Gratitude, responsibility key words for Gulluni

SPRINGFIELD – The key words for Anthony Gulluni, Hampden County district attorney are gratitude and responsibility at his entry into the office.

Those words were the core of his speech at his swearing into office on Jan. 7, and capacity crowd filled the first floor of Old First Church for the event. Mayor Domenic Sarno, Chicopee Mayor Richard Kos, West Springfield Mayor Edward Sullivan and Agawam Mayor Richard Cohen were in attendance along with many other state and local officials.

“The gratitude of being here and towards the people who got me here, my family, my friends and supporters, but most particularly the voting public. I’m honored and the sense of the responsibility to do a great job and justify the trust they’ve put in me,” he told reporters after the ceremony.

During his speech Gulluni expressed his gratitude several times to his supporters. He noted that initially only his family and friends thought he could make a good district attorney and noted that at 33 years-old many told him he was too young for the job and didn’t have enough experience.  He said he would work to prove the faith his supporters placed in him.

After praising his predecessors  – former district attorney and now United States District Court Judge Mark Mastroianni administered his oath of office – Gulluni spoke of the responsibilities of his position. 

Talking about victims of crime, he said it was his responsibility to seek solace and closure for them and “it’s our great responsibility to seek justice for them. 

Gulluni did not make any hard line comments about law and order. Instead his guest speaker, Raymond Flynn, the former mayor of Boston and United States ambassador to the Holy See, commented on Gulluni’s plans to prevent crime through intervention programs.

 

Flynn said that Gulluni emphasized in his campaign ways to “reaching young people before problems happen.”

Flynn added, “If you leave young people to their own devices they get into trouble. It’s inevitable.”

Flynn said that Gulluni was “starting out on this important day with the priorities in place.”

Gulluni, according to Flynn, “has a unique perspective because he has you [pointing to the audience]. That’s why there is reason for hope in Springfield and Hampden County because there is a family.” 

Gulluni told reporters his first priority is to make sure his office is ready.

“The work of the court will not stop,” he said.

 

He said he has a “great staff,” but as time moves forward he will refine his staff to “make sure we have the right people in the right places.”

According to a source who supplied information to Reminder Publications, Gulluni dismissed 21 employees the week before Christmas.

Gulluni confirmed that there had been 19 dismissals and said there was nothing unusual about the practice as it has happened in previous district attorneys’ administrations. 

“That’s part and parcel of any transition,” he said. 

He declined to speak about the criteria he used to make those decisions, other than to say they were performance based. 

Not all of the office’s positions have been filled, Gulluni said.

“I don’t anticipate any delay of trials,” he said.