Yesterday's preliminary election

City Council Biomass Hearing

Why, when people go out to vote, do they not bring the knowledge that they have about councilors' positions with them into the voting booth?

The vast majority of people in Springfield support ward representation and oppose a biomass plant being built in the city.  But four out of five of the top vote getters in the city council race oppose ward representation and support the biomass incinerator!-- Timothy Rooke, Kateri Walsh, Bud Williams and James Ferrera.

The scary thing about this, of course, is that the message councilors are likely to take from this disconnect of councilors from issues is that they can act with impunity.  Councilors should ponder, however, the first place finish of first term At Large Councilor Tom Ashe, the only at large councilor to vote to revoke the special permit for biomass developer Palmer Renewable Energy.  At 6885 votes, Ashe came in more than 900 votes of second place Tim Rooke, and a whopping 1,800 votes ahead of fifth place Jimmy Ferrera.  I think it's fair to assume that were Jose Tosado still running for city council instead of mayor, Ferrera would not have been among the top five.

While one tends to think that primary results dictate the outcome of the general election, the potential of stay-at-home voters can be tapped.  In 2008, 60% of all registered Springfield voters managed to get themselves out of the house and to the polls to vote their passion. Most candidates for office are not only unable to generate that kind of passion, most of them would prefer the blandest possible persona: lifelong residents, I graduated here, my wife works there, kids go to school here, etc. etc. Smooth, bland, and (until ward representation) colorless.  Don't let voters develop strong opinions about you.  Go along to get along. Be happy to get the votes of the folks who always vote.

I do think there are a couple of candidates this year who haven't shied away from taking strong opinions.  I know who's on my list, who's on yours?

 

More to do on ward representation in Springfield

Today Arise had a press conference with some of the Springfield's most stalwart warriors for ward representation, to talk about what's gone right so far with the new system and what still needs to be done.

Successes:

• We now have geographic representation.  In the 10 years previous to changing to ward representation, an astounding 89% of at-large candidates came from only three of the city's eight wards.  Now every ward has a councilor.
• We have increased racial diversity.  In the 45 years previous to ward representation, only four African-Americans and one Latino had ever been elected to city council-- in fact, Jose Tosado got his first seat on the council when a councilor resigned and he moved up from 10th place. Now we have three Latino/as and two African-Americans in ward seat.

Still to be done:

• Increase voter turn-out.  Voter participation has been declining for decades, and ward representation is not going to turn that around in just two years.  However, in the 2008 election when ward representation was on the ballot, an astounding 74.2% of those who voted said YES to ward representation.
• Get more candidates running.  2009 was a truly competitive year for ward seats, but 2011 has only one ward with a contested race.  But instead of considering that a failure, it may very well be that people in each ward are pleased the with performance of their representative!

In the "fair and balanced" category, Pete Goonan of the Springfield Republican got comments from the two people who voted against placing ward representation on the ballot-- Tim Rooke, still currently serving in an at-large seat, and Bud Williams, who hopes to regain an at-large seat this November.  Bud gives ward representation a "C+."  I wonder if he enjoyed the good old days of the at-large system, when he got to be the only African-American on city council?

Yesterday's press conference featured some of the real heroes of ward representation.  Frank Buntin and Gumersindo Gomez, Exec. Dir. of the Puerto Rican Veterans Center, started meeting about ward rep in 1992, and we built on their experience.  Both stayed involved for the long haul.  Joe Fountain tried to file a lawsuit against the at-large system in 1996, but was denied standing as a white person.  He brought the lawsuit to Arise and we recruited the NAACP and the Spanish American Union (now sadly defunct) to join with us in the first federal lawsuit.  Rev. Talbert Swan II was a plaintiff in the second lawsuit, and involved his network in pushing the work forward.  Council president Jose Tosado, a long-time supporter of ward rep, got the city council to approve placing the ward rep question on the 2008 ballot.  And there were so many more that if I get started, I'll be bound to forget important people, but I do have to give a shout-out to E. Henry Twiggs, Min. Yusuf Muhammad, Nick Camerota, Norm Oliver, Alan Howard and Mable Sharif, to name a few, and, within Arise, most especially Joe Oliverio, Tory Field and Liz Bewsee.

We have a lot more to do to make sure democracy really works in Springfield.  I called the Election Office last week to see if there were any community groups leading the charge on voter registration, and sadly, there were not-- not even, to date, Arise.  But we're going to turn that around.  We need a new coalition in Springfield that focuses on voter education and participation, that helps identify potential leaders and that mentors them through the electoral process.  The Springfield Institute and MassVOTE have already offered support.  Who else would like to join us?



Photo from the Springfield Institute.

Some quick thoughts on Springfield's new city council

The bad news: The power of at-large incumbency continues to rule.  All four incumbents were re-elected; newcomer Thomas Ashe won a seat (and came in third of the five in number of votes) Almost 2,500 votes separatied the lowest ranking incumbent, James Ferrera III,  from the next top challenger, Vera O'Connor.  No offense to the winners, but this is why we need ward representation.

