SPRINGFIELD—A new calendar year also means a new municipal year here. The only formal order of business in the new year was the installation of the Council President. At-large Councilor Jesse Lederman had already secured the votes for a full term as President in 2023. Yet, this is no ordinary municipal year.
The year 2022 has come and gone with much affecting the City of Springfield. As a part of the commonwealth, nation and world, it felt inflation, the war in Ukraine, national political contests and the state’s own elections.
SPRINGFIELD—Fitfully, the City Council continues to come back. On Monday, the municipal legislature held its first regular meeting in chambers since the COVID-19 pandemic virtualized Springfield government.
SPRINGFIELD—In the first special City Council election in Springfield’s modern history, mayoral aide Lavar Click-Bruce has prevailed over retired labor leader Ed Collins. Three months ago, then-Ward 5 Councilor Marcus Williams resigned.
SPRINGFIELD—Ward 5 voters from Pine Point to 16 Acres are about to chose a new city councilor in the city’s first ever special Council election. The election arrives three months after Marcus Williams’s shock resignation.
SPRINGFIELD—The first special election for City Council here since at least the current charter took effect in 1961 has concluded amid last minute energy and intrigue. Mayoral aide Lavar Click-Bruce, placed 1st in the special preliminary for Ward 5’s Council seat. Not far behind was retired labor leader Ed Collins.
In only days, Springfield will hold its first ever special election for City Council. A large field has formed, but voters at the August 16 preliminary could be spare. Nevertheless, with seven contenders, the special election has become perhaps the most competitive preliminary since ward representation returned in 2009.
The ballot for Springfield’s first City Council special election since ward representation returned has now closed. All seven of the original aspirants for the empty Ward 5 Council seat have returned their papers for the race.
The hottest race involving Springfield at the end of summer could be one nobody saw coming. In the few days since the Election Commission released petitioning papers for the Ward 5 special election ballot candidates have flooded the field faster than Lake Massasoit has refilled its lakebed.
Following the dismissal of constituent services director Darryl Moss, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno has rearranged his staff and appointed a new aide to fill out his office. Lavar Click, a clerk in the City Council office, will move over to the mayor’s office next week.