Tell Boston: Enough’s enough
AS I SEE IT
The Telegram & Gazette’s editorial regarding the possible closings of the Leominster and Westboro district courts (“Cutting courts,” Aug. 6) is right on the mark. Access to justice for the citizens of Leominster, Shrewsbury, Grafton, Princeton, Holden, Westboro, Northboro and Southboro will be severely curtailed if the recommendations of the Courthouse Relocation Committee are implemented.
In my opinion, it is past the time when we in Central and Western Massachusetts need to tell Boston that “enough is enough.”
I testified at the Courthouse Relocation Committee’s public hearing on Aug. 4. I expressed my disappointment that six of the seven committee members were from metropolitan Boston. Although the committee is recommending what is referred to as the “relocation” of the Leominster and Westboro courts in Worcester County and other court facilities in Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire counties, not a single committee member resides in any of the four counties to Worcester’s west, and the sole member of the committee not from metropolitan Boston has offices in Fitchburg and Walpole.
How is this panel representative of our state and, specifically, of Central and Western Massachusetts? Why we need representation on the panel was made obvious by the testimony presented at the public hearing.
State Sen. Jennifer Flanagan, Mayor Dean Mazzarella, and state Rep. Dennis Rosa, all of Leominster, reminded the committee that not only have the taxpayers of the city of Leominster invested significant dollars in renovating the courthouse which the city leases to the state, they spoke of the lack of public transportation available in the more rural areas outside of Boston and its suburbs. There is no public transportation to carry one from Leominster to Worcester, where some of the Leominster caseload is proposed to be sent.
Mayor Richard Alcombright of North Adams drove more than two hours each way to attend what was theoretically a “public hearing” for the citizens of his community regarding the relocation of the North Adams Juvenile Court. Just as the Worcester County witnesses had testified, Mr. Alcombright pointed out that a transfer of cases from North Adams to Pittsfield would come at great expense to the police departments and families whose cases are moved, as it is a 40- to 45-minute drive from North Adams to Pittsfield, depending upon the season.
What disturbed me and many of the witnesses at the hearing is that only one of the eight Boston Municipal Court facilities is proposed to have its cases transferred and, in Boston’s case, the proposed transfer is from a facility in Charlestown to one in downtown Boston, a distance of 1.2 miles.
This is disturbing because there are seven other Boston Municipal Court facilities which are to remain untouched, even though several of them are located within three to four miles of one another and are in urban areas served by a vast network of public transportation. Why a courthouse in Leominster or Westboro should have its cases shifted to Worcester and require litigants, witnesses and police departments — to mention just a few of the groups of people impacted by such a move — to make the trip without the benefit of public transportation, while a courthouse in Boston remains open even though there are courthouses in Dorchester, Roxbury, West Roxbury, South Boston, downtown Boston, and East Boston within a few miles of each other, is a question that remains unanswered.
Furthermore, and as alluded to above, the Boston municipal courthouses are all easily accessible by MBTA trains or buses, a service that does not exist in Central or Western Massachusetts.
We need to come together and let our voices be heard on Beacon Hill and beyond. There are approximately 152,000 citizens and taxpayers living in the communities being served by the Leominster and Westboro district courts. Our communities have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in our courthouses and we do not deserve to have them shuttered while facilities in more politically powerful districts go unscathed.
Yes, we are facing challenging times and economies have to be found in many areas. To balance the books on the backs of the taxpayers of Central and Western Massachusetts, however, should not be accepted without a fight. If there are sacrifices to be made, let them be made fairly and equitably across the state.
Francis A. Ford is the former clerk of courts for Worcester County and is a candidate for the Governor’s Council. He practices law at the Worcester office of Fletcher, Tilton & Whipple.
By Francis A. Ford
Copyright 2010 Worcester Telegram & Gazette Corp.