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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.”
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— Mother Teresa
TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2014
VOL. 83 NO.200
Council stalls accepting gifts
Police chief warns of break-ins By Hope E. Tremblay Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – Southwick Police Chief David Ricardi is warning residents to lock their homes. Several residences in Southwick and Agawam were recently entered during the day when no one was home. “We’ve had breaking and enterings near Agawam, in the eastern part of town from College Highway toward Agawam,” said Ricardi. Ricardi said he urges homeowners to take precautions. “Make sure your doors and windows are locked and leave a radio on if you can,” said Ricardi. “Park in the driveway during the day and secure your vehicle.” Ricardi said Southwick and Agawam Police are working together and have a few leads they are following. Ricardi added that residents should not hesitate to call police with any concern. “Be cognizant of activity in the neighborhood,” he advised. “If anything seems out of the ordinary, call us. If you see a suspicious person or car, or people walking down the street that don’t normally do that, call us. We will investigate.” Ricardi said the thief or thieves are taking easily carried valuables. “Jewelry is a big item,” he said. Small valuables can be taken quickly and are not as noticeable as items such as large electronics. “We just want everyone to take standard precaustions and call us immediately if something seems out of place,” he said. The Southwick Police Department can be reached at 413-569-5348.
DAVID A. RICARDI Southwick Police Chief
75 cents
DANIEL M. KNAPIK
DAVID BILLIPS
PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENTS
City seeks to boost efficiency By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Mayor Daniel M. Knapik said this morning that he plans to hire a management consultant to analyze the city’s “governmental infrastructure” to determine if consolidation of public works departments will improve efficiency. Knapik said the recent retirement of Public Works Superintendent Jim Mulvenna triggered the study to determine if consolidation of several departments is feasible. “Whenever you have a retirement of a major department head it’s an opportunity to examine the structure of city departments,” Knapik said following Mulvenna’s retirement. This morning Knapik confirmed that Water Resource Director Dave Billips will take over the Department of Public Works while a management consultant is hired and generates a report on future restructuring options. “Dave has some ideas about the department,” Knapik said. “There are a lot of management and structural issues to work out.” Billips is currently the Water Resource Superintendent overseeing the city’s drinking water system and the wastewater treatment plant. “One question is: do we really need an $88,000 a year director for a relatively small department,” Knapik said. “The Public Works department has shrunk over the years and now has only about a dozen employees. Much of the work formerly done by the DPW is now performed by outside contractors.” “The department has lost the ability to build anything,” Knapik said. “It used to build sidewalks and curbing.” Knapik said that he is seeking “to
break down barriers” among the city’s public works departments and to use human resources in a more efficient manner. “There is a silo mentality that prevents workers from one department being used by another department,” Knapik said. “What we need is a structure that allows laborers to float between areas of departmental responsibility.” Billips will serves as the interim DPW director while the management consultant, with a background in public works, assesses the city’s current departmental structure. “The timeline for completion for the management consultant to submit a report is between six and eight months,” Knapik said. “What may result is a singular department head overseeing public works, sanitation, natural resources (parks and playgrounds), water, sewer and wastewater treatment.” Knapik said the current structure evolved over decades and that barriers exist between the current entities that inhibit efficiency. Sewers are under the DPW, while pump stations and the wastewater treatment plant are under the control of the Water Resource Department. Knapik said that the wastewater treatment plant is responsible for reporting to the state Department of Environmental Protection for sewer malfunction, such a sewer backups, but needs data from Public Works to complete the DEP reports. “Work is not getting done because of the lack of communication between departments,” Knapik said. “We have to break down those barriers, clarify who does what.”
By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The City Council voted last week to accept donations of nearly $1,000 for municipal departments and activities within the city, on the condition that accounts would be approved later in the meeting, a vote that did not occur. The accounts are established to track the funds as required by state auditing laws and practices. The problem is that the vote to accept the gift came before the vote to establish the accounts. The council’s Finance Committee, which reviews all financial matters, reports out to the full council before the Legislative & Ordinance Committee which reviews creation of local ordinances, including the creation of gift accounts. See Council, Page 3
Ohio man arraigned on murder charge WESTFIELD (AP) — An Ohio man who authorities say killed his wife and teenage daughter nearly two decades ago, then started a new life and a new family, was ordered held without bail yesterday at his arraignment in Massachusetts on one of the killings. A not guilty plea to a murder charge was entered on behalf of Robert Honsch, 70, in Westfield District Court. His court-appointed lawyers Robert Honsch a.k.a Robert Tyree did not argue for bail. Honsch was arraigned in (Photo provided by Wayne connection with the death of County Sheriff’s Dept.) Marcia Honsch, 53, whose body was found in October 1995 near an entrance to Tolland State Forest in rural western Massachusetts. Around the same time, Elizabeth Honsch, 17, was found dead behind a New Britain, Connecticut, strip mall. Robert Honsch faces a separate arraignment in Connecticut. Both had been shot in the head. The family lived in Brewster, New York, at the time. Robert Honsch never reported either missing, Hampden District Attorney James Orenstein said. Neither body had identifying information, but an examination of clothing and other items found at the scenes suggested they were from New York. Several rounds of DNA testing determined they were mother and daughter, but they remained unidentified until a woman from Virginia Beach, Virginia, contacted New York state See Murder Charge, Page 3
Westfield native prepares as primary looms By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Far and away the most conservative candidate vying to become Massachusetts governor this fall, Westfield native Mark Fisher has been campaigning hard over the summer. Fisher, owner of Merchant’s Fabrication in Auburn, is seeking to appeal to both the tea party faction of the state’s Republican Party and the sizeable contingent of residents who are dissatisfied with state politics as a whole. “I’m a first-time candidate and many of my supporters are first-time supporters, too,” he said yesterday. “Without my family and my community, this wouldn’t be possible.” “I’m as a conservative Republican and I’m proud to identify with the tea party,” said Fisher, adding that he is far to the right of his heavily-favored opponent for the Republican nomination, Charlie Baker of Needham, a secretary to former Governor William Weld. “Gov. (Deval) Patrick has referred to Charlie as his ‘identical twin.’” Fisher said. “A vote for Charlie Baker is just a taller version of a vote for Deval Patrick.” Fisher used the situation currently brewing with Tewksburybased supermarket chain Market Basket as evidence that working Bay Staters may be ready to stand up and say how they feel about not just their employers, but state government, too.
At a recent meet and greet event for GOP gubernatorial candidate and Westfield native Mark Fisher are, left-right, Carol Brut, Fisher, mother Dolly (Grimaldi) Fisher and Diane Czerwiecki. Mark is the son of the late Dick Fisher and Dolly (Grimaldi) Fisher. (Photo submitted) “Look at the situation with Market Basket. We don’t have confidence in our political parties or private businesses, and people are upset,” he said. While Baker, the Republican’s choice for governor in 2010,
Storm cleanup Employees from the Southwick Department of Public Works use a large vacuum truck to clean storm drains yesterday. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
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