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The Westfield Westfield News The Serving Westfield, Southwick, and surrounding Hilltowns Serving Westfield, Southwick, and surrounding Hilltowns

www.thewestfieldnews.com www.thewestfieldnews.com TUESDAY, JUNE 27, 2017

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Huntington church celebrates American Indian Sunday

Southwick DPW Director Randy Brown. (Photo courtesy of Greg Fitzpatrick)

By GREG FITZPATRICK Correspondent SOUTHWICK – DPW Director Randy Brown discussed his revised snow and ice removal policy with the Select Board last week. This type of policy isn’t mandatory for municipalities in the state, but it is strongly recommended as a majority of towns do have one. After the town legal counsel reviewed it, the Select Board’s purpose during the meeting was to provide any comments or questions they may have. In the policy, Brown would want to minimize the amount of salt that residents put on sidewalks. Although, Select Board Clerk Russ Fox has been against that aspect of the policy as he’d rather see people have that option to use as much salt that they feel is best during the winter. “I don’t have any problems with people going down to the DPW and getting some sand with a little salt in it,” said Fox. Brown has a reason as to why he’s standing by his policy. “Salt is a corrosive product and it can cause

WESTFIELD – Since 2011 The Westfield News has partnered with The Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce to present Candidate Forums to voters of the City. These are not debates as you may be familiar but forums where each candidate will be allowed opening and closing remarks and in between they will be asked questions by a moderator and allowed a set time limit for answer. The schedule of this year’s forums is as follows: City Council candidates for Ward 3 will be at 630pm on Monday Oct 23rd City Council candidates for Ward 4 will be at 730pm on Monday Oct 23rd City Council candidates for Ward 5 will be at 630pm on Thursday Oct 26th Candidates for school committee will be at 730pm on Thursday Oct 26th Candidates for At Large City Council will be at 630pm on Monday Oct 30th All of this year’s forums will be held at the Westfield Senior Center on Noble St. and each evening the doors will open at 6pm for candidate meet-and-greet with the formal portion of the evening starting at 630pm. In addition to the above-mentioned formal candidate forums for

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damage to concrete,” said Brown. “We want to minimize those impacts.” At the meeting, Brown and the Select Board came to an agreement that the language in the policy will say that “salt should be minimized”. As for the rest of the policy, aspects include snow maintenance which features types of treatment on each road in town, on-street parking rules, and a mailbox replacement policy. Brown also added that any damages by town plows to mailboxes, a person’s lawn, or any other property, has its own policy in which a follow-up would be required, an investigation, and then determine if the town is liable or not. Despite the disagreement with the salt portion of the policy, Fox is very pleased that Brown has decided to create a snow and ice removal policy which he considers a benefit for the citizens ofSouthwick. “If in fact there is an issue that arises, you can refer to the policy,” said Fox. Since the policy is not completely finalized yet, Brown said that it should be official in the next couple of weeks and will be posted on the Town of Southwick website.

By AMY PORTER Correspondent HUNTINGTON – On Sunday, the First Congregational Church (UCC) at Norwich Hill and UCC churches throughout North America celebrated American Indian Ministry. Norwich Hill observed the day with a special offering, Native American hymns, and crafts by a local artisan celebrating the Native American heritage. During the service, Rev. Carol B. Smith said she reached out to one of the UCC pastors in the Dakota Association, Rev. Michael Kills Pretty Enemy. She said he pastors three small churches every Sunday, that are 50 miles apart. One church that burned down in a prairie fire meets in a home. He also runs a horse farm and sells hay, although this year he had to sell some horses. She said the churches, which average 15 in their congregations, sing to drums instead of an organ. The pastor explained to her that the drumbeat is a heartbeat – the first sound a child hears, and the last. When the heart stops beating, life stops. Smith said that Rev. Kills Pretty Enemy also teaches the Lakota language to preschoolers up to 2nd grade. He said he is proud to teach the language, because it is dying. Like many other children, he told Smith he was sent away to a white school, where he was taught to hate the language “with a whistle and a rubber hose,” Smith said. The offering taken during the service was “Neighbors in Need,” one-third of which goes to the Council for American Indian Ministry (www.caim.org), which she said pays the pastors’ salaries. She said the offerings in the churches themselves average $1 or $2 dollars

