001[Music] hello and welcome to the Views expressed we are a public Affairs program uh broadcasting on waca TV right here in Ash Massachusetts today we have a very special guest Mariel Kramer she is a candidate for Governor's Council here in the Commonwealth District 2 Miss Kramer thank you so much for joining us today thank you so much for having me and for doing this for all the candidates I really appreciate this well we appreciate having you too and uh we're not going to waste any of your time we're just G to jump right into it if that's okay great awesome so a little bit about you first what's your personal background oh wow so my personal background uh I'm a United States Air Force veteran my husband and I moved to Massachusetts um actually I
002grew up in Massachusetts but we moved back to Massachusetts after college because we were stationed at hansam Air Force Base and we've been in hopkington actually for probably about 32 years and I uh left the Air Force uh did a lot of um I did some freelance writing for local papers I worked as a Certified Pharmacy Technician for a number of years I we my husband and I raised our six children here and then I went back to school when my youngest were in high school and I got my degree in social work looking for a degree um that I could use to work in social justice Fields I didn't at the time when I was looking for my next chapters work um I didn't know that social work was social justice work found that
003out and went back to Boston College they have a actually they have a macro Social Work Program which is about systemic change transformational social work so that's uh that's what I did and I uh started my social work career in homelessness services in Boston and Cambridge so working with a lot of people with very deep challenges um a lot of access challenges to services and support rep s for health care in general but certainly Behavioral Health Care substance use disorder treatment mental health treatment um and that's actually what what brings me to um fast forward to the work I want to do on the governor's Council well that sounds there are a lot of questions and we gonna save those for a little later uh but that's a very interesting background but you're running for
004Governor's Council right now first I'm gonna ask you why you're doing this uh but I also want you to explain for some of our viewers out here who may not be familiar with what the government's council is charged with doing um if you could give a little background on what this position is what is the governor's Council and then why you're running yep yeah I I really appreciate that um so the governor's Council um is a little bit of um an advisory Council just to use sort of Layman's language for the governor and lieutenant governor on um on appointments for judges clerk magistrates parole board appointees industrial accident review board appointees some bills you know some bills that come before uh the governor's Council um also Pardons and commutation decisions also decisions on notary publics
005and Justice of the pieces so it's a there's actually a very uh broad scope of appointments that the governor's Council might be um tasked to interact with when you say IND direct does the governor's Council make those appointments or what what's the function in those yeah they make the final decision on those appointments yes so um they have an opportunity to uh to review the candidates um professional record personal personal experiences too I'm sure if they play into the professional record um although I think in 2024 we need to draw a bright line between uh a person's personal life and their professional life but that's those are those are lines that are sometimes hard in in in real time but they do um they do make these decisions they get a chance to review the
006work they get a chance to interview the candidates before the governor's Council hearing and then they get a chance again to publicly interview as a collective so they can interview these candidates individually and then um they meet they meet on Wednesday typically um the public can by the way watch these meetings or watch them after the fact because they live stream them um and uh and they meet they interview the candidates and then uh typically a week uh a week later they vote on the candidates whether to make the appointments or not to make the appointments so that thank you for for providing that that detail I feel that sometimes voters will see that circle on their ballot and just sort of like fill it in and not really understand like what what that position
007is yeah think you're right and you mentioned the ballot uh and I and it's it's not just that the governor's Council work is is a little bit obscure and you you you know you mentioned this before we started it's Unique to Massachusetts and I think maybe one other state um I'm not sure how many states have it but certainly not many it's a hold over from Colonial times from the beginning time um so a lot of people may not understand how the governor's Council works or why there is a Governor's counsel um and then also on the ballot you're right um and it's even a little bit more obscure because on the ballot we are listed as counselors doesn't even say Governor's counselor um it says counselor um so when you get your ballot if
008you're invested in voting you have to flip that ballot on over the primary ballot um and then under counselors you have to choose one of the four Democratic candidates um and there is a there is legislation well there's a I think there's a republican candidate that's running as well so there will be so in November they'll will there will be on the B well it depends on what ballot you pull so if you're pulling a republican ballot I'm not sure where that where that's placed on the ballot whether it's on other side or not I prob you're right I think it's probably the same to be honest with you but I'm not sure yeah yeah but no still great information and thanks for clarifying that because like counselor like what does that mean like is
009so now we understand what Governor's council is why are you running for Governor's Council yeah yeah I I am running for a very specific reason I work professionally um working to elevate the voices of people who are impacted by systems into to the process of developing those systems so very often when we think of uh doesn't we don't have to think very hard to understand how powerful judges and clerk magistrates and Parole Board appointees are um I think most of us if we're we're paying attention to the news can see the impact of judicial appointments um what I think is a little harder to understand perhaps for some people is how those appointments in a real way impact the people that appear before those judges so I work in um substance use disorder system development
010mostly um I am a very big proponent of expanding options other than incarceration for people who are substance using or suffering from mental illness I think that we can do a much better job um diverting people do you know employing restorative justice um mechanisms really helping people that appear before us accountability is a very important thing so I don't want to lose sight of that but also you know upwards of 70% of the people who are in jails and prisons are in mesed in the legal system are people suffering from mental illness or substance use disorder or both um a very high percentage in over you know people of color are over represented in that system I want to um Elevate that conversation that conversation is happening but what we don't talk to about a
