Selectmen consider special election to fill Villamaino's seat
Date: 9/11/2012
By Chris Maza
chrism@thereminder.comEAST LONGMEADOW — While Selectman Paul Federici stated his preference of having a special election to fill former Selectman Jack Villamaino's seat, no decision was made on whether or not such an action will take place any time soon.
Federici made his opinion known at the Sept. 4 Board of Selectmen meeting after the Board elected to reorganize, making Selectman James Driscoll the chair and Federici clerk and chair of the Board of Health.
"This is not a motion, it's just my personal opinion. I've been thinking about this and to get the town back on track, I think we should have a special election," Federici said.
The reorganization and discussion regarding a special election became necessary when Villamaino, who was the chair of the Board of Selectmen, abruptly resigned on Aug. 22.
Villamaino, who ran unsuccessfully against Longmeadow Selectman Marie Angelides in the Republican primary for the position of state representative for the Second Hampden District, has been the subject of several media reports regarding the alleged voter registration fraud that occurred in July. He cited "matters of a personal and familial nature" as his reason for leaving the board.
Villamaino has repeatedly ignored requests for comment as well as an invitation to both candidates from Reminder Publications to discuss the issues in advance of the election. He also did not participate in a candidate's forum hosted by 22News on Aug. 29 after originally agreeing to appear on the program and his campaign website was shut down.
Driscoll said he respected Federici's opinion and said he was "not against the concept of it," but reiterated that he has not received a sense of urgency from the town.
Town Clerk Thomas Florence explained that if the board was to set a date for a special election, it could not happen within 64 days of that announcement, according to state law. If three or more candidates returned nomination papers for the position, then the primary could not take place less than 64 days from the setting of the date and the final election could not take place within 92 days of the announcement.
Thus far, two residents have announced their intentions to run. Debra Boronski made her desire to campaign for a seat on the Board of Selectmen known after Driscoll announced in July his plans to resign this month. Former Planning Board Chair Peter Punderson announced his intention to run after Villamaino's resignation was read into the record on Aug. 22.
Driscoll rescinded his resignation at Federici's request due to the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the board and has said he will stay until after the situation stabilized. He brought up his concerns about the possibility of two special elections.
Florence said that while he believed that two positions could be filled in one special election, he would look into the matter and report back to the board with a more definitive answer.
Also related to the voter fraud situation, former Selectman Joseph Townsend questioned the board as to why town employee Courtney Llewellyn was still getting paid, as she is on administrative leave, according to media reports.
"We have no comment on personnel matters," Driscoll replied.
Llewellyn, listed as clerical staff for the Board of Selectmen on the town of East Longmeadow's online salary listing, is the Special Programing Coordinator for East Longmeadow Cable Access Television (ELCAT) and has appeared regularly as an anchor on the ELCAT News program. She made almost $28,000 in 2011.
She has also been linked with Villamaino in media reports to the unauthorized request of absentee ballots on as well as the changing of residents' political affiliation from Democrat to unenrolled, however,
Reminder Publications has not been able to verify whether she or Villamaino are suspects. Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin and District Attorney Mark Mastroianni have declined to name any suspects in the case and search warrant affidavits and returns have been impounded.
Town officials have also declined to comment on her job status. Florence confirmed that an email from a selectman announced that an employee was placed on leave, but would say only that the person in question "is employed by another town department and is a town of East Longmeadow employee, but not an employee of the clerk's office ... She did volunteer on a limited basis one or two days a week from 11 [a.m.] to 1 [p.m.] to cover lunches or while shorthanded."
When this newspaper requested a copy of the email, Ryan Quimby, director of Information Technology for the town of East Longmeadow, replied by stating Town Counsel James Donahue informed him that the email in question was part of a personnel file and was not subject to public record laws.
