Speaker 1: It's Night Side with Dan Ray.
Speaker 2: I'm WBS Costin's video.
Speaker 3: Massachusetts is a state that has a population just under
Speaker 3: seven billion, let's call it six point seven million or
Speaker 3: six point eight million. And we have learned today because
Speaker 3: of her freedom of information request that was filed by
Speaker 3: Taunton City Council candidate City councilor Kelly Duner Dougner. She's
Speaker 3: also running for a state Senate that we have issued
Speaker 3: in Massachusetts active two point six million EBT cards. Kelly Douner.
Speaker 3: Welcome to Night Side.
Speaker 4: How are you, hi, Dan, Thank you so much for
Speaker 4: having me. I'm doing great. How are you?
Speaker 3: Yeah, Well, thank you for what you've done here. What
Speaker 3: caused you to issue this Freedom of Information Act request?
Speaker 3: And you submitted this this resist this request to the
Speaker 3: Department of Transitional Assistance in mid Septembers.
Speaker 4: I understand it right, yes, back on September seventeenth, I
Speaker 4: submitted it. I have been submitting public records requests since
Speaker 4: I believe, oh gosh, I want to say in March,
Speaker 4: we've probably submitted close to thirty if not more. Now,
Speaker 4: this all initially started back when the young female was
Speaker 4: sexually assaulted at the Rockland hotel. I had concerns with
Speaker 4: the hotel and taught and I just wanted more information
Speaker 4: on what background checks were being done and what they
Speaker 4: were finding, how they were coming up with the findings,
Speaker 4: just for safety reasons, being a young female myself. So
Speaker 4: it all kind of started back then. And then, as
Speaker 4: I'm sure you know, with the state budget operating in
Speaker 4: a deficit, the astronomical amount of money that we're spending,
Speaker 4: you know, we just decided to kind of, you know,
Speaker 4: just dig a little bit deeper. And back on September
Speaker 4: seventeenth is when we had sent that request, and we
Speaker 4: were just looking for truthfully, we were just trying to
Speaker 4: see if what kind of out of state spending was happening,
Speaker 4: or even out of country spending, like where was it in,
Speaker 4: you know, towards the destinations in Hawaii. So we were
Speaker 4: just kind of trying to get that sort of information.
Speaker 4: We sent a number of requests just looking for the transactions,
Speaker 4: where they were taking place, what the dollar amounts were
Speaker 4: that were taking place, and loan Behold, we got back
Speaker 4: the information regarding the number of EBT cards issued. So
Speaker 4: I could not believe it when I was reading the
Speaker 4: email firsthand that we went from you know, one point
Speaker 4: nine million to two point six million, which is a
Speaker 4: six hundred and seventy two thousand increase, which is just
Speaker 4: an astronomical number.
Speaker 3: What is amazing to me, and I want to focus
Speaker 3: on that number and put it in some context. So
Speaker 3: we saw some stories about a week ago, which I
Speaker 3: assume were stories that perhaps you shared with other journalists,
Speaker 3: which talked about people who were using Massachusetts' EBT cards
Speaker 3: in some far away places like Hawaii and Florida, places
Speaker 3: that I assumed that was information that you also had
Speaker 3: mined from the Department of Transitional Assistance.
Speaker 4: So called right, We've been trying to acquire that, yes,
Speaker 4: but it seems like, you know, every time we submit
Speaker 4: a new public records request, there's always some excuse as
Speaker 4: to why they don't have the information, and there's just
Speaker 4: a total lack of transparency. When I tell you, we
Speaker 4: just get pushed around from department department. Sometimes they'll make
Speaker 4: the excuse that, oh, we didn't see this email until now,
Speaker 4: and we're, you know, two three weeks into this public
Speaker 4: records for quaests. So then they you know, they deem
Speaker 4: that they're going to respond from that date that they
Speaker 4: magically found the email, not the date it was, it
Speaker 4: was sent to them and they received it.
Speaker 3: It's interesting. There's a lot a lot of you know,
Speaker 3: the political leaders on Beacon Hill talk about transparency, and
Speaker 3: it's anything but transparency. I mean, this is your tax dollars,
Speaker 3: my tax dollars that are being used. I don't mind
Speaker 3: if they're being used to help people who are truly
Speaker 3: in need. But here's here's my issue. And I'm hoping
Speaker 3: that numbers in the radio Kelly are always difficult, but
Speaker 3: I think there's about six point seven million people in Massachusetts.
Speaker 3: Is that a fairly close estimate as far as you
Speaker 3: understand that. I'm sure you've looked at that number.
Speaker 4: That's the number that I got as well.
Speaker 3: Yeah, okay, so six point seven and there are now
Speaker 3: as of September first, two point six million people with
Speaker 3: active as I read this chart active EBD cards. That's
Speaker 3: a tremendous increase from a little more than a year ago,
Speaker 3: fourteen months ago July first, twenty twenty three, it's an
Speaker 3: increase of six hundred and seventy two thousand, So it's
Speaker 3: a it's a it's a thirty at least thirty two percent,
Speaker 3: thirty three percent increase in less than a year. But
Speaker 3: here's my question, and for those who are having trouble
Speaker 3: following the numbers, how can a state with six point
Speaker 3: seven million people have two point six million people with
Speaker 3: EBT cards?
