City Council At-Large candidate Matt Emmershy.
WESTFIELD – Matt Emmershy never set out to run for a seat on City Council At-Large this year, but after attending the budget hearing this past June, he felt that he needed to be more involved.
Describing that the room inside Westfield City Hall was packed and pouring out to the hallway, all types of individuals were there. From Emmershy’s observations, the common theme he saw concerning the residents was calling for fiscal control. Following that, the next night the budget was passed and Emmershy believed only small cuts were made. More than $400,000 was cut from the $126 million budget.
That result triggered Emmershy to decide that it was time to put forth his own effort to be on the City Council.
“If there’s something I can do about it, I’m going to do something about it,” said Emmershy. “Essentially, I reached my breaking point where I said enough is enough.”
After having success in selling phones, Emmershy was able to gain financial experience by investing in real estate and began to own properties in the local area.
As a landlord, Emmershy understands the housing needs of individuals and the costs that they might bare on a daily basis.
Emmershy dealt with the difficult balance of acknowledging the struggles of his tenants while making sure his finances are in order.
“As a landlord, you have budgets, you have bills that need to be paid,” said Emmershy. “I have to take into account what people can afford.”
With calling for fiscal control being his top issue to tackle if elected to City Council, Emmershy also wants to focus on Westfield’s infrastructure.
“You drive through Westfield’s roads, you see the condition of them,” said Emmershy. “Every dollar we get for roads as far as I’m concerned needs to be put towards roads.”
For Emmershy, it’s not just finances and infrastructure, he also wants to help improve the transparency between city government and the community. Emmershy has been known recently for filming finance committee meetings and then posting them onto his Facebook page and the community forums for the public to see. By having the public more aware of what is going on in city government, he hopes that can have a positive effect moving forward.
“We’ve gone away from governing by the people,” said Emmershy. “We need to get back to it.”
Reminding folks that he’s not a politician or a lawyer, but a Westfield resident of more than 15 years who isn’t looking to push an agenda.
“I’m a resident of this city who’s just looking out for the average person,” said Emmershy. “I just want what’s best for the city where I’m raising my young family.”