The good news; 4 of the 8 ward races were really tight, meaning good campaigns and good competition.  In ward 6, winner Keith Wright and Amaad Rivera were separated by  6% of the vote, about the same percentage that separated ward 2 winner Michael Felton from Thomas Sullivan.  In ward 8, winner John Lysak got less than 4% more votes than Orlando Ramos.  And in the closest race in the city, winner Claudo Concepcion received 86 votes more than former councilor Carol Caulton-- that's less than 2.5% of the vote.

Of course I am personally disappointed that the candidate I supported in my ward, Amaad Rivera, did not win a seat on the council.  But really, this guy should be mayor.  We haven't heard the last of him, and I hope that's true for some of the others.

I'll compare turn-out totals tomorrow and see how we did.

Today's election in Springfield

I haven't posted much about today's election for mayor, city council and school committee, but I've certainly been watching.  The all at-large system of election has gone the way of the dodo bird, and today, we'll be electing by ward as well as at-large. 

As someone who worked with community groups and members for thirteen years to bring this about, now is a good time to review some of the goals of the campaign and see how we're doing so far.

Overall goal: to improve democracy in Springfield. 

Goal: to increase the racial diversity of the city council and school committee.  So far, so good.  Springfield went fifty years with only five people of color elected to the city council.  Now, with thirteen seats to be filled, we can guarantee a Latino/a from ward one,  African-Americans from wards three and four, and an African-American or Latino from ward five.  Candidates of color are also running strong races in wards six and eight, and three of the eight at-large candidates are also of color.  I'd say Jose Tosado, at least, is a shoe-in.  We'll see a less dramatic change in the school committee, but at least one African-American and one Latino will be elected.  (I know there's still a fair number of Springfield voters who think increasing diversity is a bad thing; they tend to be the same people who wonder why "those people" don't do more to help the community.)

Goal: to increase the number of candidates seeking office so Springfield voters have a wider choice.  30 candidates ran for 9 ward seats in September's preliminary.  If you're not already an incumbent, running an at-large campaign is expensive, daunting and difficult.  It's a rare candidate who can beat an incumbent.  Once a candidate is holding office, pretty much they're there to stay.  The only two incumbents I can think of who were not re-elected were both of color: Mo Jones and Carol Lewis-Caulton.

Goal: increase geographic representation on the city council and school committee.  We did it!  Sorry, there's just no way that our past city councils, where the vast majority of councilors came from wards 2, 6 and 7, could possibly understand the challenges of inner-city wards and ward 8.  And even 2, 6 and 7 had no direct representation.  We'll have a far better balance of concerns and solutions under the new system.

Goal: to increase voter participation.  Although some folks are already calling ward rep a "dud" because the preliminary turn-out was no higher than usual, I think today's election will show a significant difference, and that we'll see voter participation continue to increase over time.  We have a new tool in our toolbox and we have to learn how to use it.  I'm not worried.  I have the stats by ward for the last two city elections, and when all the results are in, I'll post the comparisons.

Nearly 75% of those who voted in the last city election voted for ward representation.  We're ready for change.  But ward rep is just the beginning.  To keep our city councilors accountable, we're going to have to keep our eye on them.

Question: what kind of structures would you, the voters, like to see our new councilors institute so that we can keep them accountable?

Photo from Nsub1's photostream at Flickr.

Mystery tire tracks, bureaucracy, pizza and outreach

I spent almost all of today on the telephone, but tonight I got to hang out with flesh and blood people and talk about community outreach.

The City of Springfield's 311 Call Center has been promoted as a helpmeet to the city's residents, but I have not warmed up to it. Sometimes It feels as if its main role is to protect city employees from having to deal with the public. When I'm calling a city department, it's usually because...hmm, let me see....oh, yes, it's because I want to talk to somebody in that department, not someone at the call center.

I called Helen Caulton-Harris at the Health and Human Services Department to see if she'd received the letter detailing the health risks of the wood-burning plant proposed for Springfield by Palmer Renewal Energy and got right through (to her voicemail, anyway).

I called the Election Office about a voter list and, as usual, was treated with friendliness and efficiency.

But getting through to the Department of Public Works to follow up on the tire tracks all over the neighborhood was a different story, one I won't bother to go into here, because I've already had my say to a call center supervisor and don't feel like getting anybody in trouble. Well, maybe I do-- but I won't, because my main goal was to find out how it happened that a DPW solid waste truck marked up so many streets in my neighborhood.

(However, seeing as I've made what appear to be anti-worker statements in my last two posts, let me just add that yeah, I may understand the surliness of workers in underpaid or job-insecure positions, but I don't excuse it. I've had my fair share of menial jobs in my working life, and they are only bearable by being the best human and doing the best job that you can.)

I'd posted a link to my DPW blog post on our local Springfield online forum, and had some interesting comments, one in particular by either a DPW worker or someone close to one. This person pointed to cutbacks in both drivers and mechanics, and talked about threats to employee and public safety.

Fellow blogger Mark Alamed, who writes the exquisite Exploring Western Massachusetts, emailed me a different idea.

The marks are caused by the driver setting the air brakes while the truck is still rolling. It's about the same as if you were setting your car's emergency brake while the vehicle was still in motion. With frequent stops, drivers are too impatient to let the vehicle roll to a complete stop before pulling the brake.