Speaker 5: Right?
Speaker 4: And just to put those numbers into perspective, you know,
Speaker 4: we don't know the dollar amounts that are on these
Speaker 4: EBT cars. But for example, say there was five hundred
Speaker 4: on each of the new cards that was issued. So
Speaker 4: I'm just talking about that six hundred and seventy two
Speaker 4: thousand dollars increase. Say there was five hundred on every card,
Speaker 4: that's upwards of three hundred million dollars of taxpayer money
Speaker 4: that you know, and believe me, I wish we could help.
Speaker 4: You know, everybody I've said that, but I am. You know,
Speaker 4: something that bothers me in particular is that I was
Speaker 4: speaking with a woman while it was out door knocking
Speaker 4: and Wareham a few weeks back, and she was homeless
Speaker 4: at the time. She was living in the house of
Speaker 4: the door that I had knocked on with her two children.
Speaker 4: It was a coworker who was letting her stay there
Speaker 4: with the kids. She worked a full time job and
Speaker 4: she could not qualify for any sort of assistant. So
Speaker 4: this is a young mother, a single mother who's working
Speaker 4: a full time job to support her children and doing
Speaker 4: everything in her power to get by and do the
Speaker 4: right thing, and she did not qualify for assistance. So,
Speaker 4: you know, that kind of made me think, there's you know,
Speaker 4: what's wrong with this, there's something wrong with the system
Speaker 4: if it's somebody and this is somebody standing right in
Speaker 4: front of me telling me this. This isn't you know
Speaker 4: a story I heard from somebody like this was firsthand.
Speaker 4: She was relaying that story to me, and right then
Speaker 4: and there, you know, you know, I've been leading the charge,
Speaker 4: i'd say, in the sense that I want to amend
Speaker 4: the right to shelter law. That has been a top
Speaker 4: priority for me. So this kind of all goes hand
Speaker 4: in hand because I have a woman in front of
Speaker 4: me who can't get any sort of assistance, Yet we're
Speaker 4: providing this assistance to. At this point, I'm not even
Speaker 4: sure who we're giving it to. Because if we're not
Speaker 4: helping a woman like that who is in dire need
Speaker 4: of assistance, then who are we giving these EBT cards to?
Speaker 4: Is my question?
Speaker 3: Yeah, that that is my problem too. If they're going
Speaker 3: to use my sack my tax money, Okay, I want
Speaker 3: to make sure it's usedly and efficiently and help people
Speaker 3: who need it. I'm not opposed to that, but I
Speaker 3: am opposed to them taking tax money from all of
Speaker 3: us and spending it in a profligate way in which
Speaker 3: they have no idea. Who are the folks with these
Speaker 3: EBT cards? This number, which again boggles my mind, that
Speaker 3: just the raw number. If we're a state of six
Speaker 3: point seven million people and two point six two point
Speaker 3: six active EBT cards are here in Massachusetts, that means that,
Speaker 3: in theory, the six point seven million are providing EBT
Speaker 3: cards for two point six Now, maybe there's some duplicates,
Speaker 3: maybe there's some fraud, whatever. I'm not so much interested
Speaker 3: in that, because the fraud would be here or there
Speaker 3: or there. But there must be something in the system
Speaker 3: which has gone amok uh, And then there must be
Speaker 3: they must be handing these e b T cards out
Speaker 3: like you know people hand out I don't know when
Speaker 3: they used to hand out packs small packages of cigarettes
Speaker 3: in downtown Boston. You want an eb T card, you
Speaker 3: want any it It's it's frightening, it's frightening. To think
Speaker 3: that this amount of money which could be used to
Speaker 3: help people now is being drained off and in a
Speaker 3: way in which the state apparently has lost control of this.
Speaker 3: This program definitely tell you what I want to do
Speaker 3: is I want to invite my callers to join the conversation.
Speaker 3: What you would you have done here is hard work.
Speaker 3: People don't realize how difficult it is to draw up
Speaker 3: a Freedom of Information Act request which is in the
Speaker 3: proper form and therefore it will be accepted by the
Speaker 3: powers that be, and then to keep waiting and waiting
Speaker 3: and waiting for some information. I must say this that
Speaker 3: the letter that you were with this information comes from
Speaker 3: Lauren Pecone. She is the general counsel according to the
Speaker 3: signature of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services,
Speaker 3: Department of Transitional Assistance. So this is not a number
Speaker 3: that you're making up. This is a number that is
Speaker 3: being provided to you by the Healey administration. And I'm
Speaker 3: assuming that someone had to have looked at this number
Speaker 3: and sent it out and realized that once it came
Speaker 3: to you, as someone who's running for state Senate, that
Speaker 3: you might want a campaign on that issue. So I
Speaker 3: assume this figure is a totally accurate figure. I know
Speaker 3: that they have sent some clarifying information which we can
Speaker 3: go through, but I want to hear from people here
Speaker 3: at Massachusetts. You're running for state Senate down in the
Speaker 3: South Coast area, open, as we would say, an open
Speaker 3: state Senate seed, a longtime Democratic and company has decided
Speaker 3: to retire, and you are Yeah. I think you told
Speaker 3: me today. You're a thirty two year old woman, a
Speaker 3: Republican who was elected to the city council for the
Speaker 3: second time. So you are a young person who obviously
Speaker 3: has been able to identify an issue of great substance here,
Speaker 3: because a state of six point seven million people cannot
Speaker 3: support two point six million people on an EBT cards
Speaker 3: on an ebt card, that just makes no sense at all.
