Sen. Scott Brown speaks with Republican Town Committee

Date: 3/30/2009

By Courtney Llewellyn

Reminder Assistant Editor



EAST LONGMEADOW -- The man who may or may not have his eyes on Sen. Ted Kennedy's seat visited East Longmeadow on March 21 to speak to the Republican Town Committee (RTC).

State Sen. Scott Brown, R - Wrentham, along with Barney Keller, spokesperson for the Massachusetts GOP, spoke with members of both the East Longmeadow RTC and guests, including Paul Santaniello of the Longmeadow Select Board and Vinny Villamaino of the Hampden Board of Selectmen.

When a member of the audience asked if he was considering running for Kennedy's seat, Brown replied, "I'm not ruling it out. I feel I'd be better behind the scenes as a Lieutenant Governor candidate [though]."

He noted that Kennedy's seat, the state treasurer's seat and the state auditor's seat will all be open in the upcoming years, and that with the state's redistricting taking place in 2010 and becoming effective in 2012, he is faced with "a lot of interesting possibilities."

"I have great respect for Mr. Kennedy," Brown told Reminder Publications. "If there's an opportunity for that seat, it shouldn't go to just anybody."

Brown's speech for the RTC focused not just on where he's going, but where the Republican party in Massachusetts is going. Brown started as a member of a Board of Assessors before becoming a selectman, then a state representative, then a senator and his future is still wide open -- as is, he believes, the future of the Grand Old Party.

"To be most and more effective this year, we [Republicans] need to regionalize," he told the RTC. "Get more bang for your buck. There are a lot of opportunities potentially happening [for Republicans] in 2009."

When asked why he was in East Longmeadow when he resides over the districts of Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex, Brown answered, "I'm doing it because I have to. I'm out there hustling."

"A lot of folks have no clue what's outside [Route] 128," he added. "I know this area. I like it. But its needs aren't being addressed."

Jack Villamaino, chair of the East Longmeadow RTC, asked what local committees can do to farm good Republican candidates for local government positions. Brown said they need to be active, get involved in every level from the School Committee to the state representative and be vocal -- "Letters to the editor are very important," Brown noted.

He added that Republican groups need to "humanize" themselves and not just promote candidates. He suggested they host blood drives or food or coat drives.

Villamaino said he thought Brown did very well in his speech and provided a good example of how someone who started on the Board of Assessors could advance to position of a state senator.

"People like hearing about that," Villamaino said.

He added that the RTC will host any speaker that has something the committee is interested in, and that they would like to opportunity to hear Charlie Baker speak. Baker is currently the president and CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Inc., spent eight years in state government as Secretary of Administration and Finance and Secretary of Health and Human Services under Governors Bill Weld and Paul Cellucci, and is rumored to be a frontrunner for the Republican ticket for the next gubernatorial election.