WESTFIELD – Two days after his New England Patriots clinched Super Bowl XLIX in a thrilling 28-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, Westfield City Council President Brian Sullivan worked the room at The Tavern Restaurant last night, shaking hands and posing for photographs, his collar adorned with a Patriots tie.
“We’re ready to win, too,” he said with a smile, minutes away from formally kicking off his campaign to run for mayor of Westfield this fall.
Family, friends and city officials packed The Tavern to hear Sullivan as begins his quest, with a current and past mayor in attendance, Daniel M. Knapik and Sullivan’s older brother Richard, who served from 1994 to 2007. Knapik announced this year that he will not seek a fourth two-year term as mayor, and is being considered for a position as town administrator in Walpole.
After several hundred heard from Sullivan’s Campaign Manager Lisa McMahon, it was time to hear from the man himself.
“Mom and Dad, I’m sure you never thought you were going to look in a room like this and see this banner,” said the 51-year old Sullivan before thanking his family and pointing to a red and blue banner adorned with the words “We’re with Brian for Mayor” amid cheers from the crowd.
Sullivan said the seed for a mayoral run was planted years back as he sat in a chair at the dentist’s office, who marveled at his ability to connect with people from all walks of life – from coffee hours with seniors, dealing with businessmen, coaching youth baseball and running city council meetings.
“Why do I want to be mayor? Because I can do that,” he said. “That’s what we need right now. Someone to sit, listen and get things done and I want to do that.”
Sullivan stated he wants to “build a bridge” from City Hall to the city departments, namely the school department, listing a science wing addition at Westfield High School as a priority.
“We’re falling way behind in science and technology and that addition needs to get done,” he said.
Sullivan also touched base on teaming with the city’s Gas and Electric Department to improve high speed Internet in Westfield.
“Danny (Howard) is very smart and he’s got a great bunch of commissioners who are thinking of doing a lot of things in this city,” he said. “We have a jewel in having our own department and we need to work together as a city to make those things happen. We would be attracting so much business (with high speed Internet).”
Touching on his experience working with four different mayors – Knapik, Sullivan, Michael Boulanger and the late Charlie Medeiros – Sullivan said he would put that experience to good use, building a bridge from the corner office to the council chambers.
“I’m going to bring the council to the mayor’s office,” he said. “I’m tired of the way government works like Congress, where we’ve got Republicans and Democrats who dislike each other so much that we never get things done.”
“I’m not going to be that guy,” Sullivan said. “I want to get things done.”
Sullivan concluded the speech by quoting a familiar line repeated by Casey Kasem at the end of every one of his shows – “Keep your feet on the ground and continue to reach for the stars.”
“I’m going to do that, but I need your help to do that,” concluded Sullivan to the cheering crowd.
Prior to his speech, Sullivan, who has run and been elected to City Council nine times at-large, spoke of his experience running citywide campaigns and of some of the challenges he expects to face running for mayor.
“It is different because it is one person going for one seat as opposed to many people going for seven seats, so it is a different type of an election,” he said. “You’re the one person that people are looking for to fill a major role in the city government and that’s different than running for council.”
Sullivan could face Michael L. Roeder, who lost to Knapik in 2013, has announced his intention to run for mayor also but he has not yet made it official.
Knapik, who served with Sullivan on the city council prior to his election as Mayor in 2009, wished Sullivan well after the event.
“He has distinguished himself well over the years,” said Knapik. “He will make a fine mayor.”
Richard Sullivan added that his brother has the people skills to reach all voters in the city.
“He has the ability to bring people together and to be a good listener and as I told people last night, he is committed to the community and the families of this community,” said Richard Sullivan, before speaking to his brother’s skill in citywide campaigns this morning.
“He likes meeting people and he understands the importance of going back and asking people for their vote, even people who have supported him in nine previous elections,” Rick added. “That personal connection he’s able to make, it is very grassroots and that’s his style. He’s going to be a great mayor.”
