WESTFIELD – Mayor-elect Brian Sullivan will get a head start on his new position as Mayor Daniel M. Knapik appears to be poised to move on to his next career two months short of the expiration of his third term in office. A source close to Mayor Knapik who could not speak on the record has indicated that word on Knapik’s official role with the state will be issued later this week but hinted that the mayor’s post could be vacated as soon as the end of this week.
The fact that Knapik has interviewed for a number of jobs in other municipalities last spring is public information. Knapik withdrew his candidacy from several of those posts because the timing of assuming those posts conflicted with the approval of the city’s 2016 fiscal year budget.
Mayor Knapik recently made reference to his pending departure at both a ribbon cutting ceremony and his monthly Chamber of Commerce coffee hour where he stated that his participation at those events as mayor will be among his last official duties.
Knapik has been seeking a job based upon his tenure in city government, three terms as mayor and four terms on the City Council, as well as his years of experience in the field of environmental science from his private sector employment.
Knapik recently declined to provide the details of his new position and the duties it will entail, stating that the agency at which he is applying is mindful of the on-going municipal election and did not wish “to steal” the limelight from the local candidates.
Ironically, Knapik was one of those candidates to win election as an At-large City Council member on Tuesday.
“I started on the City Council,” Knapik said recently. “I always loved that job. I was glad to serve six years as mayor, but I really never wanted to leave the council. The major issues facing the city in 2009, when I decided to run for mayor, have been addressed, so it’s time to move on.”
Knapik cited three achievements during his tenure as mayor: single-stream recycling, an increase in the city’s bond ratings, and construction of the new Senior Center at the Mary Noble Estates.
“One of the most recent accomplishments we achieved in the city is the institution of single-stream recycling, which appears to have been embraced by city residents since its January launch,” Knapik said
“It’s a good story that we were able to pull it off in the worst of this winter. It works and should only get better with the good weather,” Knapik said. “It was definitely something on my list of things to get done when I took office six years ago.”
The city’s financial status was recently endorsed by Standard & Poor’s Rating Service which reconfirmed with a SP-1+ short-term borrowing rating and affirmed the city’s AA long-term bond rating.
“That’s the highest short term rating you can get,” Knapik said. “We are financing a number of projects through short term borrowing on a one-year bond authorization note (BAN) with an interest rate on the BAN of .18 percent. So that is all good news.”
Brian Sullivan, City Council president, will serve as acting mayor once Knapik steps down. Ironically, Sullivan defeated Mike Roeder by 1,000 votes on Tuesday to become mayor and Knapik narrowly defeated Roeder two years ago with slightly more than 300 ballots.