Speaker 3: We will open up the phone lines for Kelly Doner
Speaker 3: Douner six one seven, two five four ten thirty six
Speaker 3: one seven, nine three ten thirty. Feel free to join
Speaker 3: the conversation if I have any questions, Kelly has the answers.
Speaker 3: I'm I find this story just shocking. I realized there's
Speaker 3: been an influx of people who have come into the
Speaker 3: state under the right to shelter law. I get that,
Speaker 3: so there's been an increase there, but how big and
Speaker 3: inc I mean, we've been told that it's been you know,
Speaker 3: a few thousand people, but maybe we've been misled. I'm
Speaker 3: stunned by these numbers. Just put it in your head.
Speaker 3: A state of six point nine million people now has
Speaker 3: two point six million people on EBT cards. Maybe everybody
Speaker 3: should be on an EBT card, and should we could
Speaker 3: change the state the name of the state from Massachusetts
Speaker 3: to EBT card Haven Back on Nights Out with my guest,
Speaker 3: Taunton City Councilor Kelly Doner right after this.
Speaker 2: Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World.
Speaker 6: Night Side Studios on w b Z the news Radio.
Speaker 3: My guest is Kelly Doner. She is a taunted city
Speaker 3: councilor in her second term. She is a thirty two
Speaker 3: year old woman who takes her approach to politics quite seriously,
Speaker 3: and she has filed all sorts of Freedom of Information
Speaker 3: Act requests, which is really a service to all of us, Kelly,
Speaker 3: for you to do this, and let's go to phone
Speaker 3: calls and see what people have to say. We're going
Speaker 3: to start off with Bill in Chelmstred Bill in Chelmstreet.
Speaker 3: You first, this hour with Kelly Doner, a city councilor
Speaker 3: from Taunted.
Speaker 1: Go right ahead, good evening, Dan and Kelly.
Speaker 3: How are you We're doing great? Bill? Go ahead.
Speaker 1: This kind of this kind of hits me. I live
Speaker 1: in a town that borders, you know, a per capita
Speaker 1: incomes are different from towns. But the supermarkets, you got
Speaker 1: to my eyes, have been open for now months and
Speaker 1: months and months, and I sat last week in a
Speaker 1: line with a bill in front of me, a customer
Speaker 1: in front of me that had three hundred and seventy
Speaker 1: six dollars and all kinds of and I get it,
Speaker 1: you know, this is a this is a necessary thing
Speaker 1: for us. But bill was three seventy six. It came
Speaker 1: down to sixty dollars and twenty something cent. Okay, but
Speaker 1: some of the stuff that was in there.
Speaker 3: How did that build come down from three seventy six
Speaker 3: to sixty I've heard about class I don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't know. There was no coupons, know nothing on it.
Speaker 1: So I'm not sure how the system works or what
Speaker 1: the percents are. But what caught me off guard is
Speaker 1: that the window of the supermarkets right there, I see
Speaker 1: her cashier or a bagger helped her out to the
Speaker 1: car and she gets in a late model Mercedes Benz. Now,
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know how these cards are issued,
Speaker 1: and I was I'm hoping they're issued to people that
Speaker 1: really need it. But as I sit in lines now
Speaker 1: I see it more often than not EVT cards that
Speaker 1: come out in front of me, and you can see
Speaker 1: it right on the screen because the screen faces not
Speaker 1: only the customer, but it's a big screen and I'm
Speaker 1: not looking for it all the time. But it's just
Speaker 1: parent because sometimes the lights flash and somebody has to
Speaker 1: come over and take something out or whatever it is.
Speaker 1: But I think Kelly, Kelly is definitely onto something Dan,
Speaker 1: because this is a lot bigger than I think we think.
Speaker 3: Well, first of all, let me get Kelly's response, and
Speaker 3: also I want to know, Kelly, you're down on the
Speaker 3: South coast. You're not near Chelmstron. How old are you, Bill?
Speaker 1: If I could ask, I am sixty one sixty one?
Speaker 3: Okay, so you've been around. So this is now appearing
Speaker 3: a little out of the ordinary to you. Okay, Kelly,
Speaker 3: your reaction.
Speaker 4: What Bill had to say, Yeah, So I'm gonna take
Speaker 4: it into a little bit of a different story, which
Speaker 4: is actually some information that I just found out tonight.
