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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
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www.thewestfieldnews.com FRIDAY, MAY 22, 2015
VOL. 84 NO. 128
— LAURENCE OLIVIER
75 cents
Council approves facilities director candidate
Selectmen retain name By HOPE E. TREMBLAY Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – The Board of Selectmen will not change its name, at least not this year. Town Meeting voters did not approve Article 39 – the last article on the warrant – to change the name of the board to the Southwick Select Board. Ruth Preston, administrative assistant to the Planning Board, made the request to selectmen last August and the board brought it to the May 19 Town Meeting. Preston said this week she really thought it would pass. She said being the last article didn’t help her cause. “A lot of people had already left and I think if more people were there, it would have passed,” said Preston. “There were a number of people in the community who said ‘it’s about time’ when I told them aout it.” Preston said last summer it’s something she feels would be a giant step toward recognizing the leadership of women in town. “I noticed that other communities in the state have a select board, and we have had women on our board,” said Preston. “The term selectmen is inappropriate in this day and age – women are leaders.” While researching the procedure required to make the change, Preston spoke with officials in Granby, which has a select board, but previously had a board of selectmen. “They said when a woman came on the board, they just changed the name,” said Preston. “It seems it is as easy as that, but I know there will be some financial considerations for things like changing letterhead.” Preston did her homework and found that 17 towns in Massachusetts have a select board and just one or two others have a board of selectmen. Many communities have a city council.
“We have all, at one time or another, been performers, and many of us still are — politicians, playboys, cardinals and kings.”
Ride of Silence Organizer of Westfield’s Ride of Silence, Don Podolski, pauses for a minute prior to leading a group of cyclists on a brief ride through Westfield. (Cecelia Manning)
See Name, Page 3
Nearly two dozen riders participating in Westfield’s Ride of Silence begin to embark on a ride through Westfield to honor local bicyclists killed while riding the city’s streets. (Cecelia Manning)
RUTH PRESTON
See Director, Page 3
States move to reduce time spent on Common Core-based exam By KRISTEN WYATT Associated Press DENVER (AP) — Students in 11 states and the District of Columbia will spend less time next year taking tests based on the Common Core standards, a decision made in response to widespread opposition to testing requirements. The decision to reduce testing time by about 90 minutes was made by the states and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for Colleges and Career, or PARCC.
By DAN MORIARTY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The City Council voted Thursday night to approve the nomination of a Chicopee resident to serves as the city’s first Facilities Director to oversee maintenance of municipal and school department buildings and facilities. Mayor Daniel M. MAYOR DANIEL Knapik nominated M. KNAPIK Bryan P. Forrette of Chicopee to serve as Facilities Director. Forrette holds a Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and as the project manager for P3 of Norwell has overseen city building and facility improvement projects during the past six years. P3 has served as the city’s Owner Project Manager (OPM) for construction of the Senior Center at the Mary Noble Estate on Noble Street, the Westfield City Hall Integrated Energy Management System and the City Hall renovations, as well as the $12 million Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) green energy grant to replace boilers, windows and roofs at five school buildings. The city has also initiated a $17 million energy program in conjunction with the MSBA work at school buildings and energy improvements to other municipal buildings. Knapik said this morning that a screening committee interviewed applicants, and then forwarded two names to the selection committee which was comprised of Knapik, Ron Rix, finance and maintenance coordinator of the School Department and City Purchaser Tammy Tefft, for nomination of a candidate to the City Council. “Bryan has been with us since the beginning of the investments in city and school buildings, and he’s done a really good job overseeing those projects,” Knapik said. “There will be no major learning curve because he is familiar with what we’ve done over the past five years.” The Personnel Action Committee interviewed Forrette before the full City Council session and gave his nomination a 2-0 positive recommendation. The council voted 10-1 to approve that nomination. Ward 2 Councilor Ralph Figy, a PAC member, said during discussion of the nomination on the council floor that Forrette’s “credentials are impressive” which Figy found to be “pleasantly
The PARCC tests are administered to students in grades three to eight and once in high school. As a result of the decision, the math and English exams will only be given once a year, instead of twice. The 11 states involved are Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio and Rhode Island. See Common Core, Page 3
Unemployment rate falls to 4.7 percent BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts gained jobs for an eighth consecutive month in April while the unemployment rate dropped slightly to 4.7 percent, the state office of Labor and Workforce Development said Thursday. The labor participation rate — the total number of residents 16 or older who were working or seeking work — climbed to a nearly five-year high of 66.3 percent in April, officials added. Preliminary estimates from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics showed the state picked up 10,100 jobs last month. The bureau also issued an upward revision of jobs growth in March, from the earlier estimate of See Unemployment, Page 3
State Senate passes $38B state budget BOSTON (AP) — The Massachusetts Senate passed a $38 billion state budget early Friday that lawmakers say makes critical investments in local aid, education, economic development and services for vulnerable residents of the state. The Senate version of the budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 will head to a six-member legislative committee that will hammer out differences from the House version. Republican Gov. Charlie Baker then can either sign it into law or veto parts or all of it. “This final budget builds on the themes and investments of the Senate Ways and Means recommendations to lift all families and invest in our future,” said Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, chairwoman of the Democrat-controlled Senate’s Committee on Ways and Means. The budget includes more than $4.5 billion for education aid and almost $1 billion in unrestricted aid for investments in public safety, health care, infrastructure and other expenses. It also includes a $12.5 million increase for state universities and community colleges and an $18.8 million increase for the University of Massachusetts. The Senate voted to freeze the state income tax rate at 5.15 percent while gradually increasing the earned income tax credit for lowincome working families. “The expansion of the earned income tax credit and our investments in workforce training, education and economic development in this budget will lift all working families across Massachusetts,” said See State Budget, Page 3