Springfield City Councilor Victor Davila calls for Tracye Whitfield to step down council president.
Reminder Publishing photo by Sarah Heinonen
SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield City Council met on Feb. 13 to rescind a vote, but City Councilor Victor Davila called for Council President Tracye Whitfield to step down from her position amid controversy stemming from a financial and familial conflict of interest.
The issue began on Feb. 2, when JETS Property Development co-owner Jelani Bland requested the city discontinue 600 square feet of land that is a street in name only at the intersection of Wallace Street and Wisteria Lane. As it abuts property owned by JETS Property Development, if discontinued, the company would absorb half of the land. Bland said he planned to purchase the remainder of the property to build a house on it.
Whitfield presided over the council’s discussion on the matter for about 10 minutes, despite Bland being her son and her being a part-owner of JETS Property Development. Whitfield recused herself after being reminded by Councilor Michael Fenton. She stated at the time, and again at a press conference four days later, that she misunderstood when she was required to recuse herself.
After the meeting, Whitfield contacted the Law Department and City Solicitor Stephan Buoniconti investigated the matter. It was then that the issue grew from a one-time snafu to a controversy spanning several years. Buoniconti released a legal opinion that Whitfield had violated the state law regulating conflicts of interest for elected officials on multiple occasions by acting in her official capacity while failing to disclose her familial relation to Bland or her financial interest in JETS Property Development.
Buoniconti alleged that her failures to disclose conflicts include zone change hearing with the Planning Board in 2024, at meetings with other city departments and at a recent city auction, during which Whitfield and Bland successfully bid on properties. The Law Department had been contacted in July 2025 by the DPW about Whitfield’s potential conflict of interest.
In a matter separate from JETS Property Development, Buoniconti said Whitfield stepped in when there was a dispute between resident Desi Jackson and the Old Hill Neighborhood Association. Jackson alleged the association owned him $2,000, and, according to Buoniconti, Whitfield said she would request the city audit of the association’s finances as a result.
Buoniconti said the incident “reeks of improper and undue influence,” particularly in “leveraging a threat of an audit to generate payment to Mr. Jackson.” The association’s vice president/treasurer contacted the city to object to Whitfield “using her position of influence,” Buoniconti said.
The solicitor said rectifying the zone change is “a complicated legal picture” because a duplex has been built there based on “the city’s authority.” When asked why this string of incidents had not been investigated earlier, Buoniconti said that many of the city’s departments are “siloed” from the others, making it difficult to see incidents in different departments as a pattern of behavior.
“I think it’s just one that people weren’t aware of until you put all the pieces of the puzzle together,” he said.
The findings from the Law Department recommended that the incidents be forwarded to the State Ethics Commission for review.
Whitfield addressed the City Council and auction incidents at a Feb. 6 press conference, before Buoniconti released his most recent findings. She apologized for her error in recusing herself and said she has put safeguards in place to prevent future conflicts. The matter was “a learning experience,” she said.
Whitfield has been on the City Council since 2018. When asked, Delgado said city councilors receive required training on conflicts of interest every year or two. “I can’t speak to what other folks may take from those trainings or may not,” he said. “This has been, obviously, an eye-opening experience for everybody. So, I think, from here on out everybody will be checking, crossing their Ts and dotting their Is. At the end of the day, the public trusts us to do the right thing when we’re voting, so we’ve got to hold ourselves — and the public holds us — to a higher standard.” Buoniconti issued a memorandum reminding councilors of the rules around conflicts of interest as recently as January 2026.
Whitfield had been “consistently, persistently, recklessly violating ethics laws since 2021,” Davila said. “I fear the president has broken the trust that the council president requires” and “I have lost faith in the City Council president.” He called for her to step down from the position of president. If she does not, Davila said he will call for a vote of no confidence at the council’s Feb. 23 meeting.
Most of the other councilors spoke in favor of waiting to see what the state Ethics Board determines. Martin said it was “inappropriate” to take that step before the board rules. “We are not judge, jury and executioner,” he said. Govan agreed that it was “premature” to take such action and wanted to hear from the Ethics Board first.
Perez admitted that she felt “upset” about the matter and described it as “embarrassing,” but said she was only prepared at the moment to rescind the Feb. 2 vote. She said, “We should look at all that has gone on. This is not to be taken lightly, but let’s do it right.”
Davila said the council could wait for the state Ethics Board to render its findings, “But we are a sovereign body.” When people ask why the council did not act once they were aware of Buoniconti’s findings, he said, “You will have to explain, not me. I’m being very clear because this body means a lot to me.” He reiterated his plan to call for a no confidence vote should Whitfield not step down.
In an interview about the controversy, Delgado said, “It’s not a good look for the city. It’s a distraction for all the more important things that we as city councilors should be focused on. We should be focusing on the city, the residents and on what’s going on. To me, I want to get back to focusing on that.” He said Whitfield had done “the right thing” in immediately bringing her recusal error to the Law Department and the state Ethics Board and felt the council should let that process play out.
Later, when asked, Davila said he did not think he was alone in believing Whitfield stepping down was required to preserve public trust. “I believe some of them are afraid,” he said, citing “political reasons.” However, he added, “Now is not the time for politics.”
After the Feb. 13 City Council meeting, Whitfield told Reminder Publishing, “As you can imagine, I’m still processing all of these allegations.” She added that she planned to address the issue at a press conference on Monday, Feb. 16 after press time.
