BRIAN P. SULLIVAN
WESTFIELD – Less than two years after nearly upsetting Westfield Mayor Daniel M. Knapik, Michael L. Roeder said he is ready to make another run for mayor this fall.
“I want this to be a nice, clean campaign on the issues and I think that’s what will happen,” said Roeder yesterday, adding that he received a call from City Council President Brian Sullivan saying he intended to run for the office, too – a gesture Roeder appreciated.
Set to appear on The Westfield News Radio Show next Thursday morning on WSKB 89.5 FM., Roeder added that his campaign has begun sending out fundraising letters and will be holding a meet-and-greet sometime by the end of the month.
“We’re going to start picking it up. It’s very early in the game, but that’s the reality,” he said, adding that he will need to amass a considerable war chest to have a shot at beating Sullivan.
Westfield Mayor Daniel M. Knapik, left, and Michael L. Roeder faced off during a Mayoral Candidate Forum sponsored by The Westfield News Group and the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce staged at the Westfield Vocational-Technical High School auditorium in 2013. (File photo by Frederick Gore)
“I’m going to do a lot more fundraising. I didn’t do a lot last time,” said Roeder. “Last time, my wife and I footed the bill for a lot of our costs.”
As to whether he can run again as the political outsider again, like he did against Knapik, Roeder believes that he can.
“I would certainly put Brian Sullivan in the Knapik-Sullivan side of the equation. They’ve been around a long time and my campaign is going to be that we need a change of perspective,” he said, adding that he wants to take a similar approach to how Gov. Charlie Baker has set about reviewing expenses on Beacon Hill.
City Council President Brian Sullivan (center-right) enjoys a laugh with former Council President Brent Bean III (center-left) and James Hagan, CEO and president of Westfield Bank (left) after announcing his candidacy for mayor Tuesday night (Photo by Peter Francis)
“I’m going to emphasize even more the expense side, a complete review of every contract,” he said. “There are a lot of economic issues.”
Roeder said he doesn’t intend to borrow any money, but that city officials could end up putting out a massive, city council-approved school bond that he would have to deal with should he be elected.
“I see this as an even field,” he said, before conceding that Sullivan has ‘a ton’ of experience. “But based on the environment and what has been expressed to me… I wouldn’t be running if people said to me ‘we like what’s going on in the city.’ We haven’t had a tax break in years.”
“People are telling me that they’re fed up and they’re tired. My goal is to give them a platform that is going to emphasize cost reductions, little or no borrowing and no increases in debt,” Roeder said. “That whole scenario is still there for me.”
Roeder’s lack of an incumbent opponent this time around will also cause him to make some minor adjustments to his campaign.
“I’m running against a guy who has been on the council a long time and I’m not sure what his platform will be, but I think it is going to parallel Knapik’s and what he would have done had he stayed on board,” said Roeder. “My platform is going to be a lot more intense and different because it is going to be a lot longer. I’m not counting out a special election in the next three or four months.”
Knapik’s announcement in late 2014 that he will not be seeking a fourth term in November turned city politics on its head and Roeder believes that, should Knapik find another job between now and the end of June, he will be forced to leave early, which could pit Roeder and Sullivan in a special election that would serve as an expensive warm-up for the real election in November.
“I know that he’s out there trying to find employment. I guess he didn’t get the job in Walpole,” said Roeder, referencing a town administrator position Knapik was a finalist for in the Boston suburb. “The fact is, he is going to have other opportunities and if he gets a job that requires him to be at point X in the next 60 days, he is going to resign.”
“He is not going to stay on board just to protect the council president. He has got a family and a job opportunity, so I’m preparing for a special election,” said Roeder, adding that his goal is to get city residents involved in the political process.
“I have got to get people interested enough in my platform that they want to go out and vote, whether they vote for me or Sullivan,” he said. “That is really the bottom line.”