I work on many local town and city vehicles and this occurrence isn't exclusive to Springfield. In fact, at my shop we designed a special "wrapper" spring leaf because of how often the rear spring "eyes" of recycling trucks were snapping due to this driving style. It takes some torque to snap 3" wide, .447 thick spring steel. When both "eyes" break, the vehicle has to be towed to a repair shop, adding to the repair expense. The wrapper leaves generally eliminate this issue and the vehicle can still be driven to a garage even with broken spring "eyes."

Unfortunately, from my experience, chances are slim that this practice of pulling the air brake prematurely will be corrected.

I did eventually talk to two very nice people at DPW, one of whom will talk to the driver of the truck assigned to my neighborhood to see if he can figure out what happened and how it can not happen again. Will I ever find out? I don't know.

More calls, until I thought my arm would fall off:
-- I called the guy in the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs who'd told me that the work of the analyst who reviewed the environmental certificate for the biomass plant had been reviewed by a second person to tell him that that person knew nothing about it and had not been involved in the review.
-- I called the office of the Secretary Ian Bowles, EOEEA, to see if I could get a copy of the report on the environmental justice policy that he was supposed to deliver to the Legislature on January 1st of this year.
-- I called a reporter to see if I could get her interested in a substantial story on Palmer's proposed plant but found out that she has a conflict of interest-- wonder what it is?

Finally, I went over to Arise to do the second half of the ward representation outreach training and got to eat pizza with down to earth people. Now I'm home with my cats and the History Channel-- did aliens really help provide the technical information to ancient cultures to build the pyramids? And tomorrow is another day.

Ward Six Candidates' Night

The Ward Six Democratic Committee sponsored a Candidates' Night at Forest Park Middle School last night and though I'd spent all day in Boston, I made myself go and I'm glad I did. We have five candidates, which will be narrowed to two next Tuesday: Rich Carpenter, Rich Davila, Peter Lappin, Amaad Rivera and Keith Wright.

Quick takes: Davila is an individualist, a pull-yourself-up-by-your bootstraps guy because that's been his experience in life. Lappin believes in the power of experts-- he's been an economic developer. Carpenter, Rivera and Wright are community-focused, though in very different ways.

Wright was careful to define the scope of a city councilor's job, saying he won't make promises beyond the scope of his responsibilities.

Carpenter is a law-and-order guy; crime is high on his agenda and calling the police was his answer to a couple of questions.

Rivera thinks that the community should be the chief player in decision-making.

Lappin clearly has a lot of experience, but I admit he turned me off right away when, in his opening remarks, he asked for a few seconds of silence to honor our service men and woman in Iraq and Afghanistan. I mean, who can say no? I thought it was manipulative. This is not a race for a U.S. Senate seat. And I got a "been there, done that" sense of him as a city councilor.

Davila proved to be better than I'd expected at public speaking and at building a rapport with the crowd. He stressed that if elected, the city wouldn't be his boss, the people would.

Carpenter got a good response from some of the crowd with his anti-Longhill Gardens harangue. I'd like him better if I didn't think he was anti-poor people. When asked what he'd do to improve the housing stock for people on fixed income, he could only say what he wouldn't do-- create projects like Longhill Gardens.

Wright strikes me as a sensible person, a school teacher, with relatively low expectations for what he can accomplish as a councilor.

Rivera is a visionary, with lots of ideas for change he wanted to get across, leading him to speak too quickly sometimes for folks to follow. He's still my candidate of choice because I know he has a commitment to social justice and to building on the diversity of Forest Park to create more community. I've also heard him speak in depth about economic development strategies that I believe could move the whole city forward.

But I've gotta say, except for Lappin, the freshness of ideas and the depth of commitment of all the candidates was impressive. Without being overly idealistic, I do believe ward representation will help us move on to a new chapter in Springfield. It's late in the day for us but not too late. Get out and vote next Tuesday!

Home again and busy like crazy

Some people like fun and adventure on their vacation. I prefer going to a place I love, where within a day I feel like I've been there forever. Thus for twenty years I camped with my kids at Nickerson State Park in Brewster, and for the last ten years-- now that my kids have lives of their own and prefer to vacation with their own children, best friends and husbands-- I go to Wellfleet with my own friends. No matter how rough my finances get, somehow I manage to pull it off.

I love the Lower Cape. It's incredibly new geologically-- only 10,000 years old!-- and won't last 10,000 more. Winter storms and rising sea levels have narrowed the Wellfleet beaches; at high tide many beaches have only a small strip of dry land, and this year, as two hurricanes passed close to Cape Cod, some beaches were actually cleared at high tide because there was no safe place to be.

This summer I didn't try to blog from the Wellfleet library, just walked on the beach, read, kept my journal, and savored the rich dreams that I only have when I let myself sleep until I wake up. A lot has changed for me in the twelve months between vacations: health challenges, job changes, and the sense that at 62 years old, I may as well do what I want!

Actually, I won't be 62 until December. Next year, at 62, instead of my annual contribution to the National Park system, I get to buy a Golden Eagle pass good for the rest of my life! That makes me smile, because who knows how long life will be, but I intend to get my money's worth.

