HOPE E. TREMBLAY
Westfield residents are pretty lucky because there are 39 candidates vying for your vote Nov. 5.
Thirty-nine.
That’s 39 people who care enough about this city to put themselves out there and ask for your vote. That’s 39 people who are opening themselves up to public scrutiny and criticism. That’s 39 people who are willing to sacrifice time with family to serve you.
Twelve of them want to be your at-large city councilor, although only seven can be elected. Two want to be your mayor and the rest want to be your ward councilor, ward municipal light board member, school committee member or Athenaeum trustee.
That’s a lot of candidates.
In my opinion, you owe it to them and to your city to learn about them and vote. If they are willing to work hard to represent you, you should at least be willing to find out what they stand for and cast your vote.
We have been covering the election since August, but much more heavily in the past two weeks. We offered every candidate for election the opportunity to participate in candidate profiles, and every council candidate spoke publicly during our 2019 Candidate Forum Series, all of which were recorded by Community Programming Channel 15 and have been replayed in the days leading up to tomorrow’s election.
Our website paywall is down, so every resident with access to a computer can read about every candidate who responded to our profile survey. We co-sponsored a mayoral debate between the candidates hosted by Westfield State University that was televised live and had nearly 400 people in attendance.
A resident created a website that includes links to articles and videos about and from the candidates. Other media outlets have covered the election season and most candidates have been knocking on doors.
There are numerous ways for residents to learn about these 39 residents, many of whom are incumbents. My hope is that if you have not tried to find out more about these citizens who want to be your voice, that you take some time in the next 24 hours to find out what they stand for and vote for the candidates you believe will best represent you and the best interest of the residents of this city. The polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Good luck to all the candidates.
