Ford pledges to remain independent on Governor's Council

Worcester Attorney and Paxton Town Moderator Francis A. Ford has announced his bid for the seventh district Governor’s Council seat that will be vacated in November.

“I believe I am extremely well-qualified to serve,” said Ford. “I possess the requisite knowledge and experience to know who will make a terrific judge or clerk and who will not.”

Ford, 57, currently works as an attorney with Fletcher, Tilton and Whipple Law Firm in Worcester. Ford has also served as Paxton Town Moderator since 1996 and has lived in Paxton for 27 years.

In 2002, Ford was elected Worcester County Clerk of Courts, a post he held for four years.

“I believe I demonstrated my independence from politics when I ran for the Clerk’s office in a completely non-partisan manner and I pledge to remain independent and non-partisan if I am elected to the Governor’s Council,” said Ford.
Ford, a married father of three and grandfather of three, is a Worcester native who attended St. Peter’s Grammar School, and when his family moved to Spencer, he attended and graduated from David Prouty High School.

Ford  graduated from Holy Cross College with his Bachelor’s in Political Science in 1974. While attending Holy Cross and later Suffolk Law School, Ford worked several jobs to support himself.

Upon graduating with his Juris Doctorate in 1978, Ford passed the Bar exam that same year. He pointed out that the chief responsibility of the Governor’s Council was to “review the qualifications of women and men the Governor nominates to serve as Judge or Clerk-Magistrate.”

“Obviously this is an important function that should not be undertaken lightly given the nearly life-long appointments of judges [and] clerk-magistrates,” said Ford.

Ford highlighted the fact that the Governor’s Council acts on such issues of payments from the state treasury, criminal pardons and commutations and the approval of notaries and justices of the peace. He disagrees with many people’s view of the Governor’s Council as simply a “rubber stamp” committee.

“The Governor’s Council is far from a ‘rubber stamp’,” he said, adding, “In fact, in 1999 the Council conducted a nearly full day public hearing regarding then Governor Cellucci’s nomination of Margaret Marshall as the Chief Justice of The Supreme Judicial Court. I testified at that session and my memory is that the confirmation of the Chief Justice was far from certain.”

Ford went on to say that he had been present at other Governor Council meetings where “serious debate” took place about appointments, and pointed to his long career in the court system as clear evidence as to why he’s the right fit for the Governor’s Council.

“Having served as the elected Clerk of Courts for Worcester County," he said, "and having prosecuted or defended important cases in every court from the Supreme Judicial Court and the Appeals Court to the Superior, Debate, Probate Juvenile and Housing Courts and as former president of the Worcester County Bar Association and the Massachusetts Bar Foundation…I believe I have the ability and the sound character to serve the public well in these important positions.”

Ford also said, “Politics should have no place in the confirmation of judicial officials. I was a non-partisan Clerk of Courts and, of course, I remain so as my town’s elected moderator.”

Ford currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Worcester Business Development Corporation, the Board of Directors of the Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts and the Board for Worcester Academy. He is also co-chair of the Worcester County Bar Association’s Governmental Affairs Committee.

He has received numerous awards and honors over the years. In 1994 he was the recipient of the Legal Assistance Corporation of Massachusetts Leadership Award for serving the legal needs of people living with HIV and AIDS in Worcester County. In 2005 he was the recipient of the prestigious Massachusetts Bar Association Community Service Award.

“I love campaigning,” said Ford, “As a friend once said to me, ‘Fran, you will go to the opening of an envelope.’I enjoy people and I enjoy meeting new people. I will campaign all over the place.”

Despite his numerous positions of service and his fulltime law career, Ford said that he makes time for “spare” time.

“My large family gets together often. I enjoy going to the Red Sox…and we enjoy the beach in the summer. I enjoy reading. I enjoy politics, of course, and riding my bike.”

Source: The Daily Leicester
by C. Kelleher Harris
March 18, 2010