule and the community’s ability to absorb this increased housing,” McConnell said.

Ouellette echoed similar concerns that indiscriminate development could change the character of Bristol County’s more rural communities. Instead, he pointed to blighted buildings in dense neighborhoods with potential for new life.

Cabral and Hendricks touted the Affordable Homes Act, which they helped pass to the governor’s desk for signature in 2024. It authorized billions of dollars to be spent on programs that support first-time homebuyers and low- to moderate-income residents seeking housing. It also included a development incentive program for the state’s mid-sized Gateway Cities. 

Energy

Electricity and home heating rates and fees have added to the rising cost of day-to-day life in the state.

McConnell blamed the state’s green energy goals as the main culprit behind growing energy costs.

“Climate change policy is the wrong road,” McConnell said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if people are breaking up their furniture and burning it to keep warm this winter.”

Some House incumbents mentioned this year’s House and Senate energy relief bills, currently under negotiation in a House-Senate conference committee. The House bill would make cuts to Mass Save, the state’s energy efficiency program. The Senate bill instead targets the Gas System Enhancement Plan to replace deteriorating gas pipes.

Ouellette agreed that the state needed to take a closer look at the Mass Save program to see if the savings actually reach ratepayers. He also expressed support for the Algonquin Gas Transmission expansion project, which would replace or install 13 miles of natural gas line pipeline across New England.

“We need to look at and revamp the [Mass Save] program if we want it to continue, because it wasn’t fair across the board,” Ouellette said.

According to a 2025 state audit, New Bedford was one of the few Gateway Cities to receive a net benefit from the program.

Smith proposed a line-by-line review of utility fees being handed down to residents — some of which were instituted to fund clean energy initiatives — to look for cuts.

Sylvia said the House version of this year’s energy legislation includes short-term savings for some rate customers. In the long term, the utility model — which is incentivized to build more, according to Sylvia — should be reworked to better accommodate ratepayers. 

Local aid

State funding for cities and towns took a hit during the 2008 recession and has yet to recover. Several candidates said the state’s formula for doling out local aid to cities and towns is outdated and broken.

Sylvia cited a proposal to create a government authority that would distribute state cannabis-tax money to fund public buildings. He said it was one way to start allocating more money to local municipalities. 

For Smith, the approach to finding more funds for local leaders starts with a simple question: “Where is all of the money that we have in the government… going?” 

McConnell came out against the state’s per-capita funding formula, arguing it does little to address income inequality. He also noted that New Bedford and surrounding towns were not alone in their funding crises, and that the problem went beyond the South Coast.

Ouellette said the state’s Unrestricted General Government Aid (UGGA) funding and Chapter 70, which deals with local education funding from the state, were “things we’ve been screaming our heads off about.” That is, state reps have been trying to get the state to change its local funding formulas.

Transparency 

McConnell has made greater transparency in the Legislature the focus of his state Senate campaign. He called on the Legislature to cooperate with the audit that 72% of voters chose in a 2024 referendum. He argued that greater party diversity — more Republicans — would incentivize sitting legislators to be more transparent.

Ouellette, Sylvia, Cabral and Hendricks pointed out that the state Legislature has made some progress to be more transparent, including recording and posting meetings online, but agreed that more could be done. 

Some of them expressed concern that certain requests regarding an audit of the Legislature could be unconstitutional. 

Jobs

On the question of attracting high-paying work to the South Coast, Pacheco mentioned his endorsements from several unions and creating a training-to-union pipeline.

“We need to focus on, how do we better partner between our vocational programs and trade unions?” he said. He added that efforts to ensure public projects go to union workers be redoubled.

Ouellette agreed, saying unions carry a lot of the “vital” industries in the region. (He was a union plumber.) 

McConnell pledged to grow the region’s shellfishing and cranberry industries, but his prognosis for the region’s economic health was decidedly grim.

“I don’t think there’s any new businesses coming to Massachusetts, because of the cost of energy and taxes,” McConnell said.