011lot is um how to make a change change so that we level the playing field and address Equity so you are running for Governor's counsil because these are these are some of the issues that you're concerned about and as a counselor you're well we'll get into like some of the specifics around that but I just want to be clear that I understand like what what you're running um yeah I want to make sure is important yeah I want to make sure judges and clerk magistrates are really fully informed of about the things that they can do to connect people to healthier Futures okay that's great um I want to take it back to some of the conversation we've just had about Governor's Council and how it's a hold over from Colonial times and I think
012there's one one other it may actually be a commonwealth um it may not even be a state but like that has Governor's Council has a Governor's Council there has been a lot of talk over the past few years and questions about like should this body even exist many states don't even have it they seem to function just fine I know you're running for this office so you clearly feel like there's a function for it but I'd love to get your viewpoint on on on on that particular Viewpoint like yeah is it really needed right now why is it really needed why we use this system yeah I think that um I think that that is the right conversation to have in 2024 right I I absolutely do and I am not emotionally attached to holding
013on to the governor's Council I do recognize that the governor's Council has power in the system the way it's designed and so if we have one I want it to be populated with people who represent differently not just attorneys um not just people who are sort of uh dedicated to the legal system as it exists today I really want to see people who are going to spark conversation and change within the criminal legal system it also impacts um Family Law youth law all all kinds of law um workers compensation a worker safety law um so it's not just criminal law but Equity is a equity is a concern and a major Focus across all facets of the law so I think that your question is is it do we even have it I I think
014that I think that it's a good ation to have maybe we don't need it but if we don't have it we do need a system whereby there is some check and balance on the appointment process but I would be very open to a more modern approach well miss ker I'm not asking you to redesign the system and this small like broadcast here but thank you for sharing every looking for an answer but um but the good questions uh to raise and uh very helpful to think about for all us the think about uh you've talked extensively about your background in mental health uh and substance disorder substance use disuse or use disorder um advocacy and uh support it sounds like those are two policy issues that you're very concerned about um as a pertains to
015you being on Governor's coun you also talked about not being you're not an attorney um right and but this is the experience that you bring um why are these two top policy issues so important to you and specifically what do you hope to accomplish as a Governor's on the governor's Council as a counselor uh to address some of these issues yeah great question so they they matter because people with substance use disorder and mental health issues and people who EXP experence poverty they're over represented in the system and judges and clerk magistrates in particular have a real role in reversing that Trend right can can I interrupt you for a second I um clerk magistrates what did they do exactly because I I feel like a lot of people aren't familiar with with a lot
016of these terms yeah I'm not sure that I'm the person to give you the whole short course on clerk magistrates but they are in charge of of Courts and they do things like issu warrants right and those are very impactful for people there's a lot more to know about clerk magistrates but they're very powerful players in the system that at times we know disadvantages certain categories or subpopulations of people so we need to start asking those questions of those folks in your background as a substance abused counselor and someone who has done work with uh folks who are suffering from mental illness you know as a as a counselor uh on Governor's Council how would you those are policy those are policy issues that you care very much about how do you see that translating
017over to your work on Governor's counsil specifically like what actions would you take or not take around those issues if elected yeah I just want to clarify I'm not a substance uh use disorder counselor but I work in that field no no no that's fine I work in the field of actually really Building Systems um and ident identifying system needs and helping systems change so one of the things that I bring forward from my professional experience is is change management uh tools and techniques and so forth so um for for example um it's very hard to change anything effectively if if you want to change it you have to actually identify it and you have to measure it um so I think that transparency is a real um concern and I and and something to
018highlight um in 2024 the governor's Council doesn't have online um you can't get have online access to their votes well that's a simple thing to to address I think that um percentages of people that you know that represent with diversity whether it's Geographic diversity so the entire state is is represented whether it is um uh defense versus Prosecuting experience where the if there's balance there and certainly racial and cultural um diversity as well as diversity of experience um is very important so so making sure that the judges we appoint for the future or any of the appointees that we appoint for the future really represent the community that we live in with a better understanding probably of the experiences of a broader variety of the public is very important um also just um simply uh
019simply telling you know simply helping educate small ways educate um judges for example in um how to connect people to substance use disorder treatment just the mechanics of how to use the system in different ways a lot of the work that we do in developing substance use disorder treatments in cities counties States um including includ law enforcement includes the judicial system and and making those connections to help systems and people in the systems connect over the gaps of between the systems is really important so very often I've been watching the governor's Council meetings and attended a few um very often people understand that there is um there is race you know Sy the impacts of systemic racism uh we do have a lot of people who could use treatment but but they don't get to
020the questions about how can we move forward and make a change and honestly judges and clerk magistrates and parole board appointees have a huge role in that they can have a very constructive role in helping individuals that are in in the system connect over that divide and that's what I hope to bring is is really education purpose how we might make change and also reporting where we are today and and and talking a little bit about where we want to be right what's the system of the future we really want to see and how do we incrementally build to get there together oh thank you for clarifying that those points uh Miss ker was very helpful and so it sounds like I'm just curious it sounds like currently um there are resources lacking for for
