Ouellette likes efficiency — but not the DOGE way

This is the first of two profiles of New Bedford’s freshmen state representatives.

Monday, March 24, was a big day for Rep. Steven Ouellette, D-Westport. It was his last official Westport Select Board meeting after 22 years as a selectman. 

Ouellette, who’s worked in public service for his whole life, has moved up to bigger things in the Statehouse, hoping to bring funding and infrastructure back to his district.

Ouellette was elected state representative in a nail-bitingly close race in November to fill Rep. Paul A. Schmid’s 8th Bristol seat. After a slow start to the legislative session, during which he attended events in his district and got to know his constituents, Ouellette has heard from all his committees about welcome meetings, and he’s ready to get to work on bipartisan legislation.

Ouellette responds quickly over the phone, usually as he drives between meetings and events in his district. His gravelly voice is friendly and to-the-point.

Ouellette said he wants to work with the minority party, and cares about making processes in the Legislature more transparent. His priority is public safety, which he said isn’t always the easiest sell.

“I’m co-sponsoring bills with Republicans, especially public safety stuff,” Ouellette said. “So I personally am a moderate. I don’t want to say I’m on the fence — I tend to lean toward efficient government.”

Ouellette talks a lot about government efficiency — but not the way Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is doing it. 

“I’m definitely worried. You don’t do things like that,” Ouellette said, referring to unprecedented cuts coming from the secretive federal branch. “I’m sure there’s inefficiency, but there’s the wrong and the right way.”

Ouellette said he improved efficiency the “right way” as a Westport selectman, citing updated meeting and voting times that aimed to increase transparency.

A “fourth generation Westporter,” Ouellette’s first job in public service was as a firefighter. Since then, he’s worked as a reserve police officer and a facilities director in two public school systems. He’s well integrated in his community and said he loves to see people out walking.

Ouellette, 61, also spent 22 years as a Westport selectman. As a representative, he says, he’s working to bring more funding to Westport, while balancing locals’ desire to maintain their country lifestyles. He wants to build infrastructure in his district, which includes parts of New Bedford,  Fall River, Acushnet, and Freetown as well as his rural hometown.

“I can’t stress enough that we try to keep the rural character while meeting the needs of the future,” Ouellette said. “We need to bring in some infrastructure. We need to bring in broadband, etc. We can’t live now without the internet … you can get handcuffed a lot because people don’t want to see change.”

He’s aware of the heightened impact climate change has on his district because it’s situated on the water. Ouellette said one of his many concerns about climate change — a top five issue for him, after immediate taxpayer concerns like safety and education — is the fact that East Beach Road in Westport frequently floods in storms.  

Ouellette said he is excited to be assigned to the Legislature’s Committee on Agriculture, because Schmid was, too. He said he will fight for the farmers in his district, which includes Westport and Acushnet.

One of Ouellette’s chief concerns about agriculture is how difficult it is to get workers. He said there are so many migrant workers on farms, because “nobody wants their kid to go cut fish in a fish house, or go pick potatoes all day.”

Last session, Rep. Christopher Hendricks, D-New Bedford, filed legislation to end child labor in New Bedford seafood plants, where young migrants were working. Ouellette said migrant workers should have a clear path to green cards and that he looks forward to working with the agricultural commission on staffing issues.

Ouellette said he will bring his experience as a reserve police officer and a selectman to the Legislature’s Committee on Emergency Preparedness and Management. And for the House Committees on Intergovernmental Affairs and Post Audit Oversight, which he knows less about, he’s ready to see how things go.

For his last committee assignment, the Legislature’s Committee on Advanced Information Technology, the Internet and Cybersecurity, Ouellette said that as he’s not a “computer geek,” he’ll contribute a “regular Joe’s” perspective.

“I don’t think the Speaker puts everybody on it that’s qualified for some of these,” Ouellette said. “I think they wanted an average person’s input on that one.”

Ouellette says he’s raring to get to work, hoping for efficiency and transparency. Regardless of his committee assignments, he said he wants to bring down the cost of living and limit credit card interest rates.

Securing state funding is also important to Ouellette, and he’s excited about an increase in rural transportation funding through a pending bond bill.

In his first two months, Ouellette introduced two bills: one related to local council membership, and one protecting Massachusetts farms.

“I’m going to be attending a bunch of committee hearings. I hope to have input on that,” Ouellette said. “I can go every direction trying to help people in this state. I’m trying to stay focused.”

All the rookie legislators are sharing a workspace while they await their office assignments, which come after committees. Ouellette said it’s a great group with a lot of energy.

“It’s not just go up [to the Statehouse], sit around. We’ve got stuff every day,” Ouellette said. “It can be long days, but I like it. It can be worthwhile, that’s for sure.”

Abigail Pritchard is a graduate student in journalism at Boston University, covering state government for The Light as part of the Boston University Statehouse Program.