Not shy, Nahant’s Dent full of ideas

NAHANT – Nahant resident Christopher Dent, a newcomer to the political landscape and challenger to state Democratic Sen. Thomas McGee, says his military and private-sector experience make him a suitable candidate for public office.Dent, 29, a Republican who shares a home at 30 Valley Road with his ailing mother, Stephanie, offered strong opinions on energy policy, special education, charter schools and other issues during an interview earlier this week.”We need to take a long, hard look at entitlement programs,” he said, citing the cost of Medicaid that is approaching $12 billion. “Some of the coverages that are available, the stuff that is contained in those health plans, I don’t even get at my job.”Dent said a distinction must be made between critical healthcare services and those less pressing. “When you look at entitlement, you have to separate the critical services from the ones that just make us feel good, like the MassHealth quitting-smoking assistance,” he said. “Programs like that make for good press and feel good, but when you have a jobless rate that is not going down and taxes going up, at this point a lot of people will tell you that state-funded quit-smoking services are something we could leave alone for a while and look at the bigger issues.”An only child, college educated and a U.S. Marine Corps reservist who served in Iraq in 2006, Dent hopes to take McGee’s seat representing the 3rd Essex and Middlesex District.”I was born and raised in Nahant, went to St. John’s Prep and graduated from Syracuse University in 2004 with a bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering,” he said. “I worked as a contractor for a large engineering firm, but in November 2004 I enlisted in the Marine Corps and went to Parris Island, S.C. for basic training.”Advanced infantry school in North Carolina followed, as did a six-month posting in Texas with a military intelligence unit. Dent was deployed to Iraq in 2006 and from March to October was based in Fallujah. A Marine Reserve lance corporal, he has been scheduled for discharge in November.”I’m politically in tune, and I get more savvy as the years go by,” he said. “From experience, I can tell you we need to look at the disparity in average salaries between the public and private sectors. The public salaries are considerably higher.”Dent works for GenScope in Boston, a market intelligence firm focused on the power industry.”I love the Cape Wind project. It will reduce energy costs and bring jobs to the commonwealth,” he said, referring to a government-approved private plan to erect wind turbines off Cape Cod.Dent said NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard) politics taint energy policy. “There are a lot of feel good alternative energy programs out there – solar panels, wind turbines, save the planet. Some of these wind turbines are works of art. But when it comes to installing one next to somebody’s house, they’re usually not too happy about it,” he said. Besides, “It’s dangerous to say you are going to install so many turbines before you look at the whole project. Cape Wind’s permitting process was years-long and just about every group got to comment – the Coast Guard, the native Americans, the fishermen, the recreational boaters and the people who live in that area of the Cape.”On education, Dent said Nahant residents were recently faced with a tax-override vote to pay the costs associated with a single special-needs child. “When it comes to special education, people are split. Some say too much is being spent, some say too little. The sore spot is how it’s funded,” he said. “If you provide special-education services for a single child, your cost curve is going to jump. If you have five special- needs students, the cost comes down. That’s why communities have to regionalize when it comes to providing these specialist services so that they can share the cost. That way you save money and still provide the same level of service.”Dent said charter schools have become a buzz phrase. “I’m a