I knew that as soon as I got home I'd have to jump in with both feet both personally and politically. Both my daughters and my only granddaughter have September birthdays; one nephew is getting married next Saturday and the other nephew's girlfriend is having a baby shower. I have to buy a dress, buy gifts, and thoroughly clean my 1991 Dodge Shadow, now home to a new bumpersticker: Everything is Connected. I wrote a couple of new poems while I was away, and I'm thinking it's time to pull my poems together in a collection.

Politically, there's a million things I want to do, but stopping a biomass plant from being built in Springfield is my number one priority (why I was in Boston yesterday), with door-to-door outreach about ward representation my second priority (why I'll be in Boston today, picking up a small grant for voter outreach).

Right now I'm living in all dimensions of my life and hope to stay that way for a while. I don't like myself much in stick-figure mode, even though I can be effective that way. I have a window beside my desk and I will leave it open as long as I can.

First one, then two, then ten, and now we see
a thousand flecks of red against the shore
where ladybugs have chosen they will spend
the end of summer. Now they fly no more
but nestle in the seaweed strands or in
the final August footprints that we leave
upon the cooling sand. What days they've seen!
What wind has passed beneath their wings, and how
much like the wind the breaking waves now sound.
They rest. They fall asleep. The sun goes down.

Here they are! Springfield's candidates for mayor, city council and school committee

The Springfield Election Office has just finished certifying candidates' nomination papers are the results are in! We've got some business as usual and a few surprises.

First, Domenic Sarno and Bud Williams will be the only candidates for mayor. Jeff Donnelly failed to get enough valid signatures and I'm not sure David Pankhurst returned any papers at all.

We only have eight candidates for the at-large seats on Springfield City Council-- that means NO primary for the at-large candidates. Only four of the current nine incumbents are choosing to run-- James Ferrera, Jose Tosado, Kateri Walsh and Timothy Rooke. The other four candidates are Vera O'Connor, Morris Jones, Thomas Ashe and Robert Francesca.

NO primary for Ward One-- Gumersindo Gomez and Zaida Luna will go head-to-head on November 3.

Ward Two has five certified candidates for city council, and will have a primary on September 15 to choose only two among the five: Michael Fenton, Gil Herron, Thomas Sullivan, Robert Underwood and Hamilton Wray.

NO primary for Ward Three for city council: Martin Loughman and Melvin Edwards will face off on November 3.

NO primary for city council in Ward Four: longtime activists E. Henry Twiggs and Norman Oliver are the only certified candidates.

YES for a Ward Five primary: George Bruce and Clodo Concepcion have run for city council before; Carol Lewis Caulton has actually served a term on city council; DeJuan Brown is well-known for his role with A.W.A.K.E.

YES for a Ward Six primary: We've got five candidates: Amaad Rivera, Richard Carpenter, Victor Davila, Peter Lappin and Keith Wright.

YES for a Ward Seven primary: six candidates: Timothy Allen, Peter Appleby, Ronald Jordan, Walter Lysak, Michael Rodgers and Alexander Sherman.

YES for a Ward Eight primary: Gloria DiPhillipo, John Lysak, Orlando Ramos and Miguel Soto.

The School Committee slate is a bit disappointing, because there is far less competition. Only two candidates for the two at-large seats: Denise Hurst and Antoinette Pepe, so unless something completely unexpected happens, both women will be elected.

Norman Roldan is the only candidate for District One, a combination of Wards One and Three, so he will definitely be elected. (How nice for him!)

District Two, a combination of Wards Four and Five, will have a primary: Barbara Gresham, Maurice Thomas, Tahon Ross and Sirdeaner Walker are all certified.

District Three, a combination of Wards Six and Seven, will have a primary: Christopher Caputo, Orlando Santiago, Christopher Collins and Joshua Collins are all certified. Chris Collins is currently an incumbent but is running from his ward.

District Four will not have a primary: Either Joseph Flebotte or Peter Murphy will be elected.

To recap: Expect primaries in Ward Two for both city council and school committee, Ward Three for school committee, Ward Four for school committee; Ward Five for city council and school committee, Ward Sic for city council and school committee, Ward Seven for city council and school committee,k and Ward Eight for city council and school committee.

That's it, folks! I am now hoping that the neighborhood councils, civic associations and other community groups will hold candidates' night so that each ward has an opportunity to pick the best candidates under our new system. It's only taken 40 years, 3 initiative petitions, two federal lawsuits and numerous city council votes, but we did it.

If I tried to thank everyone who made this possible, I'd be bound to leave someone out, but I have to give a special shout-out to Frank Buntin, Gumersindo Gomez, Fred Whitney, Arise and Jose Tosado.

I support Amaad Rivera for City Council, Ward Six

After living in Springfield's Ward Four for thirty years, I was really looking forward to the day when I could vote for a councilor who was elected from and responsible to the Ward Four residents-- as well as all the other residents of the city. But it was not to be. Two years ago, just as voters approved ward representation by an astounding 74.2%, I had to move to Ward Six, which includes Forest Park. It's a lovely neighborhood, but scarcely problem-free. We need good representation, too!

