Angelides brings experience to Register of Deeds seat

May 31, 2018 | Payton North
payton@thereminder.com

Marie Angelides.
Reminder Publications submitted photo.

LONGMEADOW – Longtime Select Board member and Longmeadow resident Marie Angelides is running for Hampden County Register of Deeds, a position that has long been held by Donald Ashe. A woman with an extensive educational background as well as professional background, 62-year-old Angelides believes there is much work to be done – and she is ready to do it.

Angelides’ father’s family came from Greece, and grew up in Greenfield. Her mothers came from Chicago, originally from Ireland. She began her college education at Deree Pierce College in Athens, Greece, then transferred to Mt. Holyoke College and eventually graduated from Barnard College cum laude. She earned her Master’s degree in history from The State University of New York (SUNY) Stony Brook. Formerly, she was the business and office manager for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition of Western Massachusetts. Her husband, Tass, is a pediatric gastroenterologist at Bay State Medical Center. In her 40s, Angelides attended Western New England University and graduated with her law degree.  From there, she litigated child abuse cases in the Holyoke and Springfield courts. Finally, in 2004, she retrained herself in immigration law, and now has a private practice.

Last fall, Angelides decided that her campaign days were behind her. She’s served three terms on the Longmeadow Select Board, with two years as Chair, and she was ready to move on from campaigning.

“I tossed away hundreds of campaign signs from my last two campaigns and I closed a dormant campaign account,” Angelides told Reminder Publications. “I told my husband he would never have to suffer with OPCF software and campaign reports again.”

Juggling her private practice in Immigration Law, her seat on the Longmeadow Select Board and spending time with her husband and her five grandchildren who affectionately call her, “no rules Nana,” Angelides certainly keeps herself occupied.

“Loukas, my youngest grandson, is on the spectrum and we have a special relationship. He sees the world through the alphabet and show tunes. We dance and sing together and I have given him hundreds of materials to write his alphabet,” she said fondly.

Over the course of her time spent on the Select Board, Angelides notes a series of projects she has been able to work on, including the new Department of Public Works building, the new Adult Center, initiating the Energy Committee, and the organic recycling project, which links the school cafeterias and the Forest Park Zoo.

Angelides notes that along with her other responsibilities, she’s also on the Tax Ceiling Taskforce and the Scantic Valley Healthcare Cooperative Board. She kickstarted the Complete Streets Program in town, and was also on the MGM negotiation team as Chair.

“My new project is I would like to develop a program to landscape our common areas such as Longmeadow Street, the Town Green, and our small neighborhood greens and triangles,” she said.

Angelides decided to run for Register of Deeds after she learned that the current Register of Deeds, Donald Ashe, has been running unopposed for the last 32 years.

“This incumbent is running for another six years at the age of 83. I don’t believe this is how democracy is supposed to work. Political office, of any type, is meant to be contested in order to allow the voice of the people to be heard at every election,” she explained. “In addition, women are poorly represented in regional positions in Hampden County. I believe it is important for women to step up and run for office. I’m running because I thought it was the right thing to do.”

With that in mind, Angelides said that still, she wouldn’t be running for the office if she didn’t feel there was value she could add to the position. She spent time reviewing the budgets and workings of the Hampden County Register of Deeds office, and found that their budget is over $1.7 million, which does not include pension, OPEB, and healthcare costs.

“Massachusetts can no longer accept business as usual. If we do not look for good fiscal management in all areas of government, we will not have the money we will need in the near future for vital programs,” she said.

Concerns that Angelides sees within the Hampden County Register of Deeds office include management; fair hiring and fair pay policies, more collaborative efforts with other Registers across the Commonwealth and more effort to work with municipalities.

“My legal degree, my experience as a litigator, my work in administrative law, my years in management of a multi-physician medical office, and my years on the Select Board make me uniquely qualified to hold the position as Register of Deeds,” Angelides stated. “What makes me different from my opponents is the variety and depth of my experience and my ability to get the job done.”

She continued, “This election is not about partisan politics, it is about doing the right thing for Hampden County and getting the work done.”

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