December 2, 2025 • 38 mins
LaMar Cook, the former deputy director of Gov. Healey's western Massachusetts office was charged with cocaine trafficking and firearms charges in late October, after authorities seized 18 pounds of cocaine addressed to his Springfield office. Lawmakers and gubernatorial candidates alike, including gubernatorial candidate Mike Kennealy, have been calling for answers regarding LaMar’s hiring process. Mike Kennealy joined us to discuss.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on WBS Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Dan Watkins, A little update for you is now Red
Wings five. Yeah, I know that's okay. Well, you know
we keep we keep our sports fans up the date
here at night love that.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Let me tell you a little sniper there for the
for the Red Wings, all right, not trying to give
you a hard time, just back, got your back all
the time.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Don't appreciate it, Dan, talk soon here, you bet you?
All right? There is a story that is hanging around.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
That uh, the admitted the uh, the healthy administration would
prefer to see go away.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Uh. And you have.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Republican gubernatural candidates, so one of them is with us tonight.
Mike Kaneely, Mike, welcome to Nightside.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
How are you sure?
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Hey, Dan, I'm great, Thank you so much. Great to
be with you.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Sounds like you're at a rally there of some stores, but.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
There's not too much back. I just wrapped up an
event down here, all right.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Great well.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Samantha Gross of the Boston Globe wrote a really interesting
piece on November eighteenth, entitled Healey's administration denies releasing records
tied to former AID accused of trafficking cocaine. So the
allegations against Lamar D. Cook are that he was the
(01:25):
intended recipient for about eight kilograms of cocaine, little more
than most people might use on the weekend, which you say,
some seventeen pounds or at least seventeen pounds, and it
was delivered to what is called colloquially in out in
(01:47):
western Massachusetts as Hotel U mass where a Cook served
as the director for nearly seven years and was a
top aid to Governor Heally. And for some reason, the
Globe basically has decided not to provide much information right
(02:13):
about this. Tell us what the information is that you
would like to see, And if you were governor I
you say that you would, you'd comply with the UH
with the pledge of transparency that Governor Healey herself made.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Right, that's right three years ago. Well, again, there's a
number of really important points there. First of all, Governor
Heally promised us the most transparent governor's office in history,
and we're a long way from that one. And so
it's a it's a it's a feature of state law
that the governor's office, if not subject to the public
records laws, and she's taken full advantage of that. She
(02:51):
said in contrast that on day one her office would
be subject with the public records laws. That hasn't happened,
you know. Secondly, I think it was pointed out in
the Global article that that if you're getting a shipment
of eight kilograms, it's not your first shipment. In other words,
this is a this is a fairly sophisticated uh drug
traffick in operation being run out there. But related to that,
(03:13):
where was being run out of? I think the Global
report that it was out of a government office. It
was out of the government, it was out of the
governor's office. And so this person that was involved is
the number two person in the governor's Western Mass Office. Now,
I served eight years in the Baker administration. We had
an office in Springfield. Governor Healey has an office in
Springfield that is an extension of the governor's office, and
(03:35):
so we have and by the way, Governor Healey recently
said this is a herb its or a low level employee.
That is not the case. If you're the number two
person in the Governor's Western Mass Office, you're not a
low level employee. So this is a senior member of
her team trafficking cocaine out of the Governor's office. And
so I think it's a shameful set of facts, and
(03:56):
we deserve to know as much about this is. We
need to know a lot more about it. I mean,
how did this happen?
Speaker 2 (04:03):
By the way, in the Globe article, just to reinforce
that what you said, the Globe article rights that Cook
forty five was initially detained outside what locals call the
quote Little Statehouse on October twenty fifth, after authorities said
they seized about eight kilograms more than seventeen pounds of
(04:24):
cocaine that was slightly to be delivered to the office
over that weekend.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
That's right, Dan, that is no different than the governor's
office on Began Hill. It's just an extension of that office.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
And also the fellow who finds himself in the midst
of this, and again he enjoys the presumption of innocence.
He pleaded guilty and the judge has granted him bail.
Nonviolent crime, but a pretty serious allegation on the list.
Apparently they the governor has chosen not to release information
about Cook. State mandated background check and a two thousand
(05:00):
and one gun arrest came up during the vetting process.
Cook and two other men were arrested in his shooting
in Springfield, but the outcome of the case is unclear.
A court officials told The Globe the records have since
been sealed.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Dan there's no excuse for sealing those records, and it's
obvious there's only two possible outcomes here. One is that
they did a background check and that arrest was on
the background check and they chose to hire the person anyway.
Or the second possible outcome is they ran the background
check and it failed to catch the gun charge, in
which case you got a question your background check process,
(05:37):
which is why I called for a full investigation of
what happened here. And Governor Healely has said, Okay, we've
terminated the employee and the law enforcement process will on
its course and we're not going to comment any further.
I think that's nonsense. That she is the CEO of
the executive branch of state government. This is a massive
personnel failure, and so what she ought to do is
(05:58):
do a full investigation of what happened. And the question
I got all the time of the campaign traills, how
did this happen and the answers I don't know. No
one knows so well. I said specifically, what should happen
the be They should do an investigation and release the
findings in detail. Who recommended this person for the job,
who we interview them, how do they get chosen out
of an applicant pool, who managed them, what were their responsibilities?
(06:21):
Who was on their team that might ever should have
known about this. That would be something any CEO would
want to understand and then get the facts and report
it back to the public because we deserve answers.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
And by the way, just for you know, to keep
the record full here and the reason that I'm particularly
interested in this case, and when I saw your comments yesterday,
I decided to call you. Justin Silverman is the executive
director of what's called the New England First Amendment Coalition,
and he is quoted in the Global article is saying
(06:52):
the lack of transparency around Cook's hiring hurts public trust.
A little bit of an understatement there, but it's good
that he made it. He added, quote the danger of
not releasing information and being secretive unquote is that the
public is left quote with their own suspicions about what
happened unquote, which may or may not be true.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
We are all left in the dark with a.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Lot of questions that frankly cast a shadow on the
Governor's office and the way it is operating.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Again, all that's really well said, that's exactly the case. Yeah,
and I will say what I was gonna say. But
by the way, shortly before this happened, I think Governor
Healy lost her sixth cabinet secretary out of eleven yes,
And so we looked at that and said, okay, it
seems to me there is management and leadership dysfunction from
top to bottom. There's a big turnover at the very
(07:46):
senior ranks. Any have this, this example happening, it's still
senior ranks. I'll be a little bit less senior. It
just it just feels like it's not a well done machine,
to say the least, and the one of the most
importantly the leader needs to do is build a strong
team around them, and this governor has not done that.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
By the way, that sixth cabinet member was a Secretary
of Transportation, Monica Tibbet's nut, who I think resigned more important,
mostly because of how messed up the mass Turnpike Plaza deals. Right, yeah,
I mean that is a conundrum that is defines the
(08:26):
word conundrum. Bodily knows what happened there. Mike Kennely, let's
take a break. We're going to take a quick break here.
We have full lines. We'll get to listeners and see
what questions they might have or what comments they might
want to make. We called the governor's office, or I
should say my producer, Marita aka Lady Lightning, called the
(08:49):
governor's office today and left a message, and we have
not heard that the governor is welcome any night at
her choosing to come on and talk about this case
and answer questions not only from myself but from nightside listeners,
which is what Mike Kaneely is about to do on
the other side of the break. The numbers are six one, seven, two, four,
(09:10):
ten thirty Write that down or six one, seven, nine
three one. Those lines are full, but we'll get back
to you. We'll get back and we'll go right to
phone calls back with Mike Kaneely and talking about this
high profile arrest. This is not a guy you know
who was arrested for a small amount I mean eight
(09:31):
kilos of cocaine.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
I mean, that's not a small aout.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
That that's a lot of Peruvian marching powder.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Let me tell you. We'll be right back on Night Side.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Mike Knely, I'm ready to go to the phone calls,
and I think we've got a lot of listeners who
want to talk to you as well.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
So let's do it.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Let's let's strike up the band as we say. Let
me go first off to Lisa in Bill Ricca. Lisa,
appreciate you calling you and your own with Mike. Kanneely's
a candidate for governor and he feels that this administration
is not nearly as transparent as they promised to be.
Speaker 4 (10:10):
All right, so I have Mike.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Now you down there because you're going to be confused
with the radio one of the background.