Speaker 4: A constituent representative, Matt Moore Tori, had reached out. He's
Speaker 4: also running for state Senate in a different district. But
Speaker 4: they had reached out because they received and eb KEY
Speaker 4: card and they were asking why they didn't understand why
Speaker 4: they received an EBT card. Come to find out, they
Speaker 4: never they never applied for this. They do not qualify
Speaker 4: for this card, but they did receive this card. And
Speaker 4: just to go a little bit deeper into that, they
Speaker 4: reached out to the same office, the Department of Transitional Assistance,
Speaker 4: asking why they received the card, and they kind of
Speaker 4: gave some sort of excuse along the lines of, oh,
Speaker 4: one of the children is receiving free lunch at the school,
Speaker 4: which was not the case, or it is the case,
Speaker 4: but the school gives free lunch to everyone. Child would
Speaker 4: not normally qualify for free lunch. That the person made
Speaker 4: that clear. So actually, I kid you not. I just
Speaker 4: found out this information probably ten minutes before I got
Speaker 4: on the air with you.
Speaker 3: Well, that is the pitch, that's much of the pitch
Speaker 3: that they should be breakfast for kids when they get
Speaker 3: to school, which is a good eye idea. Okay, and
Speaker 3: there should be free lunch for kids so that that
Speaker 3: never ever, which is a good idea, But where is
Speaker 3: the responsibility of parents and then the responsibility of the
Speaker 3: state start. And then if on top of that, you're
Speaker 3: going to say, well, if your kid gets a free lunch,
Speaker 3: irrespective of what your income is, we're going to pop
Speaker 3: an eb dcard and mail to you. Most people are
Speaker 3: going to say, thank you very much. How do I
Speaker 3: use this wonderful piece of plastic? Unbelievable?
Speaker 4: Well, and it's more, it's more unbelievable because this family
Speaker 4: they did not they would not normally qualify for school lunch,
Speaker 4: so they just happen to get it because the entire
Speaker 4: municipality gets it. However, they're not a family that would qualify. Therefore,
Speaker 4: that makes it even more concerning as to how this
Speaker 4: got sent to them.
Speaker 3: Oh absolutely absolutely. I mean, if if you have a
Speaker 3: child in school who's going to get a free breakfast,
Speaker 3: free lunch, and and and you fall in that category
Speaker 3: where you need to help, I don't have a problem
Speaker 3: with that at all. And if you decide, well we're
Speaker 3: going to give every child the free lunch, Okay, Fine,
Speaker 3: we're gonna do it that way. But then don't pile
Speaker 3: it on and start sending out free EBD cards in
Speaker 3: the mail to anyone whose kids is in that school,
Speaker 3: because you can have you know, the you could, you
Speaker 3: could have a child from a from a really poor
Speaker 3: family who should get family should get an eb T
Speaker 3: card next to the family of the school superintendent's kid,
Speaker 3: or the school principal's kid, or lawyers in town, or
Speaker 3: the children of a talk show host or a baseball player.
Speaker 3: And they don't. They don't qualify other than the fact
Speaker 3: that their child happens to be in the school that's
Speaker 3: getting free lunches. Wow, that's that's crazy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I built good than Kelly good luck. I think,
Speaker 1: really I've cat my eyes open for a while on this,
Speaker 1: but I think you're onto something pretty big. Builds not
Speaker 1: all wrong, it's not all fraught.
Speaker 3: Bill. If you have relatives or friends who are going
Speaker 3: to be voting down on the South Coast, they should
Speaker 3: be aware that Kelly's on the ballot. What's the district
Speaker 3: that you're in down there, Kelly? What communities obviously.
Speaker 4: Taunting yep, So it's the third Bristol and Plymouth, which
Speaker 4: consists of Taunton, Rainham, Carver, Middle Borrow tight in Berkeley,
Speaker 4: Wareham see konk Rahobis. It's Marion, very very large, large sect, so.
Speaker 3: You know large.
Speaker 1: I have relatives and Marion Kelley. Bill, you'll get their vote.
Speaker 3: All right, sons, great? Thanks Bill, appreciated. Kelly, we're going
Speaker 3: to take for a news at the bottom of the hour.
Speaker 3: Here we'll stick with our phone calls. The only lines
Speaker 3: that are open. There's one at six one seven, two, five, four,
Speaker 3: ten thirty and one at six one seven nine thirty.
Speaker 3: This is actually the sort of change that a state
Speaker 3: like Massachusetts needs. Let's take care of people who need
Speaker 3: the help, particularly people who live in Massachusetts and have
Speaker 3: lived here. If we then have more funds to help
Speaker 3: people who have come here recently and they need some help, great,
Speaker 3: But the last thing we want to do is be
Speaker 3: helping people. You know, I don't deserve an EBT card.
Speaker 3: I don't know what you do, Kelly, you know for
Speaker 3: a living beside a city council. But I suspect you
Speaker 3: don't deserve an EBD card. But there's enough people who
Speaker 3: if they're sent in the mail for free, they're gonna
Speaker 3: use them. We've got a night's eye with my guest,
Speaker 3: Kelly Doner, running for state Senate in the district that
Speaker 3: comprises Taunton and many other communities on the South coast.
