WESTFIELD — Seven candidates took out nomination papers for the seven at-large seats in the month of April, three of them not currently serving on the City Council. Former Mayor Daniel Knapik, Planning Board Commissioner John Bowen and Christopher McCrary, emergency management coordinator at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Leeds, have joined incumbent councilors Cindy Harris, Rick Sullivan, Brent Bean and Dan Allie in declaring their intentions to run.
Sitting Mayor Michael McCabe is the only one who has taken out nomination papers for the mayoral race so far.
All of the incumbent ward councilors — Karen Fanion in Ward 1, Ralph Figy in Ward 2, Bridget Matthews-Kane in Ward 3, Michael Burns in Ward 4, John Beltrandi in Ward 5 and William Onyski in Ward 6 — have pulled nomination papers with no challengers to date.
Three four-year terms on the School Committee will be on the ballot, with incumbent Kathleen Hillman the first to take out papers. There is also one six-year term for Westfield Athenaeum trustee, for which incumbent Kathleen Knapik has signed up to collect signatures.
On the Municipal Light Board, newcomer Thomas Fanion has pulled papers to run in Ward 1, as have incumbents Dawn Renaudette and William Parks for Wards 3 and 4. Nobody has yet taken out papers for Wards 2 and 6.
Currently, the only potential contest in the city is for Ward 5 on the Municipal Light Board, where incumbent Robert Sacco and challenger Jason Bean have both taken out nomination papers.
In order to run for office, candidates must be registered to vote in Westfield. For ward offices, candidates must live in the ward where they are running and be nominated by obtaining the signatures of 50 registered voters in their ward. For citywide offices, candidates must be nominated by obtaining the signatures of 50 registered voters who live anywhere in the city.
Nomination papers will be available through July 25, and must be returned to the Board of Registrars by 5 p.m. July 29 to be certified. The list of certified candidates will be posted by 5 p.m. Aug. 13.
The deadline for voter registration for the Sept. 16 Preliminary Election is Saturday, Sept. 6, at the city clerk’s office or online at www.registertovotema.com. The deadline to request a vote-by-mail ballot is by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 9, at the city clerk’s office.
The preliminary election will be on Sept. 16, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., only if any of the offices have more than twice the number of candidates running than seats available, e.g. more than two for mayor or single ward seats, and more than 14 for the seven at-large seats.
The last hour and day for filing withdrawals and/or objections to nominations made at the preliminary election and the deadline for write-in candidates nominated at the preliminary to file written acceptances with the city clerk’s office is 5 p.m. Sept. 22
The deadline for voter registration for the Nov. 4 general election is 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 25 in person at the city clerk’s office or until 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 25 online at www.registertovotema.com
The general election will be held from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4, at various polling sites around the city.
For more information on the general election or on how to register to vote, go to www.cityofwestfield.org/vote.
