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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com
VOL. 84 NO. 241
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015
Velis honored as Veteran of the Year By HOPE E. TREMBLAY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – State Rep. John Velis is the American Veterans’ Legislator of the Year. Velis was selected from legislators across the state. Legislators at the state and local level were nominated for their work on behalf of veterans. “Someone nominated me and I am truly humbled,” Velis said. A U.S. Army captain and veteran himself, Velis pledged to bring veterans’ issues to the table when he was elected. “When I decided to run for office, one of the deciding factors was to be the voice of veterans,” he said. “Today, veterans are only one percent of the population and the military is a volunteer force. It is incumbent upon us to take care of them.” Velis received national recognition for his Stolen Valor bill and has received calls from veterans around Massachusetts, not just in his Westfield district. He believes his veteran status, as well as his active duty role, give him a “unique insight” into the needs of veterans. Velis said he receives calls from veterans in other districts because he is the only western Massachusetts representative on the Veterans Affairs Committee. He said this area is very patriotic and has as many or more veterans than the eastern part of the state. “We have Marines, soldiers, and airmen here,” Velis said. “We have Westover and Barnes – we have treasured assets there.” Velis said he and his family are very honored and excited by the award, which he will receive Nov. 7 in Haverhill.
REP. JOHN VELIS
“Nobody knows enough, but many know too much.” — MARIE VON EBNERESCHENBACH
75 cents
Sex offender ordinance on L&O slate tonight
The Westfield State Foundation presents the Lifetime Owls Scholarship check. Left to right: John Torrone ’00 Foundation Chair, Brandon Trafford ’17, Foundation student director, Westfield State President Elizabeth Preston, Matt Carlin ’17, corporator, Evelyn Dina ’16, SGA president, Kathi Bradford, Director of Alumni Relations, Michael Knapik, executive director of Advancement and University Relations.
WSU Foundation has ensured excellence for over 35 years WESTFIELD – As the Westfield State University Foundation celebrates its 35th anniversary, the organization continues to grow stronger, with a 40 percent increase in fundraising and 140 percent increase in donor participation within the last year alone. Foundation Board Chair Robin Jensen said the organization’s continued success is due to a strong collaboration amongst a dedicated team. “I am deeply indebted to our all-volunteer Board of Directors and corporators, Interim President Elizabeth Preston, and the staff of the Foundation, all of whom demonstrate a powerful commitment to the university’s mission of scholarship and service,” Jensen said. The Foundation held its annual meeting earlier this month and announced that last year was a record high for student support with more than $220,000 awarded in scholarships to Westfield State students. In addition, the Foundation matched the Commonwealth’s Internship Fundraising challenge, which has made more than $450,000 available to students for paid internships since the program’s inception three years ago. “We’re pleased to offer students a way to gain valuable work experience through internships without the financial concerns,” said Michael Knapik, executive director of Advancement and University Relations. Three students who have received scholarships through the Foundation were recognized at the meeting: Tara Budrewicz ’17 of Southampton, Keri Jung ’16 of Westfield, and Samantha Mangano ’15 of Rowley, Mass. Budrewicz is a nursing major who works at the university’s Banacos Academic Center tutoring
students in science and providing services to students with disabilities. Jung works full-time as an emergency room veterinary technician and is conducting research on campus under the guidance of Dr. Robin White of the biology department. Over the summer, Mangano completed a full-time, ten week internship in the Sexual Assault Unit of the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington D.C. The 2015 Foundation Stewardship Award was given to Robert Goyette. One of the first directors of the Westfield State Foundation, Goyette and his company Heritage Homes of Westfield built the Albert and Amelia Ferst Interfaith Center, the Foundation’s first project. Goyette and Heritage Homes recently completed renovations to the Interfaith Center, which has allowed for more interfaith programming. New Donor and Scholarship Initiatives New donor initiatives launched this year include the establishment of the Horace Mann Legacy Society and the 35 for 35 Campaign. The Horace Mann Legacy Society was established to honor Mann’s spirit of scholarship and service. Individuals who honor Westfield State University with a planned gift will be granted membership., Membership includes invitations to the Horace Mann Legacy Society dinner with the president of the university and to “Sweet Success,” the Foundation’s annual donor appreciation event, a commemorative Horace Mann Legacy Society pin, and regular updates and reports noting advancements at the university and how donor intentions are being met. In honor of its 35th anniversary, the See WSU Foundation, Page 3