Speaker 3: Back on Nightside after this. If you're on Night Side
Speaker 3: with Dan Ray on wz Boston's news radio, Branklin, Massachusetts, Matt,
Speaker 3: you're on with Kelly Doner, city councilor from Taunton, who's
Speaker 3: running for state Senate.
Speaker 5: Yeah. I had a question about if there's two point
Speaker 5: six million cards and there's seven million people in the state,
Speaker 5: are the children getting cards to just the adults, because
Speaker 5: then it's like multiplied to like three or four because
Speaker 5: the average households.
Speaker 3: Well, I had that exact same thought, Matt, because I
Speaker 3: don't think they're handing out EBT cards to children, although
Speaker 3: maybe they are.
Speaker 5: So it's like the whole state on welfare.
Speaker 3: Well, it begins to look that way when you look
Speaker 3: at their number.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and then it's like, no, wonder all the jobs,
Speaker 5: like everybody's hiring, because like why would you get a
Speaker 5: job if you're going to get basically free food, free
Speaker 5: discounted rent and you're like you're living large. Like if
Speaker 5: you think about like their actual there's like no responsibilities there.
Speaker 5: They get all this assistance and at the end of
Speaker 5: the day, they're going to get fed fed well better
Speaker 5: than us because they don't even have to buy stuff
Speaker 5: on sale. I mean, it really is like a public
Speaker 5: health crisis because they're just buying junk food at the store,
Speaker 5: like three hundred something dollars with well, no, no.
Speaker 3: And again. But the bottom line, here's here's my question.
Speaker 3: How old are you? If I could ask Matt, you
Speaker 3: saw like a young guy mid thirties, mid thirties. Okay,
Speaker 3: so do you have a family?
Speaker 5: Yeah? And uh, and I work make way too much
Speaker 5: money to be on welfare.
Speaker 3: How No, No, I get that. I get that. But
Speaker 3: that's okay, that's good for you. It's good for you.
Speaker 3: But do you let me ask you Okay, well, let
Speaker 3: me ask you this. Do you begrudge your some of
Speaker 3: your tax dollars going to help people who really need help,
Speaker 3: really legitimately need help.
Speaker 5: Yeah, but like again, there's two point six million people
Speaker 5: out there.
Speaker 3: I mean, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, listen to me, Matt, Matt,
Speaker 3: I think I'm asking a question and I'm not asking
Speaker 3: it well enough. There are some people who do need.
Speaker 5: Help people transitional assistance like the actual but actual transitional
Speaker 5: assistance where like they get just enough to get by
Speaker 5: to encourage them to get a job, or if they're disabled,
Speaker 5: maybe help them a little bit more. But people, we'll
Speaker 5: be driving around and use the cities bends on a
Speaker 5: high interest loan because for the hell of it, pretty
Speaker 5: much No, that's a problem though.
Speaker 3: That's what I'm saying is that whatever money we have
Speaker 3: available to help people should help people who are in
Speaker 3: need of help. That's all I'm saying. I don't mind
Speaker 3: paying my taxes is going to help someone, but I
Speaker 3: do mind.
Speaker 5: Yeah, but like, okay, my tax and we're going to
Speaker 5: put a numble on it will probably say two hundred
Speaker 5: thousand people probably actually need the help. The rest are
Speaker 5: just like free loading for generations.
Speaker 3: Well, I don't know. I just don't know. Kelly want
Speaker 3: a quick comment of what Matt has to say.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And what I find the most frustrating is that
Speaker 4: I did meet a woman who was doing all the
Speaker 4: right things, was trying to get back on her feet.
Speaker 4: She was working a full time job and trying to
Speaker 4: support two children, and she was working over time just
Speaker 4: so she could feed them and she's not qualifying for assistance.
Speaker 4: That's where I have a problem is when we have
Speaker 4: people who are doing the right things and we're not
Speaker 4: helping them take that step forward. But you know, there's
Speaker 4: a lot.
Speaker 5: Of living through the roof. You guys were just we're
Speaker 5: supporting two point six million people, at least for the
Speaker 5: people actually doing the right thing.
Speaker 3: Exactly. All right, Matt, I got pack line. So I'm
Speaker 3: going to run, But thank you, my friend. I appreciate
Speaker 3: your call. I really do hope you continue to call
Speaker 3: the program. Thank you. We're gonna go next, gonna go
Speaker 3: to Chris is in Bunstable down to the Cape. Chris,
Speaker 3: you are next on Nightside.
Speaker 7: Welcome, Thank you, good evening. Dan and Kelly. How are
Speaker 7: you tonight.
Speaker 3: We're doing great, Thanks.
