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Date: 1/11/2024
WEST SPRINGFIELD — For his fourth term as a town councilor, Sean Powers is working with his fourth different council president. But he knows the new leader will try to embody the best attributes of all three predecessors — because it’s himself.
“I’ve seen some great presidents come before me,” Powers said at the council’s inauguration ceremony and leadership vote on Jan. 2. “I’m very excited to get started.”
He succeeds Edward Sullivan, the president during the 2022-2023 term; Brian Griffin in 2020-2021; and George Condon III in 2018-2019. Of the three, only Griffin is still on the council.
The position was open for a newcomer because Sullivan chose not to run for reelection on last year’s November ballot. Powers was the only nominee for president at a brief council meeting on Jan. 2, and was chosen by an 8-1 vote.
Councilors then voted Brian Clune as their vice president, again 8-1. Clune had served the same role for Sullivan and Griffin during the past four years. In both votes on Jan. 2, there was no discussion and Town Councilor Daniel O’Brien was the sole “nay.”
O’Brien returned to the council as an at-large member, taking the seat left by Sullivan, after previously representing District 4. New councilors at the Jan. 2 meeting were Fred Connor, elected in District 4, and William Forfa, who now represents District 1 instead of Michael Eger, who chose not to run for reelection. Both Connor and Forfa ran unopposed in last year’s campaign.
Forfa said his goals for the coming term include communicating with his constituents, including hosting community meetings. He was president of West Side Helping Hands, which he described as a cooperative effort to help needy people in town, and said he will bring that same spirit to representing the district that includes the downtown, Merrick and Memorial areas.
“I don’t shut my mouth when I see something’s wrong,” he said.
Connor said he is excited to be joining the council during the town’s 250th anniversary year. He said his priorities would include road repair and safety, taxes and budgets, and the preservation of open space throughout town. His district covers the town’s less densely populated northern neighborhoods.
“I’m looking forward to the challenges ahead,” Connor said.
Asked about his agenda as president, Powers said he wants to provide a forum for all councilors to bring their ideas to discussion and vote.
“We all ran for a reason,” he said, mentioning his own advocacy during the COVID-19 pandemic for an ordinance allowing restaurants to use nearby parking spaces as outdoor dining sites. “I presume that a lot of my colleagues have something like that.”
The new president said he envisioned a productive relationship with Mayor William Reichelt, who is in the middle of a four-year term. He said he has tended to be “on the same side” as Reichelt when mayoral requests come to council.
At the Jan. 2 meeting, all of the elected and reelected members of the Town Council and School Committee took the oath of office for two-year terms that cover all of 2024 and 2025.