Council prepares to replace second member

Date: 6/6/2012

June 6, 2012

By Debbie Gardner

debbieg@thereminder.com

WESTFIELD — Residents of this city have lost a second familiar face on the City Council in as many months.

On May 31, At-Large City Councilor Patti Andras succumbed to her battle with cancer.

"Patti was the most approachable member of the council, " City Council President Christopher Keefe told Reminder Publications. "She is somebody we will sorely miss both for her spirit and her ready smile. She was an asset to the council and the city."

Keefe said Andras, who had served in many capacities with the city — including a stint on the Police Commission and as both campaign manager and administrative assistant to former Mayor Richard Sullivan — had been fighting cancer "almost since she was sworn in [to the council] the first time" in 2010.

"It was a heck of a battle," Keefe added.

City Clerk Karen Fanion, who called Andras "a wonderful woman" who would "help you with anything" and worked tirelessly for the city, said the procedure to fill Andras' seat would be a little different than that used to replace Ward Three City Councilor Peter Miller in early May.

Where the council reviewed applications from Ward Three residents and voted on nominees to fill Miller's seat, because Andras was elected at-large, her seat would go to the candidate who received the next highest number of votes in the November 2011 election.

That person, she said, was Kevin Harraghy, with 1,713 votes.

Keefe said, out of respect for the recent passing of Andras, Harraghy would not be sworn in as a new councilor until the June 21 meeting.

Fellow councilors also had words of remembrance and praise for the hard work Andras had given to Westfield.

"[Patti] dedicated herself to making Westfield a better place for all," Ward Six City Councilor Christopher Crean said. "No matter how difficult the decision, no matter how controversial the subject, Patti always had a way, through her simple words and her smile, to calm us all down and make us focus on the issue and most importantly how this will better the community. The council lost a dear friend and a colleague, the city lost one of the hardest working and most caring councilors whom I ever had the privilege to serve with."

Ward Four City Councilor Mary O'Connell, who drove Andras to Boston for treatment on several occasions, said "Patti was a woman of principle, unwavering in pursuing projects or objectives in which she believed. She saw things that needed to be done and did them."

Overwhelmed with the prospect of losing her friend and colleague, O'Connell said Andras told her, "'Well, get over it. I am dying and you better accept it'."

"No matter how badly she felt she always always wore her smile and tried to make you feel better," O'Connell said.

Ward Two City Councilor James Brown said of Andras, who served with him on the council's Legislative and Ordinance committee and also helped him with his campaign for the council in 2010, "[Patti] was truly committed to the workings of the city and was genuinely concerned with the people who came to her with their individual issues. She will be missed by many."