Doe announces write-in campaign against Boronski
Date: 10/15/2012
By Chris Maza
chrism@thereminder.comEAST LONGMEADOW —The race for the open seat vacated by Jack Villamaino is now exactly that a race.
While Debra Boronski was the only resident to return nomination papers for the open Board of Selectmen seat previously filled by Villamaino, who resigned on Aug. 22 in the midst of media reports of his involvement in a voter registration fraud scheme, a new challenger has thrown his hat into the ring.
Bryan Doe announced to
Reminder Publications on Oct. 9 his intentions to run a write-in campaign against Boronski in the special election, which is slated to take place on Dec. 18.
"The main reason is because when I returned from the military, I wanted to continue my public service," he said. "I figured more people would be running for [Villamaino's] seat and when I saw in
The Reminder that there was only one candidate, I decided I could not let one person run unopposed for such an important job."
Doe graduated from East Longmeadow High School in 1997 and achieved a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Chaminade University of Honolulu in 2010. He served eight years in the U.S. Army until 2010, including two combat deployments in Iraq and currently serves as a police sergeant for the Department of Defense.
Doe also recently hosted a program in East Longmeadow educating residents on emergency preparedness strategies.
His military record and continued service to the public, he said, speak to his trustworthiness, something that he believes needs to be restored to the Board of Selectmen.
"Right now the Board of Selectmen is your top governing officials and right now it's tainted. One of my main things is to get it back to having a good name and having people trust us," he said. "Being a veteran and a trustworthy person, the voter fraud situation really stirred up my convictions."
Doe acknowledged that he had unique challenges as a write-in candidate, but said his involvement in other campaigns has prepared him for success.
"I have experience working on local, state and federal grassroots campaigns," he said. "It's a strategy of reaching the voters one on one. It's all about boots on the ground and putting in the time and putting in the energy."
He added that the door-to-door approach would allow him to better understand the needs and concerns of the community.
"There will be no empty promises," he said. "I will listen to the concerns of the people and tell them what I can do."
Doe also said he felt the fact that the election was a special election helped make his write-in status less of a handicap.
"It's a local special election. The people aren't going to be voting for senator or president so this won't be an afterthought," he said. "People will be going there to vote for me."