Speaker 7: Excellent. Yeah, So I was just listening and heard Kelly
Speaker 7: and you lay all this out, and I just wanted
Speaker 7: to call and thank Kelly for all of her great
Speaker 7: work on this and a lot of other issues. She's
Speaker 7: working hard for our constituents already, and you know, for
Speaker 7: people all across the state. You know, I heard her
Speaker 7: mentioned Matt Murratory, one of her fellow candidates. I'm actually
Speaker 7: another Republican running in the Cape and Islands District. Chris
Speaker 7: Low's on, So you know, Kelly's really shining a light
Speaker 7: on this. It really proves the need for more Republicans
Speaker 7: in office so we can have more transparency this one
Speaker 7: party government, I mean, there's no incentive to be transparent
Speaker 7: about anything, and we're seeing things like this happening all
Speaker 7: across the state.
Speaker 3: Chris, is this your first time? Is this your first
Speaker 3: time running for state Senate?
Speaker 7: That's my second time. Actually, I actually was on with
Speaker 7: you a few months ago, Dan.
Speaker 3: I remembered, Yeah, no, I do remember. I do remember that.
Speaker 3: How old are you? You're you are you in the
Speaker 3: same age bracket as Kelly.
Speaker 7: I'm a young guy too, Yeah, I'm I'm thirty what
Speaker 7: is thirty five now?
Speaker 3: So yeah, absolutely, And and you're the Cape in the
Speaker 3: Islands district And what's that You're the Cape in the
Speaker 3: Islands District For people who.
Speaker 7: Are listening, yes, yes, sir and everyone else.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think there's an infusion of young people and
Speaker 3: people who want to see government work effectively and officially
Speaker 3: efficiently and help people who really need help. I mean
Speaker 3: that's a pretty simple platform, isn't it.
Speaker 7: Yes, absolutely. It's all about doing the right thing. And
Speaker 7: to your point, you know, there are some of these
Speaker 7: people who do need this assistance, and I think most
Speaker 7: of us don't have a problem with that. But when
Speaker 7: you see an increase like that year over year, something's
Speaker 7: going on that's not right. So we need to shine
Speaker 7: a light on that.
Speaker 3: Well appreciate it, Chris. Thanks thanks for checking in. Best
Speaker 3: of luck in your race on caeping the caping the Islands.
Speaker 7: Thank you very much, have a good night.
Speaker 3: Welcome you too. So there's a bunch of you out
Speaker 3: there running for office. That's that's good. Things shake things
Speaker 3: up a little bit. Let me go to Wendy and Hopkinton. Wendy,
Speaker 3: welcome next on nights side. You're on with my guest,
Speaker 3: Kelly Doner Doner of the Taunton City Council who's a
Speaker 3: candidate for States Senate down on the South coast. Go ahead, Wendy.
Speaker 8: Good evening to you, Dan, and to you Kelly, and yes,
Speaker 8: thank you Kelly for all you're doing. I know that
Speaker 8: public records requests can be painstaking and very frustrating. I
Speaker 8: just wanted to ask, and I only caught the tail
Speaker 8: end of the show, so I don't know what you
Speaker 8: guys discussed earlier on, but Kelly, have you thought of
Speaker 8: approaching the Attorney General's office to see if they would
Speaker 8: investigate it, maybe with in conjunction with MS picone, possibly
Speaker 8: looking into whether or not police officers in Massachusetts have
Speaker 8: had a history of encountering arrestees who have within their
Speaker 8: possession multiple EBT cards and starting there and maybe commencing
Speaker 8: an investigation into whether or not there is a history
Speaker 8: of persons in Massachusetts committing identity theft or identity fraud
Speaker 8: in order to facilitate the production of EBT cards on
Speaker 8: their behalf, resulting in persons having in their possession one.
Speaker 3: Well, that's a huge right right right now, Wendy Kelly
Speaker 3: is less than four weeks away from an election. If
Speaker 3: she gets in office, that might give her that opportunity.
Speaker 3: I think it's a great idea, But at this moment
Speaker 3: in time, I think she's she's pretty busy on this
Speaker 3: story and uh and running a campaign. Kelly wants your
Speaker 3: respond to what Wendy has to say.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, regarding this request, in particular with the
Speaker 4: EBT cards, I have actually requested that our state auditor,
Speaker 4: Diana is Auglio would do an audit, and I think
Speaker 4: it's important for for somebody to take a deep dive
Speaker 4: and to figure out where there is apparent there is
Speaker 4: a lack of oversight happening, so figuring out where that's
Speaker 4: stemming from, and you know, how we can combat it,
Speaker 4: as well as just you know, making sure at one
Speaker 4: point there were IDs with photos on the cards, So
Speaker 4: I think it's important that we get back to that,
Speaker 4: making sure that these cards have photos on them so
Speaker 4: that the people using them, you know, we can tell
Speaker 4: that that's the card that is a signed to them.
Speaker 4: So I think just having the auditor take a deep
Speaker 4: dive into this, and given the astronomical increase and the
Speaker 4: potential amount of money being spent with this, I think
Speaker 4: it's a no brainer. And I'm really hoping that the
Speaker 4: state auditor will step up and and do the audit
Speaker 4: on this program. It's desperately needed.
Speaker 8: All Right, that's a secorinary direction that sounds terrific. Thank
Speaker 8: you for doing that.
Speaker 5: I appreciate thanks.
