WESTFIELD – Mayor-elect Brian P. Sullivan, and members of the School Committee, City Council, Municipal Light Board and Westfield Athenaeum were sworn in Monday morning at an inaugural ceremony at the Westfield Technical Academy auditorium.
Before the ceremony, Sullivan said he was “very excited and ready to go.”
City Clerk Karen M. Fanion led them all in giving their oaths of office.
Before swearing in the Mayor-elect, his family was called to the stage and presented with flowers. Sullivan was then led in the oath of office by his father, Richard K. Sullivan. In his first act, Sullivan then thanked his mother, who was seated in the front row, for always being there for him, and presented her with a bouquet of flowers.
“I’ve been told about 40 times this morning that I finally get to close the title of Acting, and I can accept the title of Mayor,” Sullivan said.
He then thanked Fanion and her staff for their work on the elections and the recount, which he said they conducted “to perfection.”
Sullivan also acknowledged the participants in the inaugural ceremony, including Patrick Kennedy, who led the newly formed Westfield Technical Academy band, along with members of the Westfield High School band honor society and North and South Middle School band members, who were chosen to participate in the MMEA Music Festival. He also thanked Shea Braceland, who sang the Star Spangled Banner, and Maddie Lukomski who sang America the Beautiful.
Sullivan said the word for Westfield now is “new” referencing the new senior center and new Westfield State University president, who he said he recently met with. He also thanked WSU interim president Dr. Liz Preston for her “fantastic job in holding down the fort.”
Sullivan also listed the new high speed Internet connection being built by Westfield Gas & Electric, which he called “another feather in our cap.”
Brian Sullivan takes the oath of office of the mayor of Westfield.
He mentioned the new aviation maintenance program at the Technical Academy, the newly-merged Baystate Noble Hospital, the new phase of the bike trail, and a new superintendent of schools in 2016, all of which he looked forward to.
He also congratulated the five new City Council members, and all of the returning members.
“What ties all of these together is a new administration,” Sullivan said. He said his administration will focus on “growing what we have, completing what we’ve started, and visioning” for the future.
“I’m not a person that agrees with ‘that’s the way we’ve always done it,’“ he said.
He said he would challenge all of the department heads not to do more with less, which he said they’ ve been doing for years, but to be innovative and try new things.
“I’m also going to ask the residents to step up,” Sullivan said. He pointed to two big events coming to Westfield: the Babe Ruth World Series this summer and the 350th birthday celebration in a couple of years.
“Finally, I’m going to challenge our elected officials,” Sullivan said. “We ran on promises and ideas. The solutions start today.”
Following the ceremony, attendees, including Representatives John Velis and Senator Don Humason, among many other city officials, were invited to join in refreshments.
