In the Press
Medfield Press
June 12, 2008
“For him, November’s election is about bringing power back to the kitchen table and back to the electorate”
The Sun Chronicle
May 16, 2008
“Roache said he believes people are ready for that kind of change, pointing out that
62 percent of the voters in his district are independents.”
Young local politicians on the rise
By Jim Hand Sun Chronicle Staff
Friday, May 16, 2008 1:26 Am Edt
Presidential contender Barack Obama has been credited with inspiring young people to shake off their apathy and get involved in politics. But local young people running for office say their motivation comes from within, rather than from a national leader.
Devin Romanul of Mansfield, a 23-year-old running for state representative, said he admires some things about Obama, but he has been politically active his whole life.
Romanual said he remembers staying up late watching election returns from the Bill Clinton-George H.W. Bush election in 1992 when he was only 8 years old.
"I've been thinking about doing this for a long time," he said, admitting he is "atypical" for his generation.
Romanual said he sees more young people are getting involved in politics this year because they realize how important their vote is and how much is at stake.
There are a number of young people running in the Attleboro area.
17-year-old Joseph Lazzerini will be running for Attleboro City Council next year. (Staff photo by Tom Maguire)
Romanul, a Democrat, is running against Rep. Jay Barrows, R-Mansfield.
Tom Roache, 28, an independent, is taking on Rep. Richard Ross, R-Wrentham.
Joseph Lazzerini, only 17, plans to run for Attleboro City Council next year when he turns 18.
"Three young people in the Greater Attleboro area is highly unusual," said Michael Kryzanek, a political science professor at Bridgewater State College.
The candidacy of the local three comes on top of the election of 23-year-old Sean Garballey of Arlington to the Massachusetts House in a special election in February. Garballey served on his town's school committee when he was 19.
Earlier this week, a 19-year-old was elected mayor of Muskogee, Okla.
Roache, of Medfield, said his campaign shares some of the themes of bipartisanship as Obama's campaign, but that is not why he is running.
"I certainly have my own reasons," he said.
Roache said he believes young people see the gridlock and partisan bickering in politics and want to try a more cooperative approach.
"We see opportunity in cooperation and collaboration. It is a movement that is just starting to gain critical mass," he said.
Whether there will be a trend toward young people participating in politics will depend to a large degree on whether people like himself are successful in breaking through partisan stalemates to solve problems.
"If we are successful, we can reshape how things work," he said.
Roache said he believes people are ready for that kind of change, pointing out that 62 percent of the voters in his district are independents. The district includes Plainville, Wrentham and Norfolk.
Kryzanek, the political scientist, said voter registration among young people has gone up this year and Obama has been credited with a lot of the increase.
Obama's message of change and doing away with old style politics resonates with young people, he said.
Whether young people just have a passing interest in the presidential election or are actually being inspired to get involved has not yet been determined, he said.
On the Bridgewater State College campus, Kryzanek said he does not see a lot of political activity, but he does see students doing more community service.
"I see a lot of volunteer work, community service, public service, rather than running for office or getting involved in a campaign," he said.
Roache promises accountability
By Jeb Bobseine
Fri Jun 13, 2008, 03:51 PM EDT
WALPOLE -
If need be, Tom Roache wants you to yell at him.
The candidate for state representative from the 9th Norfolk District sees a problem with the political status quo: a disconnection between “the State House and the kitchen table.” But if he’s elected state representative, he’ll make sure he can hear his constituents.
“They can yell at me,” said the 28-year-old Medfield resident. They can attend monthly town hall-style meetings and hold him accountable. For him, November’s election is about “bringing power back to the kitchen table and back to the electorate,” he said.
Roache, an independent, is seeking the seat held by state Rep. Richard J. Ross, a two-term Republican and a Wrentham resident.
The 9th Norfolk District consists of precinct 5 in Walpole, precincts 3 and 4 in Medfield, precinct 1 in Millis, and the towns of Norfolk, Plainville and Wrentham.
Walpole’s precinct 5 includes 33 Industrial Road in South Walpole, the site of a 580-megwatt power plant proposed by Competitive Power Ventures.
At a public hearing in December, Ross supported the Walpole Board of Selectmen’s choice to forgo talks with CPV. Roach, too, opposes the project. He stressed, however, that in researching the issue with his campaign staff, he’s found it difficult to find “hard, sound numbers.”
Still, he’s found many residents have very good arguments against the proposal. Such a plant would leave Walpole and surrounding towns “married to [fossil fuel] technology for the next couple decades,” Roache said. It’s an idea that’s depressing to him, he said.
“It’s always good to have folks participate in the process,” Ross said about the upcoming campaign. During the 2006 election – when the 53-year-old ran unopposed – nobody even called to hear what he had to say on particular issues. That changes quickly, he said, with the addition of an opponent.
He doesn’t know too much about Roache, he said. However, he’s intrigued by his decision to run as an independent. It can be “lonely” without party affiliation in the State House, he said. Not too many representatives try it because of the support networks the parties provide. He guessed Roache would end up affiliating himself with “one party or the other” in order to tie into these support groups.
