Barnstable Patriot article on Oliver Cipollini, Candidate for Governor's Council 2010

Sep 5, 2008

Written by Edward F. Maroney
Barnstable Patriot
September 05, 2008
Figuring out how to make systems work for their users – be it welfare office computers across the state, a regional court system, or a local water board in Barnstable – captures the attention of Oliver Cipollini.
Now the Marstons Mills resident wants to join the governor’s council and use it as a platform for reform.
“I’m gonna have to get the governor’s ear,” Cipollini said,“and the legislators’. I’m not a rubber stamper. I will treat this as a full-time job.”
Before his retirement in 2002, the candidate had handled customer service network management and security statewide for the welfare department, then worked as first assistant clerk magistrate on an effort to build two new juvenile courts, one in Plymouth and one in Falmouth. The latter did not come to pass.
“I never read the newspaper at my desk during my whole state employment,” Cipollini said.“My mom told me to work hard and be honest and treat everybody fairly and earn an honest day’s pay.”
On the Cape, Cipollini got involved with the Centerville-Osterville-Marston s Mills water board. A biology major in college who later got a master’s in counseling, he led an effort to bring town water to about 40 homes, including his, off Wakeby Road near the Sandwich border. Following that, he made a study of access fees charged by Cape water departments and got the COMM board to back off on planned increases.
Cipollini ran for a seat on the board and lost. He’s also made unsuccessful bids to become the town tax collector and to serve on the charter commission. He’s had more success recently as a member of the board of the Cape citizens’ group that fought to block a big increase in homeowner insurance rates.
“I never considered myself a politician,” he said.“I want as much as possible to be a statesman. I don’t want to be considered an activist, either. That has a bad radical tone.”
The reforms Cipollini would seek if elected include finding judges willing to give tougher sentences for repeat offenders, especially for serious crimes.“Let the person earn their way out through the parole board,” he said.
Cipollini said the governor’s council needs to push to fill vacancies faster. He said there are 26 openings for judges and clerk magistrates statewide, which is creating a backlog of cases in the courts.
The candidate plans to push for legislation that would combine the duties of parole and probation officers to ensure more frequent contact with offenders. He also believes sex offenders should participate in weekly group therapy with a mental health professional.
As a member of the council, Cipollini said, he will be looking for judicial candidates “that have the keenest interest in public safety, the state constitution, sound social values, and family values. They should be strict with respect to repeat offenders and support the rehabilitative process.”
Cipollini thinks the council erred with a couple of recent appointments. In one, a state official who had never practiced law, a former legislator, was named to the industrial accident board as a judge.
In another instance, according to Cipollini, a judge of “one sex preference” was appointed to a probate court position.“I see a big problem where she’ll be deciding upon men that are handling divorces,” he said.“How can you not be prejudiced?” He added that he has “no problem with someone’s sexual preference.”
Cipollini is endorsed by former governor’s councilor David Constantine and also Kelly Lydon of Barnstable, who ran against the incumbent two years ago. The Democrat said former Republican candidates Phil Paleologis and, closer to home, Barnstable’s Ric Barros and Lou Gonzaga, back him also.
He’s won their support, he said,“because they know how serious I am. My hope is to engage citizens and encourage their input and show them their vote counts.”
The candidate’s Web site is http://www.cippici.com/