By DAN MORIARTY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The City Council’s Legislative & Ordinance Committee will discuss a course of action tonight at 6:15 p.m. session to act on the Law Department’s recommendation that the city’s sex offender ordinance be eliminated. L&O Chairman Ralph Figy said this morning that he will request the committee to vote to kept the motion to delete the ordinance in committee until the Oct. 15, 2015 session of the City Council. “I’d like to leave it in committee to give people time to discuss this RALPH FIGY issue,” Figy said. “The Law Department made its recommendation based on the recent SJC decision.” The Supreme Judicial Court in an Aug. 28 decision, upheld a lower court decision ruling that a local law restricting where sex offenders can live in the city of Lynn exceeds the city’s authority to regulate where registered sex offenders can reside, a ruling that could have broad implications for about 40 other communities, including Westfield. The court found that the laws approved by the Legislature pertaining to sex offenders and where they reside, through the sex offender registration, comprehensive and that it was the intent of the Legislature to protect residents of the commonwealth. The SJC found that the ordinance, adopted by the City of Lynn, basically effects a wholesale displacement of sex offenders from their residences, and that it frustrates the purpose of the registry law and, therefore, is inconsistent and invalid under the home rule provisions. Westfield is one of those communities which set restrictions of where sex offenders can live or even go under Chapter 10, Article III of the City Code of Ordinances adopted on Jan. 20, 2011. The ordinance prohibits a registered sex offender from “establishing a permanent residence or temporary residence” with 1,000 feet of a school and establishes “child safety zones” which includes schools, parks, both public and private, and playgrounds. Registered sex offenders “shall not loiter on of within 1,000 feet of any property on which there is a school, park or any private or public recreational facility.” Figy said that two special permit issues will be referred to the council’s License Committee for further consideration. The L&O will vote on a recommendation to the full City Council at the Thursday night meeting (which will start at 8 p.m. because of Westfield Day at the Big E) to remove three See Ordinance, Page 3
Baker orders child agency reforms after ‘Baby Doe’ case By BOB SALSBERG Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — The state’s embattled child protection agency lacks a clear mission, Gov. Charlie Baker said Monday while ordering new policies in the wake of high-profile cases like that of Bella Bond, the toddler known for months as Baby Doe after her remains washed up on the Boston Harbor shoreline. The steps are aimed at reducing caseloads and updating the way the Department of Children and Families evaluates and prioritizes allegations it receives of abuse and neglect, the
Republican said. He added that some basic procedures at the agency hadn’t been changed in more than a decade despite a series of critical reports and studies. The result was “mission confusion” for social workers in the field and their supervisors, he said. “We are simplifying and focusing the mission: keep kids safe,” he said. Baker made ongoing problems at DCF a core issue during his campaign to become governor last year, but he has since faced some of the same questions as his predecessors.
The agency has said it twice intervened with Bella’s family when she was an infant, once in 2012 and again in 2013 for reasons of neglect. Both cases were closed within a matter of months. DCF also revealed that it had removed two other children from Bella’s mother between 2001 and 2007. Rachelle Bond was charged as an accessory after the fact in the 2-year-old’s death, and Bond’s boyfriend, Michael McCarthy, is charged with murder. A key question that emerged is whether social workers who investigated Bella’s care were aware that the older children had
been removed from the mother, and if that information should have reflected on the decisions to close the 2012 and 2013 cases. Linda Spears, the DCF commissioner, said Monday she could not immediately answer those questions, citing confidentiality rules and an ongoing investigation by the state’s Child Advocate. Baker said the agency was developing a new standardized policy for assessing the level of Rachelle Dee Bond is arraigned on charges of actrisk facing a child. It will include ing after the fact in helping to dispose of the body of a mandatory review of every her daughter, the girl dubbed Baby Doe, in Dorchester District Court, on Monday, Sept. 21, See Reform, Page 3 2015, in Boston. (AP)