Speaker 3: Thank you for well, thank you for calling the show. Wendy,
Speaker 3: appreciate it whole lot. Thank you much, have a great night.
Speaker 3: Thanks all right, go take a quick break. If you're
Speaker 3: on the line, We're going to get you in. I
Speaker 3: promised Mike, Annie and Charles, and we get a couple
Speaker 3: of lines that are still open and try to get
Speaker 3: as many as we can six one, seven, two, five, four, ten,
Speaker 3: thirty six one seven. My name is Dan Ray. Back
Speaker 3: with Taunton City Council of Kelly Doner right after this.
Speaker 3: Now back to Dan ray life from the Window World
Speaker 3: Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio. All right, let me
Speaker 3: go next to Charles in Maine. Charles, welcome, You're next
Speaker 3: on Nightside. We're talking about a Massachusetts problem, but I'll
Speaker 3: get you in here. Go ahead, Charles.
Speaker 9: Hey, Dan, how are you doing tonight?
Speaker 3: I'm doing fine, sir. What's I can hear? You? Find?
Speaker 9: This has been irritating me for at least a week.
Speaker 9: I go come down here for a funeral in Massachusetts,
Speaker 9: and I have a niece that lives in a house,
Speaker 9: and I say, wow, how can you afford this house? Oh,
Speaker 9: uncle Charlie, I only paid twenty six dollars a month
Speaker 9: for my place. Yet she has a boyfriend who works
Speaker 9: full time and they will not get married. Then apparently
Speaker 9: she gets somebody to help her. Ten hours a week.
Speaker 9: Guess who's helping her? My sister. So my sister is
Speaker 9: getting paid to help her dog her from the state.
Speaker 3: And wow, what is the involved in the program?
Speaker 9: You guys are not even touching it.
Speaker 3: Oh, well, you're giving You're giving ideas to the right person.
Speaker 3: Kelly Doner. Here is somebody who I think is probably
Speaker 3: taking notes. Why is your reason? Yeah, what's the reason?
Speaker 9: Well, the reason is because they all have different last
Speaker 9: names and they can't put it together.
Speaker 3: No, But what I'm saying is, what is the need
Speaker 3: that your niece has to have help? How old your niece?
Speaker 9: Well, TuS they've been playing this game for spell she's
Speaker 9: thirty four, thirty five years old.
Speaker 2: They've been playing this game forever, you know, the wealthy
Speaker 2: of game. Living with the boyfriend works. She gets in
Speaker 2: the house for twelve dollars a month. And it really
Speaker 2: last week when I came in and I went and
Speaker 2: visit her, and I'm listening to all this. I'm like,
Speaker 2: all week, I've been trying to think of what can I.
Speaker 9: Do about this?
Speaker 3: Wow?
Speaker 9: Yep, Wow, it's one and they've been doing it for
Speaker 9: thirty you know, they've been doing it for years.
Speaker 3: Kelly, your reaction.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, I think that that's probably one one
Speaker 4: of many situations happening here in Massachusetts. You know, it
Speaker 4: is abuse of the system, and it's a problem across
Speaker 4: the entire state. And I think, you know, there's no
Speaker 4: real incentive when it comes to these programs to get
Speaker 4: people off. You know, and I've talked to people firsthand there.
Speaker 4: They could be working and they work a couple extra
Speaker 4: hours so their income increases, and then the state threatens
Speaker 4: to remove their assistance completely. So there's no real incentive
Speaker 4: to do better and work a little bit hard. You know,
Speaker 4: there's no incentive to get people off of the system,
Speaker 4: and that's a problem across all of Massachusetts. I know
Speaker 4: people who have experienced that, and they're working a job
Speaker 4: where they don't necessarily make enough that we get them there,
Speaker 4: So it kind of it backs them into a corner
Speaker 4: to work less and stay on the system because we
Speaker 4: really don't have a plan to help people get off
Speaker 4: the system here in Massachusetts.
Speaker 3: Charles, thank you for that example.
Speaker 9: I think there's but I think there's a these people
Speaker 9: are doing it. It's a it's a I want to say,
Speaker 9: like a game for them, but it's it's It irritates
Speaker 9: me to think that I work so hard and that
Speaker 9: she has a beautiful home and a boyfriend that works
Speaker 9: full time and her mother sits with her ten or
Speaker 9: twenty hours a week.
Speaker 3: Wow. I'm hoping that that Kelly will get around to
Speaker 3: this at some point. This is the sort of abuse
Speaker 3: that occurs in a one party state. Charles, thank you
Speaker 3: so much for your call. I really enjoy I enjoyed talking.
Speaker 3: We hope you call again. Let me go very quickly.
Speaker 3: I'm going to try to get two in here. We're
Speaker 3: a little bit tight on time. Let me go to
Speaker 3: Danielle and Worcester. Danielle, your next one, nice, I go ahead.
Speaker 6: Hey Dan, two really quick things. One about the number
Speaker 6: of cards. So Wooster has been one of the cities
Speaker 6: before the.
Speaker 1: State.
