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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
“The man who has done his level best is a success, even though the world may write him down a failure.” — B.C. FORBES
www.thewestfieldnews.com VOL. 85 NO. 153
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THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2016
Mayor Sullivan’s budget remains largely intact
Ann Lentini, Executive Director of Domus, welcomes those who attended the open house and grand opening of the Our House project. (Photo by Lynn Boscher)
Homeless young adults in Westfield get new home By DAN DESROCHERS Correspondent WESTFIELD—The oldest house on Broad Street has new residents. Domus, Inc., a nonprofit affordable housing developer based in Westfield, has remodeled 48 Broad St., which used to be an American Red Cross building and is the oldest house on the street, making it a place for homeless young adults to be able to stay, learn and adjust to new ways of living. “Our goal is to get them independent,” Catherine Tansey, social worker at Westfield High School and associate to Domus, said. “These are kids who, through no fault of their own, became homeless.” Tansey said that many of the young adults, who will range from ages 18 to 24, have become homeless through abandonment, family issues or crime. And so far, all of them have come through Westfield high schools. “Kids would come into school and say they don’t have a place to live and that they haven’t had one for three months,” Tansey said. “There’s a lot of shame and grief about it.” The building was converted into 10 efficiency-style apartments, with each apartment consisting of a living space, kitchenette and a bathroom with a shower. Other portions of the building were turned into communal living spaces, an apartment for the on-site residence manager, laundry rooms, a dining room and a kitchen. Domus also installed several security cameras, in order to reduce any potential issues. Additionally, the facility will be alcohol-, drug- and tobacco-free, and will not allow overnight visitors. However, tenants may have visitors during the day and evening.
Catherine Tansey (School Social Worker), Ann Lentini (Executive Director), Kennely Curran (Residence Manager) inside the Our House project by Domus on Broad St in Westfield. (Photo by Lynn Boscher) “We want to provide a safe, secure environment with independent living, but also with a program of guidance and protection,” Ann Lentini, director of Domus, said. Lentini said that in addition to housing, Domus will provide tenants with mentors and programs to help teach residents about various responsibilities, including balancing a checkbook and renting an apartment. Also, the YMCA of Westfield gave each new resident a one-year membership to their facilities. And if any resident has mental health or substance abuse issues, The Carson Center for Human Services will be providing assistance, as well. The building, which is the oldest on Broad Street and one of the oldest in the city, was originally erected in 1830. After a series of individuals and families owning
By AMY PORTER Correspondent WESTFIELD – Of the $2.2 million in cuts to Mayor Brian P. Sullivan’s $139 million budget that the Finance Committee and other councilors brought forward to a meeting of the whole City Council on Wednesday, only $106,000 were approved. Finance Committee Chair and Ward 5 Councilor Robert A. Paul, Sr., who chaired the meeting after it was turned over to him by Council President Brent B. Bean, II, said his committee had met with all of the departments, invited public participation and received input from each of the city councilors. He said they had pulled all of that together in a spreadsheet, resulting in the $2.2 million in cuts. Paul brought forward the first proposal of the evening, which was to cut the 1% across-the-board wage increase to city workers, totaling $194,449. The motion failed after a brief discussion, foreshadowing the rest of the evening’s votes. The Finance Committee’s motion to cut $600,000 from the Westfield Public Schools budget was amended to a zero cut by At-Large Councilor Steven Dondley. At–Large Councilor David Flaherty, who spoke for the Finance Committee, said the committee had changed its schedule and informed school department officials of the potential cut early, in order for them to be able to “hand out pink slips” by the June 15 notification date. “The fact is, we gave them this number and they didn’t
See Homeless, Page 3 DAVID FLAHERTY
MAYOR BRIAN P. SULLIVAN hand out pink slips. That tells me they can absorb this number,” Flaherty said. Ward 2 Councilor Ralph J. Figy, the liaison to the School Committee, said that committee was just as frustrated as the City Council about the growing budget. But he added that with the new superintendent Stefan Czaporowski starting July 1, he didn’t want to see his hands tied. “This cut is excessive, extreme, almost vindictive,” Figy said. He said he would like to amend the cut to $200,000, but Dondley’s zero percent amendment had already been raised. “A budget is a list of a city’s priorities. The highest priority has to be education,” Dondley said. At-Large Councilor Bean said it was important to give the new mayor, the new superintendent, and even the new Westfield State University president the tools they needed to make good choices. Bean added that he would be supporting the zero cut, but if that didn’t pass, he would not support the $600,000. Former Mayor and At-Large Councilor Dan Knapik said that making a $600,000 cut would be sending the wrong message. “The job Principal Czaporowski did at Westfield Technical Academy was nothing short of a miracle. We owe it to the new superintendent and the new mayor to say this is the budget,” Knapik said. The amended