Speaker 5 (10:17):
Lisa, go ahead, Okay, all right.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
So my question is for Mike that it's I guess
there would be considered a public safety question. How would
your administration cooperate with ICE to deport criminal illegal immigrants.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
I appreciate the question, but the first part of the
answers of my administration would cooperate with ICE. You need to, Okay,
there was a Supreme Court there was a Supreme Court
decision here eight years ago called the One Decision which
said that we need a new law for local state
and county law enforcement to cooperate with ICE. And I
would seek the passage of that law and have local
state and county law enforcement work with ICE to get
(10:53):
criminals out of our streets, opera streets, out of our state. Period.
It has to happen.
Speaker 4 (10:59):
Yes, definitely agree on that.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Okay, Lisa, have you got another question to go ahead?
If not, I'll let you go. Thank you very much
for calling.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
Nope, that's the only question I have. Thank you very much,
Mike for taking my question.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
Is that Is that your most important issue? Lisa? Obviously? Okay, great,
thank you, if you appreciate again.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Could I add on a little bit. It's a really
it's a really important issue, and it's one that really
calls over for just a common sense solution or I
think if you talk to most people around Massachusetts, they
don't want to see criminals in our midst and on
our streets and in our state. And there's a pathway
to work with ICE to get the criminals out of
our state.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
And how would you do that? How would you do that?
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Well, I mean, we've we've got to get this, We've
got to get a law pass that allows local and
state law enforcement to work with ICE. But it requires
the governor to champion that law, I think. And and
instead you have the governor and some mayors saying they
don't want to work with ICE. Well, guess what they're
getting an outcome they don't want, which is a less
targeted approach to getting criminals out of our state. And
(12:03):
so I think what people want is a more targeted approach,
and we can have that if we have a common
sense reform. But it requires people, frankly, to get out
of their ideological box, like as I'm the governor and
the mayor of Boston and actually commit to a common
sense reform and get it done. That would make us
all safer. And I wish they would do that. I
would certainly champion that when I'm governor.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Yeah, tell you.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
I think the Trump administration has made a mistake in
that as they go into different communities, you focus on
the bad guys and let us know who.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Have been arrested and who have been deported.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
And I think when you have one mistake, or you
grab a high school kid, or you grab the sister
in law of your press secretary in Washington and somehow, Yeah,
it's like you there's always going to be obviously you
got to do it legally, but you got.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
To do it a swant do it, swant you do.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
This is a really important point. I'd point people to
an article in the Globe of maybe a couple of
months ago, and they quote of the Director of Ice
saying that basically saying people don't like when we go
into the community and start grabbing people. And he said,
we'd prefer not to do business that way. We'd rather
have a targeted approach, but that requires local and state cooperation.
(13:26):
And so But to hear the Director of Ice say
what they want as a targeted approach, but the need cooperation,
I think that's all we need to hear to say, Look,
there's an outcome here that ought to satisfy everybody, and
let's be pragmatic about it and get it done.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
Absolutely absolutely, let's keep Roland here. Going to go to
Elizabeth in Dorchester. Elizabeth, you were next on nice side
with Republican candidate for governor, Mike kneely talking about the
lack of transparency from his perspective of the healthy administration.
Speaker 5 (13:52):
Time, Mike, this is Elizabeth.
Speaker 6 (13:53):
I have a question for you.
Speaker 5 (13:55):
With Massachusetts being mainly Democratic, how do you plan to
win over books is across the state.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Well, I appreciate the question was, but you do it
partially by what I'm doing now, which is traveling all
over the state. I think next week we'll have my
one hundred public events since I announce my campaign for
governor back in April. So it requires getting out there
and listening and learning and talking with the people about
their issues, their needs, and their opportunities. And I'm convinced
that we are a strong majority of pragmatic and common
(14:26):
sense state and the issues I'm running on and are
on greater affordability, better economic opportunity, better schools, I'm more
accountable government. I think people across the political structum want
those things. And that's how I'm going to run my campaign,
how I believe I'm going to win, and certainly how
I'm going to govern government based on pragmatism and listening
to the people. That's what has to get done. And
it gets back to this is your transparency too. You
(14:47):
can't build support for your policies unless you're open and
honest with the people. And I can't believe the lack
of transparency coming out of the healthy administration and out
of the legislature. And so if you want people to support,
you have to listen to them and treat them like
adults and be open and honest and transparent. And whether
it's this incident in Springfield or lots of other things
(15:07):
that happen over the course of time, we're not getting
the respect we deserve from our leaders on Peaking Hill,
and therefore it makes it hard for them to get
things done. And that I would govern in a very
very different manner.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
Thank you, Elizabeth, good questions.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Appreciate it, Thank you, Thank you. Let me keep going
to go to Mark down in the self true and Braintree.
Mark you next with Mike Grettahead.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
I'm gonna tell those guys quiet down in the background,
sorry about that.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Yeah yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
If they're watching the Bruins, the Bruins will lose it
five to two, so they copy watching.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
I don't go to market. Feel free, Mark speak right up.
Speaker 6 (15:51):
Gretta had sir, awesome, Thank you so much. Quick question,
was you know, given that the people of Massachusetts voted
for an of the legislature, I'm curious, can you believe
that they need to be audited.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
I believe they do. Look, I believe it in the
sense that I've voted for that, and I'm a top
I was a top donor to the campaign for the
Bawet question, So individually, I believe it. But more importantly,
seventy two percent of the people voted for it. And
if seventy two percent of the people voted for something,
it has to happen. And that's that's that's the way
(16:28):
the game is played to those are the rules. And
again it gets doten the types of the sort of
transparency and accountability. What is the message to the people
of the state when you've got a governor not providing,
not providing answers on key questions, and you've got a
legislature define the will of the people, that in the
aggregate is a very negative picture and a very negative
(16:49):
posture towards the people on behalf of the leaders on
Beacon Hill. So that audit has to happen. And I
think it's remarkable that the legislative leadership is basically saying
we don't care what the people say. The attorney general,
who could and should be suing the legislature to make
it happen, refuses to do that, and the governor has
stayed silent on it. And so again, I think the
(17:11):
issue started the discussion with around Springfield and this issue
as well. It speaks to a lack of respect for
the people on behalf of our state government leaders, and
that will change when I'm governor.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
By the way, Mark, I just want to put in perspective.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
I believe that the most lopsided presidential election in the
last I don't know fifty years was when Ronald Reagan
beat Walter Mondale. He won forty nine of the fifty states, Mondale, Caerry, Minnesota,
his home state, and the district of Columbia. Reagan had
(17:45):
fifty nine percent of the vote in what was considered
a presidential landslide.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
He was just.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Elected with a little over fifty percent of the vote,
which he calls a mandate. This was seventy two percent
that the legislature effect if if Reigan's was a landslide
and Trump's was a mandate, what do you call seventy
two percent? I mean it's unbelievable that that you have
(18:15):
an attorney general who is trying to stop it, you
have a governor who's been silent. The only person fighting
up there, God bless her is the state auditor, a Democrat,
Diana Desauglio. But someone who's who's actually representing the people.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
I'll give you a quick funny and to the auditor,
it has another ballot question around subject subjecting the governor's
office and the legislatures of the public records laws we
just talked about. And she held a rally last month
on the steps of the state House to talk about this.
And there are a number of legislators in attendance at
the rally. I guess which party they all belong to.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
I only have one guess, right, So I think it
began with a letter R if I'm.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Not I was there as well. I joke it was
a Republican caucus meeting. It's like, come on vote. This
is basic transparency and basic respect for the voters.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
What you're talking about tonight, Hey, Mark and Braintree, great questions,
Thank you, sir, appreciate your call. We have to take
a news break at the bottom of the hour. And
by the way, I'm just following that race in Tennessee
which has uh has has drawn a lot of attention,
and it's a congressional race and it's uh, it's.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
It's it's a close race.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
The Republican is up with about eighty three percent of
the votes counted. He's up by about six thousand votes
over a very radical Democrat. How she can run in
the state of Tennessee is beyond me. But that shows
the Republicans better get their message back together here, Mike,
because for this guy, uh, you know, in Mark Green's
district in Tennessee to be winning, but winning, you know,
(19:57):
not by a big margin. Trump carried the district by
twenty two points. This guy is up at this point
by about four points.
