Born into a family with generations of history in Falmouth and south Boston, civil service was always in Thomas Moakley’s blood. 

“A lot of it comes from my family,” said Mr. Moakley, the Falmouth attorney who was elected as the Vineyard’s new state representative earlier this month. “My mom and grandmother were active in some of the nonprofits [in Falmouth] and my great uncle was in Congress and someone who eventually did a lot of good for his district. He also led a congressional investigation that led to the U.S. cutting off its funding of its military in El Salvador.” 

Mr. Moakley will be sworn in to his new position in January, taking the mantle from Dylan Fernandes to also represent Nantucket, Gosnold and parts of Falmouth at the State House. 

Born and raised in Falmouth, Mr. Moakley served as an assistant district attorney in the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office, prosecuting criminal cases here on the Vineyard. 

The path from prosecutor to politician wasn’t the one he initially saw himself on after college. He was interested in being a diplomat after graduating from Georgetown University’s school of foreign service. But due to a hiring freeze at the U.S. State Department and family obligations, he came back to Massachusetts to study law at Suffolk University, taking classes in the evenings while working at the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. 

“I was just looking for a job in public service by Suffolk to make ends meet and I ended up working at the Suffolk D.A. office,” he said. “That was really appealing, especially doing it in my home area.” 

Mr. Moakley ran unopposed at the general election, but faced off against Islander Arielle Faria in the September Democratic primary. Now officially elected, he is eager to get to work on Beacon Hill. 

“It’s been great post-election that a lot of the ideas and campaigns can start to become much more specific and that comes along with learning more from people who are doing the actual work in the community and who have worked with [current representative] Dylan and his office so I can learn what he did effectively and build off that for the future,” Mr. Moakley said.  

A key issue for him is affordable housing and he hopes to delve deeper into the new seasonal community designation approved for the Island by the legislature this year. 

Part of a massive housing bill passed in August, the designation allows the Island to use housing trust fund money for a broader range of incomes, put public funds towards municipal employee housing and adopt zoning for so-called tiny homes. 

“I’ve already been working a lot with Island housing advocates for Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard,” he said. “Laura Silber has been an enormous resource and learning about the needs and realities of current law and how we can update them to better mesh with the community land trust models that’s already on the Island.[Sen.] Julian Cyr has already been a great mentor already in terms of what he expects to be coming up to the legislature next year.” 

For Mr. Moakley, ensuring that his fellow representatives understand the struggles his constituents face is essential. 

“Building and maintaining relationships is going to be a major skill because so many people in positions of power in Boston have one perception of the Island and I think it is my responsibility to lift that veil of paradise,” he said. 

One of these issues is ensuring the Vineyard gets the funding it deserves in the courts. 

“Given that unique background of having served as a prosecutor and working on the Island itself is just recognizing how our court system has not been adequately funded compared to other parts of the state, which have the same year-round population but don’t include the increase in the summer population,” he said. “[I want to] try and fight for more equitable funding for the court system, housing court and land court.” 

Mr. Moakley also hopes his former role will aid him as a representative, specifically in constructing important relationships. 

“It was a dream job because you build these relationships with the entire court staff, the judge, the defense attorneys, the state police and it’s a role where you’re making the relationships and making sure that everyone has all the information and knowing what everyone’s goals are and then coming to a fair and efficient resolution [for] every case,” he said. “It’s not that far off from a role as a legislator.” 

Above all, Mr. Moakley aims to be an approachable presence in the community. 

“I want to be the person that people know and feel comfortable asking for help and if I’m not able to, then making sure I figure out who can help them,” he said.