I asked Jesus how I could help. I got involved first as a board member and then as the treasurer. Finally I became president and executive director. That position was everything. I was doing everything. The board that I had at the beginning was a very active board.

When we reached out for new board members, we said, ‘This is not a board where you go once per month and sit and listen to financial information.’ I think I was lucky at that time that most of the board members were very active. And we had a very strong group of volunteers who helped us. At the beginning, we didn’t have any employees until we were able to hire our first part-time employee. And then when I left the chamber, we already had two part-time employees. We had a strong foundation. We set everything up for the executive director. We had money in the bank. We put together the job description.”

Arata-Fratta left the Latino Chamber to run for a Fitchburg alder seat

“I was approached by Mayor Shawn Pfaff,” Arata-Fratta recalled. “He said that they had a vacancy on the council. ‘I think you would be a good fit.’ I said, ‘I don’t know anything about politics.’ He said, ‘It’s the same thing you are doing with the Chamber.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ I was looking at the composition of the council and I didn’t see too many women and I didn’t see any Latinos outside of Jason Gonzalez. And people didn’t have my background, accounting. I said okay. It was an opportunity for me to transition my role from the Chamber to the Fitchburg community.”

Her first run for public office wasn’t a cake walk. She survived the primary, a competition between three people and then won out in the April general election. It’s a bit of common wisdom that when one first joins a decision-making body, that one gets the lay of the land before opening one’s mouth. Arata-Fratta adhered to that wisdom.

“When you are in office, you don’t have preparation on how to put together solutions, how to budget, how to create a capital improvement plan, and how to read some of the more technical stuff,” Arata-Fratta said. “The first time was a learning experience. And then I felt more comfortable my second term. In my second term, I was able to bring ideas on projects. And then I needed to run again because I wanted my project to move forward. I am the champion for the project and so, if I am not here, it might not happen. So I ran for re-election. And then I had more projects in the pipeline. And then when you have more seniority, you are the chair of some of the commissions. I liked doing that. And then last year by this time, I had to make a decision because I could run for another full term.”

Just as she had done at the Latino Chamber, Arata-Fratta had rolled up her sleeves and got to know —  through participation — the inner workings of Fitchburg government. As the election for her fifth term drew near, Arata-Fratta had a decision to make. Should she rum for re-election as an alder or should she run for mayor, for which she was well-prepared.

“I thought, ‘I’m going to go for mayor,” Arata-Fratta recalled. “If I lose, I lose everything.’ It was a good time. My kids were grown. I talked to my employer. My employer was fine with it. It seemed like all of the stars aligned and this was the time to do it. I never wanted to regret it. I didn’t want to look back and say, ‘Oh,  why didn’t I do it?’ As a Latino, as a woman, representing 16 percent of the population that lives here in Fitchburg and also to me a role model for all of the young Latinas who may someday run for office, I could do it. One day,  I decided to run. I felt very much at peace and comfortable. And then I planned my campaign.”

It seemed as if Arata-Fratta’s mayoral opponent had everything going for him. He was retired and started campaigning full time 6-7 months out from the election. He had many stalwarts of the Democratic Party endorsing and supporting him even though the party tended not to get involved in races where both candidates are Democratic. He was able to raise enough money to do TV commercials. Arata-Fratta had gone to Argentina to visit family over the holidays, so she wasn’t able to campaign in earnest until January. She still had to be involved in her kids’ lives and the first four months of the year are the busiest for accountants.

But what Arata-Fratta had was a keen awareness on how to build a campaign team and her eight years of work on behalf of the city.

“I had a great team of volunteers who believed in me and supported me,” Arata-Fratta said. “And I hired a campaign manager. She was excellent. I had an IT person and a graphic designer. I was able to set my budget and collect all of the money that I needed for my campaign.”

Julia Arata-Fratta won on April 4, 2023.

Next Issue: Fitchburg’s Challenges and Opportunities