Dan Hunt has spent his career working on behalf of the people of Massachusetts, with a focus on the Dorchester neighborhood where he grew up and still lives today. An attorney experienced in public policy and the legislative process, Dan has been to every corner of the Commonwealth advocating for parks, implementing economic development initiatives, and strategizing with local groups and civic leaders to improve our quality of life.
Dan Hunt is the product of Boston Public Schools and a graduate of Boston Latin Academy. But he knows that not all children will go to an exam school or have the same options Dan did growing up. It’s why he’ll work to ensure that every child in the district and across the Commonwealth has access to a quality education that provides them with the building blocks to succeed later in life. Dan will bring these opportunities to all our resident by:
o Making sure that every community has a good school - an essential anchor to a strong and successful community - so parents have close to home options for their children. Expanding access to quality neighborhood schools, will help our children thrive and build stronger communities.
o Expanding funding for Pre-K and early education so our children are prepared for their first day of kindergarten.
o Working to expand options both in school and through afterschool programs in order to fill that day with art, music and extra curricular opportunities that help keep our children excited about school and attentive throughout the day.
o Giving teachers the fundamental resources they need - from fair pay, to ample lesson planning time, to the basic classroom resources (books, supplies, computers and other technology).
o Making sure that special education students have the tools they need to succeed and thrive in school and as a part of the community.
Dan has seen firsthand what a good paying job can do for friends and family - allowing them to build a home and family and make a living. Standing up for working, middle-class families is a core value to Dan and he’ll work vigorously to expand economic opportunity for our residents by:
Advocating for labor agreements in state and private business to ensure that well trained local labor is utilized in construction projects.
Protecting working class families by increasing the minimum wage and opposing any cuts to unemployment insurance or efforts to undermine worker rights.
o Focusing on small business development and uniting business districts. Growing just one or two jobs in our existing small businesses could translate to millions of dollars in our local economy.
Recapitalizing small business loan funds and create a bridge to banking loans for non-traditional businesses that would not be able to receive existing funding.
Dan believes that for our communities to continue to be a great place to raise a family, we need to have a basic sense of security as we live our daily lives. Dan will work to keep our streets safe by:
Funding for community policing for Boston and Quincy Police Departments to enable neighborhood patrols and reduce violence and property crimes.
Ensuring that our public safety officials have the latest training, equipment, and technology to help them do their jobs.
Working to secure funding for dedicated patrols for the State Police in our state parks and beaches.
Working with state and local public safety and social agencies to have an integrated approach to providing support to our youth before they are lost to addiction and a life of crime. This includes programs in our schools and communities as well a more thoughtful reentry program. The State spends more than $45,000 to house inmates on only $16,000 a year on educating our children.
Pushing for extended day learning programs and increased athletic opportunities for our young people, especially young girls. This is critical to keeping kids off the street and on the right track.
For years, Dan has worked to help bring funding for local parks and green spaces as the government affairs director at the Department of Conservation and Recreation. Open space is important for every strong community and Dan will work to protect our parks and advocate for greater green spaces by:
- Making sure our parks are clean and safe, so they can be enjoyed by all of our residents.
- Fighting for a greater allocation of funding for open spaces in urban areas and in our state park system.
- Ensuring options for Dogs, from off-leash dog runs, to ensuring that owners walking their dogs have access to bags and trash receptacles.
- Seeing through the completion of the new parks and trails along the Neponset River Greenway.
For most families, our roads and public transportation are essential in getting to and from work and taking care of our families. Dan Hunt is invested in ensuring that our communities have a first class transportation system that reflects the strength of our city. He’ll help do this by:
- Ensuring that the MBTA trains and buses run efficiently and often so that more residents choose to take the T and traffic congestion is relieved.
- Making sure that the T, our buses, and the Ride continue to be affordable for the communities they serve.
- Working to make the MBTA more efficient by providing the proper investments in train and system upgrades.
- Supporting funding for essential upgrades to our roads and public ways, while restoring the look and feel of our historic parkways and boulevards.
Dan Hunt believes that a healthy community is a strong community. Our children can’t be expected to succeed in school if they aren’t physically healthy and we can’t expect all of our families to succeed without having resources available to our most vulnerable residents dealing with addiction and mental health. Dan will work to ensure that all of our families are healthy by:
- Fighting for quality, affordable health care options for all our residents and preserving current benefits for our seniors on fixed incomes.
- Working to ensure that Carney Hospital and our Community Health Centers continue to be anchors in our community.
- Ensuring that at-risk youth and families that are struggling with addiction or mental illness get the intervention they need through state and community based programs.
It is an essential duty of every great community to support and take care of those that helped make it what it is today. Dan will fight for our most elder residents by:
- Supporting personal care attendants and other programs that help our seniors age in place.
- Continuing funding for adult day institutes and local activities that allow our seniors to stay active and connected to the community.
- Ensuring that our elders on a fixed income aren’t priced out of the communities that they helped build.
Dan believes that in order to keep the 13th Suffolk District a place where families can continue to contribute to the quality of our neighborhoods, there needs to be realistic housing options for all of our families. In order to ensure that our seniors, long-time residents, young families and new residents all have a place to contribute to our great communities, we need to increase the overall housing stock numbers. Dan will work for responsible development that keeps prices reasonable and keeps the character of our community by:
- Advocating for thoughtful expansion of the housing stock that fits into the existing framework of our neighborhoods to create a true range of pricing options for our families.
- Connecting first time homebuyers with loans while limiting broker fees (5% of closing costs could go toward a down payment) and closing costs (Mortgage fees and commissions baked into a loan).
- Working with property owners to increase local housing stock that maintains the value of our neighborhoods. The region has one of the highest levels of young residents, but is quickly dropping as families move to other areas with more affordable pricing options.