Speaker 3: Danielle, this is a horrible connection. I don't know if
Speaker 3: you're on a cell phone or whatever. But let's see
Speaker 3: what I.
Speaker 6: Can get to another room. Is that better?
Speaker 3: Much better? Much better?
Speaker 1: Go ahead, I just moved into a different room.
Speaker 6: So Wooster was one of the three in the beginning
Speaker 6: when the free lunch and free breakfast died. There's only
Speaker 6: three cities in the state that were awarded that was
Speaker 6: like Worcester, Lowell and Springfield I think. And then they
Speaker 6: opened it up a few years ago to the state
Speaker 6: wide and so with that came summer benefits for kids
Speaker 6: that went to something like that. So the people that
Speaker 6: were getting the free lunch and Worcester would get the
Speaker 6: EBT card. So a friend of mine would get it.
Speaker 6: She barely qualified, to be honest, but it's kind of
Speaker 6: on the border. But you don't need to qualify every
Speaker 6: All kids are entire get.
Speaker 2: The free lunch.
Speaker 6: So it's just been getting free lunch for years, like
Speaker 6: a long time now. But when you get the summer benefits,
Speaker 6: when they send that out, you get a card per child.
Speaker 6: So if you have three kids, and how's you getting
Speaker 6: three cards?
Speaker 5: Wow?
Speaker 6: And then if they extend it.
Speaker 3: I'm being educated here, Kelly, were you aware of Kelly?
Speaker 3: Were you aware of that?
Speaker 4: I know, Danielle, so that there.
Speaker 6: Is going to jack that number up tenfold. And then
Speaker 6: the part about getting off to them like outside of
Speaker 6: school lunches and all of that, you know. I like
Speaker 6: the previous caller about talking well, I think it was
Speaker 6: your guest too. I was talking about incentives. As an employer.
Speaker 6: I see this all the time, you know, can you
Speaker 6: pay me only this amount on the books and this
Speaker 6: amount on the table. I'm like, no, Well, I can't
Speaker 6: lose my this or I can't lose my bad And
Speaker 6: I'm like, listen, listen, listen, you're backing up the wrong tree.
Speaker 6: I'm not helping you scam, you know. But the point
Speaker 6: is they are in like some people I do feel
Speaker 6: bad for, because it's not truly that they're out to
Speaker 6: scam the system. They're petrified of little corner thinking. Enough
Speaker 6: with the job, So you know what I mean.
Speaker 3: Danielle, again, we're losing you, Danielle. We're losing the signal. Here,
Speaker 3: do me a favorite, Danielle. Uh, you're a great call.
Speaker 3: You've always been a great call. Friends at College Hype
Speaker 3: are giving away and I will get for you a
Speaker 3: pink breast cancer awareness T shirt for College Hype. So
Speaker 3: leave all the information with Rob or Dan and we'll
Speaker 3: get that out to you. Okay, you're a regular caller
Speaker 3: and you do a great job. Thank you so much. Okay,
Speaker 3: thank you.
Speaker 5: I'll talk all right.
Speaker 3: To the callers in the line. I apologize to Mark
Speaker 3: and Stephen and Kathy. We just ran out of time. Kelly,
Speaker 3: how can folks get in touch with you or get
Speaker 3: in touch with your campaign if they want more information.
Speaker 4: Best way to get in touch with me would be
Speaker 4: my website, which is elect Kellydouner dot com. Everything in
Speaker 4: there comes directly to me and I would appreciate any
Speaker 4: help and support that I can get. Time we bring
Speaker 4: some balance back to Massachusetts and elect a senator who's
Speaker 4: actually going to represent the people in the district and
Speaker 4: the people across the state.
Speaker 3: Okay, and it's elect that's easy to spell. Kelly is
Speaker 3: k E L L Y and Douner is d O
Speaker 3: O N e er dot com. Elect Kelly Douner dot com. Kelly,
Speaker 3: thank you for this work that you've done, because it
Speaker 3: benefits not only people who you hope to represent in
Speaker 3: the state Senate down to the south coast, but it
Speaker 3: also benefits everyone in Massachusetts because this sort of abuse
Speaker 3: has to be taken out of the system, cleaned out
Speaker 3: of the system, not only for the for the taxpayers,
Speaker 3: but for the people who actually deserve benefits. They're getting
Speaker 3: fewer and less benefits because others apparently are abusing the system.
Speaker 3: You're doing great work, Kelly. Thank you so much. Thanks Dan,
Speaker 3: we'll talk soon, thank you very much. All Right, we
Speaker 3: come back. I'm going to next hour give away a
Speaker 3: matter of fact, probably well, I'm not gonna tell you when.
Speaker 3: I'm going to give away two tickets to the Tina
Speaker 3: Turner Musical. And we'll give away two tickets in the
Speaker 3: eleven o'clock hour to the Tina Turner Musical. So stay
Speaker 3: with us here at Nights that we come back. Next hour,
Speaker 3: I want to talk about Louis till Aunt, who's an
Speaker 3: incredible guy, an incredible baseball player, but an incredible human being.
Speaker 3: We'll be back on Night's side right after the ten