Speaker 7 (20:06):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Yeah, that's a little bit of a Canaryann coal mine.
If you get my drift, Republicans better start messaging a
little bit. Better take a break. Here's the news at
the bottom of the hour, back with my guest Mike Kaneely,
Republican candidate for governor, and we have full phone lines,
which is always great. Great to see there's enthusiasm. Mirror
coming back on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
We're talking with Mike Kanely. He's a Republican candidate for governor.
I'm talking about what he perceives as a lack of
transparency in the corner office. We did invite the governor
to join us, and she's welcome here any night of
her choosing at this nine o'clock hour to talk about
(20:53):
this case or to talk about transparency in general. Let's
keep rolling. You're going to go to Caroline or Carolyn.
I'm not Caroline, I guess in Holden, Hey, Caroline, how
are you hi?
Speaker 6 (21:04):
Hi?
Speaker 8 (21:04):
Yes, it's Caroline.
Speaker 6 (21:05):
Hi, Mike.
Speaker 8 (21:06):
I wasn't clothing And something very distressing. The governor has
defunded our high school because of the MBTA Communities Act,
and I was just wondering how you and your administration
would stop the weaponization of the MBTA Communities Act.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Well, I would stop at day one. It's not appropriate.
It reflects a lack of respect for local control. It's
not how you get things done here in Massachusetts. And
the idea that she's going to try to defund schools
to force a housing policy in a town that the
town may not want is just entirely inappropriate in any
political context, particularly in Massachusetts where local control really matters.
(21:48):
It's been state lawyer here for over one hundred years
that easier of our three and fifty one cities and
towns get to call their own shots on these things.
And while there is this law out there, you don't
have to reponize it. You have to work collaborative cities
in towns.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Mike, Mike, let me ask you a question.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
That law many people don't realize was passed by the
Baker administration. Were you involved in that? Were you aware
that was going on at the time. Well, well, Charlie
Baker was governor.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
I wouldn't say it was passed by the Baker administration,
Dan was. It was passed by the legislature during the
Banker administry.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
And signed in a low and signed into a lot
by the who Who who actually came up with the idea?
Speaker 3 (22:27):
Who? I mean? I don't assume that.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
That's a really good question. Yeah, entirely the creation of
the legislature. They developed it, they wrote it, they passed
it all completely on their own, no involvement from the
Baker administration. We played no role in crafting it, no
role and advocating for it never And they passed it
one hundred and eighty three to four, and when when
it landed with us, we said, okay, well, you know
(22:52):
we don't like mandates. Let's make this as flexible as
possible for our cities in towns. And that's what we did.
And then we left office and Governor Heally came into office,
as did Attorney General Campbell, and they weaponized this. And
this example about the grants of schools is a really
important example. Governor Heally on our own added to this
list of grants. The towns wouldn't get added this, this
(23:14):
school program to it. It's not how to get things
done around here. And so they took what was a
flexible tool for cities and towns that we left them
with and they weaponized it. But it's important. But your
continued questions and important one. This is entirely the creation
of the legislature.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Yeah, obviously Baker, a veto by Baker would have been
not certainly over overridden at four.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
Sounds a little authoritarian to me, Mike, I don't know.
It probably does to Carolina as well.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
I think we have a run I think we have
a running free here Dan around transparentcy, accountability, respect, for
the will of the voters, mandates, lawsuits, threats. This is
not the kind of accountable trends, parent, effective government we
need that respects us And we've touched on a number
of themes here. They all kind of tie together in
my view.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
Yeah, Caroline, thank you for bringing it up.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
And I did a number of shows with communities Shrewsbury.
There were Milton Winthrop communities that stood with holding and
I hope you stay. I hope you hang tough because
I'm a believer in, you know, local zoning ordinances and
communities being able to maintain their characters. So you please
(24:36):
continue to listen to Nightside and we will, we will.
We will stay on this as time goes on. And
I'll do something on Holden if you want, If you
want to take my direct number from Rob, we could
set something up with whoever is the leader of the
group in Holden and bring them in and talk about
it if you'd like.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
I'm also a big believer in I'm also a big
believer in educating our kids, I mean making the kids.
I mean, come on, it's just like we're going to
make the kids suffer for the sake of housing policy.
Give me a break. That's not appropriate, Carolin.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Feel free.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Rob will give you my direct line and you can
call me if you like, no obligation, but if you
like some help, you let me know. Okay, thank you
so much. Thank you. Don't hang up, Robil take your call.
Let me talk to Daniel in Boston. Daniel, you were
next on Nightside. Great first name, Daniel. Go right ahead,
you're on with Mike Kenning.
Speaker 5 (25:25):
I appreciate that. Good evening, gentlemen. I had a question
here and it's kind of been frustrating for me because
I'm a going owner myself, and honestly, Chapter thirty five
has been a nightmare for me, and also I think
for the City of Massachusetts in general, because it just
(25:46):
creates a lot of confusion. So I just wanted to
get your position on the Second Amendment here and on
Chapter thirty I want.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
I appreciate the question. I've been clear about this from
the earliest days of my campaign. I am for the
Second Amendment and I am for the repeal of Chapter
one thirty five. And I've been on record, and that
said from the beginning we already have I'm on the
strictness is on the strictest gun laws in the country
of Massachusetts. And so I don't like the law Chapter
one thirty five. I really don't like the way it
(26:17):
was implemented. And I'm going to come back to our
theme where we started the discussion with around respect for
the voters and government accountability. The law was passed and
a bunch of folks gathered signatures to put it on
the ballot, and Governor Heally sort of preempted that process
and declared something called an emergency preamble, and which made
the law effective at that moment. And now, Dan, I've
(26:39):
been studying following government and politics for a long time.
I never heard the term emergency preamble until this one.
But it was a way again to circumvent the will
of the voters and get what she wanted, which again
is not how those games should be played. So I'm
for the second Amendment. I'm for the repeal of one
thirty five, and I hope that happens this year here
(27:00):
on the ballot.
Speaker 5 (27:02):
Hope that answers your.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
Question, Hope that helps you question. Daniel, appreciate your call,
Thank you very much, Thank you every good night. Let's
keep rolling here. The only line that is now still
we have one line that's finally opened up. Six six
one six, one, seven, nine one, ten thirty. Let me
get one more in here before the break. Justin is
(27:24):
in Waltham. Hey, Justin, welcome next on Nightside.
Speaker 9 (27:28):
Hey, thank you for taking my call. So we've all
heard the soundbits of Mara Helly bragging about shutting down
two gas pipelines, and then now she's on the record
saying that none of that ever happened. What's your take
on this backpedaling? My take again is that she's not
(27:48):
respecting the people and not respecting the voters. This is
on video three years ago where she said, remember I
shut down two natural gas pipelines, and then recently she
said she's always been a favor of more supply and
never tried to block more energy supply coming into the state.
(28:09):
And again, you have to treat the voters like adults.
And it's obvious she said that three years ago, and
you can't discloss over it. And so again back to
our theme about accountability and transparency. This is another great example.
She made a statement three years ago which clearly conflicts.
Is what you say now, just explain the conflict, but
(28:30):
to just gloss over it and ask us to pretend
what she said three years ago never happened. I think
it reflects a fundamental lack of respect for the voters,
and that is again, it is not how one should
conduct one's self in public life. You should listen to
the voters, You should treat them with respect, and please
just just treat us like adults. If there's a logical.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
Explanation why she said something three years ago, she doesn't believe, now,
just come out and explain it to us. But I
believe what she meant three years ago, and she obviously
took pride in it reflects a fundamentally poor energy policy.
In fact, I don't think she has an energy policy.
I think she has a climate agenda which is driving
up the cost of our energy. And so it reflects
(29:11):
bad policy and reflects a lack of accountability and lack
of respect for the voters who clearly know what she
said three years ago, and she ought a disaccount for that.
Speaker 3 (29:20):
Great question.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Justin appreciate you calling, thank you, have a great night.
We'll take a quick drink of trying to get everybody
in Connor, uh, Gianna, Elaine and Steve. I'm gonna try
my darness to get you all in. So we'll be
right back on Nightside after a very quick break here
with our final segment coming up with Republican candidate for
governor Mike Kneely. You're on Night Side with Dan Ray
(29:44):
on you Boston's News Radio. All right, back to full lines.
