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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
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“Life does not give itself to one who tries to keep all its advantages at once. .... ” — Leon Blum
FRIDAY, AUGUST 22, 2014
VOL. 83 NO.196
75 cents
Downtown bus stop proposal alarms city councilors By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – A proposed ordinance to move downtown bus stops and eliminate parking on Elm Street in front of the Westfield Athenaeum and United Bank is causing concern to members of the City Council. A proposed ordinance “relative to codifying bus stops and taxi stands in the city of Westfield” was submitted to MARY L. the council last night under BRIAN HOOSE O’CONNELL communication from the mayor portion of the agenda. Ward 4 Councilor Mary O’Connell raised the issue during discussion of a motion to refer the proposed ordinance to the council’s Legislative & Ordinance Committee. “This ordinance makes changes downtown,” O’Connell said. “It takes four parking spaces at the library and United Bank for two BRIAN P. SULLIVAN RALPH FIGY years for a bus stop.” Ward 2 Councilor Ralph Figy said the proposed bus stop also eliminates a taxi stand and the two Main Street bus stops in front of Rocky’s Ace Hardware and the Stop & Shop supermarket. Ward 3 Councilor Brian Hoose, who is also the chairman of the Off-street Parking Commission said the proposal will add parking spaces on Court Street to accommodate residents going to the Athenaeum and that United Bank customers can use the bank’s parking lot. Hoose said the Off-street Parking Commission has “some concerns about congestion at the (confluence) of Elm and Main streets” that is exasperated by motorists attempting to enter or exit those Elm Street parking spaces.
Westfield MusicFest 2014 Members of the Mystery Tour, a Beatles tribute band entertain the crowd during Thursday night’s Westfield MusicFest 2014 on the Green. See additional photos Page 8. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
See Bus Stop, Page 3
Council authorizes school lease negotiation
Hundreds of spectators gathered on the Westfield Green awaiting Mystery Tour, a Beatles tribute band, as part of Thursday night’s Westfield MusicFest 2014. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
Changes to law will reduce reports By Carl E. Hartdegen Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Readers who note a significant drop in the number of police reports involving incidents of domestic violence may be excused for reaching the obvious – but erroneous – conclusion that the city has suddenly become safer. The apparent decrease in the number of publicly reported instances of domestic violence is illusionary and is a consequence, presumably unintended, of a new act relative to domestic violence which went into effect as soon as Gov. Deval Patrick signed it into law Aug. 8. Police departments have long been required to “make, keep and maintain a daily log, written in a form that can be easily under-
stood, recording, in chronological order, all responses to valid complaints received, crimes reported, the names, addresses of persons arrested and the charges against such persons arrested.” Those logs have been public records and have been “available without charge to the public during regular business hours and at all other reasonable times.” That changed with the passage of Chapter 260 of the Acts of 2014, an Act Relative to Domestic Violence. The new law makes a number of changes to help ensure the safety of victims of domestic violence and features elements to prevent their identification. One of the provisions to shield the victim’s identity also shields the suspect because identification of the suspect could tend to also
identify a victim who is closely associated with the suspect. Previously, police were required to acknowledge when a suspect was arrested but, with the new law, they are now prohibited from reporting any arrest involving domestic violence. The new law requires that all incidents involving responses to reports of “domestic violence, rape or sexual assault”, “concerning the arrest of a person for assault, assault and battery or violation of a protective order where the victim is a family or household member” or “which pertains to a handicapped individual who is physically or mentally incapacitated to the degree that said person is confined to a See Changes, Page 8
By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The City Council approved a resolution for the city to lease office space for the School Department’s administration and to allow Mayor Daniel M. Knapik to negotiate and enter into a nine-year contract. The council’s Legislative & Ordinance Committee, which discussed the lease proposal Wednesday night, gave a 3-0 positive recommendation to approve the resolution. At-large Councilor Brian Sullivan, L&O chairman said the school office lease package is for a five-year pact, with two two-year extensions available to the city, at the same cost, if a permanent location for the school administration is not identified. Sullivan said there were three bids submitted, all in the Westwood office complex on North Elm Street. The three bids, for different amounts, are on three floors of the building. The city is interested in the least costly of those options, space on the top that the City Hall administration used last year while City Hall was being renovated. The school administration has been
DAVID BRIAN P. FLAHERTY SULLIVAN located at the Hampton Ponds Plaza on North Road for the past three years. Sullivan said the Westwood proposal will cost more than the Hampton Ponds location. The city will spend $3,500 more a year, but it will not have to pay for supplies and services such as plowing and trash collection. At-large Councilor and L&O member, James R. Adams, said the cost of the Westwood building is $74,000 a year, but that is still substantially less than the cost of operating the former Ashley Street Elementary School which was demolished as part of the proposed See School Lease, Page 3
Daly selected as children’s museum director By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Kate Daly’s is excited to have been selected by the Amelia Park Children’s Museum’s Board of Directors to succeed Karen Rubin as director of the museum. Rubin was selected as the Museum’s first Director in 2011. Daly, a native of the Berkshires who worked previously at a non-profit preschool in Lenox, said Thursday that she is enthusiastic about her goals and ambitions as the museum’s new director. “I want to make improvements and to make sure our staff and customers are happy, because that’s what we need,” she said. “We’re a nonprofit, so our goal is to help people learn, play, and grow in a creative way.” “To get more people to know where we are,
because I think we’re kind of tucked back in Westfield,” Daly added. “We’re still doing our Penguin Plunge at the end of January, and Halloween activities. We’re just trying to get more involved with the community and the community more involved with us.” Daly said that the museum will be making an appearance at the Eastern States Exposition this fall, and that the museum’s growth and it’s tradition are the highlights of the position for her. “I love it. I used to work at a preschool that was a non-profit, and I think what you can give to the outside is just amazing,” she said. “With this museum being the first children’s museum here (in Westfield), I hope we can continue to build on that, not only in Westfield, but in other counties around, and to keep it growing.” Daly, who graduated from Westfield State University in 2012 with a master’s degree in
early childhood education, and also has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and writing from Sacred Heart University, is hoping to offer new opportunities at the museum for community members and visitors alike. “I’d love to implement something like an infant group that meets once or twice a week, for parents who have two kids. They can drop one kid off at school and can come here,” she said. “We are doing story hour every Monday and crafts every Thursday, but there’s a lot in the works. We’re trying to update our exhibits and build upon what we have.” She believes that keeping Amelia Park’s Children’s Museum strong is a vital part of starting Westfield’s youth off on the right foot. “We want to keep it (the museum) strong and in Westfield, which is why we’re going to be engaging in more city activities,” she said.
KATE DALY