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Date: 6/21/2023
WESTFIELD — As of mid-June, all sitting city councilors have taken out papers to run in the municipal election in November, including James Adams, who earlier had said he was uncertain about running again; Mary O’Connell, who was sworn in to the council in May to replace Dave Flaherty after he resigned earlier in the month; Flaherty himself; Nick Morganelli, who pulled papers for at-large councilor rather than his current Ward 1 seat; and Councilor Kristen Mello, who also took out papers for mayor.
Also running at large are incumbents Brent Bean, Cindy Harris and Richard Sullivan, who were the only ones certified as of June 16, and Dan Allie; and newcomers Jessica Britton and Robert Parent. That makes 11 candidates for the seven available at-large seats on the City Council.
In the City Council’s ward seats, only Ward 2 is showing a potential contest, between incumbent Ralph Figy and Britton, who took out papers for mayor, Ward 2 councilor, at-large councilor, School Committee and the Municipal Light Board. Figy’s papers were certified on June 8. Britton had not returned any of the papers to be certified as of June 16.
Planning Board member John Bowen is the sole resident so far running for the Ward 1 council seat. Bowen has been certified, as have incumbents Michael Burns in Ward 4 and William Onyski in Ward 6, all of whom, along with Ward 3 Councilor Bridget Matthews-Kane and Ward 5 Councilor John Beltrandi, are unopposed so far.
Incumbent Mayor Michael McCabe will now potentially face Mello and Britton, if the two women decide that is the race they want to run. If all three run, that would trigger a special election in September so that there are only two choices on November’s ballot. Candidates can take out and file nomination papers for several seats, but have to decide to run for only one position before the ballot is finalized.
Another contest is shaping up for the School Committee, with five names so far for three seats, including two incumbents, Timothy O’Connor and Bo Sullivan; one former member, Jeffrey Gosselin. The three newcomers in the race are Britton, Robert Parent, and Jeffrey Gunther of Granville Road, who recently entered the race. Gosselin had his papers certified on June 9, the only one to have done so as of June 16.
The only contest so far for Municipal Light Board, where all members are ward representatives, is Ward 2, where Britton may choose to challenge incumbent Ray Rivera. Others seeking nominations are incumbent Kevin Kelliher in Ward 1; incumbent Dawn Renaudette in Ward 3; newcomer William Parks of Granville Road, the retired longtime director of the Boys & Girls Club, for Ward 4; incumbent Joseph Mitchell for Ward 5, and incumbent Thomas Sacco for Ward 6.
No one has taken out nomination papers for an available six-year term as trustee of the Westfield Athenaeum.
The deadline to pull nomination papers is 5 p.m., Friday, July 28. The deadline to return papers, signed, is 5 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 1. The last day to object or withdraw papers is Aug. 17, which is also the last day when a person nominated for multiple seats would have to decide which position to run for.
Those who return their completed nomination papers become official candidates once the required number of signatures are certified. If a candidate does not return nominating papers, or fewer than 50 eligible voters’ signatures can be certified, that candidate’s name will not be put on the ballot.
For more information, contact Kaitlyn Bruce, Westfield city clerk, at 413-572-6259.