Williams pledges to convene summit meetings to get guns off the streets

Date: 7/14/2009

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor



SPRINGFIELD -- In reaction to the city's tenth homicide, City Councilor and mayoral candidate Bud Williams has said he would organize a summit meeting of law enforcement, the clergy and social services agencies to form a plan to take guns off the streets.

Williams claimed last week "buying a gun [off the streets of Springfield] is just like buying a Big Mac at McDonald's."

He charged that Mayor Domenic Sarno's administration has been "dysfunctional."

Sarno disagreed with Williams' statements.

"Everything the councilor has been talking about we've been doing," Sarno told Reminder Publications.

Williams said his four-prong effort to reduce the number of illegal guns include:

• A closed door meeting with representatives of the Springfield Police Department and departments from adjoining communities, Hampden County District Attorney, US Attorney, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Massachusetts State Police, and Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to develop a plan of action;

• A second meeting with judges from the Hampden County Hall of Justice and the Springfield Juvenile Court;

• A third meeting with youth organizations on creating "more opportunities for the young people of our city;"

• A fourth meeting with the religious community, which Williams asserted has been underutilized.

Williams said he thinks he could organize at least part of his four-meeting summit within the next few weeks. The fact he is not mayor is not an impediment to making the summit happen, he said. He would invite Sarno to participate.

"It's not politics," Williams said. "I'm worried about saving lives."

Williams did not criticize Police Commissioner William Fitchet, but laid the blame on Sarno. He said that Sarno doesn't have a plan for decreasing gun violence.

Sarno countered Williams' claims with the release of a list of specialized deployments made by the Police Department last month. Among those were anti-gang deployments; greater deployments in the downtown area; a series of prostitution stings; and several raids by the Narcotics Bureau.

He added the Quality of Life Flex Squad has issued 2,930 ordinance citations so far this year, which he compared to the total of 539 for the entire year of 2008.

"I govern on results and not on sound bite politics and grandstanding," Sarno said. "I believe Councilor Williams called a forum on poverty some time ago, didn't he, and I think we're still waiting for the report on that."

"The Councilor would rather sell out his city for political aspects than really work hard to move the city in a positive direction," Sarno said.

Sarno added that he has made strides in public safety by adding ordinances that govern events for 18 to 21 year-olds at city bars and convincing the owners of the Club 418 to close the strip club until the issue of license violations can be resolved. Those license violations will not be addressed until after the trail of the man accused of murdering a patron at the bar.

Sarno said he has to wait for the police report of the recent stabbing incident at the Fifth Alarm strip club before he can take action on that possible license violation.