Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Reminder Assistant Editor EAST LONGMEADOW By a margin of 279 votes, incumbent Jack Villamaino retained his seat on the town's Board of Selectmen. Villamaino will be serving a full three-year term now, after being elected to a vacant seat in January 2007. "East Longmeadow has always been a great town," Villamaino told Reminder Publications the day after the April 8 elections. "It's always expanding. I see it becoming more a premier Western Massachusetts town in the next few years. It is an honor to serve here another three years." He explained that one of his biggest goals as a selectman during this term is to foster more communication between the six executive boards (the Board of Selectmen, the Board of Assessors, the Planning Board, the Board of Public Works, the School Committee and the Library Trustees). "In the past year and a half, issues have arisen because of a problem with communication," Villamaino explained. "The six boards need to work in concert." He listed the special permit issues with Spoleto and the home-based trade bylaw as examples of times when more communication between the building inspector and the Planning Board in the former instance and between the Board of Selectmen and the Planning Board in the latter could have minimized problems. "As the town grows bigger, it becomes more apparent that we need to work together," he said. He added that his overall goal as a selectman is to make a business of local government and make it as "open, transparent and professional as possible." "I'm grateful to all those who voted for me," Villamaino said, "and to those who didn't, I'll do my best in the next three years to win them over." The other contested election found George Kingston beating out Mike Carabetta for a five-year term on the Planning Board by a margin of 261 votes. Kingston said he was "very happy" with his election. He explained that his goal with the Planning Board is to make it more proactive. He wants to work with the board on state-mandated zoning reform and the possibility of a new master plan for the town. "As the new guy on the block, I plan to go slowly, though," Kingston said, "get a feel for what I'm doing." He said he expected the town to change quite a bit during his tenure on the board but wants to try to keep as much open space as possible. He continued that he plans on keeping his role as chair of the Conservation Commission for the time being. He feels that doing so will help communication between the two groups. As for his stance on the home-based trade bylaw, Kingston said he thinks "99 percent of the trades will abide" by the bylaw if it is approved at town meeting. As for the one percent who may not? "My position is to try to work out the issue with the individual and don't make it hostile," he said. The 2,072 voters who visited the polling place at Birchland Park Middle School, representing about 20 percent of the town's registered voters, elected Pete Punderson to a four-year term with the Planning Board, Martin Grudgen to a three-year term to the Board of Assessors, Daniel Burack to a three-year term with the Board of Public Works, Angela Thorpe and Gregory Thompson to three-year terms with the School Committee and Timothy Seeley and Amieland Singh to three-year terms with the Library Trustees. After she cast her ballot, Maureen Holland, an 18-year resident of East Longmeadow, said she thought local elections were important because they have an impact on everyday life. "These elections are equally as important as federal elections," Holland noted. | ||||||
