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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com VOL. 84 NO. 254
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2015
The Westfield News will run our masthead in pink, in recognition of October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
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Road improvement projects slowly progressing By DAN MORIARTY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Work to improve Franklin Street and North Elm Street continues, but not as quickly as initially anticipated, so the work will extend into the 2016 construction season. City Engineer Mark Cressotti said new granite curbing and concrete sidewalks are currently being installed along the south side of Franklin Street to the intersection of Charles Street and that effort should be completed this fall. “The north side of the street was done earlier this summer and is complete except for a portion that wasn’t done at the intersection of Washington Street,” Cressotti said. “The road has to be widened and new traffic signals installed in that area, so it will affect the location of a sidewalk.” Cressotti said there is also consideration of locating the two entrances to the commercial building on the north side of Franklin Street, now occupied by the Family Dollar store, to bring the access and exit egress into line with Washington Street. “We’ve had fits and starts on the sidewalk installation because the money is tight. It is Chapter 90 funding,” Cressotti said. “Next season we’ll mill the pavement down to expose the existing curbs and then pave the roadway.” Work is being done at night to reduce the traffic impact on North Elm Street
where a new drainage system is being installed to alleviate chronic flooding in the intersection of North Elm and Notre Dame streets. “That work is still moving forward, just not as much as was initially planned,” Cressotti said. “The contractor is getting the drainage in and will be paving that new area added to the west side of the roadway to accommodate the center turning lane, but the contractor will not get into the work on the intersection this year because the traffic signals and an electrical transformer have to be relocated.” “Start of that project was delayed about a month because of the bond and right-of-way easement issues,” Cressotti said. The $4.4 million traffic flow improvement project is being funded through a $10 million bond approved by the City Council several years ago, but the bond companies wanted the language modified to specifically include the intersection of North Elm Street and Notre Dame streets, which required a vote by the City Council. The easements needed to allow the city to go onto private property and install infrastructure under those properties was more complicated than originally anticipated because of the complexity of the ownership of that land. “We had anticipated an August start, but the contractor chose to start after Sept. 1, which is their prerogative,” Cressotti said.
Westfield City Engineer Mark Cressotti, right foreground, and Matthew J. Chase, right background, project engineer for Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc., of Worcester, present an illustrated drawing of the newly redesigned intersection of North Elm and Notre Dame streets during a meeting in the Westfield High School auditorium in April, 2014, as more than 50 residents listen. (WNG file photo)
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WSU presidential finalist Ramon Torrecilha (R) spoke to a small group of alumni and staff Tuesday evening after a full day of campus meetings. Also pictured are Justin Connolly, Class of 2016 WSU student trustee, and Kathy Bradford, Director of Alumni Relations. (Photo by Amy Porter)
Presidential finalist Ramon Torrecilha visits WSU campus By AMY PORTER Correspondent WESTFIELD – Westfield State University presidential search finalist Dr. Ramon S. Torrecilha visited with a small group of alumni and staff last night, following a long day of meetings with various constituents on campus. Torrecilha, a professor of sociology at the University of California in Dominguez Hills, and former provost and vice president of academic affairs there, began his informal talk with answering the question: why WSU? “For me, the question is how do we make Westfield State University a model, premier institution,” he said. Torrecilha said enrollment matters, and he would start with an enrollment initiative to discern the optimum enrollment for the university, promoting dual enrollment, degree completion, and international students. “Your graduation rate is better than most of your peers,” he said, citing a recent increase of 58-64 percent in retention. “I think we can do better in terms of retention and graduation.” He spoke about a four-year plan he calls “The Westfield Experience.” The first year would focus on living and learning. The second year would be a year of reflection on values, and adopting short term and long term goals. The third year he calls “High Impact” and would include service learning. The fourth year, “The Last Mile,” would include working with the student to transition into the labor force or graduate school. Torrecilha also spoke about enhancing the relationship between the university and the community, and reaching out to businesses, civic organizations, churches and the religious community in order to establish public and private partnerships. He said under his presidency there would be more
fundraising based on vision, not needs, with strategic priorities. He noted the new science building on campus, and said the state would be looking to WSU to develop partnerships for another academic building and residence hall. One question to Torrecilha referred to the departure of President Evan Dobelle and the lingering questions in the community. “What you’re talking about is the healing that needs to happen,” he said. “Your mission, your commitment to students, and the bond you have is greater than any crisis of leadership. I want to serve as your president, not become the presidency.” He also spoke about the need to be very transparent, and put in place practices to ensure accountability and checks and balances. “Trust needs to be rebuilt,” he said. Asked about fundraising, he talked about his role as Executive Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Mills College, a small private college for women in Oakland, California. He said he was in charge of a comprehensive campaign to raise $100 million, and raised $130 million. He added that fundraising at WSU is “very basic.” “You have the advantage of reaching out to the alumni base, many who are not in the Westfield area,” he said. He said he would carry out a feasibility study, and market the campaign to places where there are sizable markets, such as the eastern part of the state Another question was on the “Westfield Initiative,” noting that many students spend five years completing degrees. Torrecilha acknowledged that depending on core offerings, it has become difficult for students to graduate in four years. See Torrecilha, Page 3
Baker pushing his charter school bill on Beacon Hill By STEVE LeBLANC Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Gov. Charlie Baker indicated Tuesday he was willing to negotiate with Democratic lawmakers over charter school growth, while adding that it was “long past” the time to address the issue. The Republican testified before the Legislature’s Education Committee as it considered a number of bills, including his proposal to allow the state to add up to a dozen new or expanded charters each year outside of the existing cap on the schools. The governor’s bill would also let the schools give preference to high-need and
low-income students, as well as students learning English and those with learning disabilities. Baker told the panel that the about 80 charter schools currently operating in Massachusetts have delivered outstanding results for the more than 40,000 students enrolled in them, and some of the highest-performing charter schools are in the lowest performing school districts. “But today, despite all this positive progress, the difference in overall student achievement in underperforming school districts and the rest of the Commonwealth remains too high, while some 37,000 children sit on waiting lists, trying to get into the Commonwealth’s very success-
ful charter school network,” Baker said in prepared testimony. Those who oppose more charter schools say they drain resources away from traditional public schools. The president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, Barbara Madeloni, has said Baker’s bill would help create a two-tiered education system — one truly public and the other private, but financed with public dollars. Critics like Madeloni said the proposal — which echoes the language of a proposed 2016 ballot question — could allow the state to add new charter schools See Gov. Baker, Page 3