We're gonna try to get everybody and it's going to
take a while. Let's go to Connor and Wakefield. Connor
next on Nice Side with Mike Kennely, Republican candidate for governor.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
Hi.
Speaker 7 (29:58):
Dan, I Mike, Hope you guys are doing well.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Hi, I'm seeing great.
Speaker 7 (30:01):
My question for you, Mike is that I know you've
got a background in education reform, and I've noticed that
over the past few years in Massachusetts there's been a
downtrend in student scores really across the board. So I'm
wondering what some of your ideas could be to really
reverse that into the more positive direction.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
I appreciate the question. It's a really really important question,
and again, I think it does reflect something about our
government today. Whether they're happy to talk about the fact
that Massachusetts is number one in public education, which is
still technically true on the national assessment, but what our
leaders in Beacon Hill don't want to own up to
is the fact that our kids' scores, our kids' mass
scores have declined since twenty thirteen, their reading scores of
(30:47):
the client since twenty eleven, and so we're in a
downward trajectory here in education in our state. And only
forty percent of our kids on average can read or
do math at grade level across the entire state, despite
spending of dollars year in education. And we're not number one,
we're number sixth in fourth grade reading them on the
fifty states, behind Mississippi. So we get real work to
(31:08):
do an education, And this I think speaks to a
complacency on the part of our leaders on Beacon Will
want to talk about the fact that we're still nominally
number one. One of those warning signs all over the place. Now,
my first job in public service was up in Lawrence
on the turnaround of the public school district, and we
did things like cut the size of the biocracy by
forty percent to put the dollars in the classroom. I
(31:31):
introduced a whole set of innovative, new kind of data
driven instruction programs to the kids. Really brought the parents
and teachers and community members together. We brought more enrichment programs,
arts and sports back into the curriculum. We lengthened the
school day. We gave our kids more time to learn.
We turned over about half the school principles. We did
(31:51):
a lot of things, and you got to have you
got to approach the problem with that kind of urgency
and innovation and fiscal responsibility. That's what it demands. We've
got now a very complacent approach. And for the last
dozen years, I'd argue public education in Massachusetts has been
lower standards, less accountability, less innovation, less choice. But we're
(32:12):
spending a lot more for it, and so we got
to look at how those dollars are being spent. We
got we got to put the kids first and all
this and just approach you with a whole different sense
of urgency and innovation. And that's what I want to
do as governor.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
All right, Colin, appreciate it. I got four other calls.
We're going to try to get in here. Thank you
so much, great, appreciate it. You have a great name.
Let me go to Gianna Gianna in Winthrop. Hi, Gianna,
You're next on Nice that with Mike Kenneally, Go ahead.
Speaker 10 (32:38):
Gianna, mister Kennely, I really appreciate you touching the fact
on the three A and went. We just voted out
basically one third of our town council because here in
winth rear very anti three A. However, my question in
regard to our everizing energy dells. I heard you speak
about more heally, not being transparent and ragging as we
(33:00):
all know very famously about killing two pipelines. But what
is your plan to bring down our bills because they
truly are out of control.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
It's a great question. I answered that a couple of ways. First,
I've been saying for a long time now that in
any market, the laws applying demand is undefeated. If you
want lower price, you need more supply. And so when
you do with the governor did years ago, which is
shut off supply, that guarantees are going to have rising price.
So I would try to get those pipelines built. I
would try to bring in more of all types of
(33:32):
energy into our state. That'd be one thing. The second
is we have to get these charges off our bill
that are meant to facilitate a so called energy transition.
I call them the green gimmicks. These charges pile up
on our bill, solar panel charges and things like that.
They're they're basically running an energy climate agenda through your
utility bill, and that's not appropriate. So we've got high
(33:54):
energy costs to begin with, and a lot of policy
driven charges on top of that. Now I called some
weeks to go for full evaluation all of our all
of our green energy, all of our climate spending, and
what are we getting for those programs? But I think
we have now. I think we're the third highest and
energy costs among the fifty states, and it's hurting our consumers,
(34:14):
it's hurting our small businesses. But we need a much
different approach, which is a much more supply oriented approach
and getting these charges off our bills. That's the cause
of our high energy costs, and it really is making
our economy less competitive and it's making it very hard
for people are afford to live here. We need a
much more pragmatic approach.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
Do you want to say that to my friend? This
is Dan Ray Jeff Turco, who does a great job
representing you folks in Winthrop.
Speaker 10 (34:40):
He is great, certainly, well, thank.
Speaker 3 (34:45):
You, thanks, thank you soon, thank you. Let's try to
get at least one more in maybe maybe a couple.
We'll see if we what we can do here. Let
me go to Elaine in Norfolk.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
Elaine, you were next on Nightside with Mike Kanely, Republican candidate.
Speaker 3 (34:57):
For governor.
Speaker 11 (35:00):
And him my thanks for taking my call. Listen, I'm
concerned with people with developmental disabilities. Are you familiar with
the Rensom Developmental Center and the Hogan Regional Center by chance.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
I'm actually not not, but I tell me more about it.
Speaker 11 (35:20):
Well, there were six facilities like that in the state
of Massachusetts. Four of them have been shut down and
sold off. There are two remaining. One is in rent Them,
which is the next town over from Norfolk, and the
other one is in Hogan.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
Is in.
Speaker 11 (35:44):
I can't think of it, off to shop my head anyway.
Rentum has got four hundred acres of land right now.
People I'm fortunately, the average age is about seventy three.
People are dying off by attrition, and I'm afraid that
eventually that facility is going to be closed and sold off. Myself,
(36:04):
lots of families along with me. I have a lot
of groups that are with us as well.
Speaker 2 (36:10):
Elane, you got it. I'm running out of time, Elaine.
I know this is a complicated question, but get to it.
Please go go ahead.
Speaker 11 (36:16):
I just want to know you were Can you do
anything with the Department of the d DS, Department of
Social Services, Department of Developmental Delays and just try to
keep those properties open for people with disabilities, keep them
held in perpetuity for people to set I have.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
A quick answer, Mike, unfortunately. Please thank you very much
for the question, Elaine. Go ahead, Mike, give her an
I answer, Elaine.
Speaker 1 (36:46):
We we'll look into it. I always try to be
honest about an issue I don't know much about. That's
one on them both. Let us take a look at that.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
One can make a suggestion, Elaine, if you don't mind,
let me make a suggestion to you, Mike. Why don't
we leave Elaine's number with Rob and give you her
number and someone from your staff can call her and
get more of this information. Fair enough, I would like
to thank you. Don't hang up, Rob. I'm going to
(37:13):
try to get one more in. Let's see what I
can do real quickly. Uh, Steve and Franklin. Steve, I'm
going to give you a minute, and that's it. What
do you what would you like to say to Mike Kneely, Dan.
Speaker 12 (37:23):
Thanks for taking my call. Uh. I went to that
cracker barrel fire in Wrentham and they had the Midway
Millise band play. There was even a photographer there, and
they raised so much money for the Wrentham State School
and they had the circus there.
Speaker 3 (37:42):
Okay, what what? What? How does this relate to my maybe.
Speaker 12 (37:45):
Theytion best buddies?
Speaker 3 (37:47):
Okay, how does this relate to my guest.
Speaker 12 (37:49):
Steve Oh advocate more for handicapped people?
Speaker 3 (37:54):
Okay, go ahead, you want to comment, Thank you, Steve.
Speaker 1 (37:59):
Go ahead, Mike No, I certainly want to do that.
I think a big part of the role of governors
to make sure all of our people, all of our communities,
reach their full potential. So I will certainly be committed
to that absolutely.
Speaker 3 (38:09):
All right, Mike your website.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
If folks would like what they've heard tonight, would like
to get in touch with you, how did they.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
Get appreciate the question? Go to Mike Kinneely dot com.
It's two ends and one olt got a lot of
information about myself and my track record, my experience and
my view of the issues, which has now been informed
by a lot of travel around the state, a lot
of conversations, so please please take a look, please get involved.
Love to every help.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
CONNELI, thank you, thank you very much again, Governor Healey,
you have an open invitation any night we can talk
about these subjects as well as others.
Speaker 3 (38:41):
Mike Connely, thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (38:44):
Thank you so much. Dan.
