( Editors Note: Since mvm sat down with Francisco in the fall of 2010, he has accepted a position from Mayor Menino as Boston’s Commisioner of Veteran’s Services. )
Fit to Serve: Francisco Urena is, at this moment, veterans’ services director for the city of Lawrence. He seems to love it. But he’s also a 30-year-old Republican about whom the following is true:
Came from the Dominican Republic with his parents when he was 4. Joined the Marines one day after graduating high school. Guarded two U.S. embassies and commanded a tank in Iraq. Earned the Purple Heart for van fragments buried in his cheek. Missed exactly zero days of duty. Came home and started as an office volunteer in veterans’ services. Became boss. While working, earned associates and then bachelor’s degrees. Speaks fluent Spanish, and can get by with his Arabic and Russian. Interrupts visits with veterans’ widows to help police chase down fleeing car thief suspects while wearing a business suit (once, anyway).
Add a klieg light smile and a hunger for elected office and you’ve got yourself something out of the GOP dream factory. So when we say he’s the veterans’ services director “at this moment,” there are good and obvious reasons.
But on this early fall day at Carleen’s on South Broadway in Lawrence, the next moment hasn’t yet arrived. He’s pure brilliant future, unsullied by success or the pros who’ll get him there. It’s the rare Valley VIP conversation just before the VI happens.
MVM: So, chasing that guy down the street in ’08 — what was that about?
Francisco: (Laughs) I saw myself — it could’ve been me getting t-boned by that guy’s vehicle. And I just ran after him, thinking through as I’m running what not to do. I don’t want to tackle the guy because knowing the court system I could possibly see myself at the end of a lawsuit. So I just kept up with him. Luckily I had my phone on me and I just directed the police in the right direction.
MVM: What’s the most important thing you want people to understand about your job? Francisco: That we take care of our veterans, no matter what the situation is. To some it becomes a tedious process to go into city hall, but it’s such a rewarding thing with my office that people leave better off than when they came in. And I’m lucky to be in Massachusetts, where we have such veteran-friendly policies and programs. Every state is not as generous to veterans as Massachusetts, and it has been since the Revolutionary War.
MVM: Your own service included a busy seven months in Iraq. The injury didn’t cut that short?
Francisco: The day I received the injury I didn’t know the aspect of it. This vehicle we were engaging ended up blowing up, and I was exposed. I felt more sweat than usual, and I look up and I’m bleeding from the face. I didn’t want to leave because we had worked so hard prior to going to Iraq, and that’s the last thing on my mind — abandoning my crew, leaving them alone to man a tank with one less person. I didn’t know I had a fragment in my face until two weeks later. I thought it was swelling the whole time. I was encouraged to leave it in because a lot of nerves cross through that location, and removing it could cause some paralysis.
MVM: Having experienced the Iraq war as a Marine over there and in support of vets and their families back here, what’s your take now that combat troops are coming home?
Francisco: I don’t question it. I can only speak to when I was there, and we were doing the right thing. When we were in Iraq, the people wanted us to be there. It’s unfortunate because a lot of the things we did weren’t documented, and so often we didn’t get any credit.
MVM: Is politics the perfect fit for you that it seems to be? Francisco: I came to love politics after I came back to the city. I like the game of it, I like the sport of it, I like the process. But at the end of the day I really love helping other people and being their voice. I run across a lot of people who tell me, “My lawn is ready for your sign.” And I find I just need a little more preparation for that day.
MVM: It must’ve been tempting to run for Sue Tucker’s empty state senate seat. Francisco: I had people come to me with their checkbooks, and it was warm to have that great reception in the city, where I could break the barriers. Often Spanish people are skeptics, they feel racism still exists. Obviously with the last mayoral elections we divided the city more than it was ever divided, as far as cultures in the city, and I see things differently. I consider people good, I consider we are all part of the progress, and don’t consider myself a faction, like, “Oh, I’m Hispanic. I think assimilating is the best thing we can do as immigrants. It’s proud to know who you are and where you came from, but I think it is even more beneficial being part of the society, integrating fully. Keep your culture — nobody’s saying throw that away — but learn the language. How can you succeed educationally and business-wise when all you do is cater to your own nationality?
MVM: Do you have your eye on anything specific? Francisco: At this point I don’t have anything I’m eyeing. I’m hearing advice from some folks saying I should skip the local process, and then the other side: “Oh, you need to go from councilor up.” But the dynamics have changed, what politics was 10-15-20 years ago is not what politics have become. Politics have become a money game, where he or she who has more money is often the most successful, and that’s one of the tough things I need to approach. You put so much on the line to give it a run, and I want to run for something knowing I have a good opportunity to achieve it.