Amaad Rivera was born and raised in Springfield. He is one of the smartest people I have ever met-- and I mean smart as distinct from educated, although he's educated, too, with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing with minors in Psychology and Information Technology from Bentley University. He completed his Master of Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in May 2009.

Education per se doesn't impress me, but commitment to public services does. He's been politically and socially active for almost all of his 27 years. I want you to check out his website, so I won't go into the whole list, but he was an AmeriCorps volunteer for one year and then, "By his early 20s Amaad was an AmeriCorps Program Officer for the Massachusetts Service Alliance, becoming one of the youngest AmeriCorps Program Officers in the entire country. At the Massachusetts Service Alliance, Amaad managed an 11 million dollar portfolio of organizations dedicated to addressing issues of poverty, health care disparities, environmental disasters, education inequity, civic engagement, volunteerism, and youth development. In addition, he acted as the liaison between the federal and state governments to service programs all over the state of Massachusetts. " So he has some administrative and business experience, too.

One of the reasons so many of us worked so hard for ward representation was to give people like Amaad an opportunity to serve us.

This year we will be voting for five at large councilors and one councilor from our neighborhood who knows us and who has a special responsibility to us. But every ward councilor also represents the city as a whole, so all of us should care about the quality of the candidates who run for a ward seat.

In Forest Park, at least, I don't have to worry. Amaad Rivera will do an exfellent job for us, and for the whole city.

Politician versus Statesman

My first political memory is both vague and vivid: when Adlai Stevenson lost the presidential election to Dwight Eisenhower in 1952, my mom cried-- and I, of course, being five years old and completely in sync with my mother's emotions, cried also. Thus I was imprinted early with the importance of politics.

When I was a kid my dad always made a great deal about the distinction between a politician and a statesman, and I was thinking a lot about those distinctions yesterday. I just looked up the definitions to refresh my mind.

• Statesman: a person who exhibits great wisdom and ability in directing the affairs of a government or in dealing with important public issues.
• Politician: a seeker or holder of public office, who is more concerned about winning favor or retaining power than about maintaining principles.

Yesterday Springfield City Councilor Bill Foley announced that after 28 years, he will not be seeking re-election this year.
Bill is an affable guy. I cannot remember him taking a controversial position on anything, ever. I do remember that he has always been a foe of ward representation. However, according to a Republican article yesterday, the fact that this year will be the first year in 50 years that we will be electing city councilors from each ward as well as at large has nothing to do with his not running. In a direct sense, this is probably true-- Bill's always been a top vote getter. But he joins four other incumbents who seem to show no interest in serving on city council under the new system.

Yesterday was also the day that I and two others met with State Senator Stephen Buoniconti to talk about a bill he submitted to the Legislature, An Act to promote responsible and effective transitional assistance. I will have a lot more to say about this meeting, and this legislation, in a later post.

Statesman or politician? Intent has everything to do with this distinction.

Mistake on residency

Sorry, the residency requirement for living in the city or a ward is one year, not two. I misstated this in my post on city council and school committee candidates.

Ward rep candidates want to make a difference

Last night's Arise-sponsored workshop for ward representation candidates and their supporters drew about twenty people and I must say I was impressed. Every candidate had a solid reason for running: increasing public safety, more government accountability, creating a better climate for small businesses, opposition to Longhill Gardens. I didn't agree with every position every candidate took, but one thing really stood out: every candidate there really believes he/she can make a difference.

Avi Green from MassVOTE led the workshop-- he's funny, experienced and a good teacher. Former Council member Carol Lewis-Caulton talked about what it took to put a winning campaign together, and why she thought she didn't win a second term: supporting a challenger to a popular mayor didn't help. I talked a bit about the history of winning ward representation and admitted what a disincentive it would have been if we'd known when we started that it was going to take thirteen years.

Several of our candidates are in their twenties, and they reminded me of what it's like when you are young enough not to recognize the limits to change-- that's the way change is made, by not recognizing limits!

There were several community organizers in the room. While a candidate's role is to target the people who most often vote, our role is to get the folks who are least likely to vote to get more involved. As a non-profit, Arise doesn't endorse candidates, but working to register and turn people out to participate is a core part of our mission.

It's going to be an exciting election season.

Ward Representation correction

John Lysak emailed me today to say that two school committee candidates actually lived in different wards than I had said... I can only say that that was the information I got from the Election Commission. I did catch that they'd assigned the wrong ward to Frank Buntin and corrected it in the document I posted yesterday, but didn't catch the other two.

This info does change the lay of the land for the ward school committee seats...there is now a candidate for every ward...but hey, one is not enough! No one should be elected simply because there is no opposition. So come on, Springfield residents, now's your chance!

