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Date: 4/11/2023
SPRINGFIELD — An active field of City Council candidates are taking out paper for the 2023 election, according to City Clerk Gladys Oyola-Lopez.
The 2023 race will feature two open seats with at-large Councilors Jesse Lederman and Justin Hurst currently campaigning for mayor. Aside from Lederman and Hurst, every other current city councilor has already taken out papers for reelection.
As of press time, Ward 1 City Councilor Maria Perez, Ward 2 City Councilor Michael Fenton, Ward 3 City Councilor Melvin Edwards, Ward 4 City Councilor Malo Brown, Ward 5 City Councilor Lavar Click-Bruce, Ward 7 City Councilor Timothy Allen and Ward 8 City Councilor Zaida Govan are set to run unopposed for their reelection bids.
Click-Bruce joined the council in September 2022 after winning the Ward 5 special election against Edward Collins Jr. The election occurred after the resignation of former Councilor Marcus Williams in May 2022. Following his work as a mayoral aide to Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, Click-Bruce chaired the first community-based working group, the Working Group on Civic Engagement, as his first council initiative. He currently chairs the Public Safety Subcommittee.
Perez and Govan were first elected to the council in 2021. Perez transitioned from her role as a School Committee member and currently chairs the Impacted Neighborhood Stabilization Fund Oversight subcommittee along with being a member on the Maintenance and Development and Sustainability and Environment subcommittees.
Govan, a licensed social worker endorsed by state Rep. and former Ward 8 City Councilor Orlando Ramos (D-Springfield), is a member of the Public Safety, Finance and Sustainability, and Environment subcommittees. She is also chairing a working group on neighborhood quality of life.
Brown was first elected to his council seat in 2019 following the retirement of former City Councilor E. Henry Twiggs. Brown, who also works for state Rep. Bud Williams (D-Springfield), chairs the Youth Committee and Sustainability and Environment subcommittee.
Fenton, Edwards and Allen are a trio of the council’s longest-tenured members, originally being elected to their seats in 2009. Fenton and Allen have been dedicated to ensuring prudent financial management, with Fenton chairing the Casino Oversight Committee and Allen serving as the council’s representative for the team discussing the city’s unfunded pension liability.
Edwards became the City Council’s vice president following Williams’ resignation, with Lederman advancing from vice president to the council’s president. He has served as chair of the Responsible Employer Ordinance subcommittee throughout his tenure, working to ensure the inclusion of local and diverse populations for various construction projects.
Ward 6 City Councilor Victor Davila, who was first elected to the council in 2017, will be running against Shanequa L. Fryar and Humberto J. Caro in the only contested ward race as of press time. Davila currently chairs the Committee on Elder Affairs.
The race for five at-large seats features a wide net of candidates. Incumbents Tracye Whitfield, Kateri Walsh and Sean Curran have already taken out papers for reelection.
Elected in 2017, Whitfield continues to be one of the council’s outspoken advocates for diversity, equity and inclusion while also remaining a critical voice in the distribution of American Rescue Plan Act funding awarded in the coronavirus pandemic’s aftermath. She chairs the ARPA Oversight Committee and is the council’s representative on the city’s ARPA Advisory Committee.
Walsh is the council’s longest tenured member, being elected in 2003 after serving on the council from 1987 to 1993. She currently chairs the Women’s and Inter-Governmental/ State and Federal Relations subcommittees.
Curran, a former state representative, was elected in 2015. He remains an active advocate for economic development in Springfield, proposing projects like a downtown food hall and the construction of basketball courts in nearby Riverfront Park. He currently chairs the Maintenance and Development subcommittee and the Working Group on Creative Economy and Tourism.
Thirteen other candidates have taken out papers.
They are Juan Francisco Latorre III, Drew Keaton El, Nicole D. Coakley, Thomas Oakley, Lynell D. Gasque, Juan J. Caraballo III, Debra Fletcher, Timothy J. Bancroft, Brian Santaniello, Kim Marie Rivera, Gerry J. Martin, Paulena D. Bergeron, David Gaby and Mike Lee.
Latorre III, Carabalo III, Lee and Fletcher each vied for at-large seats in 2021. Coakley ran during the Ward 5 special election, garnering the fifth most votes during the primary process, behind Lee who finished fourth.
Rivera also previously ran a campaign for the Ward 6 City Council seat in 2015 that was previously held by her son, Amaad Rivera.