Letter: Bosley Endorses Daughter for State Representative

To the Editor:

During this election to succeed Gail Cariddi in the 1st Berkshire District, I have heard and read about everyone's experience and how that makes them uniquely qualified to be the next state representative. After serving for 24 years in this position, I am the only one who has actually been in this position at the State House. That is why I am voting for Stephanie Bosley.

Yes, it is natural to endorse your own daughter for this position, but I would vote for her if her name was Stephanie Smith. I truly believe that she is the best person for this job. There are many reasons for this.

First and foremost, the most important quality for the next representative is that they have an ability to work with others. No one person in the State House can get things done but they need to build coalitions and work to build support. Stephanie has shown repeatedly that she can work with others: working in the town of Adams on housing issues; with neighborhood groups at the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition; with the business community at 1Berkshire; in her one-year service at AmeriCorps and with Soldier On dealing with homeless veterans. In each of these positions, Stephanie had to work with others to further the programs or work to get things done.

The second reason I believe she is the best candidate is that she has posted or released many new ideas to make life better here in the 1st Berkshire District. I encourage everyone to look at the forums that have been held and have run on local cable access. Anyone can list the issues or problems that we see in North Berkshire, but only Stephanie has come up with new ideas on how to resolve these. Simply being eloquent in listing issues such as school funding or broadband doesn't get any closer to resolving these issues, repeating the same old answers hasn't worked in the past nor have promises of throwing more money at issues. We need fresh ideas and someone who will study the issues and come up with new perspectives. Check out her web page, www.bosleyforstaterep.com. She has done that.

The third reason is that she cares for each and every one of the people in this district. She will not try to divide people. Anyone who has talked to her at all knows that she listens to everyone. She is just plain nice and people will help when they know their voice counts.

Fourth, I have watched her work hard in this campaign, an indication that this means something to her. Whether it is a meet and greet or walking door to door in the district, she has worked to earn your vote.

Finally, I feel that she has made a long-term commitment to this position and that is important in a job where seniority counts heavily and it takes time to reach consensus. It takes a commitment to the seat and to all the people of the First Berkshire District to stay and get things done.

Stephanie grew up going back and forth to the State House with me and has a unique perspective on the job that no one else has. This job isn't a reward for service, or about who one knows in the race but it is about who can do the best job serving their constituents. That person is unequivocally Stephanie Bosley.

I hope you will join me in voting for Stephanie on Oct. 10 in the special primary election for this seat.

Thank you,

Dan Bosley
North Adams, Mass.

Bosley was state representative for the 1st Berkshire District from 1987-2011.

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