Benefit Fundraiser for Doug - Hong Kong Restaraunt Wed Nov.19

From The WBUR Newsroom - City Council Candidate Out to Shake 100,000 Hands

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EARLY LIFE

Born on February 20, 1976, Doug Bennett’s ties to Massachusetts are deep. His grandfather Larry Gardner and his great uncle were orphaned in Boston at the Massachusetts State House at the ages of 3 and 5 respectively in 1920 and his mother Kathy Lee was born just outside of Boston in Winchester. .

A self described “hellion” as a youth, Bennett enlisted in the United States Military in 1994 by serving as an Army Reservist. After Basic Combat training in Ft. Jackson, South Carolina, he attended Valley Forge Military College in Wayne, Pennsylvania. He became the second highest ranked Cadet within the 850 cadet military circle. Academically, Bennett became Class Valedictorian, an honor that was also shared 55 years ago by General Norman Schwarzkopf, a former Valley Forge Cadet who was Commander of the American led Allied Forces during the first Gulf War in the Middle East. Additionally, Bennett attended Air-Assault School at Ft. Belvoir in August 1996. There at the United States Military Air Assault School, Bennett finished first in his class out of 150 soldiers graduating as the Honor Graduate.

Doug Bennett continued his education at Penn State University where he graduated cum laude from the Schreyer Honor’s College receiving two Bachelors of Arts degrees: one in History and a second in Labor Studies and Industrial Relations. Bennett also authored a 50 page thesis titled: FDR, JFK, and Ronald Reagan: Mass Media, Image, and Presidential Greatness.

THE CIVIL RIGHTS PROTEST

In his final year at Penn State, an African American student leader, Lakeisha Wolf, and several other black students began receiving numerous racist death threats. One letter specifically said that Ms. Wolf would be killed. The authors of the letter had claimed that they had already beaten and killed a black man; however, no body was ever found. The African American students were upset because the University would not provide any security for Ms. Wolf or the other students who were threatened. At the Alumni Football game, 25 students- 23 of them black- ran out onto the field during the National Anthem. They sat in the middle of the field, locking their arms together, refusing to leave in an act of civil disobedience. Everyone in the stadium began to hiss and boo. Bennett claims that all of a sudden the next thing he knew was that he had jumped the fence and ran on to the field becoming the 26th student protester. All, including Bennett, were arrested. In defiance against Penn State's Administration, university students demanded the release of the protesters. “The press had a field day,” Bennett reports. The protestors made the national news and even ESPN. A couple of days later, the black students organized a student protest where Bennett spoke in front of 10,000 students about love and tolerance.^[1][2]

PREVIOUS AND CURRENT EXPERIENCES IN GOVERNMENT

After graduating from Penn State, Doug moved to Nantucket where he was employed as a carpenter. There on Nantucket, Doug got his first taste in political experience, when he was elected both to the Board of Selectman and served as County Commissioner overseeing a municipal budget of $80,000,000. After finishing his tenure in Nantucket’s Municipal and County Governments, Doug moved to Boston to be with his wife, local Bostonian Kathleen Galligan. There in Boston, Doug began his next experience in local government when he was appointed by Superior Clerk Magistrate Maura Hennigan as the Case Specialist for the Suffolk County Criminal Trial Court System. Bennett has remained in this position with the court system ever since.

UNION

-Member of the OPEIU, Local 6 (part of the AFL-CIO)

INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS MATTHEWS

On August 21, 2007, MSNBC Chris Matthews, of "Hardball," sat down with Bennett to discuss National Politics, the 2008 Presidential Race, and the differences between both the Democrats and Republicans.^[4]

1. http://www.capecodtoday.com/blogs/index.php/Bennett/2007/10/13/bennett_throws_hardballs_at_chris_matthe_1

Personal life

Bennett married Kathleen Ann Galligan of Weston, Massachusetts in Kennebunkport, Maine on August 4, 2007 at St. Anne's Church.^[5] Kathleen is a 1991 graduate of Weston High School, a 1995 graduate of Colgate University who received a dual degree in English and Spanish, and also received a Masters Degree from Boston College in English Literature, with a concentration in Shakespeare studies. Currently, Kathleen is an Assistant Vice President for Relationship Marketing in the Global Wealth & Investment Management Division of Bank of America. She manages client relationships and marketing materials for their asset management company, Columbia Management.

As a part the Mr. and Mrs. Bennett’s Pre Cana, the couple ran the Boston Marathon together and completed it in April 2007.

PLATFORM

1. CLEANER STREETS AND SIDEWALKS

2. LESS CRIME AND VIOLENCE

3. LOWER PROPERTY TAXES

VISION FOR BOSTON

“I understand the pains that we Bostonians face today… Our living costs in the city are skyrocketing as it becomes more apparent that many of us face foreclosure on our homes in the near future and soaring rental costs. Energy costs are soaring as well as many senior citizens and working class people like myself see more and more of our paychecks going into our monthly electricity and heating bills. This is wrong and as your City Councilor, I will fight the special interests to make Boston once again affordable.

I am a man of the people and I ask for your vote to serve as your public servant on Boston’s City Council in the election next September and November of 2009.”

The Committee to Elect Doug Bennett
PO Box 960841
Boston, MA 02196
dougbennett2009@gmail.com

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