Speaker 3 (38:44):
Great to be with you and welcome to the calls
of the line.
Speaker 2 (38:46):
Priscilla, I'm sorry called late. We'll get you in next time,
I promise. Okay, back on night side, right after the
news at the top of the hour.
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on WBS Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Dan Watkins, A little update for you is now Red
Wings five. Yeah, I know that's okay. Well, you know
we keep we keep our sports fans up the date
here at night love that.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Let me tell you a little sniper there for the
for the Red Wings, all right, not trying to give
you a hard time, just back, got your back all
the time.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Don't appreciate it, Dan, talk soon here, you bet you?
All right? There is a story that is hanging around.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
That uh, the admitted the uh, the healthy administration would
prefer to see go away.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Uh. And you have.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Republican gubernatural candidates, so one of them is with us tonight.
Mike Kaneely, Mike, welcome to Nightside.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
How are you sure?
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Hey, Dan, I'm great, Thank you so much. Great to
be with you.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Sounds like you're at a rally there of some stores, but.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
There's not too much back. I just wrapped up an
event down here, all right.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Great well.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Samantha Gross of the Boston Globe wrote a really interesting
piece on November eighteenth, entitled Healey's administration denies releasing records
tied to former AID accused of trafficking cocaine. So the
allegations against Lamar D. Cook are that he was the
(01:25):
intended recipient for about eight kilograms of cocaine, little more
than most people might use on the weekend, which you say,
some seventeen pounds or at least seventeen pounds, and it
was delivered to what is called colloquially in out in
(01:47):
western Massachusetts as Hotel U mass where a Cook served
as the director for nearly seven years and was a
top aid to Governor Heally. And for some reason, the
Globe basically has decided not to provide much information right
(02:13):
about this. Tell us what the information is that you
would like to see, And if you were governor I
you say that you would, you'd comply with the UH
with the pledge of transparency that Governor Healey herself made.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Right, that's right three years ago. Well, again, there's a
number of really important points there. First of all, Governor
Heally promised us the most transparent governor's office in history,
and we're a long way from that one. And so
it's a it's a it's a feature of state law
that the governor's office, if not subject to the public
records laws, and she's taken full advantage of that. She
(02:51):
said in contrast that on day one her office would
be subject with the public records laws. That hasn't happened,
you know. Secondly, I think it was pointed out in
the Global article that that if you're getting a shipment
of eight kilograms, it's not your first shipment. In other words,
this is a this is a fairly sophisticated uh drug
traffick in operation being run out there. But related to that,
(03:13):
where was being run out of? I think the Global
report that it was out of a government office. It
was out of the government, it was out of the
governor's office. And so this person that was involved is
the number two person in the governor's Western Mass Office. Now,
I served eight years in the Baker administration. We had
an office in Springfield. Governor Healey has an office in
Springfield that is an extension of the governor's office, and
(03:35):
so we have and by the way, Governor Healey recently
said this is a herb its or a low level employee.
That is not the case. If you're the number two
person in the Governor's Western Mass Office, you're not a
low level employee. So this is a senior member of
her team trafficking cocaine out of the Governor's office. And
so I think it's a shameful set of facts, and
(03:56):
we deserve to know as much about this is. We
need to know a lot more about it. I mean,
how did this happen?
Speaker 2 (04:03):
By the way, in the Globe article, just to reinforce
that what you said, the Globe article rights that Cook
forty five was initially detained outside what locals call the
quote Little Statehouse on October twenty fifth, after authorities said
they seized about eight kilograms more than seventeen pounds of
(04:24):
cocaine that was slightly to be delivered to the office
over that weekend.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
That's right, Dan, that is no different than the governor's
office on Began Hill. It's just an extension of that office.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
And also the fellow who finds himself in the midst
of this, and again he enjoys the presumption of innocence.
He pleaded guilty and the judge has granted him bail.
Nonviolent crime, but a pretty serious allegation on the list.
Apparently they the governor has chosen not to release information
about Cook. State mandated background check and a two thousand
(05:00):
and one gun arrest came up during the vetting process.
Cook and two other men were arrested in his shooting
in Springfield, but the outcome of the case is unclear.
A court officials told The Globe the records have since
been sealed.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Dan there's no excuse for sealing those records, and it's
obvious there's only two possible outcomes here. One is that
they did a background check and that arrest was on
the background check and they chose to hire the person anyway.
Or the second possible outcome is they ran the background
check and it failed to catch the gun charge, in
which case you got a question your background check process,
(05:37):
which is why I called for a full investigation of
what happened here. And Governor Healely has said, Okay, we've
terminated the employee and the law enforcement process will on
its course and we're not going to comment any further.
I think that's nonsense. That she is the CEO of
the executive branch of state government. This is a massive
personnel failure, and so what she ought to do is
(05:58):
do a full investigation of what happened. And the question
I got all the time of the campaign traills, how
did this happen and the answers I don't know. No
one knows so well. I said specifically, what should happen
the be They should do an investigation and release the
findings in detail. Who recommended this person for the job,
who we interview them, how do they get chosen out
of an applicant pool, who managed them, what were their responsibilities?
(06:21):
Who was on their team that might ever should have
known about this. That would be something any CEO would
want to understand and then get the facts and report
it back to the public because we deserve answers.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
And by the way, just for you know, to keep
the record full here and the reason that I'm particularly
interested in this case, and when I saw your comments yesterday,
I decided to call you. Justin Silverman is the executive
director of what's called the New England First Amendment Coalition,
and he is quoted in the Global article is saying
(06:52):
the lack of transparency around Cook's hiring hurts public trust.
A little bit of an understatement there, but it's good
that he made it. He added, quote the danger of
not releasing information and being secretive unquote is that the
public is left quote with their own suspicions about what
happened unquote, which may or may not be true.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
We are all left in the dark with a.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Lot of questions that frankly cast a shadow on the
Governor's office and the way it is operating.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Again, all that's really well said, that's exactly the case. Yeah,
and I will say what I was gonna say. But
by the way, shortly before this happened, I think Governor
Healy lost her sixth cabinet secretary out of eleven yes,
And so we looked at that and said, okay, it
seems to me there is management and leadership dysfunction from
top to bottom. There's a big turnover at the very
(07:46):
senior ranks. Any have this, this example happening, it's still
senior ranks. I'll be a little bit less senior. It
just it just feels like it's not a well done machine,
to say the least, and the one of the most
importantly the leader needs to do is build a strong
team around them, and this governor has not done that.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
By the way, that sixth cabinet member was a Secretary
of Transportation, Monica Tibbet's nut, who I think resigned more important,
mostly because of how messed up the mass Turnpike Plaza deals. Right, yeah,
I mean that is a conundrum that is defines the
(08:26):
word conundrum. Bodily knows what happened there. Mike Kennely, let's
take a break. We're going to take a quick break here.
We have full lines. We'll get to listeners and see
what questions they might have or what comments they might
want to make. We called the governor's office, or I
should say my producer, Marita aka Lady Lightning, called the
(08:49):
governor's office today and left a message, and we have
not heard that the governor is welcome any night at
her choosing to come on and talk about this case
and answer questions not only from myself but from nightside listeners,
which is what Mike Kaneely is about to do on
the other side of the break. The numbers are six one, seven, two, four,
(09:10):
ten thirty Write that down or six one, seven, nine
three one. Those lines are full, but we'll get back
to you. We'll get back and we'll go right to
phone calls back with Mike Kaneely and talking about this
high profile arrest. This is not a guy you know
who was arrested for a small amount I mean eight
(09:31):
kilos of cocaine.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
I mean, that's not a small aout.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
That that's a lot of Peruvian marching powder.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Let me tell you. We'll be right back on Night Side.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Mike Knely, I'm ready to go to the phone calls,
and I think we've got a lot of listeners who
want to talk to you as well.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
So let's do it.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Let's let's strike up the band as we say. Let
me go first off to Lisa in Bill Ricca. Lisa,
appreciate you calling you and your own with Mike. Kanneely's
a candidate for governor and he feels that this administration
is not nearly as transparent as they promised to be.
Speaker 4 (10:10):
All right, so I have Mike.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Now you down there because you're going to be confused
with the radio one of the background.
