Info session explains ward representation
Date: 3/30/2009
By G. Michael Dobbs
Managing Editor
SPRINGFIELD Election Commissioner Kathy Hoar-Fleury started her series of information sessions on this year s elections with a word of advice: candidates should collect and return their signatures for certification as soon as possible.
Hoar-Fleury said the reason is if the number of certified signatures don t reach the legal limit, the candidates will not have time to get new signatures to make it on the ballots.
Speaking at Van Sickle School on Wednesday evening, Hoar-Fleury explained the addition of City Councilors and School Committee members elected from wards will change the mechanics of the election. There will be multiple ballots reflecting the choices the wards of the city will have.
In January 2010, the City Council will be composed of 13 members elected for two-year terms. There will be eight ward members at five at-large members. This is a change from the current system of nine at-large councilors.
The School Committee has had six at-large members elected in staggered terms. Under the new system, there will be six members elected for four-year terms that will not be staggered. There will be two at-large members and four ward members. Those members will be elected from districts created by combining the eight wards -- District One is Wards One and Three; District Two is Wards Four and Five; District 3 is Wards Six and Seven; and District Four is Wards Two and Eight.
Beginning March 31, nomination papers will be available at the Election Commission Office in City Hall. City Council and School Committee candidates must have 100 certified signatures of Springfield residents. Candidates for mayor must have 500 signatures.
The deadline for returning the nomination petitions is July 28 and Hoar-Fleury said because she has a reduced staff in her office turning the forms in as soon a possible will aid the candidates.
With two potential candidates at the meeting, Thomas Sullivan and Keith Wright, Hoar-Fleury offered advice on the best way to collect signatures. She said that asking people in the parking lot of a supermarket or mall usually results in many signatures from people who are not residents in Springfield. She said that by asking for a list of voters from a particular ward, a candidate can obtain signatures by going door-to-door directly canvassing their potential constituents.
Hoar-Fleury will be continuing the series of meetings about the election in the following locations:
April 1 at Pine Point Community Center, 335 Berkshire Ave.
April 22 at Milton Bradley School, 22 Mulberry St., in the cafeteria
April 29 at Rebecca Johnson School, 55 Catharine St., in the auditorium
May 6 at Mary Dryden School, 190 Surrey Rd., in the gym
May 13 at Greenleaf Community Center, 1188 Parker St.
All of the meetings will be start at 5:30 p.m.
***
Hoar-Fleury also announced last week that her office would be mailing the annual city census to residents on March 25. She urged people to complete and return the form as soon as possible.
"The census information is crucial in receiving state and federal funding. If the residents of Springfield are undercounted the city could stand to lose valuable resources," she said.
