WESTFIELD – All five incumbent City Council members won another term Tuesday, as did Mayor Daniel M. Knapik who returns to the City Council after finishing sixth in the polling.
Steve Dondley won his first term on the City Council as the seventh At-large member, narrowly out pacing John J. Beltrandi who came in just three votes behind Dondley.
There will also be new councilors in wards 1, 3 and 6.
Mary Ann Babinski took Ward 1 from incumbent Christopher Keefe by 149 ballots. Two years ago Babinski missed taking the Ward 1 seat by just 10 votes
Andrew K. Surprise defeated Ward 3 incumbent Brian Hoose by a margin of 102 votes and the voters of Ward 6, where incumbent Christopher Crean chose not to stand for reelection, are sending Planning Board vice chairman William J. Onyski to the council.
“It was a lot of hard work, but it paid off in the end,” Surprise said. He said he talked to a lot of people and knows what the people care about now.
“Thank you for the people who voted for me, and I’ll do my best not to let you down,” he said.
Onyski defeated Cheryl L. Crowe, also a Planning Board member, by 290 votes.
Ward 4 Councilor Mary O’Connell turned aside a challenge for her seat by Katherine Z. Bentrewicz by a margin of just 50 votes.
O’Connell, who won her sixth term and is now the longest continuously serving member of the council, although Brent B. Bean has served more years total, said this morning that she spoke with several councilors to foster cooperation in the city legislative branch.
“I’ve already reached out to some of the councilors whom I have not gotten along with in the past,” O’Connell said this morning. “We are all committing to work together. It’s time to get serious and put past disagreements behind us.”
Bentrewicz said this morning that she learned a lot about the campaign process, experience she will use in two years in another bid to unseat O’Connell.
“I feel really good, I’m going to do it again in two years,” Bentrewicz said. “I’ll work hard so those 50 people know who I am. It’s really exciting.”
Bentrewicz said that she and her supporters had little experience in campaigning.
“So we have two years to get it right,” she said. “We kept it nice. I’m proud of myself, my supporters, I learned a lot. I’m already excited for the next time.”
The Ward 6 race was the first race of the night to be called shortly after 7 p.m. and it was the first run at an elected office for both candidates.
“I wish him a lot of luck on the City Council,” Crowe said.
“I am excited and relieved and so happy,” said Onyski, who was celebrating at the Shortstop Bar & Grill. He credited his support group of family and friends for his success.
“They were phenomenal,” he said. “I am so grateful to them.”
“I’m just pleased I can go and help the city,” said. “I promise I’ll do the best I can.”
In the At-large city council race, the top seven vote-getters were Dan Allie, Brent Bean, Cindy Harris, Dave Flaherty, Dan Knapik, Matt VanHeynigen and Steve Dondley, in that order.
To see an unofficial breakdown of entire city election results, click here.