Speaker 5 (10:17):
Lisa, go ahead, Okay, all right.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
So my question is for Mike that it's I guess
there would be considered a public safety question. How would
your administration cooperate with ICE to deport criminal illegal immigrants.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
I appreciate the question, but the first part of the
answers of my administration would cooperate with ICE. You need to, Okay,
there was a Supreme Court there was a Supreme Court
decision here eight years ago called the One Decision which
said that we need a new law for local state
and county law enforcement to cooperate with ICE. And I
would seek the passage of that law and have local
state and county law enforcement work with ICE to get
(10:53):
criminals out of our streets, opera streets, out of our state. Period.
It has to happen.
Speaker 4 (10:59):
Yes, definitely agree on that.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Okay, Lisa, have you got another question to go ahead?
If not, I'll let you go. Thank you very much
for calling.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
Nope, that's the only question I have. Thank you very much,
Mike for taking my question.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
Is that Is that your most important issue? Lisa? Obviously? Okay, great,
thank you, if you appreciate again.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Could I add on a little bit. It's a really
it's a really important issue, and it's one that really
calls over for just a common sense solution or I
think if you talk to most people around Massachusetts, they
don't want to see criminals in our midst and on
our streets and in our state. And there's a pathway
to work with ICE to get the criminals out of
our state.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
And how would you do that? How would you do that?
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Well, I mean, we've we've got to get this, We've
got to get a law pass that allows local and
state law enforcement to work with ICE. But it requires
the governor to champion that law, I think. And and
instead you have the governor and some mayors saying they
don't want to work with ICE. Well, guess what they're
getting an outcome they don't want, which is a less
targeted approach to getting criminals out of our state. And
(12:03):
so I think what people want is a more targeted approach,
and we can have that if we have a common
sense reform. But it requires people, frankly, to get out
of their ideological box, like as I'm the governor and
the mayor of Boston and actually commit to a common
sense reform and get it done. That would make us
all safer. And I wish they would do that. I
would certainly champion that when I'm governor.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Yeah, tell you.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
I think the Trump administration has made a mistake in
that as they go into different communities, you focus on
the bad guys and let us know who.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Have been arrested and who have been deported.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
And I think when you have one mistake, or you
grab a high school kid, or you grab the sister
in law of your press secretary in Washington and somehow, Yeah,
it's like you there's always going to be obviously you
got to do it legally, but you got.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
To do it a swant do it, swant you do.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
This is a really important point. I'd point people to
an article in the Globe of maybe a couple of
months ago, and they quote of the Director of Ice
saying that basically saying people don't like when we go
into the community and start grabbing people. And he said,
we'd prefer not to do business that way. We'd rather
have a targeted approach, but that requires local and state cooperation.
(13:26):
And so But to hear the Director of Ice say
what they want as a targeted approach, but the need cooperation,
I think that's all we need to hear to say, Look,
there's an outcome here that ought to satisfy everybody, and
let's be pragmatic about it and get it done.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
Absolutely absolutely, let's keep Roland here. Going to go to
Elizabeth in Dorchester. Elizabeth, you were next on nice side
with Republican candidate for governor, Mike kneely talking about the
lack of transparency from his perspective of the healthy administration.
Speaker 5 (13:52):
Time, Mike, this is Elizabeth.
Speaker 6 (13:53):
I have a question for you.
Speaker 5 (13:55):
With Massachusetts being mainly Democratic, how do you plan to
win over books is across the state.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Well, I appreciate the question was, but you do it
partially by what I'm doing now, which is traveling all
over the state. I think next week we'll have my
one hundred public events since I announce my campaign for
governor back in April. So it requires getting out there
and listening and learning and talking with the people about
their issues, their needs, and their opportunities. And I'm convinced
that we are a strong majority of pragmatic and common
(14:26):
sense state and the issues I'm running on and are
on greater affordability, better economic opportunity, better schools, I'm more
accountable government. I think people across the political structum want
those things. And that's how I'm going to run my campaign,
how I believe I'm going to win, and certainly how
I'm going to govern government based on pragmatism and listening
to the people. That's what has to get done. And
it gets back to this is your transparency too. You
(14:47):
can't build support for your policies unless you're open and
honest with the people. And I can't believe the lack
of transparency coming out of the healthy administration and out
of the legislature. And so if you want people to support,
you have to listen to them and treat them like
adults and be open and honest and transparent. And whether
it's this incident in Springfield or lots of other things
(15:07):
that happen over the course of time, we're not getting
the respect we deserve from our leaders on Peaking Hill,
and therefore it makes it hard for them to get
things done. And that I would govern in a very
very different manner.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
Thank you, Elizabeth, good questions.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Appreciate it, Thank you, Thank you. Let me keep going
to go to Mark down in the self true and Braintree.
Mark you next with Mike Grettahead.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
I'm gonna tell those guys quiet down in the background,
sorry about that.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Yeah yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
If they're watching the Bruins, the Bruins will lose it
five to two, so they copy watching.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
I don't go to market. Feel free, Mark speak right up.
Speaker 6 (15:51):
Gretta had sir, awesome, Thank you so much. Quick question,
was you know, given that the people of Massachusetts voted
for an of the legislature, I'm curious, can you believe
that they need to be audited.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
I believe they do. Look, I believe it in the
sense that I've voted for that, and I'm a top
I was a top donor to the campaign for the
Bawet question, So individually, I believe it. But more importantly,
seventy two percent of the people voted for it. And
if seventy two percent of the people voted for something,
it has to happen. And that's that's that's the way
(16:28):
the game is played to those are the rules. And
again it gets doten the types of the sort of
transparency and accountability. What is the message to the people
of the state when you've got a governor not providing,
not providing answers on key questions, and you've got a
legislature define the will of the people, that in the
aggregate is a very negative picture and a very negative
(16:49):
posture towards the people on behalf of the leaders on
Beacon Hill. So that audit has to happen. And I
think it's remarkable that the legislative leadership is basically saying
we don't care what the people say. The attorney general,
who could and should be suing the legislature to make
it happen, refuses to do that, and the governor has
stayed silent on it. And so again, I think the
(17:11):
issue started the discussion with around Springfield and this issue
as well. It speaks to a lack of respect for
the people on behalf of our state government leaders, and
that will change when I'm governor.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
By the way, Mark, I just want to put in perspective.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
I believe that the most lopsided presidential election in the
last I don't know fifty years was when Ronald Reagan
beat Walter Mondale. He won forty nine of the fifty states, Mondale, Caerry, Minnesota,
his home state, and the district of Columbia. Reagan had
(17:45):
fifty nine percent of the vote in what was considered
a presidential landslide.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
He was just.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Elected with a little over fifty percent of the vote,
which he calls a mandate. This was seventy two percent
that the legislature effect if if Reigan's was a landslide
and Trump's was a mandate, what do you call seventy
two percent? I mean it's unbelievable that that you have
(18:15):
an attorney general who is trying to stop it, you
have a governor who's been silent. The only person fighting
up there, God bless her is the state auditor, a Democrat,
Diana Desauglio. But someone who's who's actually representing the people.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
I'll give you a quick funny and to the auditor,
it has another ballot question around subject subjecting the governor's
office and the legislatures of the public records laws we
just talked about. And she held a rally last month
on the steps of the state House to talk about this.
And there are a number of legislators in attendance at
the rally. I guess which party they all belong to.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
I only have one guess, right, So I think it
began with a letter R if I'm.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Not I was there as well. I joke it was
a Republican caucus meeting. It's like, come on vote. This
is basic transparency and basic respect for the voters.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
What you're talking about tonight, Hey, Mark and Braintree, great questions,
Thank you, sir, appreciate your call. We have to take
a news break at the bottom of the hour. And
by the way, I'm just following that race in Tennessee
which has uh has has drawn a lot of attention,
and it's a congressional race and it's uh, it's.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
It's it's a close race.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
The Republican is up with about eighty three percent of
the votes counted. He's up by about six thousand votes
over a very radical Democrat. How she can run in
the state of Tennessee is beyond me. But that shows
the Republicans better get their message back together here, Mike,
because for this guy, uh, you know, in Mark Green's
district in Tennessee to be winning, but winning, you know,
(19:57):
not by a big margin. Trump carried the district by
twenty two points. This guy is up at this point
by about four points.
Speaker 7 (20:06):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Yeah, that's a little bit of a Canaryann coal mine.