Hendricks said he wanted New Bedford to be known as a hub for offshore wind, a “burgeoning” industry that he said should create jobs for local people, not those from out of state. Though the offshore wind industry has significantly stalled under the Trump administration, he said the region should “lean into” wind and continue to invest in training a local workforce.

Cabral also mentioned offshore wind, saying jobs will return once the Trump administration “gets out of the way,” allowing Massachusetts’ next wind projects to go in the water. 

State Pier

The New Bedford State Pier, a state-owned asset, is mostly closed and needs funding for repairs. Candidates agreed that maritime industrial businesses and commercial fishing operations have been displaced from the pier far too long. 

Ouellette said he’s in monthly meetings to discuss the pier’s future renovation, but still more representatives and stakeholders need to convene.

“Whatever the vision is long-term,” Sylvia said, “we have to ensure that our fishing industry, which feeds our families and is the number-one sea-fishing port in the United States, … continues to thrive.” 

When the moderator asked how to secure funding for the State Pier, McConnell referenced the $100 million spent at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal to better outfit the harbor space for offshore wind staging.

“Why can’t we have that type of an effort brought to things like the State Pier?” McConnell said.

Cabral estimated the pier repairs could be completed in three to four years; Hendricks used a different measure of time for the remaining work: “indefinite.”  

“Our fishing industry has supported us for decades,” Smith said. “This has to be a priority. It is taking too long.” 

Ash Street Jail and Flock

All seven candidates said they would support a statewide law to regulate the use of Flock cameras and other automated license plate readers.

The candidates also supported closing the Ash Street Jail in New Bedford. 

Bristol County Sheriff Paul Heroux wants to close the jail, built in 1888. It’s home to rodents and recurrent mold, according to a December 2025 state inspection that found more than 100 deficiencies. Heroux has said he can close Ash Street if he receives $10 million to $20 million in state funding to renovate the newer Bristol County Jail and House of Correction in Dartmouth, where half of the housing units there don’t have toilets in cells, so the cells can’t be locked.

Pacheco said the Legislature simply needs to fund the refurbishment of the Bristol County House of Correction.

“How do we expect people who are paying their debt to society,” he said, “to feel safe in these environments we’re putting them in if they don’t even have a toilet?” 

McConnell agreed with closing the Ash Street Jail, citing his own experience working in the old Plymouth County jail.

“The place was quite like a dungeon,” McConnell said. “It was quite frightening, and Ash Street is the same way.”

Smith said she “would absolutely fight to get the right conditions in those cells.” 

Cabral and Hendricks support the closing of the jail, but said there first needs to be a comprehensive plan for the building and land afterward, so that there is not a “gaping hole” in the West End. 

Sylvia had a more direct answer. He said he supported upgrading the Dartmouth site and closing Ash Street “both because of accessibility and because of the more modern facilities and it’s all in one location.” Sylvia added, “They’ve got a medical unit there, they’ve got high security there.”

Nursing homes

Candidates also offered ideas for increased staffing and regulation of nursing homes. The Legislature passed a law in 2024 to increase fines on understaffed nursing homes and increase scrutiny of sales of nursing homes. But The Light has reported that the state has not used its new powers to act — and more than half of the nursing homes in Massachusetts remain understaffed.  

McConnell called out the state’s nursing homes for “outrageous” prices, and supported greater penalties for nursing homes that do not meet staffing standards. A nurse himself, McConnell suggested that student nurses could help fill some gaps.

Pacheco called for unionizing more nursing homes. 

“The staffing in these buildings are inadequate ’cause of what they’re paying people,” he said. “We want to pay them $15 an hour. Where’s the dignity in that?

Smith suggested an incentive program to recruit and retain more nursing home workers. 

Sylvia complained that the 2024 law is “not being implemented or followed by the administration.”

“There’s a lot of power for” the legislative delegation to communicate “dissatisfaction, or our belief that that needs to be implemented,” Sylvia said. 

Email Anastasia E. Lennon at alennon@newbedfordlight.org.

Email Kevin G. Andrade at kandrade@newbedfordlight.org.

Email Nathan Collins at ncollins@newbedfordlight.org.

Email Brooke Kushwaha at bkushwaha@newbedfordlight.org.