« Candidate Donoghue on NewsTalk Live Tonight | Main | CITY SAVES $1.2 M ON TEACHERS INSURANCE, HIRES »

May 11, 2007

Donoghue: I’ll win on leadership

Fifth District Congressional candidate Eileen Donoghue touted her leadership abilities last night, saying her experience in local government and with regional partners will convince voters to send her to Washington.
Donoghue, a veteran Lowell city councilor who has served two terms as mayor, delivered her comments on NewsTalk Live, The Sun’s weekly call-in show hosted by Editor Jim Campanini.
Donoghue is among five Democratic candidates seeking to replace U.S. Rep. Marty Meehan who is stepping down in July to become chancellor at UMass Lowell.
In the hour long interview, Donoghue said she believes people want someone representing them who will “fight” for their interests on jobs, education, health care, and the environment. She said she’s the most experienced candidate in the race, having dealt with many of those same issues during her 12 years on Lowell’s City Council.
“When people see my record, they see a big difference from the other candidates,” said Donoghue.
She stressed her work on building public-private partnerships that are credited with reviving Lowell’s economic development and contributed to Lowell’s renaissance. “I haven’t done it alone,” she said, “but I’ve been in the fight.”
She added that Lowell’s team approach has become a model for other Massachusetts communities and said she believes a similar approach can work in the nation’s capital.
A practicing attorney, Donoghue was born in Holyoke and has seven siblings. She spoke of her upbringing in a mill town that suffered through financial hardships when the paper mills moved out. Her father, she said, worked three jobs to support his children’s educational pursuits. “I received my work ethic from my parents at a very early age,” she said, “and I’m very proud of that fact.”
She said she values education and understands what it means to give all children the opportunities to succeed. “We must do better (on education) and it is one of my priorities when I go to Washington to get the necessary funding to support the No Child Left Behind Act. All our cities and towns are struggling to meet the obligations of these unfunded mandates.”
Donoghue took several questions from callers, including one from the wife of a U.S. Army veteran concerned about declining funding for medical needs. She said the war in Iraq is draining funds for essential needs across America and she will work to bring the troops home.
Donoghue said she will see to it that veterans of all wars, past and present, get the benefits they deserve. “These are the people paying the ultimate sacrifice for our nation. We can’t forget that.”
A full audio broadcast of the interview can be heard at www.lowellsun.com/suntalk.

Posted by JimC at May 11, 2007 9:58 AM