If you get my drift, Republicans better start messaging a
little bit. Better take a break. Here's the news at
the bottom of the hour, back with my guest Mike Kaneely,
Republican candidate for governor, and we have full phone lines,
which is always great. Great to see there's enthusiasm. Mirror
coming back on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
We're talking with Mike Kanely. He's a Republican candidate for governor.
I'm talking about what he perceives as a lack of
transparency in the corner office. We did invite the governor
to join us, and she's welcome here any night of
her choosing at this nine o'clock hour to talk about
(20:53):
this case or to talk about transparency in general. Let's
keep rolling. You're going to go to Caroline or Carolyn.
I'm not Caroline, I guess in Holden, Hey, Caroline, how
are you hi?
Speaker 6 (21:04):
Hi?
Speaker 8 (21:04):
Yes, it's Caroline.
Speaker 6 (21:05):
Hi, Mike.
Speaker 8 (21:06):
I wasn't clothing And something very distressing. The governor has
defunded our high school because of the MBTA Communities Act,
and I was just wondering how you and your administration
would stop the weaponization of the MBTA Communities Act.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Well, I would stop at day one. It's not appropriate.
It reflects a lack of respect for local control. It's
not how you get things done here in Massachusetts. And
the idea that she's going to try to defund schools
to force a housing policy in a town that the
town may not want is just entirely inappropriate in any
political context, particularly in Massachusetts where local control really matters.
(21:48):
It's been state lawyer here for over one hundred years
that easier of our three and fifty one cities and
towns get to call their own shots on these things.
And while there is this law out there, you don't
have to reponize it. You have to work collaborative cities
in towns.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Mike, Mike, let me ask you a question.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
That law many people don't realize was passed by the
Baker administration. Were you involved in that? Were you aware
that was going on at the time. Well, well, Charlie
Baker was governor.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
I wouldn't say it was passed by the Baker administration,
Dan was. It was passed by the legislature during the
Banker administry.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
And signed in a low and signed into a lot
by the who Who who actually came up with the idea?
Speaker 3 (22:27):
Who? I mean? I don't assume that.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
That's a really good question. Yeah, entirely the creation of
the legislature. They developed it, they wrote it, they passed
it all completely on their own, no involvement from the
Baker administration. We played no role in crafting it, no
role and advocating for it never And they passed it
one hundred and eighty three to four, and when when
it landed with us, we said, okay, well, you know
(22:52):
we don't like mandates. Let's make this as flexible as
possible for our cities in towns. And that's what we did.
And then we left office and Governor Heally came into office,
as did Attorney General Campbell, and they weaponized this. And
this example about the grants of schools is a really
important example. Governor Heally on our own added to this
list of grants. The towns wouldn't get added this, this
(23:14):
school program to it. It's not how to get things
done around here. And so they took what was a
flexible tool for cities and towns that we left them
with and they weaponized it. But it's important. But your
continued questions and important one. This is entirely the creation
of the legislature.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Yeah, obviously Baker, a veto by Baker would have been
not certainly over overridden at four.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
Sounds a little authoritarian to me, Mike, I don't know.
It probably does to Carolina as well.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
I think we have a run I think we have
a running free here Dan around transparentcy, accountability, respect, for
the will of the voters, mandates, lawsuits, threats. This is
not the kind of accountable trends, parent, effective government we
need that respects us And we've touched on a number
of themes here. They all kind of tie together in
my view.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
Yeah, Caroline, thank you for bringing it up.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
And I did a number of shows with communities Shrewsbury.
There were Milton Winthrop communities that stood with holding and
I hope you stay. I hope you hang tough because
I'm a believer in, you know, local zoning ordinances and
communities being able to maintain their characters. So you please
(24:36):
continue to listen to Nightside and we will, we will.
We will stay on this as time goes on. And
I'll do something on Holden if you want, If you
want to take my direct number from Rob, we could
set something up with whoever is the leader of the
group in Holden and bring them in and talk about
it if you'd like.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
I'm also a big believer in I'm also a big
believer in educating our kids, I mean making the kids.
I mean, come on, it's just like we're going to
make the kids suffer for the sake of housing policy.
Give me a break. That's not appropriate, Carolin.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Feel free.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Rob will give you my direct line and you can
call me if you like, no obligation, but if you
like some help, you let me know. Okay, thank you
so much. Thank you. Don't hang up, Robil take your call.
Let me talk to Daniel in Boston. Daniel, you were
next on Nightside. Great first name, Daniel. Go right ahead,
you're on with Mike Kenning.
Speaker 5 (25:25):
I appreciate that. Good evening, gentlemen. I had a question
here and it's kind of been frustrating for me because
I'm a going owner myself, and honestly, Chapter thirty five
has been a nightmare for me, and also I think
for the City of Massachusetts in general, because it just
(25:46):
creates a lot of confusion. So I just wanted to
get your position on the Second Amendment here and on
Chapter thirty I want.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
I appreciate the question. I've been clear about this from
the earliest days of my campaign. I am for the
Second Amendment and I am for the repeal of Chapter
one thirty five. And I've been on record, and that
said from the beginning we already have I'm on the
strictness is on the strictest gun laws in the country
of Massachusetts. And so I don't like the law Chapter
one thirty five. I really don't like the way it
(26:17):
was implemented. And I'm going to come back to our
theme where we started the discussion with around respect for
the voters and government accountability. The law was passed and
a bunch of folks gathered signatures to put it on
the ballot, and Governor Heally sort of preempted that process
and declared something called an emergency preamble, and which made
the law effective at that moment. And now, Dan, I've
(26:39):
been studying following government and politics for a long time.
I never heard the term emergency preamble until this one.
But it was a way again to circumvent the will
of the voters and get what she wanted, which again
is not how those games should be played. So I'm
for the second Amendment. I'm for the repeal of one
thirty five, and I hope that happens this year here
(27:00):
on the ballot.
Speaker 5 (27:02):
Hope that answers your.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
Question, Hope that helps you question. Daniel, appreciate your call,
Thank you very much, Thank you every good night. Let's
keep rolling here. The only line that is now still
we have one line that's finally opened up. Six six
one six, one, seven, nine one, ten thirty. Let me
get one more in here before the break. Justin is
(27:24):
in Waltham. Hey, Justin, welcome next on Nightside.
Speaker 9 (27:28):
Hey, thank you for taking my call. So we've all
heard the soundbits of Mara Helly bragging about shutting down
two gas pipelines, and then now she's on the record
saying that none of that ever happened. What's your take
on this backpedaling? My take again is that she's not
(27:48):
respecting the people and not respecting the voters. This is
on video three years ago where she said, remember I
shut down two natural gas pipelines, and then recently she
said she's always been a favor of more supply and
never tried to block more energy supply coming into the state.
(28:09):
And again, you have to treat the voters like adults.
And it's obvious she said that three years ago, and
you can't discloss over it. And so again back to
our theme about accountability and transparency. This is another great example.
She made a statement three years ago which clearly conflicts.
Is what you say now, just explain the conflict, but
(28:30):
to just gloss over it and ask us to pretend
what she said three years ago never happened. I think
it reflects a fundamental lack of respect for the voters,
and that is again, it is not how one should
conduct one's self in public life. You should listen to
the voters, You should treat them with respect, and please
just just treat us like adults. If there's a logical.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
Explanation why she said something three years ago, she doesn't believe, now,
just come out and explain it to us. But I
believe what she meant three years ago, and she obviously
took pride in it reflects a fundamentally poor energy policy.
In fact, I don't think she has an energy policy.
I think she has a climate agenda which is driving
up the cost of our energy. And so it reflects
(29:11):
bad policy and reflects a lack of accountability and lack
of respect for the voters who clearly know what she
said three years ago, and she ought a disaccount for that.
Speaker 3 (29:20):
Great question.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Justin appreciate you calling, thank you, have a great night.
We'll take a quick drink of trying to get everybody
in Connor, uh, Gianna, Elaine and Steve. I'm gonna try
my darness to get you all in. So we'll be
right back on Nightside after a very quick break here
with our final segment coming up with Republican candidate for
governor Mike Kneely. You're on Night Side with Dan Ray
(29:44):
on you Boston's News Radio. All right, back to full lines.
We're gonna try to get everybody and it's going to
take a while. Let's go to Connor and Wakefield. Connor
next on Nice Side with Mike Kennely, Republican candidate for governor.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
Hi.
