Westfield preliminary results are in

By Michelle Symington

Staff Writer

WESTFIELD All six winners of last Tuesday's preliminary election are happy they made it through to the next round and are hoping that more voters head to the polls for the November general election.

The preliminary election took place for the Ward 4, 5 and 6 City Council positions, one of which unseated an incumbent councilor.

In Ward 4, Mary L. O'Connell received 266 of the total 486 votes and will be challenged in November by Michael Burns, who received 140 votes. The two beat out Glenn D. Miller, who received 79 votes, for a place on the ballot. In addition, one blank ballot was cast.

Current Ward 4 councilor Barbara Swords is seeking an at-large seat.

Both Burns and O'Connell are newcomers in the race for Council.

Burns said that he is very happy with the preliminary election result. He added that he was disappointed with the voter turnout, which was about 5 percent.

Burns explained that he spent 25 years in the military and is a retired master sergeant. He retired four years ago.

"I feel I have so much to give to the community," he said. "I feel I can serve the community as I did the country."

Burns said that if elected, one of his priorities would be land preservation.

"I feel this is the last ward in Westfield that has a lot of land to preserve," he said, adding that the land contains a lot of natural resources. "It is important to preserve as much land as possible for the city."

He added that he would also like to change the way assessments are done.

He said that the process needs to be reworked and needs to be fair and easy for the people in the city to understand.

Burns said that he will keep going door-to-door to "continue to meet the wonderful people in Ward 4."

He added that he will stand out, wave at people who drive by and make himself available. He said he has been working hard, but will have to work harder in the coming weeks.

O'Connell said she was also pleased with the election results.

"I am very appreciative of the voters of Ward 4 and I am committed to working hard over the next six weeks and winning the general election," she said.

She said that she decided to run for City Council because of a combination of a few things.

She said that she has owned a few businesses in Westfield and she grew up in the city.

She explained that she has an education in political science, a master's degree in city planning and she is chairperson of the Westfield Redevelopment Authority and is on the advisory board of the Westfield Business Improvement District.

"I feel I am pretty active now," she said, adding that she is a wife and a mother, which she said gives her another outlook.

She said that the more she thought about running, she felt she could "represent the people of this Ward."

O'Connell said that she had a lot of people working hard to help her with her campaign and she is looking forward to the election.

In Ward 5, political newcomer Richard Onofrey, Jr. received the most votes (162) with Edward Ziskowski, also a newcomer to politics, close behind with 141 votes.

There were three blank ballots and the third candidate Theodore Perez received 67 votes. There was also one write-in.

"I am very pleased with the results and I look forward to the coming weeks," Onofrey said. "I look forward to meeting the people who live in Ward 5 and hearing their concerns."

Onofrey said that he has been behind the scenes for a number elections and he "finally decided to step out and run myself."

He said that he plans to go door-to-door to meet as many people as possible. He added that he will be doing stand-outs and "waving to people who drive by."

Ziskowski said that he feels "pretty good" about the preliminary election results, but was not happy with the number of voters.

He explained that he is active in the city and attends City Council, Planning Board and Conservation Commission meetings on a regular basis.

"I see a lot of issues in my neighborhood that need to be addressed," he said.

He mentioned the fire station on Little River Road as an example. He said it is "ill-equipped and understaffed" and he wants to change that.

He added that he is also concerned with the city's sewer extensions. He said that new sewer lines are being run to new developments while the sewers in the older neighborhoods are being neglected.

Ziskowski said that he will continue to campaign for the election by going to meet the residents in his ward. He said that he "does things the old fashion way" and plans to go door to door to speak to people one-on-one.

Ward 6 had the most candidates on the ballot. Newcomer Jason Russell and Joseph Spagnoli, who has run for an at-large seat in the past, unseated incumbent City Councilor James Laverty and defeated Matthew Roman for a place on the ballot.

Russell received the most votes with 123, followed by Spagnoli who received 84 votes. Laverty received 67 votes. Roman received eight votes. Joseph Wynn, who is running for an at-large seat, received one write-in vote for the Ward 6 spot. There was also one other write-in.

"I had a night to sleep on it and I am very, very excited and pleasantly surprised that I was the top vote-getter," Russell said.

He said that since there was such a low voter turnout, he will have to "really work hard" to get his message out and to get people to vote in November.

"I think the voters in the preliminary made it clear that they are ready for some new blood [and] new faces on the City Council," Russell said. "Hopefully people will consider me their fresh face in Ward 6."

Russell said he is aiming to knock on 500 doors in his ward and will continue to do standouts at the city's major intersections.

He added that he will participate in a candidate's night at Westfield State College at the end of the month.

"If my budget allows, I will try to have a meet the candidate night," he added.

Russell said he looks forward to the next six weeks.

"It will be a fun, positive campaign that will focus on what I can bring to the Council," he said.

Spagnoli said that he is "happy he is advancing to the next round," but said that the numbers weren't there for him as they weren't city wide.

"I would like to see a little more numbers," he said. "I look forward to the next six weeks of hard work, knocking on doors and discussing issues."

Spagnoli was elected to the city's Water Commission four years ago, of which he currently serves as chair.

He added that he has tried two other runs for City Council in the past.

He said that he ran for an at-large seat six years ago and was 22 votes shy of unseating an incumbent.

He said the race was close and "got me a real taste for it."

Spagnoli said he ran again for an at-large seat two years ago and fell short again.

He said that he did well in his ward during runs for the at-large position, so he decided to run for a seat in his ward.

"[I decided to] stay in my own backyard and concentrate there," he said.

He explained that he has been in sales for over 20 years and he knocks on doors everyday. He said that he tries to come up with solutions for people in sales and said that sparked an interest for him in city government.

"I'd like to see new ideas and new voices on the Council" Spagnoli said. "They have done a good job, but I want to be part of the team down there."

Like many of the other candidates, Spagnoli also plans to campaign door-to-door.

"People seem to enjoy meeting the candidates and putting a name to a face on the ballot," he said.

He added that door-to-door campaigning will also give him a chance to learn about some of the residents' issues.

"I am a good listener and I will listen to what people's requirements are and their issues and be a voice for them in the city," he said.