Antoinetta Mongillo interviews for a Planning Board vacancy on Sept. 15.
Reminder Publishing photo by Sarah Heinonen
LONGMEADOW — The Longmeadow Select Board and Planning Board voted to appoint Antoinetta Mongillo to fill an empty seat on the Planning Board.
The appointment came a month after six applicants — Mongillo, Curt Freedman, Nick Gelfand, Timothy McKenna, Andrew Scott, Michael Tobin — were interviewed by both boards, as required by state law.
The vacancy is the result of a resignation by then-Planning Board member Walter Gunn. Gunn resigned amid controversy in June 2025.
The vote to fill the seat took place in a hybrid meeting on Oct. 15, with Planning Board Chair Cheryl Thibodeau and members Bryant Miller and Bruce Colton present in the room, while Planning Board member Chris Legiadre and Select Board members Vineeth Hemavathi, Dan Zwirko, Andrew Lam, Shelly Maynard DeWolf joined online.
With eight board members attending the meeting, an applicant required five votes to be selected. With the first vote, three people cast their ballot for Mongillo, while Gelfand and Scott both received two votes and Tobin had one vote in his favor. The town’s policy regulating votes on vacancy appointments dictated that applicants who received fewer than two votes are eliminated from consideration. Because of that, Tobin, Freedman and McKenna were removed from the next round of voting.
Zwirko said Tobin’s military service was one of the factors in his decision to vote for him. Thibodeau thanked the candidate, who was in the room, for applying for the position. Miller reminded Tobin that he could run for the seat in the June 2026 election. Lam said he voted for Gelfand because he is familiar with the applicant’s reputation for being active in the community. Colton, who voted for Mongillo, said it was “appropriate to have another woman on the Planning Board. It’s also appropriate to have another lawyer.” Thibodeau agreed.
In the second round of voting, Mongillo received four votes, while Scott and Gelfand maintained their two votes. The rules state that, after the second vote, the person with the least votes or those tied for the least votes is eliminated. With Scott and Gelfand removed from consideration, Mongillo was the successful applicant, despite only receiving four votes.
Mongillo will be seated at the next Planning Board meeting after being sworn in. The term will end with the next election. Based on the number of applicants to fill the vacancy, Thibodeau said she expects “a pretty robust candidate pool” for the election.
