It’s official. I have pulled my nomination papers and am declaring my intention to seek a second term as an At-Large City Councilor. It’s been a great experience working with my colleagues on the council and representing the interests of Westfield residents across the city.
So far, all seven At-Large incumbents will be running again along with two new contenders in the At-Large race. I very much look forward to campaigning door-to-door again, seeing old friends, and meeting lots of new people. While it’s a lot of work, there is absolutely no better way to learn about the concerns of voters and their opinion of our city.
I’m proud to say I have perfect attendance for our city council meetings as well as the meetings for the subcommittee on which I serve. Over the past two years, I’ve learned quite a bit about how our city government works and the process for getting things accomplished. I’m eager to take what I’ve learned and add it to the energy, dedication and goals I brought into the term I’m completing. Formal experience as a city councilor will undoubtedly help me advocate towards goals of mine, such as helping spur economic development through an advisory committee established by President Bean and myself last year.
Over the past year and a half of service to my community as your city councilor, I am most proud to have been a leader and the deciding vote at thwarting a $600,000 cut to the school budget last year that other councilors were trying to push through. Those city councilors’ proposed cuts were in addition to those made by the mayor and school committee. My motion and my vote kept the school committee’s budget in tact when it passed by a very slim 7-6 majority. I felt it was vitally important to prevent layoffs and program cuts that would harm the quality of our education system. It will always be my position that public education is the most important service that local government provides and should be the highest priority in our budget. I will also do my best to oppose any further cuts to the school budget this year as well. That is my continued commitment should I be re-elected.
As a liaison to the engineering department, another budget item I will be keeping a close eye on is the operating expenses for the engineering department. This money is used to hire consultants, do design work, survey land, procure rights-of-way and perform other essential tasks that lay the groundwork for construction to be performed for the city. This line item is currently budgeted at $400,000 for the year to cover two different projects, which I support: the resurfacing of Western Avenue and the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail. According to representatives from the engineering department, if this budget item is not fully funded, it could jeopardize the state funding that has been set aside for these projects.
In my capacity as the liaison to the fire department, I met with fire department representatives earlier this week to discuss their budget. Overall, they felt the department was managing despite the near level-funding of the department thanks in large part to the ambulance fund which contributes significant amounts of revenue to the city (over $2 million per year). They also reported that the ambulance fund contributed heavily to the construction of the new fire station on Little River Road and to the lease of a new firetruck for the city.
However, fire department representatives relayed their concern that insurance industry efforts to set ambulance reimbursement rates across the state would cripple the ambulance fund because the proposed new rates are below what the city is currently collecting for emergency medical service response calls. They said the insurance companies have the clout on Beacon Hill and that they worry that after many years of intense lobbying, they may get legislators to pass their proposal. The fire department has reached out to Representative John Velis as well as Senator Don Humason to ask him to resist the efforts of the insurance companies to set the reimbursement rate. Mayor Sullivan has been working closely with the fire department to ensure any attempts to reduce the ambulance reimbursement rate is defeated. I will keep a close eye on this matter. If it looks like the insurance companies get close to their goal, I’m hopeful the residents of Westfield can encourage State Rep. Velis and Senator Humason to do whatever they can to stop it.
That’s all for now. I will continue to reach out to folks through my Facebook page. By the way, I’m proud to say that my Facebook page is the most “liked” page of any Westfield politician with over 1,301 total likes. Thanks to everyone who messages me on Facebook to ask questions, make suggestions and engage in the important discourse of our city. I am glad to help as much as I can. It is a great privilege to serve Westfield’s residents and I would love to do so for another 2 years.
Have a great summer everyone!
