Medford, Arlington React to Marzilli Accusations

After being accused of sexually assaulting up to four women and being arrested for the alleged assault of one of those women, State Senator Jim Marzilli (D-Arlington) has dropped his bid for re-election and checked himself into McLean Hospital. Sen. Marzilli represented Medford and Arlington residents for nearly two decades in the state house of representatives before being elected to the state senate last December. Below, Medford and Arlington residents sound off about the accusations against the senator:

I am completely flabbergasted and perplexed. As so many others have said “This is not the Jim I knew.” This is not even the Jim I thought was remotely possible.

When Jim Marzilli represented West Medford, I had occasion to run into him casually, whether at a library book sale, an historical talk, or in the grocery store. He was also a frequent poster on the MedfordMass list whenever legislative issues were raised. He never forced issues and was informative rather than polemic in his comments. In all cases, he was never less than courteous, attentive, and the model of propriety. My observations of his personality and demeanor have nothing to do with his politics, as I am moderately liberal, and moderately conservative. On balance, he just seemed like an all-around “a nice guy.”

Right now there are too many unanswered questions about the current charges and about his culpability and mental health. We simply cannot know for sure what happened and why until the backstory comes out. I believe it will, but it will take some time. Jim, at least, needs to regain his equilibrium and release from the hospital before we can know more. Until then his and his wife’s privacy should be respected, as well as that of his alleged victims. I’m eager to hear from him, not his lawyer. I hope he gets the help he needs, and, if found guilty-as-charged, the consequences he deserves.

In the meantime, I can neither condemn nor exonerate him in my personal judgment. It’s all so very sad. My heart goes out to everyone concerned. But I want to hear “the rest of the story.”

– Andrea Shanahan, Medford

I bet (hope?) other folks feel a lot like I do, so I’m going to speak plainly about why this situation is so confusing.

I’m not a local-political animal, or at least I wasn’t until a few years ago. National? Sure, I followed the news. But until about 5 years ago, I couldn’t name 3 former or current Selectmen, nor my state rep or senator. I wasn’t paying much attention.

I started paying some attention, and it seemed like a positive and useful thing. I learned more about the players (but I still don’t know enough), and how the town is governed, and so forth. I was emerging into a political world.

Last summer, my “emergence” came out stronger, and I decided to be actually active in the state Senate race. I looked at the players, and made a decision. I didn’t know Jim Marzilli from Lady Godiva – but I looked at his record of service, and the people I knew who supported him, and said to myself: “of all the candidates running, I like him the best”. My wife and I even volunteered a little bit for his campaign.

When I said I didn’t know him, I mean that while I was on the campaign phones, this nebbishy kind of guy spoke to the woman running the phones, and I didn’t know it was Jim. 🙂 And I’m not sure to this day that the two of us agree on all political points: I found his stance on casino gambling to be naive, and wrong for example. But overall, he was my candidate.

Point being, though: I cared enough to get involved, and did my homework. I got involved, and I picked a guy, and I backed him.

I am having emotional trouble reconciling my desire to assist, as well as vote for, a man who did the things he seemed accused of. It isn’t just something that happened to some power broker – it is, in a way, something that happened to me.

When the first accusations came out, it was easier to think “surely I couldn’t be that wrong”. Now, it is almost impossible to match what I thought, with what happened. I still don’t think I backed a bad legislator, but I can’t make myself happy with what he seems to have done, and my choices.

I keep hoping that there is some reason out there, some illness or problem that excuses me for MY choices. It would be easier than thinking I was fooled. It is also why I am so focused on the difference between the personal and the professional here – I studied the professional and avoided the personal.

So, when some of his critics on the list attempt to confuse Jim’s legislative record and hard work, with what is a more than obvious personal flaw – that his political positions and his work are bad, and so are his supporters, because Jim did bad things – it’s not sitting well.

A man who did good work, work that I ended up supporting, apparently did a very bad thing that I can’t support. I’ll continue to have this personal struggle about what Jim’s flaws and mistakes mean to me and our town.

– Mark Schuldenfrei, Arlington

I don’t recall ever meeting Jim Marzilli, but in this country we used to have something called the “Presumption of Innocence.” With the beating any politician takes at the hands of an unelected hack like Howie Carr in the Sunday Herald (June 8, 2008 edition) and people like him, it makes one wonder why qualified individuals would even run.

It is much harder to build a good reputation these days when there is now the Presumption of Guilt generated by an out-of-control media sticking to the theory that “if it bleeds, it leads.”

It is interesting that the tone on the MedfordMass Yahoogroup is much more restrained, compassionate and not as vicious. William Shakespeare said “The good is oft interred with their bones” from the play Julius Caesar written circa 1599. In over 400 years that something as chilling as that statement still rings true speaks volumes.

– Joe Viglione, Medford

I have met and chatted with Jim Marzilli on numerous occasions when he generously donated his time to serve as our plant auctioneer at the Medford Garden Club plant auctions, and also as our grill chef at Garden Club parties. I have never seen him exhibit even a hint of inappropriate behavior or use inappropriate language towards anyone. I am not a doctor or psychologist, but if in fact he has committed the behaviors outlined in the news reports, I would guess that there is a lot more to the story than any of us know. Without taking sides, or coming to any conclusions, I can say…This is NOT the Jim Marzilli that I have met in the past.

– Audrey Stanwood, Medford