Angelides calls for reformDate: 11/5/2012 By G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.com
GREATER SPRINGFIELD — For voters in East Longmeadow, Longmeadow, Hampden and Monson, the race for state representative has a feeling of deja vu as Longmeadow Selectman Marie Angelides is once again facing Brian Ashe, now the incumbent, for the seat.
Although Angelides had to face the distraction of the voter fraud case allegedly involving former East Longmeadow Selectman Enrico "Jack" Villamaino and his reported wife Courtney Llewellyn during the primary, her attention is aimed squarely on the final election and the issues facing the district.
Angelides is currently serving her first term as a selectman and brought to the position a wide base of education and experience. She has a bachelor's degree from Barnard College in psychology, a master's degree in history from State University of New York at Stony Brook, and a law degree from Western New England University School of Law.
Married to Dr. Anastasios Angelides, the chief of Pediatric Gastroenterology at Baystate Medical Center, Marie had managed his medical practice and had her own law office that specialized in family immigration.
Speaking about a broad number of subjects to Reminder Publications last week, Angelides addressed the need for the state to re-write the formula it uses to allocate state aid to municipalities. The smaller communities in her district do not get the state aid they need to pay for municipal services and she noted that some state representatives advocate for additional funds for their districts, but that is not the solution.
"With the challenges the towns are facing, we really need to look at a fair way to divide the pie," she said.
The cost of running a town and its services is an important one with many communities struggling to cope with unfunded liabilities such as pension funds. She said that while residents want municipal services in some towns, property taxes are the primary means of paying for those services.
Angelides is interested in encouraging cooperation between the towns in her district.
"When one town finds a way to save money, they should share that with other towns," she said. She cited as an example that East Longmeadow could be helped by Longmeadow officials in setting up a Human Resources department, something Longmeadow has done well. Longmeadow could learn from Monson from that town's successful tree planting program.
Angelides believes that a new state formula is just part of the reforms that should be made to put municipalities into a stronger financial position. If elected, she would call for a fresh examination of how tax dollars are spent and "pulling them back" from favored entities as well as ending subsidies to certain industries.
She called for "leveling the playing field" so Massachusetts would be competitive within the United States and the rest of the world. Angelides criticized tax breaks and subsidies given to the green energy sector as well as credits for film production and financial firms.
"We can't predict what the future is going to hold," she said of these companies.
Massachusetts is the home of "incredible research institutions," Angelides said, which are incubators for innovation and new industries. The problem is the lack of a business friendly environment has pushed these new endeavors out of the Commonwealth.
"They are born here but are flourishing elsewhere," Angelides said.
Tax reform could help stop the flow of new businesses to other states, she contended.
She would directly ask businesses what they need and what problems they have to craft reforms that would enable them to stay and grow in Massachusetts. Angelides noted there are 120,000 jobs in precision manufacturing in the region and "we have to make sure they do stay."
As a selectman, she is directly aware of the differences between the western and eastern parts of the state. She believes that planning for state programs and projects, such as infrastructure improvements, is still "Boston-centric."
An improved infrastructure would be a boost to business growth and retention and Angelides noted the repairs of Interstate 91 in Springfield as an example of a discussion that can't "be occurring in isolation."
Although she is interested in the economic development impact that rail service between Springfield and Boston would bring, she believes that infrastructure improvements must first start at the town level.
One of the infrastructure projects that interests her is how a proposed downtown casino in Springfield would affect traffic patterns in Longmeadow and East Longmeadow, as well as the impact a Palmer casino would have on Monson. She would like to see the towns develop a mitigation plan.
To learn more about Angelides, go to http://joinmarie.com.
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