Speaker 7 (29:58):
Dan, I Mike, Hope you guys are doing well.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Hi, I'm seeing great.
Speaker 7 (30:01):
My question for you, Mike is that I know you've
got a background in education reform, and I've noticed that
over the past few years in Massachusetts there's been a
downtrend in student scores really across the board. So I'm
wondering what some of your ideas could be to really
reverse that into the more positive direction.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
I appreciate the question. It's a really really important question,
and again, I think it does reflect something about our
government today. Whether they're happy to talk about the fact
that Massachusetts is number one in public education, which is
still technically true on the national assessment, but what our
leaders in Beacon Hill don't want to own up to
is the fact that our kids' scores, our kids' mass
scores have declined since twenty thirteen, their reading scores of
(30:47):
the client since twenty eleven, and so we're in a
downward trajectory here in education in our state. And only
forty percent of our kids on average can read or
do math at grade level across the entire state, despite
spending of dollars year in education. And we're not number one,
we're number sixth in fourth grade reading them on the
fifty states, behind Mississippi. So we get real work to
(31:08):
do an education, And this I think speaks to a
complacency on the part of our leaders on Beacon Will
want to talk about the fact that we're still nominally
number one. One of those warning signs all over the place. Now,
my first job in public service was up in Lawrence
on the turnaround of the public school district, and we
did things like cut the size of the biocracy by
forty percent to put the dollars in the classroom. I
(31:31):
introduced a whole set of innovative, new kind of data
driven instruction programs to the kids. Really brought the parents
and teachers and community members together. We brought more enrichment programs,
arts and sports back into the curriculum. We lengthened the
school day. We gave our kids more time to learn.
We turned over about half the school principles. We did
(31:51):
a lot of things, and you got to have you
got to approach the problem with that kind of urgency
and innovation and fiscal responsibility. That's what it demands. We've
got now a very complacent approach. And for the last
dozen years, I'd argue public education in Massachusetts has been
lower standards, less accountability, less innovation, less choice. But we're
(32:12):
spending a lot more for it, and so we got
to look at how those dollars are being spent. We
got we got to put the kids first and all
this and just approach you with a whole different sense
of urgency and innovation. And that's what I want to
do as governor.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
All right, Colin, appreciate it. I got four other calls.
We're going to try to get in here. Thank you
so much, great, appreciate it. You have a great name.
Let me go to Gianna Gianna in Winthrop. Hi, Gianna,
You're next on Nice that with Mike Kenneally, Go ahead.
Speaker 10 (32:38):
Gianna, mister Kennely, I really appreciate you touching the fact
on the three A and went. We just voted out
basically one third of our town council because here in
winth rear very anti three A. However, my question in
regard to our everizing energy dells. I heard you speak
about more heally, not being transparent and ragging as we
(33:00):
all know very famously about killing two pipelines. But what
is your plan to bring down our bills because they
truly are out of control.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
It's a great question. I answered that a couple of ways. First,
I've been saying for a long time now that in
any market, the laws applying demand is undefeated. If you
want lower price, you need more supply. And so when
you do with the governor did years ago, which is
shut off supply, that guarantees are going to have rising price.
So I would try to get those pipelines built. I
would try to bring in more of all types of
(33:32):
energy into our state. That'd be one thing. The second
is we have to get these charges off our bill
that are meant to facilitate a so called energy transition.
I call them the green gimmicks. These charges pile up
on our bill, solar panel charges and things like that.
They're they're basically running an energy climate agenda through your
utility bill, and that's not appropriate. So we've got high
(33:54):
energy costs to begin with, and a lot of policy
driven charges on top of that. Now I called some
weeks to go for full evaluation all of our all
of our green energy, all of our climate spending, and
what are we getting for those programs? But I think
we have now. I think we're the third highest and
energy costs among the fifty states, and it's hurting our consumers,
(34:14):
it's hurting our small businesses. But we need a much
different approach, which is a much more supply oriented approach
and getting these charges off our bills. That's the cause
of our high energy costs, and it really is making
our economy less competitive and it's making it very hard
for people are afford to live here. We need a
much more pragmatic approach.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
Do you want to say that to my friend? This
is Dan Ray Jeff Turco, who does a great job
representing you folks in Winthrop.
Speaker 10 (34:40):
He is great, certainly, well, thank.
Speaker 3 (34:45):
You, thanks, thank you soon, thank you. Let's try to
get at least one more in maybe maybe a couple.
We'll see if we what we can do here. Let
me go to Elaine in Norfolk.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
Elaine, you were next on Nightside with Mike Kanely, Republican candidate.
Speaker 3 (34:57):
For governor.
Speaker 11 (35:00):
And him my thanks for taking my call. Listen, I'm
concerned with people with developmental disabilities. Are you familiar with
the Rensom Developmental Center and the Hogan Regional Center by chance.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
I'm actually not not, but I tell me more about it.
Speaker 11 (35:20):
Well, there were six facilities like that in the state
of Massachusetts. Four of them have been shut down and
sold off. There are two remaining. One is in rent Them,
which is the next town over from Norfolk, and the
other one is in Hogan.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
Is in.
Speaker 11 (35:44):
I can't think of it, off to shop my head anyway.
Rentum has got four hundred acres of land right now.
People I'm fortunately, the average age is about seventy three.
People are dying off by attrition, and I'm afraid that
eventually that facility is going to be closed and sold off. Myself,
(36:04):
lots of families along with me. I have a lot
of groups that are with us as well.
Speaker 2 (36:10):
Elane, you got it. I'm running out of time, Elaine.
I know this is a complicated question, but get to it.
Please go go ahead.
Speaker 11 (36:16):
I just want to know you were Can you do
anything with the Department of the d DS, Department of
Social Services, Department of Developmental Delays and just try to
keep those properties open for people with disabilities, keep them
held in perpetuity for people to set I have.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
A quick answer, Mike, unfortunately. Please thank you very much
for the question, Elaine. Go ahead, Mike, give her an
I answer, Elaine.
Speaker 1 (36:46):
We we'll look into it. I always try to be
honest about an issue I don't know much about. That's
one on them both. Let us take a look at that.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
One can make a suggestion, Elaine, if you don't mind,
let me make a suggestion to you, Mike. Why don't
we leave Elaine's number with Rob and give you her
number and someone from your staff can call her and
get more of this information. Fair enough, I would like
to thank you. Don't hang up, Rob. I'm going to
(37:13):
try to get one more in. Let's see what I
can do real quickly. Uh, Steve and Franklin. Steve, I'm
going to give you a minute, and that's it. What
do you what would you like to say to Mike Kneely, Dan.
Speaker 12 (37:23):
Thanks for taking my call. Uh. I went to that
cracker barrel fire in Wrentham and they had the Midway
Millise band play. There was even a photographer there, and
they raised so much money for the Wrentham State School
and they had the circus there.
Speaker 3 (37:42):
Okay, what what? What? How does this relate to my maybe.
Speaker 12 (37:45):
Theytion best buddies?
Speaker 3 (37:47):
Okay, how does this relate to my guest.
Speaker 12 (37:49):
Steve Oh advocate more for handicapped people?
Speaker 3 (37:54):
Okay, go ahead, you want to comment, Thank you, Steve.
Speaker 1 (37:59):
Go ahead, Mike No, I certainly want to do that.
I think a big part of the role of governors
to make sure all of our people, all of our communities,
reach their full potential. So I will certainly be committed
to that absolutely.
Speaker 3 (38:09):
All right, Mike your website.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
If folks would like what they've heard tonight, would like
to get in touch with you, how did they.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
Get appreciate the question? Go to Mike Kinneely dot com.
It's two ends and one olt got a lot of
information about myself and my track record, my experience and
my view of the issues, which has now been informed
by a lot of travel around the state, a lot
of conversations, so please please take a look, please get involved.
Love to every help.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
CONNELI, thank you, thank you very much again, Governor Healey,
you have an open invitation any night we can talk
about these subjects as well as others.
Speaker 3 (38:41):
Mike Connely, thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (38:44):
Thank you so much. Dan.
Speaker 3 (38:44):
Great to be with you and welcome to the calls
of the line.
Speaker 2 (38:46):
Priscilla, I'm sorry called late. We'll get you in next time,
I promise. Okay, back on night side, right after the
news at the top of the hour.
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