GREENFIELD — With three weeks until the Sept. 1 primary, the two candidates seeking to represent District 8 on the Governor’s Council made their pitches to voters in a Tuesday evening forum, with transparency, experience and regional equity surfacing as key themes.
Incumbent Tara Jacobs and challenger Michael Fenton responded to nine questions in a forum co-hosted by the League of Women Voters of Franklin County, the Greenfield Recorder and Greenfield Community Television.
The Governor’s Council, also known as the Executive Council, is made up of eight elected individuals, with each district representing about 12.5% of the state’s population. The council meets weekly to issue its consent on state treasury warrants; confirm the governor’s judicial appointments and appointments to statewide boards, including the Parole Board, Appellate Tax Board and Industrial Accident Board; and review proposed pardons and commutations.
Terms are for two years, and District 8 covers 102 cities and towns in western Massachusetts, including all of Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin and Berkshire counties, as well as a handful of municipalities in Worcester County.
Tara Jacobs
Jacobs, of North Adams, has served as the District 8 councilor since 2023 and is seeking a third term.
Outside of her role on the council, Jacobs serves on the North Adams School Committee and the North Adams Democratic City Committee, and works as a marketing consultant. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English and psychology from Tufts University and a Master of Business Administration from New York University.
She said that, as a councilor, her goals are to dismantle systemic injustices.
“When I first ran for this office in 2022, it was an open seat,” Jacobs said. “And I was drawn to it out of a calling to serve and a desire to have an impact on our justice system in a way that was informed by the data around the racial disparities in our incarcerated populations, and the other biases and systemic injustices that we know exist in what is a very progressive state, and yet, very much still has systemic injustices that deserve attention.”
Michael Fenton
Fenton, of Springfield, is a lawyer with offices in Springfield and Northampton, specializing in commercial finance, commercial real estate, business planning and estate planning.
He has served on the Springfield City Council for the past 16 years and earned his law degree from Western New England University, where he also serves as an adjunct professor.
If elected, Fenton said his goals would be to advocate for the region and work with state and local partners to ensure western Massachusetts is well-represented in the judicial system.
“I was the youngest member ever elected to be council president and the first openly gay member to be elected council president in the city of Springfield,” Fenton said. “On the council, I’ve led on a variety of issues that matter to our entire region, not just my city and community that I’m from. … I have a proven track record.”
Background and qualifications
The two candidates have different educational backgrounds and experiences, and each believes they would be better suited to the role.
Fenton said having a legal background is an important qualification to have while vetting judicial appointments, and that his experience and training would serve him well on the Governor’s Council.
“There’s a reason there are so many lawyers involved in this process,” Fenton said. “It is a really rigorous legal process that involves and requires experience and legal training to appropriately vet nominees, and I would bring that to this position.”
He added that as a transaction lawyer, most of his work is in Probate and Family Court, and therefore, he would rarely appear in court in front of a judge that he would appoint while on the Governor’s Council. He does not think there would be any conflict of interest.
Jacobs argued that a “diverse board makes better decisions,” and while she is not a lawyer, there are plenty of other lawyers on the council. She said having people who do not have a legal background helps ensure that judges being appointed are capable of explaining things to the average person who does not know the law.
“It’s almost a superpower that I’m not a lawyer in a lot of ways, because one of my focuses is access to justice,” Jacobs said. “And when I talk to lawyers, many of them are incapable of speaking about the law and their work in a way that is truly accessible to the average non- lawyer.”
She added that her background in psychology helps her distinguish a candidate’s character and any biases they may hold.
“I am looking for people who genuinely understand the struggles of the community, and if they are lacking in empathy or understanding that is truly reflective of what we need,” Jacobs said.
Accessibility and transparency
While holding different takes on what qualities and qualifications make a good councilor, the candidates had similar thoughts on the importance of making the work of the council accessible and transparent to the public.
Jacobs said that since she’s been in the role, she has been working to spread information about the council as it is not very well-known, but plays a large role in shaping the state’s judicial system. She said she tries to post updates online about the council’s work from the council chamber; spends time working with organizations that interact with the justice system, such as victim support groups; and, when possible, hosts local hearings so people can weigh in on the nominees who would be working in their region.
Fenton said he believes he is one of the most accessible and transparent members of the Springfield City Council, with several emails and phone numbers for constituents to reach him at, and he would bring that same commitment to the Governor’s Council.
“I would be fully committed to identifying community spaces where we can bring those conversations to the public, engaging with the public, meeting them where they are,” Fenton said, “and doing everything we can to make this currently little-known position in our district and our slice of Massachusetts a much more prominent thing that the public is more aware of and familiar with.”
Regional equity
Both candidates agreed that western Massachusetts is a region often forgotten by Boston and said the work of the District 8 councilor is to advocate for the region.
“We have 102 cities and towns in western Massachusetts, and it’s no surprise to anybody in any one of those cities or towns that we are regularly overlooked by the eastern portion of the state. There are leaders in Boston who don’t really think west of [Interstate] 495,” Fenton said. “The job of the governor’s councilor is to advocate for judicial appointments in this region and to use the proximity power of this office to the governor to be able to leverage that for additional results in western Mass.”
Fenton said that if elected, he would work with local sheriffs and district attorneys, as well as the governor and lieutenant governor, and to advocate for positions to be filled in western Massachusetts, as well as for representatives from western Massachusetts to be chosen for roles such as those on the Parole Board, which does not have any members from western Massachusetts. He argued that Jacobs has an “antagonistic relationship” with Gov. Maura Healey, and he wants to rebuild the relationship between Healey and the region.
Jacobs rebutted Fenton’s statement, saying she has a professional working relationship with the governor and has successfully advocated for the governor to fill all of the Superior Court vacancies in the western Massachusetts circuit. She said that while she does vote “no” on the governor’s nominees more than her colleagues, she votes “yes” most of the time and often enthusiastically consents to the governor’s nominations.
“I have been very successful in filling vacancies as they come. And I do that both through the relationship that I do have with this administration and the governor’s legal office, with whom I work closely,” Jacobs said. “But also by being out there in the community and recruiting applicants to these positions who are highly qualified and also the kind of humans that I want to see, which is a very important factor.”
Both candidates are running as Democrats. No Republican candidates are seeking the position, meaning whoever wins the Sept. 1 primary will be the sole candidate advancing to the November ballot.
The full forum was recorded and can be watched on Greenfield Community Television’s YouTube page.
