WESTFIELD—Following 45 years of experience in accounting and finance, Bernard Fitzgerald-Rosenblum wants to utilize that knowledge to try and improve Westfield and Ward Four.
Fitzgerald-Rosenblum, or “Rosenblum,” is one of three candidates in the preliminary election for tomorrow’s Ward Four City Councilor position. Rosenblum, a 27-year Westfield resident who currently lives on Saint James Avenue, comes from 45 years of financial and budgeting experience, as well as twice operating as Westfield Mayoral candidate Mike Roeder’s campaign manager.
Rosenblum said that he is running for Ward Four because he feels his experiences can help the city.
Bernard Fitzgerald-Rosenblum
“My financial expertise and my experience, I think that’s critically needed now,” Rosenblum said.
Rosenblum said that his experience in finance and accounting started after graduating from UMass-Amherst with a Bachelor’s in Finance from the Eisenberg School of Management. This experience included operating as a chief financial officer and controller in several companies.
“What I’ve done for most of my finance career was budgeting, forecasting, analysis, I’ve developed a couple budget packages, one of which is still utilized at a regional Fortune 25 company,” he said.
Following his 45 years in finance he retired, then recently became a full-time substitute teacher for a magnet school in Connecticut.
And it is this experience he wants to translate into four programs to help the city.
The first program is a wage and salary freeze, Rosenblum said.
Another would be to have a freeze on administrative functions and on hiring, as well as no new departments within the city. However, he said that this would not necessarily include operational functions in the city.
Rosenblum also said that he wants to focus on clean water within the city. Rosenblum said he gained an appreciation for clean water and sustainable energy after working in his position as a substitute teacher, which helped him focus on this point.
“We’ve had water restrictions for several years. Why didn’t we catch them before we had the restrictions and what can we do to rectify this in the future,” he said.
Finally, Rosenblum said that he would also want to focus on improving infrastructure and education within the city. He added that it appears schools are overstaffed administratively and he would like to cut some positions and move that money to increase teacher salaries.
Ultimately though, Rosenblum said his goal is to represent the residents of Ward Four.
“I do not run against anybody, rather I run for the people of Ward Four,” he said.
