WESTFIELD — After a lengthy discussion, the City Council took a first vote of 9-4 to change the time of regular City Council meetings from 7 p.m. to 6 p.m. at its March 5 meeting.
The second vote to change the city ordinance will be taken on March 19, and if it passes, the new meeting time will take effect on April 2.
City Councilor William Onyski spoke first on the motion originally presented by Councilors Brent Bean and Ralph Figy. He said the time change was last discussed in 2018 and did not pass. He said at the time, looking into it, councilors in favor found the earlier time would allow more people to come to public participation and make it easier for department heads who end their work time at 5 p.m. to attend.
City Councilor Dan Allie said public participation is the people’s time, saying it is their right, privilege and necessary duty to be informed. He said many groups have filled council chambers in the past. “As a City Council, we cannot have expertise on everything we’re required to vote on,” he said. “We should not make it harder for people to be involved.”
City Councilor James Adams spoke about his experience with wake times at the Firtion-Adams Funeral Home. “The days of having a wake from 7 to 9 are over,” Adams said, adding that when he has a wake from 4-7 p.m., very few people come in after 6 p.m. “I deal with the general public every day. I think 6 p.m. is better,” he said.
City Councilor Bridget Matthews-Kane said that while there is no perfect time, every constituent that she has heard from has recommended staying at 7 p.m., and City Councilor Kristen Mello said the same.
City Councilor Karen Fanion, on the other hand, said she also heard from families with young children and older adults who said 6 p.m. would be easier.
Bean said he was not convinced the current public participation could be called robust, and believes it would be easier for people to attend the earlier time. “Unless it’s a really big topic, we see the same people. Something like this is as good as its last vote,” he said, suggesting that if it doesn’t work, the council could revote and change back the time. Bean said he was also thinking about the hours between 5 and 7 p.m. when department heads are waiting around for the meetings.
City Councilor Daniel Knapik mentioned the large attendance by young families at the meeting on Feb. 4 concerning the proposed reentry facility on Southampton Road, which started at 6 p.m. “There’s not going to be a perfect time. It’s striking the number of people that don’t come out when the sun goes down,” he said, adding that people can send in emails that should include a request that the email be read into the record of the meeting.
“Let’s give it a shot and see how it goes. I’ll be a yes to support 6 p.m.,” Knapik said.
Figy said he did not receive feedback from residents in Ward 2 when asked. He said the majority of people in the ward, which encompasses the Senior Center, are seniors. “I think we look at it and see if it works. I would appreciate the support on this motion,” he said.
City Councilor Nicholas Morganelli Jr., who expressed his opposition to the time change in the previous meeting, referred to data given during public participation that evening by Christopher McCrary, a member of the public and Water Commission, who said 70% of communities in the commonwealth started their meetings at 7 p.m.
“Everybody I’ve talked to has said 7 p.m. is a good time. Lastly, all of us were candidates for City Council in the fall, with the understanding that City Council meetings would start at 7 p.m.,” Morganelli said.
Onyski said he did some number crunching on his own with help from the city clerk. He said from the start of the fiscal year on July 1 to the end of February, there were 12 City Council meetings at which 32 people spoke. He said five of them thanked Councilor Rick Sullivan for his service. Fourteen were department heads, city councilors or someone presenting a city project. He said the remaining 13 were members of the public, one of whom spoke at three different meetings. “So 10 different people came to speak in public participation in 12 meetings; that averages one person a meeting. That’s problematic,” Onyski said,
Both Allie and Morganelli said if he had gone back three to five years, the numbers would have been larger.
Mello said she was going to vote with what people told her. “However, I think a lot of the reasons people are saying it’s difficult to show up would be alleviated if we could manage a hybrid meeting like a lot of other municipalities can do … If it were possible for people to zoom again, they could, and a lot of this would be alleviated no matter what time you did.”
Morganelli made a motion to amend the meeting time to 6:30 p.m., which failed. He then made a motion to amend to implement the new time in January 2028, which failed. He then made a motion to table the vote to the next meeting, which also failed.
The first vote to change the City Council’s regular meeting time to 6 p.m. passed 9-4, with Burns, Fanion, Figy, Councilor Cindy Harris, Knapik, Onyski, Adams, Bean and Councilor John Beltrandi voting in favor. Matthews-Kane, Mello, Morganelli and Allie opposed the measure.