021judges and other folks in the court system to be able to connect people with those resources I bet that the resources are there I bet that it is more that people don't understand what resources might help them do their job even better in terms of uh constructive paths forward for people um let me take an example for substance disorder um relapse most of us who are Professionals in the healthcare World know that relapse a recurrence of the disorder is part of recovery and in the judicial system often relapse is sort of a hard stop a hard fail and they get an individual can easily get bounced out of recovery services and back into carcel Services when there might be there should be there is a better way to address that um that that relapse can
022be accounted for within the judicial process as well right and what it in in the treatment process what it means is that you should be reassessed for the level of care that you need so imagine if judges clerk magistrates parole board uh appointees knew that relapse wasn't a hard stop wasn't a failure but it was part of the process and there's a mechanism in place in the Health Care system to help people and they can employ that mechanism and get people back into reassessment for level of care appropriate level of care treatment right that's just a more constructive process if it's possible excellent um so I will also ask is this uh is this your first foray into public service no it's my first foray into public service at that level I have been an
023elected or appointed official in hington for 20 years so I've served on the select board um two different terms I've been the chair for three of the six years I've served on the planning board I've also been the deputy Town moderator been chair of the master plan committee served on the board of appeals a variety of roles I have been um active for 20 years this kind of dve Tails into my my next question um so with that experience and some of the other experience but we've heard about what in your opinion makes you uniquely qualified to serve on the governor's Council I think that I bring a different perspective in particular that my focus is on making sure that everybody focuses on the needs of the individuals that are most impacted by our legal
024system when we are making decisions about who will represent us in the future um as judges clerk magistrates parle board appointees and so forth right it matters we don't have to look very far to see the way way those appointments can matter so we need judges for the future just to use judges as an example who will not just maintain the status quo but are really willing to lean into what we today know in terms of bias and and systemic racism and substance use disorder treatment as examples lean into what we now know and help move the system forward to better serve people um rather than just simply encour people okay well we're coming up on the end of our time together so I want to thank you again for joining us but before we
025uh wrap this up I do want to give you the opportunity to kind of make uh your closing arguments closing arguments your closing arguments as it were uh as to as to why folks should consider you um for Governor's Council um I don't want to make it adversarial against other candidates like this series this series is really about uh having candidates uh tell a little bit about themselves so voters can make informed decisions but we're not but it's purposely why I didn't do a round table or debate amongst the candidates because I wanted folks to be able to to talk so so I want to give you this opportunity to to talk a little bit about uh to make your case uh I really appreciate that um um I I sincerely hope that people will
026consider me um and obviously I hope they'll vote for me but what I really want that people to realize is that I hope to represent a little bit differently there's some really wonderful people who have served as Governor's Council there are some really wonderful candidates who are running in District 2 for Governor's Council um but I represent a little bit of a difference I believe in that I really want to elevate the voices of those that have been under served or or disadvantaged in the system right I want to make sure that when we are elevating people to to positions of power at every at every intersection of the of the legal system whether it's criminal law whether it's family law whether it's um work Workforce uh safety at every intersection there are people who
027are disadvantaged at every level and we can we can talk about it we can measure it we can design improvements and we can insist on progress so yes we want to present we want to protect our our rights as they exist today right women want the right to to choose for their themselves their own health care decisions yes um we want to protect lgbtqa rights we want to we want to protect everyone's rights but we also want to make sure we are really constructively interacting with the fact that the system over the last 30 years has in Massachusetts alone our incarceration rate has risen 300% in the last 30 years we can make a difference in that we can we can shift that Trend and and invest our dollars in communities and in education and
028in infrastructure ra and and in treatment rather than incarceration so I want to expand on what options exist to really constructively work with the person that's in front of you if you're a judge what what can we do constructively to hold a person accountable and make sure they are um they are supported and and best um best connected to a positive future some 90 95 98% I don't know the statistic of people who are incarcerated come back to communities we want them to come back um healthy right with with healthier Futures we want to make sure we're doing the best we can as a society to provide treatments if they're needed while people are incarcerated and make sure they're transitioned out again with services and treatment so that they can uh move forward in a
029healthy way well with that I want to thank you Miss Kramer for coming on the show uh once again uh Muriel Kramer running for Governor's Council District 2 um and when is the primary the primary is September 3rd there are four Democratic candidates and then the general election is November 5th for whatever Democratic candidate makes it through the primary they will have a republican opponent in November and Miss Kramer one more thing is there a way that folks can reach you or find out more about your campaign yeah I have a website murial kramer.com I hope you will check it out um and uh send me an email you can send me an email straight through the website um I'd love to hear your thoughts I want to know what people um what PE people
030out there that I'm hoping to represent what they prioritize for the future of the governor's Council and the work we do there miss Kramer thank you so much for joining us and thank you viewers for watching the views expressed in our governor council's candidate series thank you so much see thank you see you next time [Music]