Matthews to make bid for mayor

Date: 5/3/2011

May 4, 2011

By Debbie Gardner

Assistant Editor

WEST SPRINGFIELD — A vacancy in the office makes this the right time to run.

So said Town Councilor Gerald Matthews of his bid to be the next mayor of West Springfield.

Matthews made a formal announcement that he would be seeking the town's top office in early April, and told Reminder Publications he would be taking out nomination papers on May 2.

"I certainly had no intention of running against [Mayor Edward Gibson]," Matthews, who is serving his fourth term on the council — including two as its president, said.

He added that like many others he was "somewhat surprised, if not shocked that the mayor was not running again."

Gibson formally announced he would not be seeking a sixth term at a press conference in the West Springfield Town Hall auditorium on April 6.

Matthews said his immediate agenda in seeking the mayor's office is to build on the solid foundation of government Gibson, as the town's first mayor, has put in place. He also wants to see many of Gibson's projects carried to their completion.

"I'm very encouraged by the things he's brought forward in the past two years and I want to continue that work," Matthews said, citing the new high school project and plans for a new public library as examples.

Looking ahead, Matthews said as mayor he hopes to include an upgrade to the town's wells in Southwick — a move he sees as a way to alleviate a water problem in the town as a future capital project that would improve the quality of life for West Springfield's residents.

"The Southwick expansion has been on the radar screen for some time," Matthews said. "It's a very old system that does not have the capacity to provide water for all of West Springfield."

He said that he is interested in hearing all the details of the proposed $10 million project in the near future and has an eye toward how grants and possibly, low-interest loans, could make the much-needed upgrade affordable for the town.

"If we are going to bond for the [new high] school and the library, this [well upgrade project] is a lot of money. It has to fit the finances of the town," he added.

A practicing attorney who maintains a law office at 1252 Elm St., Matthews also cited his varied career in public service for West Springfield beyond his council seat as examples of fitness for the mayor's seat. The press release announcing his candidacy lists service on the Planning Board, and later the Zoning Board of Appeals from 1990 to 1995 and a seat on the former Board of Selectmen beginning in 1996. He served as Board of Selectmen chair in 1999, its final year as a governmental body.

The approved Town Charter revision changed the governmental structure from a board of Selectmen to a mayoral and Town Council form of government in 2000.

During his eight years on the Town Council, Matthews said he has "tried to educate myself as much as possible" about how the mayoral form of government functions.

"I have an appreciation of how [our] town government works and I want to keep it going in a positive direction," he said.

Matthews added that he "loves West Springfield and wants to see it move forward with experienced leadership."