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Voters choose some fresh faces to represent the city

By Michelle Symington

MetroWest Reminder Assistant Editor



WESTFIELD The residents of Westfield proved during Tuesday's election that they wanted a few new faces on the City Council.

Two incumbent at-large councilors were unseated and three newcomers filled ward positions.

Incumbent At-Large City Councilors James Adams, David Bannish, Brent Bean, II, and Brian Sullivan regained their seats.

Barbara Swords, former Ward 4 councilor who decided to run for an at-large position rather than continue in her ward, was also elected.

Newcomers John Liptak, who received the highest number of votes, and Joseph Wynn were also elected to at-large positions, unseating incumbents Lynn Boscher and Mark Noonan. The two also beat hopeful Christopher Keefe.

Liptak was followed by Bean, who received 3,215 votes, and Adams, who received 3,197 votes as the top three choices.

In Ward 1, incumbent Charles Medieros was re-elected with 545 votes, defeating challenger James Poteat, who received 496 votes.

Daniel Knapik, Ward 2 incumbent councilor, ran unopposed and received 655 votes.

Ward 3 Incumbent City Councilor Peter Miller also ran unopposed, receiving 542 votes.

In Ward 4, two newcomers vied for the seat currently held by Swords. Mary O'Connell won the seat with 677 votes, defeating her opponent Michael Burns, who received 483 votes.

The race for Ward 5 was also decided between two newcomers. Richard Onofrey, Jr. won the seat with 641 votes, closely followed by his opponent Edward Ziskowski, who received 629 votes.

The race for Ward 6 unseated the incumbent James Laverty during the preliminary election by Jason Russell and Joseph Spagnoli.

Russell, a newcomer to politics and a former meteorologist for ABC40 won the seat with 610 votes. Spagnoli received 481 of the votes.

All councilors serve a two-year term.

Mayor Richard Sullivan ran unopposed and received 4,474 votes for a seventh term as the city's leader.

All three members of the School Committee seeking re-election regained their seats, defeating their challenger John Sullivan, who received 2,292 of the votes.

School Committee member Heather Sullivan received the most votes with 3,762, followed by Sharon Merlo-Gosselin, who received 3,646 votes, and Robert Kapinos, who received 3,052 votes.

School Committee members serve a four-year term.

Residents of Westfield also elected Alberta Humason to a six-year term as Athenaeum Trustee.

All six members of the Municipal Light Board were re-elected.

Kevin Kelleher, Ward 1, William Buzzee, Ward 3, Francis Liptak, Ward 4, and Thomas Flaherty, Ward 5, all ran unopposed.

For the Ward 2 seat, incumbent John Palczynski, who received 425 votes, defeated his challenger Robert Paul, Sr., who received 368 votes.

Robert Sacco, Ward 6 board member, received 565 votes to win re-election. He was challenged by John "Jocko" Sharon, who received 445 votes.