WESTFIELD – Ward 4 City Councilor Mary O’Connell has filed a Freedom of Information Act request for information from Mayor Daniel M. Knapik regarding a social gathering the mayor is sponsoring at the Big E on Westfield Day.
The Massachusetts Public Records Law, Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 66, Section 10, requires Knapik to respond to the FIA request in writing within 10 days of receipt.
O’Connell and Knapik have been on the opposite side of many issues, both while Knapik was the Ward 2 councilor and during his tenure as mayor and that political acrimony has led to an extremely strained relationship between the two.
O’Connell, who filed the request for information Friday, said that the Big E has sponsored a Westfield Day “forever” and that the mayors in office over the years have taken a “non-partisan” approach to inviting all elected officials, city officers and many residents to a social gathering held that day.
“I did not get an invitation this year and I called the Big E to see if it was an oversight,” O’Connell said. “I was told that it was not a mistake.”
O’Connell contacted Knapik asking to be added to the list of invitees. Knapik declined that request and said that O’Connell has created the divisive situation.
O’Connell said that she plans to attend the Westfield Day parade at the Big E on Thursday, Sept. 26 when the Big E hosts the Salute to Westfield, but does not intend to crash the Salute to Westfield reception.
Knapik posted a public response on Facebook after O’Connell filed the information request for the complete list of invitees and all correspondence between Knapik, his office, city employees with Big E officials.
“Really Councilor O’Connell, a public records request to my office requesting the invitation list to the Mayor’s Party at the Big E,” Knapik said, adding that the request is “wasting my time with such nonsense.”
Knapik suggested that O’Connell campaign for the mayoral office.
“Win, and don’t invite me,” he posted. “Heaven help us all.”
Knapik said that the Big E has limited the number of people who can be invited because of occupancy restrictions under the state fire code.
“They’ve cut the list way, way down,” Knapik said. “So this year, if a person was invited last year and did not attend, they were no extended an invitation this year. Mary did not attend last year.”
Knapik said he even eliminated his parents from the this year’s invitation list because they chose not to attend last year, but relented after an urgent parental appeal.
