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Date: 10/30/2015
WESTFIELD – The two mayoral candidates, Mike Roeder and Brian Sullivan, met for the first time on the campaign trail just one week before the general election to discuss the issues within the city.
The Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce and the Westfield News Group hosted the forum at the nearly full Westfield Technical Academy auditorium on Oct. 26. Patrick Barry, president of the Westfield News Group, moderated the event.
Barry asked 18 questions of the candidates and then Roeder and Sullivan were allowed to ask two questions to each other.
Sullivan pressed Roeder on his decision to not meet with department heads in the city to hear their vision for the future. Roeder maintained it was part of his campaign strategy.
“I did not see the value of trying to contact all of these different heads to sit down and talk about what they see and what they want. I would have preferred and I will, trust me on this, in the transition time between Nov. 4 and Jan. 3, I will sit down and I will talk with every one of them the police chief, the fire chief, the head of personnel, the auditor and I will listen to them,” Roeder said. “We’ll have a good conversation and then I will tell them what my vision is and what I want as the mayor elect. That’s all this was.”
Roeder countered by questioning Sullivan’s voting record on property taxes, which have consistently increased. Sullivan said he stood by this record.
“I get those same bills you do. It’s a tough vote, but I also know that if I want the students of Westfield to get the best education and I want to cut the response time down from the Fire Department from nine minutes to four minutes because that’s public health and safety, if I want to do something downtown and build things, it’s the only way to do it,” Sullivan said.
Earlier in the night, both candidates said they would like to see the split tax rate stay at 1.63 percent, and Roeder reiterated his campaign promise to not raise property taxes.
Sullivan addressed Roeder’s guarantee in his response.
“I’m not going to give you any false promises tonight. I really won’t. I can’t. It’s not my style. I’m not going to tell you that everything tomorrow is going to be rosy. I think that if you listen to some of the things he’s saying, he can’t do that either. I know the process,” Sullivan said. “I’ve been involved with the process and sometimes we have to make tough votes, and I’ve made them. I stand behind them. I don’t always like them, but I’m doing the best that I can and what I think is the best for Westfield.”
Compared to the contention of the 2013 forum between Knapik and Roeder, the conversation was civil and often affable, drawing laughter from both candidates and those in attendance.
Questions about the school district – everything from the hot-button Ashley and Cross Streets elementary school, the science wing at the high school, managing the budget and the students attending Russell Elementary School – drew out the differences between the two.
While both agreed a new elementary school was necessary, Sullivan said he supported the Ashley and Cross Street location, while Roeder did not. When asked what other needs the school district has, both agreed technology in all schools needs to be updated. Roeder, however, said when he visited the Individualized Education Program (IEP), he was shocked to hear that teachers were paying out of their own pockets for pens and paper.
“We’re going to spend millions of dollars in technology and we have teachers that are taking money out of their own pockets to make sure their kids have something to write and read,” Roeder said. “There is something wrong here with this equation.”
Later on, Barry asked the candidates about planning for the next fiscal year. Sullivan stressed his 18 years on the City Council and eight years as its president have given him the appropriate experience to manage the city’s finances.
Roeder said that as “an outsider looking in,” he would be willing to cut the budget, later clarifying to “belt tightening” and “trimming the fat,” to avoid raising taxes.
Sullivan countered this, saying there is “no more fat” and that supplies, such as pens and paper, have already been cut. To make a bigger dent in the budget, Sullivan said the city needs to “think outside the box” and be smarter in managing its finances. He suggested possibly combining the middle school and high school bus routes to save money and merging city departments.
When asked about plans for their terms if elected, Sullivan said he would look to complete projects that have already been started, such as expanding the Little River Fire Station and the new school, before looking to start initiatives. Roeder said his priority would be to “fill every vacant storefront downtown.”
In their closing statements, both candidates made clear their differences. For Sullivan it was his experience and passion.
“I like to be involved. I like to be part of the process and part of the solution … I want to lead because I know we can do a little better,” he said. “We are doing well, but we can do better. I know I can lead in that, and I want to lead in that.”
Roeder zeroed in on his concerns with the current administration and how, if elected, he would steer the city in a different direction.
“I consider myself a change agent,” Roeder said. “We’re going to do things differently. We’re going to handle politics differently.”
Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. on Nov. 3.