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Welcome to www.TheReminder.com archive for past articles!/Local News/Greater Springfield/Buoniconti, Mastroianni, Goodhines join crowded district attorney race
Buoniconti, Mastroianni, Goodhines join crowded district attorney race Date: 4/6/2010 April 7, 2010.
By G. Michael Dobbs
and Courtney Llewellyn
State Sen. Stephen Buoniconti, attorney and former Assistant District Attorney Mark Mastroianni and Assistant District Attorney James Goodhines are the latest candidates who have announced their candidacy for district attorney.
They join Attorney Michael Kogut, Attorney Brett Vottero and Assistant District Attorney Stephen Spelman in the race.
After months of speculation, State Sen. Stephen Buoniconti and his wife Anna made the announcement last week that he would run for Hampden County District Attorney. There are now six candidates seeking to replace William Bennett, who is leaving the position after 30 years.
Stephen Buoniconti
Buoniconti's announcement last week came after months of speculation whether the longtime legislator -- six years in the Senate and four years in the House -- would chose to leave the Legislature to run for the Hampden County DA position.
Buoniconti, joined by his wife Anna, made his announcement at a vacant lot at the corner of Walnut and Union streets in Springfield, in sight of both the High School of Commerce and the Dunbar Community Center, both of which were referenced in his statements.
He explained his decision by saying, "I am running because this is a tremendous opportunity to utilize my experience as an assistant district attorney and state legislator to meet the serious challenges we face in the county. I am proud to have worked closed with [District Attorney] Bill Bennett not just as a prosecutor but as a state senator and legislator advocating for funding to fight crime and pursuing laws to combat crime."
Buoniconti said the Springfield District Court does not receive adequate state funding considering its caseload and he would "advocate regularly and aggressively" for additional resources.
He explained there are not enough judges to hear cases in a timely manner and noted that many times on Friday cases are not heard because of a lack of funding.
He said he envisions the position of district attorney as "an opportunity to work with community organizations to prevent crimes by involving our youth in constrictive programs; an opportunity to work, through the educational process, to avert tragedies that occur from bullying; an opportunity to assist communities in producing economic development zones that will create jobs; and an opportunity to create a consumer protection division."
He emphasized his experience as a legislator and a prosecutor gave him unique qualifications for the position.
In the Senate he is chair of the Joint Committee on Financial Services, vice chair of the Joint Committee on Election Laws and is a member of the Joint Committee on Public Health, the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security, the Joint Committee on Revenue and the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development.
He is a graduate of West Springfield High School, Fairfield University and Western New England College (WNEC) School of Law. Before being elected as a state representative he served as a West Springfield town meeting member, recreation commissioner and school committee member.
Mark Mastroianni
Attorney Mark Mastroianni told Reminder Publications that some people have reacted somewhat cynically to his announcement he is running for district attorney and have wondered why he would consider returning to a public sector job that pays less money than he is currently earning in private practice.
But for Mastroianni, returning to the district attorney's office -- where he had served as an assistant district attorney -- is what he wants to do at this time in his life and career.
"This I feel is the next step," he said. Mastroianni added that at age 46, "something clicked in me."
A Springfield native and a Westfield resident, Mastroianni is a graduate of American International College and the WNEC School of Law. He started his legal career in 1990 when he was appointed an assistant district attorney under Matthew Ryan and then under William Bennett.
During his five-year tenure he prosecuted a variety of cases in both District and Superior Courts. He recalled successfully prosecuting a case in which a murder was committed with the victim discovered in Longmeadow, but the murder weapon and the car that transported the victim were found in Connecticut. He was able to steer through the jurisdictional aspects of the case as well as the challenging forensics to a conviction, he said.
Mastroianni left the district attorney's office largely because of issues concerning salary. He developed a successful private practice as a defense attorney and said he has represented clients from misdemeanors to murders.
"I've never lost one," he added.
His experience as a prosecutor has helped him as a defender and he said his experience as a defense attorney now sharpens his skills as a prosecutor.
He said there is no one approach to justice in the county and what works in Springfield may not be appropriate for Chicopee, Palmer or Holyoke.
Mastroianni would change the way the district attorney's office assesses and prioritizes cases in order to address the "extreme backlog" in the Springfield District Court.
He doesn't believe that mandatory sentences actually serve justice well and believes in alternative ways to deal with first-time offenders. He added that alternative methods does not mean setting people free, but instead using jail time, probation and the right social service programs to help people.
Mastroianni said he would also be an advocate for increased funding for the county's courts.
Mastroianni is running as an independent, despite his status as a life-long Democrat and explained, "Politics shouldn't have anything to do with the administration of justice."
"Accountability is paramount for public safety and for this system to work," he said.
James Goodhines
When current District Attorney William Bennett announced his decision not to run for re-election late last year, a number of candidates stepped forward to replace him.
Assistant District Attorney Jim Goodhines believes he is the man to fill that vacancy because he feels "no one else in this race can offer what I offer" -- he is the only candidate who is a career prosecutor.
A Longmeadow resident, Goodhines hails from the Syracuse, N.Y., area. He attended Le Moyne College, earning his bachelor's in English. Goodhines said he always wanted to be a lawyer -- he's the first in his family to become one -- and that a professor at Le Moyne told him to major in English because being able to communicate is very important in law.
Goodhines earned his law degree from WNEC School of Law and officially moved to the area in 1992. "I chose Western Mass. because I love this area," he said.
He was hired by the District Attorney's office in 1995 as a prosecutor and now has his eyes set on filling Bennett's seat.
"My boss set the bar high. He's one of the finest DAs in the Commonwealth," Goodhines said. "I want to pick up where he left off. Others see the DA retiring as an opportunity -- I see it as a calling."
Goodhines added that he believes in the importance of the hard work that's been accomplished by the DA's office during his time there and that it must continue in a dedicated and professional manner. He also strongly believes that the District Attorney's office should "focus on prosecuting, not on politicking."
Goodhines has prosecuted more than 2,000 cases in juvenile, district and superior courts during his career. He's worked as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the United States Attorney's Office since 2000 and was the co-coordinator for Project Remove, a state and federal gun project that involved a multi-agency ATF task force.
When asked what he thought were the three most important issues that needed to be addressed in the county, Goodhines replied controlling gang, gun and drug violence, preventing domestic violence and creating more community initiatives.
"The number one thing we deal with [in the DA's office] is drugs," Goodhines explained, "and 70 percent of those crimes are done by 7 percent of the criminals. We need to control this. It's what I've been dealing with every day."
As for community outreach, he said, "We need to give people more information, more choices. A lot of the young people I see come through the courts have the same issues: they've only completed school through the eighth grade, they don't live at home, they don't have jobs. They're often young people at the crossroads of life ... I want to help people make the right choices. Nobody wants to become a statistic."
A Democrat, Goodhines took on Brian Lees for Clerk of Courts in 2006, losing the election by just 1 percent of the vote. He said that campaign was a good opportunity for him to meet with voters and connect with people and he plans to do it again this year.
"I made the decision that this is the right time for me," Goodhines said of his run for District Attorney. "The people who supported me before are still supporting me. I think I bring better experience [to this race] than anybody else."
In addition to his work in the DA's office, Goodhines is active in his community. He's a board member of the Longmeadow Educational Excellence Foundation (LEEF); a member of the Parks and Recreation Commission, the Community Preservation Committee and the Longmeadow Democratic Town Committee; a recreation league basketball and soccer coach; and he's served as a delegate to the state Democratic convention for the past five years.
"Voters need to look at my core values," Goodhines told Reminder Publications. "I put people first. I want to improve public safety and the quality of life for those in Hampden County."
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