FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:Michael R. Hugo
508-877-7575
FRAMINGHAM DEMOCRATS ELECT NEW OFFICERS
FRAMINGHAM (4/22/18) The Framingham Democratic Town Committee elected a new slate of officers on Sunday night. Beverly Hugo was re-elected as Chair for a second two-year term. Ms. Hugo is a eleven-year member of the Framingham School Committee, representing District 1, and has served five years as School Committee Chair. She is currently the President of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees and serves as representative on behalf of ten northeastern states, the District of Columbia and the US Virgin Islands on the National School Boards Association’s National Policy Subcommittee. Ms. Hugo has previously served as Treasurer and Vice Chair of the Democratic Committee and was the Administrator of the Metrowest Coordinated Campaign office during the last Presidential election.
Current Framingham School Committee Chair, Adam Freudberg, who represents District 4 on the School Committee, was elected Co-Vice Chair. Mr. Freudberg served as Senior Policy Advisor to Governor Deval Patrick advising on education, workforce development, services for veterans and military families, and defense sector initiatives. He also served as Executive Director of the Massachusetts Military Asset and Security Strategy Task Force. Mr. Freudberg is a leader in the creation and staffing of the Massachusetts Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Advisory Council. Mr. Freudberg is currently an educational policy administrator.
The other member elected as Co-Vice Chair, Dr. Rosamond Hooper-Hamersley is a recently retired Associate Professor of European History from New Jersey City University, where she additionally served as the Honors Program Coordinator for the College of Arts and Sciences. She is a published author. Her first book, on the French Enlightenment was published in 2011. Dr. Hooper-Hamersley is currently working on a second book project, on the role of memory in the French Resistance and the Holocaust. A recently elected member of the Town Committee, she has shown remarkable dedication by embracing a variety of volunteer opportunities to advance the work of the Framingham Democratic Town Committee.
The new Secretary, Barbara Fontes, a native New Yorker, was a U.S. History teacher at Newton South, High School. She had a “second career” as a librarian, in which she was a reference librarian at the Framingham Public Library, as well as a high school librarian in Marlborough. Mrs. Fontes has retired from those positions, and is very politically active in local, state and federal elections, while volunteering in the Hoops & Homework program.
Larry Stoodt was elected Treasurer. Mr. Stoodt is one of the City’s leading environmental activists and organizers. He worked in transportation management for his career, and is known for his persistent campaigning for Democrats. Mr. Stoodt was born in Germany, the son of a U.S. Army officer, and grew up in many locations as his family was transferred. In his retirement, his environmental activities have become a full time avocation.
City Councilor Margareth Shepherd, the Committee’s former Treasurer, was elected Diversity Outreach Officer. Ms. Shepherd, who had served two years as the Treasurer, was forced to resign that position due to Massachusetts State Ethics laws governing political fundraising by elected officials, once she was sworn in as a City Councilor. Her Brazilian lineage and her keen insight into the minority and immigrant community will serve the Committee well in its desire to include members from all parts of the City and with diverse backgrounds.
Of particular note, is the fact that three of the new officers, Mr. Stoodt, Mrs. Fontes and Dr. Hooper-Hamersley are all new members of the Democratic Committee, each of whom had been a full member for less than two months at the time of their election to leadership roles.
The Committee is gearing up for vigorous activism as our country enters perhaps the most important mid-term election cycle in its history. New participants are always welcome to attend and be involved in all the Committee’s meetings and work. For more information, or to join in on any of the Committee’s meetings, consult the website at www.framinghamdems.org, or contact the Chair at Beverly.Hugo1@gmail.com.
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Newly Elected Officers, Framingham Democratic Town Committee, 2018-2020 (L to R): Adam Freudberg, Barbara Fontes, Larry Stoodt, Rosamond Hooper-Hamersley, Beverly Hugo, Margareth Shepard. (Credit, Mel Warshaw)