motion of a zero percent cut then passed. At the start of the meeting, Dondley gave a presentation to the councilors challenging the notion that the city was approaching its levy ceiling. He said that it was impossible to know with any certainty, and that Westfield was no different than neighboring communities. Dondley said the focus should be on economic development and broadening the tax base. He also stressed the importance of building the city’s reserves. “You don’t want to chop off a foot today to keep from chopping off the foot in the future. You want to save that foot,” Dondley said. The tone of the meeting seemed to follow Dondley’s mindset, as department after department was spared from cuts, including the collector’s office, the law department, the Westfield Redevelopment Authority, and the police department’s overtime account. Some departments were trimmed. Purchasing was cut by $41,000, in anticipation of savings on the new LED street lights. Community development, which faced $35,000 in cuts, lost $5,000 in their purchase of services. $10,000 of the Airport’s noise mitigation fund of $138,888 was also cut, as well as $5,000 from the Public Safety Committee’s overtime. City Engineer Mark Cressotti spoke during public participation, asking the Council to strongly revisit the $240,000 in cuts to the See Budget, Page 3
MARK CRESSOTTI City Engineer
Westfield youth welcome to enjoy weekday lunches By LORI SZEPELAK Correspondent WESTFIELD — Now in its ninth year, the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Westfield provides free weekday lunches to children to ensure they receive the nutrition needed to lead an active summer lifestyle. “We offer this service because we want to make sure children ages three to 18 are receiving a nutritious meal at least once a day,” said Kellie Brown, director of operations. On Wednesday morning, three city school cafeteria managers were busy in the kitchen of the South Middle School preparing 500 lunches to be distributed across the city – ranging from playgrounds to apartment complexes. “All of our meals are prepared by the local schools so we follow the same guidelines as they do during the school year,”
Jill Kordana preps the celery stalks in the kitchen of the South Middle School on Wednesday morning as part of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Westfield’s free summer lunch for children in the city. During the school year, Kordana serves as cafeteria manager at the Abner Gibbs School.
said Brown. Kathy Andersen, Highland School’s cafeteria manager, was among the kitchen staff working on Wednesday, coordinating logistics at 9:30 a.m. with Beth Renaudette, food director at the Boys & Girls Club, and ensuring enough muffins, milk and strawberries would be delivered for the morning snack. Andersen, a 28-year school employee, noted that by following state and federal guidelines, all lunches consist of a wholegrain bread, a protein, fruit, a vegetable and dairy product. Special meals are also prepared for children with allergies. “The school’s director of food services and nutritionist plan all meals,” said Andersen. Wednesday’s menu included a ham and cheese sandwich (gluten-free bread is available), carrot and celery sticks, a banana, chocolate chip cookie and milk. The alternative sandwich was peanut butter and jelly. Cindy Stover, cafeteria manager at the Munger Hill School, and Jill Kordana, cafeteria manager at Abner Gibbs School, worked alongside Andersen and all relish the time spent in the kitchen preparing healthy meals. Stover has been employed with the city schools for more than 20 years and Kordana has been employed for 13 years. “I enjoy the kids and want them to eat healthy,” said Stover. Kordana echoed those sentiments. “We like seeing the kids enjoy the food and eat it,” said Kordana. “We also like to see kids come back for seconds.” Both women added they also enjoy making specialties throughout the summer including corn bread, snickerdoodle bread and apple crisp. Summer food sites include: • Chapman Playground, 50 St. Paul St., 1 to 1:30 p.m. • Colonial Pine Acres, 50 Southampton Road, 11:30 a.m. to noon. • Edgewood Apartments, 134 Union St., noon to 12:30 p.m. • Hubbard Street Spray Park, 12:30 to 1 p.m. • Sadie Knox Spray Park, 50 Prospect St., 12:15 to 12:45
Cindy Stover stuffs the ham and cheese sandwiches into baggies for Wednesday’s free summer lunch for children in the city. The program is sponsored by the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Westfield. During the school year, Stover serves as cafeteria manager at the Munger Hill School. p.m. • Powder Mill Village Apartments, 126 Union St., noon to 1 p.m. • South Middle School, 30 West Silver St., 12:50 to 1:20 p.m. • Pheasant Hill Village, 25 Pheasant Hill Road, Feeding Hills, 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. This site is only open to Pheasant Hill residents. Brown noted that free breakfasts and lunches are also included in the Kidscape Summer Camp and Summer Theatre Camp at the club’s main facility. For more information on the free lunch program, call (413) 562-2301. Most sites will be serving weekday lunches through Aug. 21. “Every young person in greater Westfield is invited to come have lunch with us at one of the sites,” said Brown, adding, “All you need to do is show up.”