Liturgist Lori Belhumeur and Rev. Carol B. Smith look on as Chester woodcarver Ron Messier talks about the symbolism of the Kachina dolls during the American Indian service at Norwich Hill on Sunday. a Sunday. Smith said she was also told it is not uncommon for a pastor on the reservation to bury 8 young people to suicide a year. She said the UCC ministry is about unity, healing and reconciliation with the past. Rev. Kills Pretty Enemy’s churches are in the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota, which was recently the center of a large and long protest against the Dakota Access pipeline, which threatens their water supply. Smith said he told her the protest is See Huntington, Page 3

Tomorrow the City of Westfield hosts a Preliminary Election for Ward 4 City Councilor and polling locations will be open from 7am to 7pm. Ward 4 Precinct A votes at the Second Congregational Church located at 487 Western Avenue and Ward 4 Precinct B votes at Highland Elementary School 34 Western Avenue.

Meet the Ward 4 candidates here in The Westfield News’ candidate profiles:

MICHAEL BURNS

BERNARD FITZGERALDROSENBLUM

DAWN THOMAS

CANDIDATE PROFILE:

Ward Four Councilor candidate Michael Burns

Ward Four Councilor candidate Bernard Fitzgerald-Rosenblum

Ward Four City Councilor candidate Dawn Thomas

By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD—Ward Four City Councilor hopeful Michael Burns feels he has a duty to serve his community. Burns, a lifelong Westfield resident and veteran who raised four children with his wife here and currently lives on Kylie Lane, is one of three candidates in the preliminary election for tomorrow’s Ward Four City Councilor position. According to Burns, he is running because he wants to serve those in his community, especially in Ward Four. “I live in Ward Four, those are my neighbors, those are my friends,” he said. “I have service in my blood, I always served no matter what I did.” According to Burns, he has served in the military, and he has family members who were also in the military or served as civil servants, including two children who were in the US Air Force. Burns works currently as a New England sales representative for an automotive group and is a Westfield Water Commissioner going on eight years. In addition, he has served in the military for 26 years. Burns’s military experience includes five

By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD—Following 45 years of experience in accounting and finance, Bernard Fitzgerald-Rosenblum wants to utilize that knowledge to try and improve Westfield and Ward Four. Fitzgerald-Rosenblum, or “Rosenblum,” is one of three candidates in the preliminary election for tomorrow’s Ward Four City Councilor position. Rosenblum, a 27-year Westfield resident who currently lives on Saint James Avenue, comes from 45 years of financial and budgeting experience, as well as twice operating as Westfield Mayoral candidate Mike Roeder’s campaign manager. Rosenblum said that he is running for Ward Four because he feels his experiences can help the city. “My financial expertise and my experience, I think that’s critically needed now,” Rosenblum said. Rosenblum said that his experience in finance and accounting started after graduating from UMass-Amherst with a Bachelor’s in Finance from the Eisenberg School of Management. This experience included operating as a chief financial officer and controller in several companies.

By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD—For Dawn Thomas, she is pursuing the Ward Four City Councilor position because she wants to work for her community. Thomas, of Loomis Ridge in Westfield, is one of three candidates in the preliminary election for tomorrow’s Ward Four City Councilor position. Thomas, who has lived in Westfield for 50 years and has a family that includes two adult children, comes from a background in finance, has served on a number of local boards and commissions throughout the community and even earned the Chamber of Commerce’s Business Woman of the Year in 2009. According to Thomas, she has decided to run because now that she has time, she wants to give back. “Now that I have some time for myself it’s time to pay back to the community,” she said. Thomas’s experiences include working as a Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for a company she has been with for over 35 years. Her experiences on boards and commissions include a number of spots on Boards of Directors and treasurer, and has included Westfield Women’s Club, Boys and Girls Club

See Burns, Page 3

See Fitzgerald-Rosenblum, Page 3

See Dawn Thomas, Page 3

See Schedule, Page 3