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Federici, Perkins and McGowan win election races

Date: 4/20/2009

By Courtney Llewellyn

Reminder Assistant Editor



EAST LONGMEADOW -- Over the course of Election Day, April 14, Board of Selectmen candidate Paul Federici said he "didn't know what was gonna happen" in the race against challenger Ron Cutler.

After the polls closed, Federici came out victorious, defeating his challenger by 828 votes.

"My goal was to win," Federici told Reminder Publications. "Now I've got a lot of learning to do. I hope people will be patient with me."

The new selectman was sworn in at a meeting on April 15 by Town Clerk Thomas Florence. Federici said his first goal as a selectman is to bring himself up to speed on the various warrant articles that will be presented at the Annual Town Meeting on May 18.

"I need to familiarize myself with the issues," he said.

Federici said he was happy with the results of the election, stating that he "must've done something right." He added that he wished he had "gotten the chance to visit more people personally," and called his campaign "a great learning experience."

A 13-year resident of East Longmeadow, this is Federici's first position in town government. He was challenged by both Cutler and James Martin in a preliminary election in March.

"I'm going to do the best job I can," Federici stated. "I'm sure everything will fall into place."

In another contested race, incumbent Michael Perkins beat out challenger David Villamaino for a seat on the Board of Public Works by 69 votes. This will be Perkins' fourth term on the board.

"I'm very excited," Perkins said. "We have a good mix [on the board]; we have good debates; we have a good working relationship."

Perkins already has a full plate of issues he wants to tackle in his fourth term, including expanding sidewalks and fiber optic lines, refurbishing the senior center, fixing up and finding new athletic fields and starting work on the bike trail.

"I'm really looking forward to that," he said of the bike trail.

Perkins said he appreciates the confidence the town has in him and that he is looking forward to serving the town for the next three years.

"It takes time to get projects done," he said, "but it's onward and upward."

Thomas McGowan, the School Committee incumbent who defeated challenger Joseph Cabrera, thanked all those who supported him. McGowan won the race by 542 votes.

McGowan said he is excited for his fourth term with the School Committee.

"I know it's cliche, but there's still lots of things to do," he said. "We're getting into a serious point in these economic times, and I'm looking to support education at the local level."

He added that one of his goals in this term is to maintain the teaching staff level in the East Longmeadow schools and pursue more funding for the district, either through grants or direct aid from the federal stimulus package.

"Even though we're under tough economic conditions, we're looking good as a school system as a whole," McGowan stated.

Also elected in uncontested races were Christine Saulnier, three years with the Board of Assessors; Mike Carabetta, five years with the Planning Board; Stan Prager and Arthur McGuire, three years each with the Library Trustees; and Gary DeLisle, five years with the Housing Authority.

Florence reported that approximately 17 percent of the town's more than 11,000 registered voters turned out for the annual election.