Westfield’s Town Council campaign season got off to an early start with the announcement by Republican Party Chairwoman JoAnn Neylan, that she is running for Mayor. Her announcement overshadowed the announcement of four other town residents entering the race to challenge candidates for representation on Town Council.
Wards 1 thru 4 will be up for grabs and the four Republican ward candidates will no doubt face a formidable slate of Democratic candidates whether they be incumbent or other.
Neylan is no newcomer to local politics as she served on the Westfield Town Council for 16 years.
The Republican ticket will attempt to reverse the Democratic majority stronghold on Westfield’s Town Council ever since Mayor Shelley Brindle won office in a blowout against Republican incumbent Andy Skibitsky and Democrats took all four ward seats up for grabs in 2017.
Brindle’s victory was only the second time in the town’s history that a Democrat won the mayor’s office since 1912. The only other democrat to serve as mayor since the year the Titanic sunk is current town attorney Tom Jardim, first elected in 1996.
Westfield’s governing body is comprised of a Mayor and an eight-member Town Council, with all positions filled in partisan elections. The Mayor is elected directly by the voters at-large to a four-year term of office.
The Town Council consists of eight members, with two members elected from each of four wards. Town Council members are elected to serve four-year terms on a staggered basis, with one seat in each ward coming up for election every other year.
It’s a shame that some of the candidates wish to hide the identity of their employers. It immediately begs the question “ for whom do you work and why do you hide it”.
ReplyDeleteWhere’d the garbage cans go?
ReplyDeleteDid Gibson put back the garbage cans back yet I need to throw my dog poop away?
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