Thorpe sets course for multiple races

Date: 2/20/2012

Feb. 20, 2012

By Chris Maza

chrism@thereminder.com

EAST LONGMEADOW — Angela Thorpe believes asking tough questions is the best way to illuminate the path to success.

"I don't have a problem asking questions or asking the same question twice to get an answer," she said.

That's why when she received resistance from some officials regarding her unprecedented decision to run for both Board of Selectmen and School Committee concurrently and was initially told she couldn't, she kept asking, "Why not?"

"I was told that I couldn't do this, even when I thought it was what was best for the town. I kept asking, 'Why?'" she said. "I was told there was a conflict and I asked what the conflict was. But the bottom line is yes; I can indeed run for both. Yes, I can indeed serve for both."

Prior to submitting nomination papers, Thorpe said she spoke to Attorney Nora Mallam at the State Ethics Commission, who told her that as long as the town did not have any by-laws preventing her from running for more than one position or sitting on more than one board or committee, there was no reason she couldn't and as long as both positions are elected positions, she could be compensated for both.

Town Clerk Thomas Florence erroneously told Reminder Publications that Thorpe would only be paid for one position if she was elected to both.

According to Massachusetts General Law chapter 268A:20, "This section shall not prohibit any elected official in a town, whether compensated or uncompensated for such elected position, from holding one or more additional elected positions, in such town, whether such additional elected positions are compensated or uncompensated."

"I'm not doing this for money," Thorpe said. "And I didn't set out to make history. I just set out to do what was best for the town."

The perseverance she displayed and the ability to find the answers to questions surrounding her candidacy, she said, demonstrate a quality she feels is necessary for a town leader.

"I think we definitely need somebody who is going to ask questions because if you don't ask questions, you'll miss out on opportunities," she said.

Thorpe said her decision to run for both positions stems from her "passion" for both the youth of the community, as well as its elder citizens and her belief that East Longmeadow can be a place where people from different walks of life could thrive.

"I want to make sure that our town continues to be a place where our elderly on a fixed income can stay and families who are coming in with young children are welcome without any excessive financial strain on anyone's budget, as well as the town's budget," she said.

Thorpe also cited the amount of impact the school department's budget has on the town's overall financial plan as another reason why one person on both town entities could be useful.

"One of the things we have to look at is the fact that the school budget takes up almost 60 percent of the town's budget," she said. "I feel that someone from the [Board of Selectmen] should sit on [the School Committee] and that someone should be passionate for children as well as being passionate for the town and doing what's best for all."

Addressing questions about her ability to perform the duties of the two positions effectively, Thorpe pointed to her history on the School Committee.

"It's not uncommon for me to be in two positions. When I was on School Committee, I was also on the state board, which has their meetings out in Marlborough once a month, and I was also on the national board, which has their meetings once a month and our face-to-faces were out in places like California and Florida," she said. "I've traveled all over with Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC). As [MASC] Division V chair, I traveled all over Western Massachusetts."

Thorpe remains opposed to unfunded mandates placed upon school districts and has continued to lobby against them.

"I think we need to be pro-active instead of reactive as a town. I think the more proactive we are, we put ourselves in a better place at the table," she said. "While campaigning for School Committee [in 2011], I went out to California. Even though it was the worst time [for my re-election bid], it was the best time for the town, so I went out there and campaigned not only against No Child Left Behind, but also for full funding for the Circuit Breakers."

Thorpe lost her re-election bid in April, 2011 to Richard Freccero and Gregory Thompson, but pointed out that Circuit Breaker funding increased from 35 percent to 65 percent from fiscal year 2011 (FY11) to FY12.

"Although I lost the election, our town did see some benefits from that visit to California," she said.

She also went to Day on the Hill in 2011 and plans to again this year to speak with state legislators about unfunded mandates.

Thorpe also lauded the recent vote at a Special Town Meeting to fund a lighting upgrade for the high school's athletic complex, but also indicated that the issue raised a concern.

"[The School Committee members] were faced with a bit of a quandary with regards to the fields," she said. "I think that could have been handled a little better, but I'm extremely proud of [Joseph] Cabrera for putting the kids first. Now it's done, however, I think we need to be a little more transparent to our taxpayers."

She added the lack of transparency is an issue that was not limited to the School Committee — it's something the Board of Selectmen struggles with as well.

"It just seems as a voter, there are too many things that have come up and it seems like an afterthought that we as voters are finding out about them," she said.

Thorpe also indicated that she supports regionalization and the merging of resources in order to streamline town government and decrease budget demands.

"Any type of duplication should be eliminated because those are tax dollars," she said. "We should have the leanest budget that we can have with the most amount of services for our voters and for everybody in town. I served on the [Information Technology] merger as well as the merger for the facilities maintenance."

Thorpe said she wishes to maintain an open-door policy and be accessible to the voters of East Longmeadow. Anyone wishing to contact her may do so by emailing Vote4Thorpe@gmail.com or by calling 525-2068.