Helina Fontes
Elections and appointments
Personal
Contact
Helina Fontes (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Massachusetts Governor's Council to represent District 6. She lost in the Democratic primary on September 1, 2020.
Fontes completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Fontes was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She earned an associate degree from North Shore Community College. Fontes' professional experience includes serving as the program director of a mental health non-profit, beginning in 2015. Her organizational affiliations include the Northeast Independent Living Program, the Northeast Recovery Learning Community, Emerge, OneFamily Scholars, and Lynn United for Change.[1]
Elections
2020
See also: Massachusetts Governor's Council election, 2020
General election
Democratic primary election
Endorsements
To view Fontes' endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Helina Fontes completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Fontes' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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As a first-time candidate, my decision to run was inspired by my own personal lived experiences with the MA judicial system as a family member, my work as a mental health recovery program administrator and community organizer. As a woman of color, I have seen first-hand the devastating impacts that incarceration has on families and communities. As a mother, I have had to endure the pain of the incarceration of my own son. As a program director, I have seen individuals in mental health distress sent to jails and prisons who would have been more appropriately served by community based mental health treatment programs. I am running because I wish to add racial, occupational and socio- economic diversity to a council where there currently is none. I am running to ensure that the men and women appointed to serve in our courtrooms and on our parole board are representative of the communities they're serving in, understand the unique challenges of those communities and have demonstrated a personal commitment to jail/prison diversion and community integration.
- Examine judicial and parole nominees with a more holistic criterion that includes examining for implicit biases
- Take a stand for diversity by prioritizing votes for individuals representative of the communities they're appointed to and those who understand the unique challenges of those communities
- Provide more transparency around the judicial and parole board nominating process and keep the public engaged and informed on individuals up for vote
The governor's council of Massachusetts is a unique avenue through which the citizens of the commonwealth can lend their voice to representatives who will act on their behalf in the crucial approval of state judges, parole boards, and supervisory committees that work to ensure justice and safety. This civilian oversight of the governor's judicial selections allows for the people of Massachusetts to have a say in who sits on the bench in criminal court proceedings and dispenses justice. As such, one could take for granted the notion that such a representative body would be representative of the state in terms of such considerations of diversity as race, gender, class, and professional background. But as of now, this is not the case, and it is one of the reasons why I am seeking the office.
The person I look up to the most is Maya Angelo because through poetry she addressed some of our nation's most difficult issues, and did so beautifully.
The characteristics I believe to be the most important of any elected official are an ability to listen and learn from their constituents and those who embrace their roles as public servants and agents for positive change.
The qualities I possess that would make me the most successful are my background as a mental health professional and my lived experience as both a family member and as a woman of color.
The Governor's Council is an eight-member elected body responsible for vetting and approving the commonwealth's justice, clerk and parole board nominees. The council plays a key role in shaping the quality of our justice system, serving as the only real check and balance on the Governor's appointment power. With full autonomy to screen and vote as they so choose, the council has a unique opportunity to evaluate the character and values of nominees to ensure that no harmful implicit biases exist that perpetuate racial and socio-economic inequalities and the cycle of mass incarceration. The same judges who have the power to incarcerate also possess the power and opportunity to connect people to helpful community resources, that in cases yields greater results.
In addition, I believe that a seat on the council provides many opportunities to advocate for underrepresented and marginalized groups with the governor and other council members. For there to be a full understanding of the impacts of incarceration, and shift people's thinking, there must be someone in this space bringing these matters to the table. As a minority woman, and mother of the formally incarcerated, I intend to use my platform in order to start these difficult conversations and create awareness, based on my lived and professional experience.
The legacy I'd like to leave behind is that as a result of my candidacy the Massachusetts Governor's Council became more diversified and reflective of all of Massachusetts' populations and that more people began seeing the significance of and paying attention to this very important office.
The terrorist attacks of 9/11. These attacks happened the day after my 21st birthday, exactly one week after I had taken my first trip to NYC and visited the Manhattan area.
I got my first job at the age of 15 selling Boston Herald newspapers at a Dunkin Donuts in Quincy, MA. I had that job for about six months.
The fictional character I admire the most is Disney's Mulan.
One of my greatest struggles has been experiencing and observing the devastating impacts of all the disparities in the Commonwealth's criminal justice system.
The most important responsibility I consider of the office is the power it yields in seeing who does and does not become a judge in Massachusetts. These responsibilities also apply to some other very important positions and actions, such as parole boards and the approval of commutations and pardons.
Significantly, the power to approve judges also comes with having the ability to require the governor to produce more nominees. Given how few judges in Massachusetts are people of color or represent the broad class diversity of the commonwealth, this function of the governor's council is an underutilized, but very important aspect of the position, and one that I intend to use to the utmost of my abilities if elected.
While it is beneficial for members of the governor's council to be knowledgeable about the justice system and civics in general, I do not believe it is essential for office holders to have prior experience in government or politics. That said, I do believe it is important for members of the governor's council to represent different aspects of society that relate to the types of situations one would find in a court of law. For example, while the current composition of the governor's council is dominated by former district attorneys, assistant district attorneys, and lawyers currently in private practice, there are no members of the council with a background in mental health policy or education. I believe that in order for the commonwealth to have a criminal justice system that is willing to entertain solutions other than imprisonment, it is crucial that those approving judicial nominations represent a professional background that includes alternatives to the courtroom and the prison system.
The ability to listen, empathize, and engage in meaningful and critical dialogue is essential to this office. It is crucial that members of the council are able to additionally consider the wide scope of how justice impacts their community, with a variety of experiences across different parts of the commonwealth and a range of backgrounds that they can bring to the table when discussing, interviewing, and approving candidates, and when engaging with the governor on how best to serve the commonwealth through his nominations and judicial actions.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
External links
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on August 10, 2020
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
