Sisk Wants To Be an Independent Voice in the State House

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Braintree, Randolph and Holbrook
Sisk Wants To Be an Independent Voice in the State House

A native of Braintree, Matt Sisk would like to serve his community by becoming the State representative from the Fifth Norfolk District. A veteran campaigner at a relatively young age, Sisk most recently worked as Policy Director for Chuck McCarthy's recent run for U.S. Congress. He also managed the State Senate campaign of Christopher LoConto. A graduate of Assumption College, Sisk was instrumental in creating the first-ever College Republican organization on that campus.

Sisk's kick-off event was well attended, with more than 100 people packing into the Braintree Elks Club to hear Sisk promise, among other things, that if elected he would "never vote to raise taxes." Mounting an aggressive campaign, Sisk had already knocked on 1700 doors, by his estimate, in early March when we caught up with him

The seat, which serves Braintree and parts of Randolph and Holbrook, became vacant when State Representative Joseph Sullivan (D-Braintree) was appointed to head the state lottery commission. The special election will be held May 13.

MassNews: Education is always a big issue on Beacon Hill. What's your view on vouchers and charter schools?

Sisk: I think all educational issues are about local control. This is the view I take as a member of the Blue Hills Regional School District School Committee. Frankly I don't know how much either of these two issues impacts my district. We do have charter schools in the district, but as I talk to people, these are not issues they want to discuss. What they're really interested in is the overall budget and how much of it is coming back into the district for local aid and the schools.

MassNews: Okay, then what's your view of the state Representative's role in allocating the state budget?

Sisk: It's my concern that Braintree, Randolph and Holbrook get their fair share of the aid that's available for the education process. I think that's always part of the State Rep's job. The local communities should not have to layoff teachers, firefighters, EMTs and police personnel, when there is so much waste in government spending. Maybe some state and local leaders shouldn't be getting a raise this year. I know that working in the private sector, I haven't had a raise in two years. That's what it's like, sometimes, working within a budget.

Sisk: I'm interested in reforming government. There's a ton of waste in the state budget. At the same time there are people who truly need help. To some people, I may sound like a Democrat saying that, but I emphasize the word, "truly." Government exists to serve the people. If you'll excuse the cliché, we still need to be able to give people a hand up, not a hand out.

MassNews: Are you in agreement with the way Governor Romney has been going about the budget process?

Sisk: The governor and I share a political affiliation and I agree with a lot that he stands for and what he has been doing. This doesn't mean that we walk in lockstep, but especially on fiscal issues, I'm in agreement with him. I agree with him that we need more than what the "business-as-usual" crowd on Beacon Hill wants to give us in the way of reform of the budget and the whole governmental process. Everyone has to learn to live within a budget. None of my potential Democrat opponents are interested in making hard decisions. It's easier simply to raise taxes all the time. Government was set up to meet the basic needs of the people. We're not making that happen right now.

MassNews: Moving on to another issue, what do you think about private ownership of guns?

Sisk: Let me preface my answer by telling you that I've been a member of the Braintree Rifle and Pistol Club since I was 11. I've always believed that there were good reasons the Founding Fathers made legal ownership of guns the Second Amendment. It's an important right of a free people. I'm not interested, certainly, in passing more gun laws. Most of the restrictive gun legislation we've seen in the past few decades has basically been "feel good" legislation. It doesn't really serve any purpose. What we need to do is enforce the laws that are on the books already. Gun ownership is about common sense. Guns are tools and they need to be used responsibly. That's how I treat them and that's how others should treat them.

MassNews: You've been referred to as a "pro-life" candidate. What does that mean?

Sisk: I believe that all human life is sacred. I do have some exceptions, however. I would make exceptions in the case of rape or incest - or if the mother's life is threatened. I know that there are divisions in pro-life circles about these things and that some would not consider me pro-life because of my exceptions. But those are my personal beliefs. I would not make pro-life matters an issue as a legislator.

MassNews: Would you vote in favor of a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman?

Sisk: I would support that. If I had been a legislator at the time, I certainly would have voted to allow that amendment on the ballot. That vote outraged me. It was another good example of the way things are tyrannical up on the hill. Those people worked hard getting the right number of signatures and going through the process properly. What's the point of having the process if the legislators are not responsive and just dismiss the wishes of the people? They did the same thing with the tax rollback. They need to remember that legislators are there not to be served, but to serve the public.

Sisk: Budget. Budget. Budget. This is the biggest issue that will be faced by the next representative from this district. We need to start making priorities in spending. People want to know, is the next representative going to be with the Speaker and his cronies, or is he going to work with the Governor on behalf of the people. The people of this district and this state are fed up with the "business-as-usual" attitude. It's impacting every area of their lives - negatively.

Sisk: They're all looking for the quick fix. The quick fix is the old Democrat standby, raise taxes. Here in this district, we've got a debt exclusion vote coming up and a Prop 2 ½ override. These funds aren't scheduled for capital improvements. They're to bridge funding gaps. What that means is somebody made a mistake. This is all people in the district want to talk about as I go door to door. I've knocked on 1700 doors so far. They all want to talk about budget and taxes.

MassNews: Why should people make Matt Sisk the next representative of the Fifth Norfolk District?

Sisk: Whoever my opponent is, if they win, they'll just be one more Democrat working for the Speaker of the House. I can be an independent voice. The Speaker doesn't expect me to vote with him. And I'll have an open door to the Governor's office.