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Date: 9/6/2022
SPRINGFIELD – After receiving enough votes during a closely-contested primary, Mayoral Aide Lavar Click-Bruce and former Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees at University of Massachusetts Edward Collins Jr. will face off in the Ward 5 election on Sept. 13.
The Ward 5 City Council seat became vacant when former City Councilor and City Council President Marcus Williams resigned from office on May 31. After temporary consideration of how the vacated seat would be addressed, the council ultimately agreed on hosting a special election after state Rep. Angelo Puppolo’s home rule petition legislation was signed into law by Gov. Charlie Baker on May 16.
Voter turnout for the primary election, which took place less than two months after the candidates secured signatures, represented 9.6 percent of the Ward 5 community. That percentage encompasses 1,424 ballots – a figure that only represents a slight decrease from the 1,888 ballots cast during Williams’ unopposed reelection campaign in 2021.
Click-Bruce led the candidate field with 385 votes, or 27.2 percent of the total vote, while Collins secured 22.3 percent of the vote with 316 ballots. Click-Bruce expressed encouragement with the primary turnout rate.
“Ward 5 really turned out and supported not only myself, but other candidates as well. … I’m just elated for the whole process in Ward 5 and just being part of the selection process of naming the next City Councilor,” said Click-Bruce.
City Clerk Gladys Oyola-Lopez shared that residents can vote at a variety of locations for the Ward 5 election, including the Sci-Tech Sports Complex, the Mary Lynch School, the Clodo Concepcion Community Center at Greenleaf Park, Pine Point Library, Duggan Middle School and Church in the Acres. Some residents submitted mail-in ballots before the Sept. 3 mail-in deadline.
Both candidates also endured a debate on Aug. 31 moderated by Reminder Publishing’s G. Michael Dobbs. Readers can watch the debate at https://www.youtube.com/user/FocusSpringfield.
Click-Bruce
Click-Bruce shared that he operated a grassroots, door-to-door campaign before the primary process. After securing his place in the final election, Click-Bruce said he will continue to make connections with Ward 5 residents.
“We just did a grassroots campaign, really just knocking on doors and meeting constituents where they’re at, hearing their concerns and listening to what they want to see in the ward. … It may sound cliché, but I think residents really want to know that you care. Knocking on their door means a lot,” said Click-Bruce.
For his campaign platform, Click-Bruce placed emphasis on increasing public safety efforts via a C3 police station in the Sixteen Acres area. He envisions the additional police presence as a deterrent for speeding and crime.
“Other areas are represented with C3 policing, but I think that it’s very important that we have representation within our ward with those police officers. I was affected on Monday with break-ins, two of my three vehicles on my residence. … I’m aware what’s going on because it’s affecting me personally,” said Click-Bruce.
Additionally, Click-Bruce plans to establish more local youth development offerings while keeping attuned to Ward 5 residents concerns.
Click-Bruce stressed that he possesses the most experience in the remaining field after working as an aide for the City Council and Mayor Domenic Sarno. He said those positions provided him essential insight in the “ins and outs” of how government operates.
“It’s not about personal gain, it’s not about my agenda, it’s about the agenda of the people. I believe I can reach across the aisle and make sure [Ward 5] has a place at the table,” said Click-Bruce.
If he secures the Ward 5 seat, Click-Bruce shared that he will resign from his current position as a mayoral aide for Sarno.
Collins Jr.
Collins Jr. expressed gratitude for the voter’s support he received.
“It feels good, I am quite pleased with the way it came out and thankfully to the people who worked with me who did so much hard work to get to this point, but there’s a lot more to do in a very short time,” said Collins Jr.
Leading up to the primary, Collins Jr. his team strategically placed more emphasis on direct mail and phone banking due to the tight timeframe. The candidate said he will now focus on connecting with residents via door-to-door canvassing.
“Now, we have to shift to do more of the traditional face-to-face, door-to-door campaigning then we did in the preliminary, but it’s still a short window. I have to expand the base of people who are active in my campaign in order to do that,” said Collins Jr.
Collins Jr. listed several projects of interest he will focus on if elected to the council. Improving road maintenance and snow plowing for neighborhoods across Springfield represents one of his central objectives.
“Updating the poor condition of a lot of our streets is something that I am going to continue to emphasize,” said Collins Jr.
Another point of emphasis is improving the checks and balances of the city’s government. He cited the council’s recent difficulties with Sarno in enforcing the Department of Justice’s decree for the city to establish a Police Commission.
“The real issue there is that the City Council was defenseless, if we didn’t have an out-of-town law firm step up and agree to represent the council pro bono, the mayor would’ve in effect gotten away with just saying ‘I don’t like what they did, even though it’s legally binding, I am not going to do it,’” said Collins Jr.
Looking ahead to Sept. 13, Collins Jr. believes the election will come down to a distinct voter preference.
“I think the way this race is going to shape up is whether it should be the mayor’s hand-picked candidate for the City Council or a more independent voice who clearly is not running to be the mayor’s enemy, but neither am I running to be his rubber stamp. I am running to call things as I see them,” said Collins.