Avellone deserves spot on the ballot
You might not know Joe Avellone, but you should. Avellone is a Democratic candidate for governor.
We have run stories on his candidacy, most notably his participation in a Suffolk University speaker series that hosted one gubernatorial candidate each week for several weeks, and Thursday’s story from his visit to the Sentinel & Enterprise to speak with editors and a reporter.
You probably don’t know him well, if at all, because right now Avellone is focused like a laser on another campaign — to get his name on September’s Democratic primary ballot. Avellone must convince 15 percent of the roughly 5,000 delegates to the Democratic State Convention on June 15 to give him the nod, or else on June 16 he will be known as “former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Joe Avellone.”
That means much of his time is spent with the Democratic Party regulars who will vote at the convention. He’s raised about a half-million dollars, but he says donors are reticent to bet on someone who might not even make the ballot. The convention process is perfect for big-machine candidates, tough for outsiders like Avellone who bring fresh perspectives and new ideas to the conversation. This year, well-known, entrenched candidates Attorney General Martha Coakley and state Treasurer Steve Grossman will likely gobble up most of the convention votes.
Avellone, a self-described Paul Tsongas Democrat, has a strong background in public service and private business. He is a surgeon, former Wellesley selectman, former chief operating officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, and is now the corporate senior vice president at Parexel International, a bio-pharmaceutical research company, where he oversees 10,000 employees worldwide. He is also a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy Reserves. Sounds like someone who can keep a lot of balls in the air.
He recognizes that health-care costs are sucking municipal and family budgets dry and says he is uniquely qualified to help reduce that burden. His economic plan is focused on reviving Gateway Cities such as Fitchburg and Leominster — without raising taxes. He says the state must take a new approach to treating addiction, including alternatives to incarceration that do little to treat the problem. He hails Sen. Jennifer Flanagan’s hearings on addiction and mental-health treatment options as an important first step.
His tie to North Central Massachusetts? In the 1970s he was part of a rotation of doctors who came to Fitchburg’s Burbank Hospital to perform surgery.
Avellone faces an uphill battle in his quest for the magic 15 percent. We hope he is successful. Massachusetts politics needs more voices like Avellone’s at the microphone, not just those of the anointed few.