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Date: 6/28/2022
SPRINGFIELD – In the wake of former City Council President Marcus Williams’ resignation on May 31, City Councilor At-Large Jesse Lederman will now serve as the council’s president for 2022 and 2023. Lederman aspires to increase community-relations and transparency efforts for the council in his new position.
Ward 5 vacancy
The news of Williams’ resignation was “somewhat surprising” for Lederman and the council. Lederman reflected fondly about the impact Williams had on him and the council. The two worked together on state-wide campaigns before their tenure on the council and ultimately served as the two youngest members of the council once elected.
“We’ve known each other for almost a decade…I am really going to miss Marcus on the council, I think my colleagues are really going to miss Marcus on the council…He was a great president. He was really the right president at the right time. He did a great job bringing the council together, especially in the wake of the [coronavirus] pandemic,” said Lederman in an interview with Reminder Publishing.
The news inspired a “whirlwind week and a half” for Lederman, who immediately received support from the council to serve as president for 2022 and 2023. Previously, the council voted Lederman to serve as the council’s vice president in the beginning of 2022 before Williams’ resignation placed Lederman in a new leadership position. Lederman said a central goal when first assuming the role was ensuring a seamless transition.
“We wanted to make sure in the immediate aftermath that we were keeping the council running,” said Lederman. The councilor’s first task as president was guiding the legislative body through the budget season process. The council hosted multiple budget hearing sessions before voting to approve the budget on June 14.
Another immediate development for the council was the vacancy of Williams’ Ward 5 City Council seat. After initial concerns that the council would have to appoint a replacement, Lederman said the council was “really relieved” to learn that a special election would be achievable.
“Certainly, we were really relieved to find out we would not have to appoint that seat for the people of Ward 5. Our special legislation had been passed by the council last year and just very recently signed by the governor,” said Lederman.
The council created the the Home Rule Petition after replacing state Sen. Adam Gomez’s vacant Ward 1 seat via appointment in 2021.The Home Rule Petition was signed into law by Gov. Charlie Baker on May 16 after state Rep. Angelo Puppolo proposed the act in October 2021 on behalf of the council.
Lederman said the special election is a positive development for the council and Ward 5. The primary for the special election takes place on August 16.
Going forward
Lederman considers the council’s support of his presidency through 2023 “the honor of my life.” The council president detailed the essential role the council plays as an institution of the people.
“I ran for the council in 2015 for the first time because I really believed in the power of local government to positively impact our local neighbors…Since being elected in 2017, I tried to use the office of the City Council and the City Council as an institution to advance the city and have been proud of what we’ve done,” said Lederman.
Lederman continued, “The opportunity to then lead [the council] is not one I take lightly. The institution of the City Council is the closest elected body to the people. There are very few elected officials you can call on their cell phone and talk to them…We have a real obligation to make sure that’s an institution that remains accessible and is actually delivering results.”
With his new position, Lederman detailed a few notable goals for increasing communication and transparency. The City Council president aims to oversee the return of Town Hall meetings, which allows residents to engage one-on-one or in a group setting with elected officials.
“One of the things I championed when I joined the council were these Town Hall meetings…Those were very successful prior to the [coronavirus] pandemic,” said Lederman.
With COVID-19 creating an increased reliance upon technology, Lederman shared that the council is working on ways to continue remote participation for public.
“Even when the open meeting law amendments that have allowed for virtual participation expire, we want there to be some options for virtual participation, especially for the public…We want people to be able to make their voices heard to their elected officials,” said Lederman.
Lederman also wants to create more opportunities for the public to be involved with the council’s work. He expressed his hopes that an increased sense of ownership for the public over city government would lead to higher voter turnout rates in Springfield.
“We talk a lot about voter turnout in Springfield and cities like Springfield especially being low in municipal election years. One thing we can do to see it go up is have people feel more ownership and have more opportunities,” said Lederman.
Lederman shared that other initiatives will be announced in the near future.