WESTFIELD – Agma Sweeney is seeking a second term on the city council bringing her experience as a working mother and constituent service to the city’s legislative body.
“The At-Large councilors serves the entire city,” Sweeney said. “Constituents are my first priority. As a working woman and mother, I know that families’ priorities are finances, their children’s education, and balancing responsibilities.
“I bring two years of trial by fire,” she said. “I am an independent voice focused on the job my constituents elected me to do. My number one priority is to continue serving and representing the city residents.”
“I am resourceful, independent, persistent and empathetic,” Sweeney said. “I listen to constituent’s needs. My goal is to serve the public.”
Sweeney has gained experience in identifying and resolving constituent issues and problems while serving as a local aide for Congressman Richard E. Neal and former Congressman John W. Olver, experience that now benefits city residents.
“I am also employed as a Congressional Aide with eight years of experience providing constituent services in Massachusetts Congressional District One,” Sweeney said. “I make sure that constituents receive prompt and complete services from the appropriate federal agencies.”
“My constituents’ priorities are to provide for their families now and in the future,” she said. “They are concerned about continued quality education for their children; protecting our local water source, the Barnes Aquifer; securing and maintaining good-paying jobs; as well as maintaining the value of their homes and their quality of life in Westfield.”
“As city councilor, my job is to do precisely what the Westfield taxpayer does at home with limited resources: tighten our belts and spend wisely for our collective needs now and for our future.”
“Most of our city taxes, 88 percent, pay for public schools. And yet it’s not enough! We are running deficits and living on borrowed money to balance the budget,” Sweeney said. “The city council’s job is to work as a team all year, along with the mayor, city departments and schools, to take charge of the budget.”
“I take this responsibility very seriously,” she said. “I review all the information presented, research beyond this material, attend subcommittee and board meetings, and ask questions during council meetings prior to voting. My most important issue is to represent the city residents who are struggling financially, including young families, senior citizens, and working families.”
“My plan is to continue working within the city to ensure that our funding, our priorities and our investments are distributed equitably among all members of our community,” Sweeney said. “I understand that my job as a city councilor is to work as a team member, with respect, to tackle tough issues and achieve results. Solving Westfield’s economic situation will require challenging the status quo.”
“The city must seek ways to generate funds beyond taxing,” she said. “For example, we can establish programs that will generate revenue, such as increasing tonnage at the transfer station, renting the landfill for solar energy farms and sharing expenses of the Westfield Emergency Dispatch Center with nearby communities.”
“Economic development and infrastructure improvements are related, one feeds the other. We have bonded, spent and borrowed for new infrastructure, maintenance of school and city properties, accessible sidewalks, bridges, roads, parks, an IT Dept., Emergency Dispatch Center, and more. Build it and they will come,” she said. “Westfield is an attractive city with many amenities.”
“The economic growth in Westfield is at a tipping point,” Sweeney said. “Some of our resources are maxing out, and we need a proactive approach to stay ahead, plan and implement solutions. For example, downtown parking spaces are at a premium.”
“Another area of growth we need to address is Westfield State University,” she said. “While the university brings economic benefits to Westfield, we have reached or exceeded critical mass regarding parking spaces, noise levels, traffic volume, city police service, and speeding in the surrounding neighborhoods in Wards 2, 3 and 4. It falls on us, the city leaders, to seriously look at these problems and find solutions, along with the university leadership, to accommodate growth while at the same time maintaining the quality of life of our residents.”
“When re-elected to city council, I commit to lead Westfield in reaching out to the university, the neighborhoods and city officials to craft solutions to these challenges,” Sweeney said.
