WESTFIELD—This year’s city election brought with it two first-time city councilors, as well as one who had not served for several years.
The 2017 Westfield Election was one that some could say was surprising, after three ward councilor positions were contested, as well as at-large council seats. The election saw two at-large city council seats change to new hands in the end, as well as the ward four city council seat going to someone who ran for it several times but up until this year, never won the position.
Two At-Large City Councilors, Matthew VanHeynigen and Stephen Dondley, were not reelected in this most recent election. Instead, first-time candidate Matt Emmershy and former At-Large City Councilor Nick Morganelli found their ways into City Council Chambers as at-large councilors starting Jan. 2.
2017 City Council At-Large candidate Nick Morganelli.
Morganelli, who previously served as at-large councilor in 2007 and 2009, was actually the leading vote-getter during the election, which had a roughly 25 percent voter turnout.
“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 was quoted as saying following the election in the Nov. 9 edition of The Westfield News. “Eager to get back in and make some positive changes and help solve some problems.”
Emmershy, who was running for his first ever city council seat, was the fourth-highest vote-getter in the election.
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,” he was quoted as saying in the Nov. 9 edition of The Westfield News.
For the rest of the at-large results, At-Large City Councilors Dan Allie, Brent Bean, II, John Beltrandi, III, David Flaherty and Cindy Harris all won their reelection bids in the November election.
In Ward Four, soon-to-be Councilor Michael Burns found himself beating out first-time first-time candidate Dawn Thomas for the seat that Ward Four Councilor Mary O’Connell chose not to seek reelection for.
Burns actually beat two other candidates for the position, first outlasting a third candidate, Bernard Fitzgerald-Rosenblum, in the only preliminary election the city had this past year. Burns and Thomas were the two leading vote-getters in that three-person race.
Burns, who was serving on the Water Commission at the time of the election, had previously run for the Ward 4 council seat unsuccessfully three times prior.
Two other wards, three and five, saw contested city council seats, as well. However, in both, the incumbents were able to win over two newcomers.
In Ward Three, incumbent Andrew Surprise beat first-time candidate Rob Atkocaitis. Surprise won his second consecutive bid for the Ward Three Council position, and according to an article from The Westfield News, will continue to work on getting the medical district zoning settled and for more clarity in the city’s spending.
In Ward Five, incumbent Robert A. Paul, Sr., beat out another first-time candidate, Leslie “Les” Daniel LeFebvre.
Ward 3 City Councilor Andrew Surprise gets a kiss from his fiance, Amy Brown, after securing his re-election bid on Tuesday. (Photo by Lynn Boscher)
For Paul, the reelection means that he will be serving his third term on City Council. From the Nov. 9 article on the race, Paul is quoted as saying, “I’m very humbled and honored by winning. Ward 5 residents want me to continue working hard to provide services, sewers, value for their tax dollar and improvements at Munger Hill.”
In other election results, several seats were also not contested. Westfield Mayor Brian Sullivan, Ward One City Councilor Mary Ann Babinski, Ward Two City Councilor Ralph Figy and Ward Six City Councilor Bill Onyski all maintained their seats following the election.
In addition, a non-binding question for extending the mayor’s term from two years to four years failed by a two-to-one margin.