Roache’s support group consists now of the hundreds who signed his petition, and around a dozen high school and college students who make phone calls and go door to door wearing T-shirts proclaiming, “Ask me how I’m changing politics.”
He, for one, sees “a growing willingness to demand something better” for Massachusetts. Having spent a couple years away in a variety of occupations – including time as a community organizer, a project manager at an international think tank and administrator of a program that provided psychological relief to traumatized child refugees living in shelters in Beirut – he returned to find the state “sleepwalking toward disaster.”
He sees costs rising across the board, for gas, food, property taxes. He sees too many young, skilled workers leaving the state. He sees a lack of proactive state leadership and no responsiveness to globalization. He sees a dearth of incentives for new and innovative business. And above all, he sees a government doing business out of sight, and beyond the reach, of average citizens.
Roache’s campaign is, ultimately, about wresting power from those in control, he said. Making government accessible and transparent is not a “pie in the sky” idea, he stressed. He’ll ask his constituency, “Who’s got an idea? Who’s got something to see?”
“A little revolution’s good every once in a while, I think,” he said with a smile.
Jeb Bobseine can be reached at jeb@walpoletimes.com or 508-668-0243, ext. 13. For news updates, visit wickedlocal.com/Walpole.
Walpole Times
June 12, 2008
“He sees costs rising across the board, for gas, food, property taxes. He sees too many young, skilled workers leaving the state. He sees a lack of proactive state leadership and no responsiveness to globalization. He sees a dearth of incentives for new and innovative business...
...And above all, he sees a government doing business out of sight, and beyond the reach, of average citizens.”
MEDFIELD - Political newcomer Thomas Roache formally launched his campaign for state representative Tuesday by pledging to be a full-time legislator if elected.
Roache is running against incumbent Rep. Richard Ross, R-Wrentham, who owns and operates a funeral home. Roache said voters deserve the full attention of their representative.
He said the state might have avoided some of the trouble it finds itself in now if legislators had been devoting all their time to their job.
Issues like promoting alternative energy sources should have been addressed years ago, he said, but politicians were not paying attention.
A political independent, Roache said it is fine for lawmakers like Ross to get business experience before getting elected, "but once you are elected, that is your job."
There is no Democrat running in the 9th Norfolk District that includes Wrentham, Plainville, Norfolk, and Medfield, so Roache will oppose Ross in the November election.
Roache has promised to be a different kind of politician, and that was obvious from his announcement event.
Rather than kicking off his candidacy by making a speech in front of a government building like many politicians do, he held a get-together in an art gallery overlooking downtown Medfield.
He promises not to accept donations from special interests and lobbyists.
"With this campaign, I have stood up and said, 'enough is enough.' I've refused all special interest money because it is time to restore governance by the people," he said.
Roach is 28, and about half of the 100 supporters in attendance were young people.
On his resume, Roache lists accomplishments like being president of the senior class and football captain when he attended Medfield High School.
His professional experience includes working for an anti-poverty agency in Texas and a refugee agency in Beirut, Lebanon.
He has a master's degree in human values and ethics from the University of London.
Roache said he would like to tackle issues like the high cost of housing, health care and energy to make Massachusetts more affordable.
Too many young people leave the state after college because they cannot afford to live here, he said.
A first-time candidate, Roache also promised to hold regular night meetings for constituents, rather than afternoon office hours that working people cannot attend.
The Sun Chronicle
July 23, 2008
“ ...Roache said voters deserve the full attention of their representative.
He said the state might have avoided some of the trouble it finds itself in now if legislators had been devoting all their time to their job...
...Roache has promised to be a different kind of politician.”
Challenger kicks off campaign against Wrentham's Ross
Thomas Roache, Medfield High School graduate and progressive community organizer, officially kicked off his campaign for state representative last week with an event at the Zullo Gallery in Medfield.
Roache, an independent, is hoping to unseat Wrentham Republican Richard Ross, who has held the Ninth Norfolk district seat since 2005. The 28-year-old is running on a platform of making the state more affordable and says he will not hold another job if elected.
Roache, a former captain of the Medfield High School football team, has also worked for an international development think tank in Washington D.C. and for an aid agency that provided psychological counseling to war victims in Beruit. Ross owns and operates R. J. Ross Funeral Home in Wrentham.
The Boston Globe
July 25, 2008
“ ...The 28-year-old is running on a platform of making the state more affordable and says he will not hold another job if elected.”
The Medfield Press (photograph)
July 24, 2008
The Norfolk Boomerang
“ ...Tom Roache will continue to walk door-to-door meeting voters this fall...’My focus is the economy, how we can alleviate the property tax crisis and bring stability and growth...Plainville and Wrentham are seeing the worst unemployment rates in the region...we have to bring some fresh thinking to this problem’.”
The Medfield Press
October 9, 2008
“ ...Roache...spoke from a cell phone while knocking on doors in Plainville...”