Get to know John Gaskey

John Gaskey, a Republican from Carver, won the House Representative seat for the 2nd Plymouth District in the general election on Nov. 5, 2024 and will soon take office to represent Wareham, Carver and Middleboro in the Massachusetts State Legislature.

A father of two, Gaskey, who served 23 years in the Coast Guard and later worked in the private sector as an engineer, defeated Democratic write-in challenger Sarah Hewins. The seat was previously held by the recently deceased Susan Williams Gifford.

Originally from El Paso, Texas, Gaskey moved to Carver in 2017 for work where he joined the Carver Planning Board and coached flag and tackle football. Ahead of the beginning of his two year term, Wareham Week reporter Bobby Grady sat down with him to get to know who the new 2nd Plymouth District State Representative is and what he plans to do for the district.

Q: What are you looking to accomplish/set in motion during your first few months?

A: I really want to start building relationships and working on expanding Republican seats in the house. There's a few things that I hope we can get done especially in regards to immigration and protecting religious exemptions.

Q: How do you plan on building relationships?

A: It all comes down to getting to know people and being able to show that they're not extreme positions we're looking to take and we're really looking to do what's best for people.

Q: What are you looking to accomplish in terms of immigration

A: The biggest thing is to support President Trump's initiative to start with getting the criminal element out of our country. I'd like to get everyone on board with detaining criminals for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement so that they could be deported and sent back to their homes.

Q: How can people expect to reach you?

A: We're trying to figure that out right now. Folks that I've talked to have recommended setting up an office in one of the town halls and holding office hours there. I have to sit down with the select boards of Carver or Wareham because the Middleboro Town Hall is in a different district.

Q: What is something most people don't know about you?

A: I love video games. Halo is my favorite and it's the reason I got an Xbox. I think I've played all of them including the offshoots.

Q: How do you expect your life to change?

A: It's going to be a tough balancing act. I rely on my wife to keep me grounded and focused and I know that there's going to be a lot of demands back and forth. I have an assistant picked out and we're getting all that stuff finalized and she's going to help me with scheduling and making public appearances.

Q: What are the most important values to you that you're taking into office with you?

A: It starts with listening to my constituents and they are going to steer the conversation. What's important to them is what I'm going to push for on Beacon Hill. There's a lot of things that are controlled by local governments and I'm a firm believer in home rule.

Q: What are your thought on the MBTA Communities law?

A: That should be a local decision when it comes to the zoning. Local Planning Boards and the townsfolk have to vote on setting the zoning. In Carver as well as Middleboro, it's pretty much an unworkable situation. I've talked to a few people that are okay with it and I've talked to many people that are against it.

Having been on the planning board in Carver and having gone through Town Meeting and been on zoning committees trying to come up with good policies, it seems that most of the time the state is saying you're going to do it our way or else and that is one of the factors that drove me to do this. Just because something works in Boston doesn't mean it's going to work everywhere else.

Q: How do you plan to try and regulate accessory dwelling units once the law goes into effect Feb. 2?

A: My biggest concern is accessory dwelling units could mean we're looking at a 50% to 75% population increase. You're basically allowing every lot in town to put an apartment on it and rent it out. That could have a tremendous impact on the number of people living in the area and negatively impacting the resources of the towns.

If the state stays out of it and allows towns to say 'we'll allow the accessory dwelling units but they should be for generational use.' I think that's a good way to build community but for it to be something where a developer comes in, buying up the lots, throwing up houses and accessory dwelling units and just making them rental properties is wrong.

Q: What impact do you see the removal of MCAS as a graduation requirement having?

A: I struggle with this because I see our education system failing our kids right now. We've got people not just in Massachusetts but in the whole country with reading and math skills in a rapid decline. Kids are not being held back and they're not being held accountable to make the grades and move forward. Previously if you weren't up to grade level they held you back and most people that I knew that it happened to them learned a lesson and didn't do it again.

When I'm looking at results, it kind of feels like we're doing it all wrong and to remove requirements to pass and to have nothing in place to replace it, does feel like we're giving up.

Q: With solar energy being a popular renewable energy source in the district, what are your thoughts on it?

A: My feeling is that we're doing everything wrong. The idea that solar and wind is the be all end all on a grand scale is wrong. I think solar is great on a small scale for a house or small building but I don't think the government is serious enough about it. The state has made the decision that this is how it had to be and they're not looking at everything right now. The state is destroying the ecology and ripping down forests in the name of green energy and saying it's a net positive.
There are cleaner ways to get energy, natural gas is actually quite clean and I know everybody likes to think about the carbon footprint but we're all carbon based. I'm not anti-clean energy, I just don't like the state putting it's thumb down on the scale saying this is the only option.

Q: What are the long term goals you are looking to accomplish?

A: I'm going to be working with others to expand the conservative base in Massachusetts as well as shrink the state governance to get the state back to a more local governance.