Ten-year council veteran in race against retired Winthrop mother

By Jack Nicas

Michael Callahan, Governor’s Council representative for District 6, which includes Somerville, is being challenged on Sept. 16 by former U.S. Army criminal investigator Roseann Trionfi-Mazzuchelli. She said she is “tired of every judge being rubberstamped by everyone on the council” and ready to make a change. Callahan has served on the council for ten years and is seeking his sixth term.

The Governor’s Council approves or rejects the Governor’s nominations for all state judges, the state parole board, the industrial accident board and the tax appellate board.

Trionfi-Mazzuchelli claims the current council approves every applicant nominated, creating judges “who shouldn’t be in the position they’re in.”

Callahan, a Medford resident, said at the Aug. 29 Somerville News contributors’ meeting that he has supported the rejection of at least four nominees. He said the rejected applicants were assistant district attorney’s who withheld information from the defense in previous cases.

Callahan supports an active parole board. He said, “Making people serve to their last day [in prison] is a bad policy.” A year and a half of monitored time on parole is better than releasing prisoners without any monitor, he said.

Trionfi-Mazzuchelli said she would support a “stricter parole board” and be wary of allowing criminals to bypass jail time. She said she wants a mandatory 15-year sentence without parole for child sex offenders. “I’m very tough on crime,” she said. “I do believe in second chances, but I do believe they have to work for that chance.”

Callahan said he “encourages activist judges.” He prefers criminals getting the help they need through drug rehab or counseling, rather than being sent directly to prison, he said.

Trionfi-Mazzuchelli said the current system needs change.

She believes in term limits for judges, matching the judge’s background with their court allocation, and a stricter approach to judicial nominee approvals. “The interview process needs to be more thorough,” she said.

The election will be held on Sept. 16. Voters from District 6 cities, such as Arlington, Boston, Cambridge, Medford and Somerville, will be able to vote in the race.