CORRECT INFO:

School Committee At Large

Incumbents who’ve taken out papers: Michael Rodgers, Thomas Ashe, Antoinette Pepe (undecided at-large or ward)

Non-incumbents: Felix Rivera , Rafael Bones, Nathaniel Davis (undecided)

Incumbents who haven’t taken out papers yet: Ken Shea, Chris Collins

Wards 1,3: Norman Roldan, Orlando Santiago,

Wards 4,5: Frank Buntin, Peter Murphy,

Wards 6,7: Joshua Carpenter

Wards 2,8: Joseph Flebotte:

Ward representation: candidates start to emerge

Next Thursday, April 30, Arise is sponsoring a workshop with MassVOTE on how to run for city council or school committee in Springfield (5:30 at the Central Labor Council, 640 Page Blvd.) so I went down to the Election Commission yesterday to see who had taken out papers.

Of course, no one is officially a candidate until he or she has returned the proper number of signatures and had those signatures verified, but if everyone who has taken out papers runs, then at this point we would definitely have a preliminary election for the at-large city council seats and for the seats in wards 1,2, 4 and 8.

Of the nine incumbent city councilors, none has chosen (so far) to run for a ward seat. Bud Williams, of course, is running for mayor; Tim Rooke, James Ferrara and Jose Tosado have taken out papers while Kateri Walsh took out papers but apparently has not yet decided if she's running at large or for a ward seat. Walsh lives in ward 6, where only one other person has taken out ward papers so far-- the only ward in which there is, so far, no competition.

School committee candidates, however, are quite thin so far. The four ward seats for school committee consist of combined wards, and as of yesterday, NO candidates have emerged for wards 6/7 and 2/8. Only two incumbents have taken out papers for the at large seats, with Antoinette Pepe apparently undecided as to whether she will run from her ward or run at large.

Following is a list of everyone who's taken out papers:

City Council At Large:

Incumbents who’ve taken out papers: Timothy Rooke, James Ferrara, Jose Tosado

Non-incumbents: Peter Appleby, Walter Gould, David Poehler, Victor Davila, Robert Francesca, John Rivera

Incumbents who haven’t taken out papers yet: William Foley, Patrick Markey, Rosemarie Mazza-Moriarty, Bruce Stebbins

Not sure ward or at large: Kateri Walsh, lives in Ward 6

Non-incumbents for ward seats

Ward 1: Zaida Luna, Rajah Walia, Gumersindo Gomez, Michael Tuckey

Ward 2: Luis Garcia, Robert Underwood, Tommy Sullivan, Gil Perron

Ward 3: Melvin Edwards, Larry Lawson

Ward 4: Charles Stokes, Norm Oliver, E. Henry Twiggs, Lorenzo Gaines, Omega Johnson

Ward 5: Clodo Concepcion, George Bruce

Ward 6: Keith Wright

Ward 7: Alexander Sherman, Kenneth Pooler

Ward 8: Orlando Ramos, Gloria DeFillipo, John Lysak, Miguel Soto

School Committee At Large

Incumbents who’ve taken out papers: Michael Rodgers, Thomas Ashe, Antoinette Pepe (undecided at-large or ward)

Non-incumbents: Felix Rivera , Rafael Bones, Nathaniel Davis (undecided)

Incumbents who haven’t taken out papers yet: Ken Shea, Chris Collins

Wards 1,3: Norman Roldan, Orlando Santiago, Joshua Carpenter

Wards 4,5: Frank Buntin, Peter Murphy, Joseph Flebotte:

Wards 6,7: None

Wards 2,8: None

The most important rule in community organizing

I've just come from a meeting at my organization, Arise for Social Justice. It was not a regular meeting. We'd asked a guy who has been an ally of Arise for many years to come and talk with us about some recent happenings that had left us wondering about where he stands toward us. The outcome was neither as good as we'd hoped for nor as bad as we'd feared, but at least we know, and can proceed from there.

At the root of the issue we talked about tonight is, I believe, institutional power. Arise is a low-income rights organization, founded by women on welfare more than 20 years ago because we believed then-- and believe now-- that we have a right to speak for ourselves about the issues that affect us. And, of course, we want to change the things that make us poor in the first place.

Many times I/we have thought about just what it is we've accomplished since we've been around. I know that there are thousands of individual people who are better off for having connected with Arise. I know there are many poor people who have been able to up their analysis a few notches after having been with us. But institutional change? Institutional change, as compared with winning an occasional traffic light or getting a vacant lot cleaned up, is the hardest job of all.

Someone asked me not long ago if it was easier or harder to make change now than 20 years ago. Harder! Back in 1985, we mostly had to make government and its myriad agencies accountable. Now, in 2008, the major decisions in this country are made by the unelected, the corporations, the power behind the throne.

I still remember when, in the early 90's, my friend Jean Grossholtz said to me, "There's something going on that you've got to know about if you want to make any sense at all about what's happening: structural adjustment and its tools: deregulation, privatization and globalization,." And my! What the last 15 years have wrought!

One clear-cut example of institutional change that Arise has been able to accomplish is moving Springfield, MA's city council and the school committee from an all at-large system to one where each of our wards will have an elected representative as well as at-large seat. The first elections under the new system take place next November. It took 13 years! I really think that one reason we were able to win is that nearly every citizen of Springfield had a self-interest in the outcome. Of course, at first the only people who knew they were being denied their voting rights were people of color and poor people. If we didn't frame it that way directly, we sure knew we had limited access to power. Eventually, after our trying every trick in the book (referendum, persuasion, a federal lawsuit) 74.2% of the voters felt the same way.

