Goodhines challenges Mazza for County Clerk

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

Veteran prosecutor James Goodhines is challenging long-time incumbent Marie Mazza for the Hampden County Clerk of Courts position and both have said they are willing to debate.

Both candidates were interviewed by Reminder Publications last week. They are both Democrats and the race will be determined by the primary election on Sept. 19.

Mazza explained that the clerk keeps the records of the court and organizes the schedules of trials for both the criminal and civil divisions assisting litigants and completing all sentencing paperwork.

She was an assistant clerk 20 years prior to her being elected clerk in 1994. She is a graduate of the Western New England College School of Law and a lawyer for 34 years. A Springfield resident, she comes from a political family her father, James Grimaldi, was a state representative and a member of the Springfield City Council and her daughter is Rosemarie Mazza Moriarty, a current member of the City Council.

Although Hampden County is the busiest criminal court in the Commonwealth, Mazza's staff was cut by 25 percent in 2001 during statewide budget cuts. She said her office is "doing okay" despite the now long-standing cutback and that new technologies have mitigated the loss of staff to a degree.

She said that she does ask the Legislature for the necessary resources and "some things we get and some times we improvise."

She noted that she has purchased necessary office supplies herself and is sometimes able to receive reimbursement.

She said with a laugh that she has even washed windows and cleaned carpets in the office.

Mazza said that an up-coming computer system would connect all seven divisions of the Trial Court and will promote greater efficiencies.

Mazza said that an unsettled lawsuit against her by former Clerk of Courts employee Thomas Cosmos does not affect the way she does her job.

One April 24, Judge John S, McCann of Worcester Superior Court dismissed Mazza's appeal of a jury decision made against her in April 2004. The jury found that Mazza was guilty of wrongfully interfering with Cosmos's employment contract.

Mazza has filed an appeal of McCann's denial of her appeal. Currently the judgement against her stand at over $1.5 million and the Commonwealth may be liable for $1 million of that decision.

"I might win," Mazza said of the latest legal action.

As long as the outcome isn't final, Mazza doesn't see the court proceedings as affecting her work for the taxpayers.

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Goodhines, her opponent, is critical of Mazza's performance as the clerk.

"She has simply abdicated her role as leader of the court system," he said. "She has done nothing in 12 years to improve how cases flow."

Goodhines is a Longmeadow resident and also is a graduate of the Western New England College School of Law. He started working for the Hampden County District Attorney's Office in 1995 and has prosecuted cases in Juvenile Court, Springfield District Court, Holyoke District Court and Superior Court. He was the coordinator of Project Remove, a program to get guns off the street. He has also worked in the U.S. Attorney's office as well.

He believes there are significant problems in Springfield where the courts are the busiest in the Commonwealth. The system here is facing a gradual decline in the number of attorneys who will accept public defender cases.

These conditions place stress on the court system and Goodhines contends Mazza " fails to best utilize the judicial resources we do have."

Goodhines questions why the District Attorney's Office maintains the criminal trial list, a job performed by the clerks of every other Massachusetts court. He also wonders why a judge runs arraignment sessions, where in other courts the clerk magistrate handles that assignment.

Goodhines charged that Mazza has not established adequate ties with local legislators to obtain the funding she needs. He said he intends to make a "tremendous" outreach to legislators.

Goodhines intends to upgrade the use of technology in the office and to improve the system of assigning dates for trials.

Goodhines said that he entered public service as a prosecutor because he wanted to make a difference and believes in the worth of public service. He also said he does not see the clerk of court job an elected position that doesn't attract the attention from voters as other positions do as employment for life.

"I'm not going to be clerk of courts at 70 years old," he said.