Another Year in the Books
The year is rapidly closing to an end and my first two-year term as the Ward 2 City Councilor is as well. It has been an exciting and busy two years, starting with the Federal and State funded $18 million Broad Street and Main Street project that kicked off a short sixty days after I was sworn in. That project, scheduled to be completed this spring has already increased the traffic flow in and out of the downtown area on Main Street and we can all see the finished product from George Street, near Dunkin Donuts, to the Veterans Bridge just past Noble Street. We are also seeing and using the new Broad Street stretch into a reconfigured intersection of West Silver Street, East Silver Street, Broad Street and South Broad Street. The Broad Street construction also saw a move from four lanes to two lanes which were pared down after the traffic study results showed there was not enough traffic to support four lanes versus adding on street parking along with a soon to be marked bicycle lane. The project gave me a chance to establish a rather large list of e-mail addresses that received weekly updates during the construction period so you could plan your travel route. I want to say “Thank You” to the Westfield News for also printing the report each Monday so that the readers around the City could also benefit from the update.
In legislative business, my first year saw my assignment to Chair the License Committee of the Council which started with dealing with the last permits the Council issued for Westfield’s energy plant on the north side. My first taste of public hearing held in committee and in the full Council. We also addressed many local business permits that the Council issues that allow our local stores to sell their wares every day. One of my first actions of business was to begin the process of reorganizing the Department of Community Services which was an umbrella department established to have a super manager control the Council on Aging (Senior Center), Veterans Affairs and the Parks & Recreation department. This super group had been without a leader for well over two years and each department was being headed by an interim director. One of the campaign goals I made to the seniors of Ward 2 and the seniors of the city, was to fix this and return the Council on Aging to a department of its own. It sounded easy enough but it took almost an entire year to work and re-work the wording of the Ordinances in order to re-establish each department on its own. Through the assistance of the Personnel Action Committee and Chairman Brent Bean, we were able to rework the Director of Elder Affairs, a.k.a. Senior Center Director’s complete job description because we had created a “new” department. Along with this came the need to advertise the job, conduct interviews and the Mayor nominated Tina Gorman to the Council for appointment to the position – which she had been doing for years!!! Congratulations to Tina and the rest of the COA staff for working with the Council and working with having to relocate the operation because of the ongoing construction. All this has been accomplished without ever dropping senior services in our community.
We finished off the legislative year by approving several bonds for major projects in the city including the new elementary school and major repairs to many of our existing elementary schools and the roof of City Hall. The year’s end also saw an election in which we will lose two At-Large Councilor’s from the existing corps, Nicholas Morganelli and Gerry Tracy. Both of these men gave many hours to the Council working for their constituents trying every step of the way to make our city a better place to live, work and raise a family. I commend both of them for their time of service to the city and the residents and they will be missed. We have had a few other retirements in our city operations but I want to focus on one in particular and that is Jackie Wheeler who will be retiring at the end of the month from the Engineering Department. Jackie has given many years to the city, is a great constituent of Ward 2 and she will be missed at City Hall. Congratulations Jackie, good luck and enjoy.
The next legislative year already looks to be filled with challenges and we begin the process by reviewing the Rules of the Council which govern how we operate, some new business development opportunities in the downtown area, the airport area and Cabot Road to name just a few. We will also continue our review of the City Charter in the hopes of building on the foundation laid many years ago by the first leaders of our community. I envision us kicking off the final stages of the new Senior Center planning and beginning construction sooner rather than later on that project, wrapping up the Broad Street, Main Street and Great River Bridge projects and getting the new elementary school in the construction mode in mid-2012 for a September 2014 opening.
I want to take a minute and welcome back At-Large Councilor Jim Adams who will re-join the Council in January after a two-year break and welcome new At-Large City Councilor Agma Sweeney who will also be joining us in January. Congratulations to both of them on the election and I look forward to working with them and the other ten Councilor’s as we move forward making our City a better place to live, work and play.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Holidays and a Happy & Prosperous New Year to all of the residents of Westfield – enjoy and stay safe.
Jim Brown
City Councilor – Ward 2
