Ward 3 City Councilor Andrew Surprise gets a kiss from his fiance, Amy Brown, after securing his re-election bid on Tuesday. (Photo by Lynn Boscher)
WESTFIELD – Ward 3 returned incumbent Andrew K. Surprise to the City Council for another two years. Surprise won over first-time candidate Rob Atkocaitis, with an official total of 506 (Surprise) to 364 Atkocaitis). Breaking it down further, Surprise won Ward 3A with 139 votes to Atkocaitis’ 72, and Ward 3B with 367 votes to Atkocaitis’ 292. A total of 21 ballots were left blank; 9 in Ward 3A, and 12 in Ward 3B. Each Ward also had one write-in vote.
Surprise, who gathered with other candidates at the East Mountain Country Club on Tuesday evening to await the results, admitted that being Ward 3 Councilor is “a lot of hard work.”
2017 Westfield City Council At Large candidate Rob Atkocaitis (Photo submitted)
“I’m doing what my constituents want me to do. I’m going to continue to be an advocate for their concerns and that’s what it’s always about,” Surprise added. Among his plans for the next two years are to get the hospital zone settled. He also plans to push for the city to get an open checkbook posted online, so residents can see how every dollar is spent, something Springfield, Chicopee and Greenfield already have, he said.
Rob Atkocaitis, who had spent the evening at Rally’s Sports Bar on Meadow Street with friends and family, congratulated Surprise on his victory. He said he came into the campaign with only two months left before the election, which he said is a very short time to try to beat an incumbent that has a “two year head start. “
“I felt I ran a good honest campaign. I only wish I had decided to run a couple months earlier. I think the people of Ward 3 would have had a better chance to get to know the real Rob Atkocaitis and that my business experience would have been an asset,” he added.
Atkocaitis, who is a first-time campaigner, said it was a great experience; “one that I don’t feel I lost, I learned from.”
“I want to Thank my wife Elizabeth and my four children Ethan, Maddy, Alyssa and Drew for all of their love and support. Also, a big thank you to Kara Gentle for being my campaign manager and Jeff Pratt for being my finance manager. A special thank you to Rich Emmings for all his work, time and efforts; you are a friend for life. However, the biggest thank you goes out to all the great people that I met and voted for me in Ward 3 and to all the people that supported me financially and with their time. I will never forget your generosity,” Atkocaitis added.
-Dan Desrochers contributed to this story-