A victory-- but we didn't fight for ward representation so that any of us individually could run for elected office. We did it because it was the right thing to do. But just one thing feels off for me: it was not directly a victory for poor people. Yes, I know, if ward representation works well, then poorer wards will have a voice. It's just not enough.

Now that the campaign for ward representation is done, the community partners we worked with and who are more likely to directly benefit from better democracy (because they know how to use it) are fading into the background. I know we can call on them if we really need to and if the issue fits them them, but once again we can feel the gulf that separates those with instututional power and those without. In a weird way, it feels good. We turn once again to our own struggles against poverty and injustice, which are so deeply linked to the struggles of others even when they don't know it. But that's part of our work, too, to make those connections.

So the most important rule in community organizing? Don't stop. Don't stop, be true to yourself, accept your failures and successes, but above all, don't stop.

Councilor Tim Rooke doesn't get ward representation

The Civil Rights and Race Relations Committee met again this afternoon to discuss plans for implementing ward representation. I must say it was a thought-provoking meeting. Each department head that had been charged with assessing potential changes in their departments gave a report. Mike Plaisance over at the Republican will probably give more details but for me two issues remained key. The first is resolving the situation with the School Committee, three of whose members were elected for four year terms but who can only serve two years in order for ward representation to be implemented.. The second issue, and one that will play out over time, is the role of neighborhood councils and civic associations in a system with ward representation.

Councilor Tim Rooke (not on the committee) came in about fifteen minutes after the meeting started and was greeted by Chairman Tosado. Rooke started by asking about salaries for ward councilors-- were they going to be the same as at-large councilors? Tosado said yes, that he had looked at Chicopee and Holyoke, both of which have at-large and ward councilors, and that the salaries were the same.

Rooke said he'd wondered about that, because, for example (I'm going to have to paraphrase here because I didn't have a tape recorder) if you were a councilor from ward seven, you'd get to vote on ward seven issues, but....At that point, he seemed to tune into a general sense of disagreement.

"Isn't that the way it is?" he asked.

"Everybody votes on everything," I said, at which point Chairman Tosado said, "Michaelann, please, let the lawyer answer that," cutting me off. (Although I noted he seemed to have no problem with the men who spoke out of turn.) So then City Attorney Ed Pakula gave the legal opinion and basically said just what I'd said, only with more words..

I must say I was just astounded that a sitting city councilor, who was one of two "no" votes on ward representation proposal when it came before City Council in 2006 apparently was unaware of the details of what he was opposing and even now has not taken the time to educate himself about ward representation-- now the law of the land, even for him, if he plans to run again. Perhaps he thinks he's such a shoe-in for an at-large seat next fall that he doesn't have to think about those those lowly ward councilors?

At this point Councilor Rooke went from bad to worse when he started questioning whether there would still be a role for neighborhood councils and if the city should continue to pay for staff for some of them! Of course this is exactly what the neighborhood council members present were fearful about, a forced irrelevance of the council and civic association system.

Rooke said he thought Mayor Sullivan had created the neighborhood council system in the 70's as a way of giving neighborhoods a voice, but now with the ward representation, would they be needed? I thought his question surprisingly parochial seeing as nearly every city in Massachusetts has neighborhood councils AND a mixed-- at-large and ward-- city council. Maybe Councilor Rooke doesn't get out of town much. I think it was Councilor Tosado who had a good comeback-- neighborhood councils are not ward-based and neighborhoods often overlap wards.

Well, I certainly think there's a continued need for neighborhood-based organizations.As far as I can recall, we've got twelve neighborhood councils and ten civic associations. Long may they reign.

I'll save the School Committee for tomorrow..

Ward representation: will the city have made any progress?

The Civil Rights and Race Relations Committee will be meeting again on Wednesday, May 7, 4:30 at the City Council office to figure out how to implement ward representation.. This is a just about when Chair Jose Tosado said the next meeting would take place-- six to eight weeks from the first meeting, which was March 12.

The key item on the agenda, from my point of view, is how elections for School Committee members will play out. When the ward rep bill was placed in the city's ballot last November, it turned out that the City Council had failed to think through what would happen to the staggered terms of those three School Committee members who were elected last fall. Although they're supposed to serve four year terms, there doesn't seem to be any way to implement ward rep without all school committee members starting out on the same foot-- new elections-- in 2009. This didn't make Antoinette Pepe, Chris Collins and Thomas Ashe, who were elected to four year terms last fall, very happy.

I can't think of any other way to resolve this situation, but we'll see what happens Wednesday, when City Attorney Ed Pakula. is supposed to present a legal opinion about how to resolve this situation.

Of course I'm not surprised that the City Council didn't think this through before they submitted the proposed ward rep law to the Legislature for approval to be placed on the ballot. I believe councilors were only thinking about themselves, and how to look like winners in the face of the community's federal lawsuit against the city.

So we shall see what they come up with on Wednesday! I'll report back.

