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Date: 10/26/2017
EAST LONGMEADOW – The East Longmeadow Town Council has a new member who has extensive experience in the corporate world, as well as on the municipal level.
Thomas O’Connor has been a resident of East Longmeadow for the last 12 years, along with his wife and son. His son attended Birchland Park Middle School as well as graduated from East Longmeadow High School.
O’Connor has had past experience working for Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies, which he believes have prepared him for his new position on the Town Council.
“I started my corporate career at Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Co. and continued in the insurance field after they merged with MassMutual Life Insurance Company in 1995,” O’Connor said. “I served in many roles, but my main responsibilities were records, archives, information management and compliance. I enjoyed the investigation and research aspects of the archives and compliance role.”
After a 33-year career in corporate life, O’Connor was ready for retirement and to move on to new opportunities. Since 2006, he’s served in various positions within East Longmeadow including the Charter Commission, as chair of the Capital Planning Committee, an animal control officer, a member of the election commission, as well as a document-imaging consultant.
“My strong desire to serve my community combined with my retirement afforded me the opportunity to become involved in many committees that were looking for volunteers. I opted to serve on the committees for which the town could most benefit from my knowledge and expertise,” O’Connor said.
O’Connor noted that during his time on these boards and committee’s, he began to notice flaws within the government.
“Having previously served on numerous committees and as a stipend employee of the town, I started to detect weaknesses within the longstanding form of town government: a Board of Selectmen, and many independent elected boards and appointed committees. With this in mind, I worked with a group of dedicated residents to put forth a ballot question asking voters to support a change in our form of government, which passed,” O’Connor said.
With his versatile background and extensive leadership skills, O’Connor is ready to bring his experience to the Town Council table to identify places where improvement is needed. In his spare time, O’Connor enjoys golfing and enjoying the outdoors.