Search for The Westfield News
WEATHER TONIGHT Cold with chance of snow. Low of 30.
The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2015
VOL. 84 NO. 033
Sullivan kicks off campaign for mayor By PETER FRANCIS Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Two days after his New England Patriots clinched Super Bowl XLIX in a thrilling 28-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, Westfield City Council President Brian Sullivan worked the room at The Tavern Restaurant last night, shaking hands and posing for photographs, his collar adorned with a Patriots tie. “We’re ready to win, too,” he said with a smile, minutes away from formally kicking off his campaign to run for mayor of Westfield this fall. Family, friends and city officials packed The Tavern to hear Sullivan as begins his quest, with a current and past mayor in attendance, Daniel M. Knapik and Sullivan’s older brother Richard, who served from 1994 to 2007. Knapik announced this year that he will not seek a fourth twoyear term as mayor, and is being considered for a position as town administrator in Walpole. After several hundred heard from Sullivan’s Campaign Manager Lisa McMahon, it was time to hear from the man himself. “Mom and Dad, I’m sure you never thought you were going to look in a room like this and see this banner,” said the 51-year old Sullivan before thanking his family and pointing to a red and blue banner adorned with the words “We’re with Brian for Mayor” amid cheers from the crowd. Sullivan said the seed for a mayoral run was planted years back as he sat in a chair at the dentist’s office, who marveled at his ability to connect with people from all walks of life – from coffee hours with seniors, dealing with businessmen, See Mayor, Page 3
BRIAN P. SULLIVAN
is necessary; it is the habit of having habits, of turning a trail into a rut, that must be incessantly fought against if one is to remain alive.”
— EDITH WHARTON
75 cents
Committee cleans house for council
The African continent represented on a landmark globe sculpture on the Westfield State University campus is semi-detached after a Super Bowl celebration Sunday evening. (Photo ©2015 Carl E. Hartdegen)
Campus globe damaged in Super Bowl revelry By CARL E. HARTDEGEN Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The world is disappearing – if the globe on the Westfield State University campus is to be believed. Australia is gone, South America is missing and neither the Japanese nor Philippines archipelagos are represented. A large globe sculpture which once graced the lobby of the Stanley Home Products international headquarters was given to Westfield State College decades ago and was initially installed in the Ely Campus Center before it was moved to the quad in the center of the campus. The WSU spokesperson, Molly Watson, said yesterday that the globe is a focal point of the campus and it was apparently the focal point of campus celebrations after the New England Patriots won the Super Bowl on Sunday. Watson said that students gathered around the globe and, she said, “two or three” students attempted to get into the globe. “There wasn’t damage to the globe itself” she said but said “the fragile aluminum piping that holds it in place” was damaged “when at least two students climbed inside.” Watson said that campus police “dispersed
The angular support of a landmark globe sculpture on the Westfield State University campus appears to be intact after a Super Bowl celebration Sunday evening. (Photo ©2015 Carl E. Hartdegen)
the crowd right away once people started to get too excited” but apparently not before damage was done. A visual inspection of the globe shows that the tubular support which holds the globe at the appropriate angle appears to be intact while other aspects of the globe appear to be damaged. See WSU Globe, Page 3
Early election campaign trackers talk timing By PETER FRANCIS Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The race to succeed outgoing Westfield Mayor Daniel M. Knapik is beginning to take shape, as City Council President Brian Sullivan formally threw his hat in the ring last night at an event held at The Tavern Restaurant. With Michael Roeder, the man who lost a nail biter to Knapik by barely 300 votes in 2013, rumored to be in for another run at City Hall’s corner office, the field is filling out as to will succeed Knapik, who announced at the end of 2014 that he would not seek
re-election next fall. Initial speculation following that announcement was that, if Knapik were to resign, he would likely do so after June 30, a situation that would make the city council president the de facto mayor. But after news broke late last week that Knapik is being considered for the town administrator position open in Walpole, the likelihood that Knapik may have to vacate his office before the end of June has increased, an event that would trigger a special election and likely cost the city thousands of dollars. But a special election would
not void the fall mayoral election, meaning that the city would then have to shell out even more for what would likely be a special election rematch between Sullivan, a longtime at-large city councilor with considerable clout and blue blood political lineage, and Roeder, a political outsider who garnered a considerable following when he attempted to upset Knapik in 2013. Yesterday at The Press Room Coffee Shoppe on School Street, a poll of customers proved two things – See Election, Page 3
Prosecutors: 2 ex-workers tampered with power plant monitors BOSTON (AP) — Prosecutors say two former employees at Berkshire Power Plant in Agawam have been charged with tampering with required air pollution monitors. The U.S. attorney in Boston and the Massachusetts attor-
“Habit
ney general announced Tuesday the men have agreed to plead guilty to charges in a federal criminal information. Prosecutors said the plant’s former operations manager, 51-year-old Fred Baker of Southampton, and its former control technician, 44-year-
old Scott Paterson of Manchester, Connecticut, were charged with conspiracy and violations of the Clean Air Act. It is not immediately known who represents them. Prosecutors allege that between 2008 and 2011 Baker instructed Paterson and other
plant operators to adjust monitors that would have shown illegal levels of air pollutants were being released. Prosecutors said the proper settings were restored ahead of two independent audits. The company declined to comment.
By DAN MORIARTY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The Legislative & Ordinance Committee began a review of pending motions made by various City Councilors, some of whom have not served on the council for several years, as it wades through a backlog of proposed city ordinance amendments. Ward 2 Councilor Ralph Figy, who is the L&O chairman, said the committee is reviewing all pending legislation to either bring it RALPH FIGY back before the entire City Council or to recommend that several motions be removed from committee without further action. “We want to do any ordinance amendments correctly,” Figy said this morning following a Tuesday night committee session at which Shanna Reed of the Law Department presented details of the current status of pending motions. “It was a very good meeting, a very good discussion.” The L&O will recommend that a motion for an ordinance change, presented in December of 2011 by former Ward 2 Councilor James Brown relative to paving, be removed from committee without action. Brown’s motion would require all contractors and city departments to repave trenches and asphalt cuts with a curb-to-curb patch. Former At-large Councilor John J. Beltrandi had argued that there is no need for curb-to-curb paving if the trenches and asphalt cuts are properly compacted. “We feel that the existing ordinances are sufficient,” Figy said, “but I would not be surprised if this comes back to the council as a compaction requirement.” Fig said the problem is that the pavement patches dip if the underlying soil is not properly compacted, opening seams that let water get under the pavement resulting in potholes. The L&O also voted to send a request from Ward 6 Councilor Christopher Crean to establish a heavy commercial vehicle exclusion on the section of Papermill Road between the intersections of East Mountain Road and Joseph Avenue. “The proper process is to send anything like that to the Traffic Commission for its review and a recommendation,” Figy said. “That was not done in this case, so we’ll send it to them now.” The committee also voted to recommend removal of a change to the Animal Control Ordinance without further action. Former Ward 5 Councilor Richard E. Onofrey Jr., made the motion in May of 2013 to limit the number of pets allowed per family in multi-family housing to two animals, with a weight limit of no more than 50 pounds total. The committee will bring out a motion to review the ordinance establishing the Flood Control Commission without a recommendation to allow further discussion by the entire council membership. Figy said that Ward 1 Councilor Christopher Keefe, an L&O member, had sought further discussion on the City Council floor to better define the role of the Flood Commission. “The commission was established as an advisory board, but over the years it has morphed,” Figy said. “The board is now signing contracts and approving expenditures, so we felt that other members should have an opportunity to discuss any action the council may take.” See Committee, Page 3