Ward Representation - off the record

I heard "off the record" yesterday that not all city departments are eagerly working to make sure ward representation can be put into place for the next election

Given this city's past efforts to stop ward representation, I take these rumors seriously. I'd have to pull out thirteen years of files to completely reconstruct this obstruction, but:
-- say you'll vote yes and then vote no.
-- say you'll approve it under certain conditions, and then change your mind when those conditions are met.
-- say you support it but work against it behind the scenes.

Even as recently as last September, the enabling legislation for WR languished in the House of Representatives while Mayor Ryan, ostensibly a supporter, twiddled his thumbs and the City Council, including Council President Jose Tosado, WR's biggest supporter on the Council, seemed unaware that the bill wasn't moving ahead.. It took hundreds of phone calls to our legislators and the Governor's office to get the ball rolling, and even so, it was signed into law by Governor Patrick with less than 24 hours to spare.

It's not NOVEMBER 2009 by which the city needs to be ready-- it's SEPTEMBER, in time for the Primaries.

I'm going to wager, right now, that every single one of the city's eight wards will need a primary election for City Council, and quite possibly for School Committee. Now that ward representation is law in Springfield, Massachusetts, even those who worked against it will try to take advantage of it.

Political life in Springfield life is about to get even more interesting.

Springfield starts planning how to implement ward representation

Should city and school committee councilors from wards be paid the same as at-large councilors? How much more will it cost to print eight ballots, one for each ward, instead of just one for the whole city? How much more support staff will be needed in various city departments? And how will thirteen councilors fit into a space designed for nine?

Tonight the City Council's Civil Rights and Race Relations Committee started laying out these and other questions that have to be answered before the city's new, mixed ward and at-large system, can be put into place for the November, 2009 elections. It won't be easy but it won't be difficult, and in any case, the voters mandated it in the 2007 elections.

As City Attorney Ed Pakula said, "It's not many issues that win 75% of the vote."

A few community people were at the meeting to see what the city had in mind for moving ahead., including five of us from Arise and OutNow! It was an odd feeling to hear ward representation talked about as a reality, not something still to be won. Thirteen years of work! Winning ward representation in this city has certainly followed the "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, etc." path. I have a lot more gray hairs now than I did in 1995.

Relevant department heads talked logistics and budgets, and most agreed to get preliminary plans back to Committee Chair Jose Tosado in six to eight weeks.

The two most interesting questions concerned the School Committee and the potentially changing relationship between neighborhood councils and civic associations and the City Council.

Under the old at-large system, six School Committee members were elected for four years in staggered terms. The new system calls for two committee members at-large and four representing two wards each. The three School Committee members elected last fall, Antoinette Pepe, Chris Collins and Thomas Ashe expected to serve four years, but there doesn't seem to be any way to implement ward representation for the School Committee in 2009 except by bringing an end to the staggered system and electing all six members at the same time-- everyone starting off on the same foot. I know Antoinette, Thomas and Chris don't want it that way, but no one's been able to think of any way around it. I certainly hope they wouldn't try to hold up ward representation so they can serve their full terms.

Near the end of the meeting (as always!), we citizens had a chance to speak. Walter Gould of the Outer Belt Civic Association asked, What will the relationship of neighborhood councils and civic associations be to the city council once there are councilors representing each ward? The councils and associations are used to having the ear of the entire council; it's a system they've gotten used to and don't necessarily want to see changed, and, in many neighborhoods, it's a system that has provided those neighborhoods with a vehicle to be heard. Will councils and associations now have to go through their councilor to reach the city? What if they don't like their councilor?

There are no legal ways to answer Mr. Gould's questions; new relationships and alliances will have to be formed. Some fear they will lose power and influence with the city. But having been elected to the McKnight Neighborhood Council twice, I can tell you that not all councils have ever had the ear of the city. Well, as the people said in the last election, More Democracy, please!

I'm just remembering political consultant Tony Cignoli being interviewed on television the night before last November's historic ward representation election. It really doesn't have much chance of passing, he said. Ha! Remind me not to recommend him to any friend considering a run for public office.

Photo: Urban Compass

Ward representation and the School Committee

Ward representation's impact on the City Council has gotten the most attention so far, but big changes are in store for the School Committee, also.

Victor Davila emailed me the other day to ask what would happen in the 2009 elections to the School Committee, which, up until this the last election, has had staggered, four year terms. Would only those seats up for re-election become ward seats? Or would all the seats that were going to become ward seats happen at the same timje? I told him that was a good question, and I'd have to find out.

The more I thought about it, though, it did seem to me that all seats would have to transition to ward seats at the same time. I checked in with the city's attorney, Ed Pakula, and sure enough, that's what he and Mayor Ryan were envisioning.

Photo from the Springfield School Dept. website
That means that Thomas Ashe, Antoinette Pepe and Chris Collins will only be serving two year terms. I wonder if they realized that that would be the case if they were elected AND ward representation passed?

In 2009, we will be electing the entire School Committee, two-at large and four ward seats, meaning an end to staggered terms. If it seems important to restore them, it will have to be some with separate legislation.

Just to remind folks what they voted for, School Committee seats will represent wards One and Three, Four and Five, Six and Seven and Two and Eight, PLUS two at-large.