At-Large City Councilor John Beltrandi
WESTSFIELD—For At-Large City Councilor John Beltrandi, III, his focus for reelection is to continue promoting business and fiscal responsibility.
Beltrandi is seeking reelection as an At-Large City Councilor after gaining the position following the resignation of Dan Knapik earlier this year. For Beltrandi, this is his second time on City Council, with the first occurring in 2013. Before his most recent time as City Councilor, Beltrandi was the Chairman of the License Commission, and is also an Air National Guard veteran. Beltrandi wants to continue to utilize his experiences as a business owner to provide for the residents of Westfield.
“We are looking for ways to stretch a dollar, we’re getting less and less from the state,” Beltrandi said. “I think that someone with a business background has a much better grasp of that, and I’m a businessman in Westfield.”
According to Beltrandi, he owns a Westfield-based business, Belco Construction, which ties him to the city closely.
“I’m an employer, we do a lot of business in town, So I have a vested interest in the city,” he said.
And Beltrandi wants Westfield to become more attractive to businesses.
“You have to give people a reason to want to live here, and if you don’t make it attractive for businesses people don’t want to live here,” he said.
Another focus for Beltrandi, which he said is among the most important, is the city’s water.
“Right now, one of the most important things is the water situation,” he said. “We have a responsibility to the residents to make clean, drinkable water.”
Beltrandi said that there is a cost to this however, especially due to the issue of contamination and the need for a new water treatment facility.
“Ultimately, whoever is responsible for the contamination is going to shoulder the cost for the new filtration plant,” he said. “But we have to build it.”
Relatedly, Beltrandi said that the city must also focus on protecting the Barnes Aquifer, which is a vital source of water in the city.
“We have a huge aquifer that an airport is sitting on top of,” he said, referring to Barnes Regional Airport. “That’s a primary concern and something that needs to be dealt with.
Also, Beltrandi said that he would like to continue to focus on sewer expansion within the city and other infrastructure.
“These are projects you bond for, infrastructure projects you have to do,” he said. “Roads and infrastructure are a continual thing.”
Also, Bentrandi said that downtown needs foot traffic created to help businesses. Part of this, according to Beltrandi, is the completion of the Columbia Greenway.
