Cambridge Politics by Sam Seidel

The Brownsberger/Patrick ticket

It's campaign season, and that means it's time to make my own endorsements. Here are a couple of them:

1. I endorse Will Brownsberger for state representative in the 24th Middlesex District.

2. I endorse Deval Patrick for governor.

Brownsberger's thoughtful politics represent his district well, and his well-researched approach to the challenges we face as a community will mean the track record established by retiring representative Anne Paulsen will not disappear from the State House. This is especially important with the advent of the multi-talented Democratic political phenom of 2006, Deval Patrick.

I believe Deval Patrick is going to out-perform Republican Kerry Healy over the next four weeks, and will take the governor's oath in January of next year. Patrick is himself a man of tremendous talent, as his primary campaign demonstrated. Healy must realize this, since she's already chosen the low road of a negative campaign, including the really offensive "pushing polling" being put out by her forces -- designed to sound like a poll, but really geared as a smear tactic against Patrick.

Whoever paid for this poll, whether it's the Healy campaign itself, or some third party supporting her, really shows their stripes by aiming to our most base qualities as human beings, and it's a shame that Kerry Healy has nothing else to offer.

Meanwhile, Patrick, like Brownsberger, speaks the language of progressive Democrats, and understands the frustration and disaffection many rank-and-file Dems feel toward the party poobahs. He has a commitment to re-energizing the party with new ideas -- and his voice will be welcome state-wide. Brownsberger can join Patrick ushering in a new era in the Commonwealth.

But both would be mindful to remember one thing: in politics, ideas only travel so far. Turning ideas into action is the added ingredient. In this regard, Will Brownsberger's time on the Belmont Board of Selectmen will serve him well as a new state representative. No matter who the governor is, lofty debate on the floor of the House is only part of the job.

A state rep has got to fight hard for the local goods ... the stoplights and the crosswalks and everything else that makes living in a community a pleasant experience. In that we wish Will Brownsberger well, and many successes too.

And while we're at it, here's a knotty issue that lies smack in the middle of the 24th Middlesex district that Brownsberger can join forces on: the silver maple forest in the Belmont portion of the Alewife Reservation has been subject to development threat for years now. Development of the silver maple parcel could have negative consequences for Cambridge in a host of areas, from bio-diversity to air quality, to our sewer capacity.

Under the lead of Cambridge representative Alice Wolf, along with state senators Steve Tolman and Robert Havern, a bill in the State House (Senate Bill 1909) calls for a full examination of the Route 2 corridor, including issues of traffic, flood control, hydrology, air quality and pedestrian safety.

The study is a good idea, since the consequences of action in the Reservation spill beyond municipal boundaries. In fact, it's an area that cries out for a regional solution, one which will take courage and determination from municipal and state officials alike. (This is doubly true with the possible explosion of residential growth in the Concord-Alewife area of Cambridge.) Only then can we begin to find a reasonable solution to the pressure being put on this important and valuable land.