2017 City Council At-Large candidate Nick Morganelli.
WESTFIELD—Two new At-Large City Councilors will be sitting in City Council Chambers starting in January following yesterday’s election, according to unofficial city election results.
Previous At-Large City Councilor Nick Morganelli and newcomer Matt Emmershy were two of the seven candidates elected out of 12 to At-Large City Council seats yesterday, taking seats previously occupied by At-Large City Councilors Matthew VanHeynigen and Stephen Dondley. In addition, At-Large City Councilors Dan Allie, Brent Bean, II, John Beltrandi, III, David Flaherty and Cindy Harris all won their reelection bids.
City Council At-Large candidate Matt Emmershy.
“I’m excited to get to work, it’s a step in the right direction. The voters responded to their displeasure in the status quo,” Emmershy, the fourth-highest vote-getter, said yesterday.
Emmershy’s bid this year was his first such for any city council seat in the city.
“The voters are sending a message here,” he said.
A total of 6,441 voters showed at the polls yesterday, resulting in a 25.13 percent voter turnout. Some candidates said that the turnout was good, especially considering that there was an unopposed mayoral race.
“I’m surprised at the turnout. Above 25 percent without a mayor’s race is pretty good,” Bean said. “I think the three ward races brought people to the polls.”
“I’m thankful for the turnout, which was great with no mayor race,” Allie the second-leading vote-getter, said.
Allie also said that he was excited to have the two newly elected councilors on the council.
“Couldn’t be more excited about Nick Morganelli and Matt Emmershy on the council,” he said.
For Morganelli, who was the highest vote-getter out of the candidates at 3,527 votes, he is coming back to City Council where he served two times prior.
“I feel humbled, I feel blessed, I’m very grateful to the people in ’07 and ‘09 and who voted for me this time around,” Morganelli said. “Eager to get back in and make some positive changes and help solve some problems.”
For VanHeynigen and Dondley—who were just 22 and 60 votes shy of seats respectively—the loss will not prevent them from keeping a presence within the city.
“Despite the loss, I’ll still continue to fight for Westfield and the important issues that face this city. You don’t have to be on City Council to make a difference,” Dondley said. “I will stay involved in Westfield politics.”
Dondley also congratulated Emmershy and Morganelli.
“Of course, it’s disappointing, but I’ve got a lot to be grateful for otherwise,” VanHeynigen said. “This job won’t be the last you’ll be hearing from me. Now we’ll give some of the new people on the council a chance to see the direction they want the city to go in.”
However, there were newcomers that were not as fortunate as Emmershy and Morganelli. Still, they maintained a positive outlook.
“I was very happy with my campaign and the support I received,” candidate Jeff Chagnon said. “The residents were very gracious in my viewpoint and very receptive and welcoming.”
And for candidate Gary Wolfe, the experience is something that he may be able to build on in the future.
“As a first timer I gained a lot of knowledge,” he said.
Wolfe even acknowledged his last place finish in stride.
“I can only go up from here,” he said.
Wolfe also said that he would not rule out running again.
Candidate Muneeb “Moon” Mahmood also lost in his second attempt at a seat.
Among those who were reelected were the two senior-most members—Bean, being reelected for an eighth term, and Flaherty, being reelected a fifth time.
“Thanks to everybody. I look forward to serving again,” Flaherty said.
“I’m excited to get to work. It’s going to be hopefully a good two years to focus on what we do best,” Bean said. “The real negativity of the campaign has been wearing. We need to focus on how great we really are and promote it.”
Others reelected included Harris and Allie, both of which were chosen to serve for their third consecutive terms, as well as Beltrandi, who served one two-year term previously beginning in 2013 and then took over for previous At-Large City Councilor Daniel Knapik earlier this year.
“I’m pleasantly surprised and I’m happy to be able to serve the community and the taxpayers for another two years,” Beltrandi said. “The fact that they put their trust in me, it means a lot to me.”
Beltrandi added, “I can’t thank the voters enough for putting their trust in me.”
The full results of the votes are as follows (bold denotes winner):
–Morganelli received 3,527 total votes
–Allie received 3,139 total votes
–Bean received 3,097 total votes
–Emmershy received 2,932 total votes
–Flaherty received 2,832 total votes
–Beltrandi received 2,596 total votes
–Harris received 2,560 total votes
-Van Heynigen received 2,528 total votes
-Dondley received 2,500 total votes
-Mahmood received 2,053 total votes
-Chagnon received 1,949 total votes
-Wolfe received 1,641 total votes
-A total of 13,666 blank votes were totaled
-67 write-ins
Amy Porter also contributed to this story.
