On January 3 the Westfield City Council elected a new President. Sort of.
Brian Sullivan was elected unanimously as our new President for 2013. Those of you who keep track of these sorts of things know that Brian has been here before; in fact just prior to my ascension to the center chair, Brian had just completed his sixth term as City Council President. In other words, our new President isn’t really all that new.
Rotation of the Presidency is nothing new for the Westfield City Council: if you look at the portraits of all those who have served in the past, you’ll note that most of them feature two different presidents for each two-year cycle. The job of President has its own set of demands above and beyond the normal duties of a city councilor, and given the extra responsibilities and the loss in privileges – for example, the President forfeits the right to make motions when he takes the chair – it’s not unusual for the holders of the title to make it a short-term moniker.
I was honored to have my colleagues elected me President twice, and with their unanimous support. It was a title I was proud and happy to hold, and there are few to whom I would have yielded it willingly, but certainly Brian was at the top of that list. He has proven leadership abilities and a demonstrated track record of acting in the city’s best interest. His working relationship with the mayor is better than mine, and that’s saying something, as Mayor Knapik and I have had an extremely cordial working relationship over the past two years of my presidency. I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank him and his great assistant Gail Yarmesky, and to express my appreciation for all of the cooperation I received from his department heads and staff at City Hall. It made my responsibilities as the leader of the Council just that much easier and productive.
So I look forward to working with our “new” President, and work I shall, as I inherit the title of Chairman of the Legislative and Ordinance Committee. With few exceptions, almost all of the legislation considered by the Council passes through L&O, and there’s a bit of a backlog, with more on the way. In the next year, the Council will review the Stormwater fees and budget, the current sewer rates and structure, the City Charter, and a slew of bonding requests for our schools and public buildings, among dozens of other proposals, all of which will end up in the L&O Committee. Fortunately, the budget process will be diverted to Chairman Rick Onofrey’s Finance Committee, where it will be in his capable hands as always. Speaking of capable, President Sullivan wisely selected two of the most capable and experienced Councilors to serve with me on the L&O: James Adams and Mary O’Connell, and I applaud his choices.
Let me wrap up this week by speaking of a former colleague of mine: Peter Miller. Peter previously served – and served quite well – as the Ward Three City Councilor. But he has found a new home as Westfield’s Community Development Director. PJ is a natural fit for the position, having spent over a decade working with Senator Knapik as his chief of staff, assisting the Senator in addressing the needs of the city. His resume was further enhanced when he became the Ward Three councilor. He’s well known to the business community, to local and state government, and to the residents of Westfield, and has already hit the ground running in his first full week on the job. Anyone who has ever met knows that PJ is one of the good guys, and I look forward to working with him and his staff, and have high hopes going forward.
Happy Groundhog Day. Happy Groundhog Day….sorry, couldn’t resist!
Christopher Keefe
Westfield City Council
Ward One
