Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 4/9/2015
EAST LONGMEADOW – The Annual Town Election on April 14 will feature a ballot question calling for the examination of new forms of government through the formation of a nine-member Charter Commission.
The ballot question is a citizen petition by a group of residents that obtained 1,700 signatures.
The Charter Commission would review the town’s government to propose changes, which would likely be voted on by residents in 2016.
“By doing that, it starts the whole process of getting a new charter in our town,” Town Clerk Thomas Florence said.
An approved commission would consist of nine members; that exact number of candidates returned nomination papers and will be on the ballot, essentially running unopposed.
The nine candidates running for the proposed Charter Commission are Planning Board member George Kingston, School Committee member William Fonseca, Appropriations Committee member Russell Denver, former Town Moderator Larry Levine, Appropriations Committee Chair Eric Madison, Raymond Miller, Thomas O’Connor, Planning Board member Ralph Page and Dawn Wiezbicki-Starks.
Fonseca said if the Charter Commission it would likely complete its report on possible new forms of government 12 to 18 months after its formation.
“Whatever report comes out of this Charter Commission, which will be voted upon on will have to before the voters on a town-wide ballot, just as it was done in 2005,” he added.
The only contested race during the April 14 Town Election will be for a three-year term on the Housing Authority. The candidates are incumbent James Moriarty and William Arment.
Arment, 30, told Reminder Publications he decided to run for Housing Authority because he is helping to give back to the community that he grew up in.
“What I do for a living is help out the family business, [Charlie Arment Trucking in Springfield] doing demolition and construction,” he added. “I feel like being a manager at work as well as being a bookkeeper and a guy out in the field working, I can have some valuable input on the Housing Authority.”
Arment currently serves on the Conversation Commission, which he joined about eight months ago.
Moriarty, 27, said he was appointed to an open seat on the Housing Authority in December 2014. He is the project manager for Sustainable Comfort and also seeks to give back to his hometown by being part of the Housing Authority.
“I’m an energy consultant for low-income housing developments,” he added. “For new developments, we consult on energy efficiency and green building initiatives for housing all over New England.”
Florence said unless the Charter Commission ballot question draws more residents, he expects a 12 to 14 percent turnout from the town’s total registered voter population of approximately 11,000 people.
“Local elections, if there’s not a heated race, it’s usually a 12 to 14 percent [turnout],” Florence said. “If there [are] races, you can get anywhere from 15 to 20, maybe 22 percent.”
Typically less than one fifth of the town’s population votes during the average election, he noted.
“That’s the frustrating part,” Florence added. “We do live in a very difficult time; hustle and bustle, the age of convenience and again it’s up to us as town officials and up to the Selectmen to try to get the word out to people as best as possible. Your voice can be heard.
“If you want to get a different form of government in town other than the three selectmen and the open town meeting, this is the way to do it,” he continued.
The list of uncontested incumbent positions include Christine Saulnier for assessor, Rocco Carabetta Jr. for a five-year term on the Housing Authority, Charles Gray Jr. and Arthur McGuire for the Library Board of Trustee, Michael Carabetta for a four-year term on the Planning Board, Tyde Richards for a five-year term on the Planning Board, Thomas Wilson Jr. for Public Works, Deirdre Mailloux for School Committee, and Paul Federici for the Board of Selectmen.