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Date: 11/9/2021
WEST SPRINGFIELD — All incumbents on West Springfield’s Nov. 2 ballot were re-elected, including Mayor William Reichelt, who ran unopposed.
The candidates for district representative seats on the Town Council were also unopposed, but voters decided a seven-way race for five at-large seats on the council, returning all four incumbents and electing Jaime Smith to the open fifth seat. Smith will be the only woman on the council, which has had male members only for the past four years.
For the second election in a row, Councilor Edward Sullivan was the top vote-getter among at-large candidates, with 2,226 votes. The other incumbents occupied the next three spots: Brian Clune (2,197 votes), Sean Powers (1,969) and Brian Griffin (1,958). Smith received 1,908 votes. Challengers Mark Follett (1,255) and Kenneth Ritucci (1,153) were not elected.
Sullivan, who previously served as the town’s mayor, said he felt the competition for at-large councilor was keen this year.
“Although I have enjoyed the limelight at the top before, I will admit this time around I was nervous about becoming one of the five elected councilors at large,” he said. “Regardless of the results, I want to congratulate everyone on their efforts. Their efforts were the catalyst to push me to work harder.”
He said he thinks voters chose to re-elect the incumbents because they are “pleased” with their work. In his next term, Sullivan’s priority is getting on with the business of helping run the community and making West Springfield “the envy of the region.”
“I’m thrilled to be able to represent West Springfield and not only work with everyone on the local level, but also looking forward to working with our elected officials at the state and federal level,” said Sullivan.
Griffin, the current council president, agreed with Sullivan that the race featured several strong candidates.
“Some outstanding candidates were on the ballot, and I am happy to be a part of it all for my ninth term,” he said.
He said he believes voters re-elected him to continue the public works underway: “30 miles of road [repaving], along with Fausey School redesign and repaving, Tatham School repaving, Memorial Avenue bridge-to-bridge is something we need to see through.”
He said his constituents “will continue to get every ounce of energy I have to continue to make the Terrier Nation a great place to live, learn, and prosper.”
Powers expressed his excitement at serving another term.
“I’ve been working on a few different ways to build outreach with constituents and am looking forward to implementing that in the coming months,” he said. “Thank you for the support and confidence.”
In the new term, Powers said he will strive to keep voters satisfied with his work, and looks forward to building on the small business growth in town and working with the mayor on a downtown entertainment district.
Smith was the only woman who ran for city councilor this year, and will be the first woman on the council since 2017, when Councilor Bridget Fiala chose not to run for re-election and Councilor Jill Fortier-Withee narrowly lost a re-election bid. She will take the open seat vacated by Councilor George Kelly, who did not run for re-election this year.
“I was not surprised as to where I finished in regards to the incumbents, as they have all done great work for West Springfield thus far, and the voters know that,” Smith said. “As for the fifth seat, it was up for grabs and I had to work hard to speak with voters to let them know what my visions were and earn their trust.”
She said she appreciates the confidence voters have shown in her, and will do her best.
“I would like to extend a very sincere thanks to my family and to my committee. Their support meant everything to me, and I was so happy they could all be there with me when the results started coming in,” said Smith.
Ritucci said he was disappointed with his last-place showing.
“I started my campaign back in May, so I thought I had reached more than I did,” he said. “It was unfortunate. … I am sure there are some things I could have done better, but I would need time to digest it.”
He thanked his supporters, and called the run “a great learning experience.” He said it’s too soon to say if he will run for elected office again, but he plans to remain active in the Chamber of Commerce and other civic organizations.
Clune and Follett were not available for comment in time for The Reminder’s press deadline.
The at-large councilors will join four district councilors on West Springfield’s nine-member Town Council. In all four districts, one candidate ran unopposed. Incumbents Michael Eger (District 1, consisting of precincts 1 and 2), Anthony DiStefano (District 3, precincts 5 and 6) and Daniel O’Brien (District 4, precincts 7 and 8) were re-elected with no opposition. In District 2 (precincts 3 and 4), Michael LaFlamme was the only candidate for an open seat, as incumbent Nathan Bech did not run for re-election.
All town councilors will serve a two-year term, commencing in January 2022. The mayor will serve a four-year term.
According to Assistant Town Clerk Karen Hershowitz, 3,573 of 18,798 registered voters cast ballots this year, a 19 percent turnout.