Coffee Talk – Veteran Services Director Francisco Urena
( Editors Note: Since mvm sat down with Francisco in the fall of 2010, he has accepted a position from Mayor Menino as Boston’s Commisioner of Veteran’s Services. )
Fit to Serve: Francisco Urena is, at this moment, veterans’ services director for the city of Lawrence. He seems to love it. But he’s also a 30-year-old Republican about whom the following is true:
Came from the Dominican Republic with his parents when he was 4. Joined the Marines one day after graduating high school. Guarded two U.S. embassies and commanded a tank in Iraq. Earned the Purple Heart for van fragments buried in his cheek. Missed exactly zero days of duty. Came home and started as an office volunteer in veterans’ services. Became boss. While working, earned associates and then bachelor’s degrees. Speaks fluent Spanish, and can get by with his Arabic and Russian. Interrupts visits with veterans’ widows to help police chase down fleeing car thief suspects while wearing a business suit (once, anyway).
Add a klieg light smile and a hunger for elected office and you’ve got yourself something out of the GOP dream factory. So when we say he’s the veterans’ services director “at this moment,” there are good and obvious reasons.
But on this early fall day at Carleen’s on South Broadway in Lawrence, the next moment hasn’t yet arrived. He’s pure brilliant future, unsullied by success or the pros who’ll get him there. It’s the rare Valley VIP conversation just before the VI happens.
MVM: So, chasing that guy down the street in ’08 — what was that about?
Francisco: (Laughs) I saw myself — it could’ve been me getting t-boned by that guy’s vehicle. And I just ran after him, thinking through as I’m running what not to do. I don’t want to tackle the guy because knowing the court system I could possibly see myself at the end of a lawsuit. So I just kept up with him. Luckily I had my phone on me and I just directed the police in the right direction.
MVM: What’s the most important thing you want people to understand about your job?
Francisco: That we take care of our veterans, no matter what the situation is. To some it becomes a tedious process to go into city hall, but it’s such a rewarding thing with my office that people leave better off than when they came in. And I’m lucky to be in Massachusetts, where we have such veteran-friendly policies and programs. Every state is not as generous to veterans as Massachusetts, and it has been since the Revolutionary War.
MVM: Your own service included a busy seven months in Iraq. The injury didn’t cut that short?
Francisco: The day I received the injury I didn’t know the aspect of it. This vehicle we were engaging ended up blowing up, and I was exposed. I felt more sweat than usual, and I look up and I’m bleeding from the face. I didn’t want to leave because we had worked so hard prior to going to Iraq, and that’s the last thing on my mind — abandoning my crew, leaving them alone to man a tank with one less person. I didn’t know I had a fragment in my face until two weeks later. I thought it was swelling the whole time. I was encouraged to leave it in because a lot of nerves cross through that location, and removing it could cause some paralysis.
MVM: Having experienced the Iraq war as a Marine over there and in support of vets and their families back here, what’s your take now that combat troops are coming home?
Francisco: I don’t question it. I can only speak to when I was there, and we were doing the right thing. When we were in Iraq, the people wanted us to be there. It’s unfortunate because a lot of the things we did weren’t documented, and so often we didn’t get any credit.
MVM: Is politics the perfect fit for you that it seems to be?
Francisco: I came to love politics after I came back to the city. I like the game of it, I like the sport of it, I like the process. But at the end of the day I really love helping other people and being their voice. I run across a lot of people who tell me, “My lawn is ready for your sign.” And I find I just need a little more preparation for that day.
Francisco: I had people come to me with their checkbooks, and it was warm to have that great reception in the city, where I could break the barriers. Often Spanish people are skeptics, they feel racism still exists. Obviously with the last mayoral elections we divided the city more than it was ever divided, as far as cultures in the city, and I see things differently. I consider people good, I consider we are all part of the progress, and don’t consider myself a faction, like, “Oh, I’m Hispanic. I think assimilating is the best thing we can do as immigrants. It’s proud to know who you are and where you came from, but I think it is even more beneficial being part of the society, integrating fully. Keep your culture — nobody’s saying throw that away — but learn the language. How can you succeed educationally and business-wise when all you do is cater to your own nationality?
MVM: Do you have your eye on anything specific?
Francisco: At this point I don’t have anything I’m eyeing. I’m hearing advice from some folks saying I should skip the local process, and then the other side: “Oh, you need to go from councilor up.” But the dynamics have changed, what politics was 10-15-20 years ago is not what politics have become. Politics have become a money game, where he or she who has more money is often the most successful, and that’s one of the tough things I need to approach. You put so much on the line to give it a run, and I want to run for something knowing I have a good opportunity to achieve it.