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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com VOL. 83 NO. 19
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Worthington
Sheriff Ashe bows out
See Ashe, Page 3
Resident nominated for Grammy Award By Hope E. Tremblay Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Westfield resident Paul Kochanski will walk the red carpet this weekend at the 56th annual Grammy Awards. Kochanski, a bass player, was nominated for his work on the album Singing Our Way Through: Songs For the World’s Bravest Kids with Boston musician and father Alastair Moock. One of Moock’s five year-old twins was diagnosed with leukemia in 2012 and they got through countless hours in the hospital by writing and singing songs. Moock turned those songs into an album inspired by his daughter and other children bravely facing a challenge. Kochanski said he and Moock are part of the “New England folk scene” and teamed up on the album, which is up for a grammy for Best Children’s Album of
is to spread confusion, not eliminate it.” — Salvador Dali
THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 2014
By Carl E. Hartdegen Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Michael Ashe, for thirty years the Hampden County Sheriff, has announced his decision not to run for re-election. First elected in 1974, Ashe has been elected without opposition five times for six year terms but said in a recently released statement that his “time of life has come to step aside MICHAEL and let those who come after me have ASHE the high honor of serving as sheriff.” He said that he chose to make his announcement during the middle of his term to allow those who aspire to the office he is leaving to have the time “to steep themselves in learning the real work of administering a corrections department.” Ashe, who has been a major political player during his career, stated very clearly that he is not supporting any candidate for sheriff and has “chosen no so-called ‘anointed successor’.” He pointed out that he naturally has great interest in the Hampden County Sheriff’s Office and will watch closely the selection process but said that he will “stay open and “let those who seek the office not just demonstrate their political acumen and ambition, but, more importantly, the idea and abilities that they would bring to the job.” He stressed that he will “make myself available in the months ahead to all who are considering seeking the office of sheriff, regardless of party affiliation or non-affiliation, to acquaint them with what I have learned on the job.” Ashe promised to “move swiftly and surely” to counter any “misconception” that, “because I spoke kindly
“What is important
Gateway School Board takes stand Elizabeth Eiss, right, a professional marketing executive, explains various marketing techniques to business owners enrolled in the Westfield Business Improvement District as part of a marketing seminar at the Spiritual Life Center in Westfield last year. (File photo by Frederick Gore)
Business owners look to dissolve BID By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Westfield Business Improvement District was established in June of 2006, when the city council, through the enabling legislation of Mass. General Law Chapter 40O. Now, a nascent movement of business owners is seeking a potential dissolution of the organization. In a letter and petition issued to business owners earlier this month, Wilcox Insurance owner Robert Wilcox, Park Square Realty owner Ted Cassell, and attorney Robert Walker are urging residents to disband the Westfield BID because they feel that legislation imposed by Beacon Hill in an August 2012 ammendment is “unfair and contrary to the initial establishment of the BID”, an organization originally based on volunteer membership. The ammendment, which was supported by numerous elected officials, including former State Senator Michael R. Knapik and was part of a bill to stimulate job growth and boost economic development statewide, eliminated a
MAUREEN BELLIVEAU provision that allows property owners to opt-out of business improvement districts. In addition, the law requires all business improvement districts statewide to hold renewal votes every five years, which require 51 percent in support of the BID for it to continue. A favorable vote would then require all property owners within the BID’s boundaries to be members and pay the organization’s annual fees. According to the letter, the movement to dissolve the Westfield BID sprang up fol-
lowing it’s first renewal vote on October 16 of last year, which passed despite receiving only 36 votes of out of an approximate membership of 105. Non-BID members that originally “opted out” prior to the legislation were not allowed to participate in the vote, but still received a notification from the BID announcing a “retroactive mandated membership”, along with notification that they would receive an invoice for said membership. “Mandating membership is wrong and is contrary to the freedom we enjoy as Americans,” the letter reads. According to Cassell, the organization has evolved into something far different than what it was meant to be. “When it was originally formed, it was a voluntary organization that property owners could opt out of,” he said. “The petition is for property owners who don’t want to be a part of it.” “We believe it’s against private property rights and that it’s unconstitutional,” he said. See BID, Page 5
Northampton lawsuit takes aim at BID By Peter Francis Staff Writer NORTHAMPTON – Several Northampton property owners have filed state and federal lawsuits, claiming the Northampton BID was not only formed in violation of state law, but that the state’s 2012 legislation is unconstitutional. The suit was brought forth by city Attorney Alan Scheinmann and Iron Horse Entertainment Group Owner Eric Suher in 2009, and challenges the city’s adoption of the petition that established that city’s BID. The provisions of Mass. General Law Chapter 40O allow for the formation of business improvement districts, but Scheinman states that the law sets out “very specific criteria” for BID petitions. “The state suits alleges that the Northampton BID petition failed to meet all of the state cri-
teria and should not have been considered or voted upon by the City Council,” he said. Scheinman added that when Northampton adopted it’s BID, Chapter 400 allowed property owners the right to opt out, which he says 60 percent of all downtown property owners chose to do. Following the 2012 ammendment forcing business and property owners who fall within a BID’s boundaries to join their city’s organization, Scheinman and his fellow plaintiffs challenged the law with an additional suit. “Our federal suit challenges the amendment of the state law,” he said. “We say that it’s unconstitutional for the state to force property owners to become members of a private organization against their will.” Elsewhere in the Commonwealth, Christine
By Peter Francis Staff Writer HUNTINGTON – After months of discusion regarding the potential withdrawal of the town of Worthington from the district, the Gateway Regional School Committee took a vote last night to take an official position on the matter. By a 7-5 margin, the school committee voted to take a stand against Worthington’s Home Rule legislation withdrawal, vowing to try and mend the bridge that it set fire to in 2008 when it closed R.H. Conwell, the town’s elementary school, along with two other schools in Blandford and Russell as a result of a $1.8 million budget deficit. “The closing of the elementary schools was not the only issue the people of Worthington were concerned about,” said School Committee Chair Gretchen Eliason, herself a Worthington See Gateway, Page 3
Detective: Oleksak questioned, cleared By BOB DUNN @BDGazette NORTHAMPTON — Prosecution witness Mark Oleksak spent more time in court yesterdy explaining his relationship with Annamarie Cochrane Rintala and his whereabouts the day she was killed. Oleksak’s wife and daughter also testified about his activities on the day the woman with whom he admitted having a “financial” and “emotional” affair was strangled. Annamarie Rintala’s wife, Cara Lee Rintala, 47, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder in connection with her strangulation death in the couple’s Granby home March 29, 2010. Her first trial ended with a hung jury and mistrial last March. Testimony in her retrial began Jan. 9. Jurors also heard from the lead investigator, State Police Detective Jamie Magarian, including observations at the scene, tracing the routes Cara Rintala said she took while out of the house the day her wife was killed, and the couple’s financial records. Magarian also testified that Oleksak and Annamarie’s ex-girlfriend Carla Danielle were interviewed more than a dozen times each, that they turned over DNA fingerprints and other material whenever they were asked, and eventually both were cleared as suspects. Oleksak’s wife, Donna, and daughter, Shannon, both testified that he was with them the entire day at home and shopping for furniture for Shannon after he
See Lawsuit, Page 5
See Grammy Award, Page 3
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See Oleksak, Page 3