Voter Guide: Winthrop Handy Profile (14th District)

Monday, November 05, 2012

Adam Joseph Drici, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Candidate Profile: Winthrop Handy (Independent - West Boylston)

Birth Date: January 21, 1948

Education: University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, B.S. Marketing

Bio: Born and raised in Worcester County. Married to Anne DeSantis Handy. Thirty six year small business owner of Winthrop Studios, Winthrop Editions and White Dog Gallery. National Guard 1970-76 1st/211th Field Artillery New Bedford, honorable discharge. Served 15 years as an elected West Boylston Light Board Commissioner, 30 year volunteer and member of the Board of Director of NEADS Dogs for Disabled Americans and Canines for combat Veterans, member of the Ecotarium Marketing committee, and West Boylston 1999 Library Building committee. My business niche has been photographing and painting portraits of dogs and cats and digital fine art printmaking.

On the Issues

How can you create jobs in Massachusetts?

First, get two casinos built at the Worcester Airport and Jet Blue will be onboard. The airport is unused, isolated and needs an access road from the Mass Turnpike. I envision a Mass Pike exit at Route 56 to parallel and bridge Stafford Street then a second bridge over Route 9 to connect to the existing Airport access road. The Casino developers would pay for the access road, plus be required to build a Historical Museum at the Airport or in Quinsigamond Village. Two casinos would create between 15,000 and 20,000 jobs, generate tax revenue plus provide great enterprise for existing Worcester County businesses to supply products and services.

Second, create a low-cost business startup center for all entrepreneurs at the now empty courthouse on Main Street in Worcester. WPI has the business model in their monthly Venture Forum Program for Entrepreneurs. I would work with Dr. Mitchell Sanders, who is already planning to expand the program to the Worcester College Consortium, and graduates of high schools and vocational schools in Worcester County. A business startup center will attract venture capital, angel investors and crowdfunding from Kickstarter, Indiegogo, etc.

Third, use the empty Worcester Memorial Auditorium for Arts Worcester. All Worcester artists can benefit from low-cost work space, gallery space and performance space. The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams generates millions of dollars of business revenue for that community, and the same will happen in Worcester. Clark University has held seminars that prove what a valuable and profitable addition this would be to Worcester County.

State Services:

The Federal government provides 126 assistance programs to provide aid to American citizens. Massachusetts and Mr. Jim O‘Day continue to use our tax money to duplicate these services when they need only provide easy information for people to link to the federal aid money.

I would like to see a simplified Senior Circuit breaker law that reduces property tax when you turn 65. It should be so simple that an accountant is not needed to fill out the paperwork. Seniors can receive up to $1,200 off their property tax each year.

I would like to see the federal government eliminate the Small Business Administration and give the money to each state to fund local business startups and business revitalization plans.

Taxes:

Worcester and West Boylston’s state income tax, sales tax and property tax rates are too high, especially for businesses that need to compete with New Hampshire, which is actively marketing to companies to relocate.

Health care:

Governor Romney’s healthcare reform does work well as a safety net. The plan does need to examine eligibility requirements to prevent abuse. The U.S. still spends about $8,000 per person while Scandinavian countries spend only $4,000 per person. We have too many for-profit people between us and our doctors.

Education:

We desperately need science and engineering students. They will become the job creators, and the jobs must remain in the United States. Technology is changing so quickly that valued careers can be eliminated almost overnight. It is important for education to be focused upon relevant career paths, retraining and not acting as disciplinarians. The cost of college education is out of control and provides no guaranty of future employment. Many students would be better off with a vocational education and learning a valued skill.

Energy & the Environment:

Lobbyists and foreign investors control the power in Massachusetts and the next big market will be water rights and drinking water. West Boylston voted recently to have a private company build a four megawatt solar field on town land at Tivnan Drive. The Light Department will get power at 5.5 cents per kilowatt for 30 years, and the town will receive $100,000 per year in lieu of taxes from the developer. This is a win for the town.

The developer will spend $12.5 million to build the four megawatt solar field and be handsomely reimbursed by recovered energy credits from the federal government's green energy program. The sad part is that we borrowed the money from China to do this program, and China manipulated their currency so our U.S. solar industry is wiped out. The solar panels for the West Boylston project are all made in China, so we lose for a second time.
When energy is generated in our town from hydro power or solar power we do not have to pay the 2 cents per kilowatt to National Grid (the Bank of Scotland). West Boylston pays on average $80,000 per month to National Grid for transmission charges of electrical power over their lines.

Worcester needs the reliability and savings of having their own municipal light department, but the last municipal chartered in Massachusetts was in 1926. West Boylston’s municipal light plant was chartered in 1910.

Illegal Immigration:

Worcester is a city built by immigrants that came here through the proper legal channels at Ellis Island. My Swedish grandparents had sponsors that helped them come to Worcester, learn to speak English and to find work. To me, illegal means illegal without exception. Illegal with a criminal record means an immediate flight back to their country of origin. We don’t have the time or the money to waste on people who come here for a free ride on the backs of working men and women taxpayers.

Quick Hitters

What is the single most important issue you want to tackle in 2013?

I want to see a business development center with small business startups go into the now empty Worcester courthouse and Arts Worcester go into the now empty Worcester Memorial Auditorium and create a flourishing arts community for Worcester County.

Who is your favorite member of the opposite party?

As an Independent I get two favorites. First, my favorite Democrat is Tim Murray. He takes a lot on his plate and he gets things done. I know I will work well with him. The future growth of Worcester is linked to his becoming our next Massachusetts Governor. My favorite Republican is Lew Evangelidis, our Worcester County sheriff. The jail is finally being run properly the way you expect it to be. Lew is a class act with a bright political future.

In one paragraph, why should voters support Winthrop Handy?

Unlike my opponents, I have 15 years municipal energy experience and 36 years small business experience. I also have ideas. I want two casinos as revenue generators at the Worcester Airport. I want a monorail to transport everyone throughout Worcester. But most importantly, I want Worcester County to take a sledge hammer to its unsustainable business model that is fueled by raising taxes and lowering expectations. A tired model that ignores small business needs and rewards special interest groups as a way to keep their dominant political party in office.