election

Lowell mayor courts register of deeds seat, controversy

November 25, 2023 by pkzadmin

LOWELL — Shortly after winning reelection earlier this month, Mayor Sokhary Chau began laying out a political path that he hopes will make him the next Middlesex County register of deeds, but it just as easily might land him in the hot seat.

On Nov. 12, Chau released a statement about his intention to enter the race, following the announcement from longtime Register Richard Howe Jr. last month that he will not seek reelection in 2024, having served in the role since 1995. He replaced Ed Early who served in the position for three terms until his retirement.

In a text to his fellow councilors, obtained by The Sun, Chau said his background in the mortgage industry and the legal and real estate fields made him a good candidate for the position.

“I want you to hear from me personally that I’m throwing my hat in the ring to run for Middlesex North Registry of Deeds,” Chau wrote. “Dick Howe has done an amazing job using technology to advance and improve the operations of the office.”

He said that he would “continue to build upon his good work of improving customer service and promoting the Registry of Deeds.”

Chau echoed many of these same sentiments in a press release provided to The Sun later on the same day.

Karen Cassella, who campaigned against Howe in the 2018 race, also recently announced her candidacy. She currently works in the office, which is located in the Lowell Justice Center renamed in honor of the late Judge Cornelius Kiernan. If elected, Cassella would be the first woman to serve as the Middlesex County register of deeds.

“I have made the decision to run because I believe I have the knowledge and ability to identify and implement needed changes that will help the functionality of the office,” Cassella said by email on Monday. “I have been part of the Registry of Deeds for thirty-two years, having performed all aspects of the job which has given me extensive knowledge and experience of operations throughout all departments which I feel is critical to the role.”

In closing his message to his colleagues, Chau said, “As we enter our new term in January, I also want to assure you I will be fulfilling my duty to represent District 6 on the Council for my full term.”

Serving two political masters simultaneously has been done before, when then-Mayor Ed Kennedy won his state Senate race, and served out the two years of his concurrent win to the City Council. And when Steve Panagiotakos was first elected state representative, he served out his term on the School Committee.

“From a state ethics perspective, as someone elected to the Legislature could serve simultaneously as a city councilor, I think the caveat would be that you can only get one salary,” Howe said by phone on Monday.

But there’s no precedent for an elected official to a quasi-judicial position like the Registry to also hold a municipal-level seat, said Howe.

“I don’t know if anyone can give you a clear answer because there’s so few register of deeds positions,” he said. “The person in this position has to make judgments on what documents can and cannot be recorded. I can’t answer definitely one way or the other. I think it’s sort of an open question.”

Under a Plan E form of government, if Chau were to either yield his council seat or be ruled to have to yield it, Justin Ford, his challenger in the District 6 race, would be appointed to the council.

“If a vacancy occurs on the council, it’s the second-place finisher that ascends to the office,” Howe said, pointing to School Committee member Susie Chhoun, who finished second in the 2021 race against Andy Descoteaux for District 3. When Descoteaux resigned his seat in 2022, Chhoun was appointed.

Not so fast, Director of Elections Greg Pappas said by phone on Monday, countering that a special election would need to be held.

“That works for at-large, that doesn’t really work for districts — it’s not supposed to work that way,” Pappas said. “… In the case of a councilor district, usually, if it’s in the first year, they do a special election within 90 days. If it’s the second year, they just leave it vacant until the end of the year because people who voted didn’t vote for that second person.”

Ultimately whether Chau is allowed to hold two seats simultaneously may be decided by his potential boss, Secretary of State William Galvin.

“They come in under the secretary of the commonwealth,” Pappas said. “They answer to Galvin budget-wise and otherwise. Even though they’re elected, they come under the Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin.”

Challenger Ford bristled at the idea that the newly reelected Chau would not only divide his attentions between campaigning for a state-level position, but if elected would also keep his council seat.

“It was an honor to run for city council and uplift the voices of my community, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity to hear the concerns of District 6,” he said by text on Monday. “That is why I was concerned when I read the news of Sokhary Chau’s intent to run for ‘Middlesex Register of Deeds’ in 2024. District 6 deserves a fully committed council member. Running a campaign for the register of deeds will take time and energy that should be invested in addressing the concerns of District 6 constituents. So for someone to seek a new political office before being sworn into the office you were just elected to, isn’t fair to the residents who elected you.”

Chau is churning the political waters in other areas. Last week, he released a statement in support of fellow Councilor Danny Rourke to take the gavel as Lowell’s mayor in January. Rourke cruised to an unopposed reelection victory last Tuesday.

“As we look forward, and plan for the next Council term, we also recognize the importance of selecting a potential new Mayor,” Chau wrote. “I have decided to put my support behind Councilor Dan Rourke for Mayor. This is an important decision for the Council and the City. I believe Councilor Dan Rourke believes in the same main principles as I do: to work with everyone in the City, to unite the community and not to be divisive, and to cast wide resident support from all levels and neighborhoods in our community.”

The mayor of Lowell, who is elected by and from the City Council members, also sits as chair of the School Committee. It only takes a simple majority vote of the council to elect the mayor, and Rourke already reportedly has six votes, but there’s a lot of time for horse-trading between now and January.

Preschoolers cast their ballots on Election Day

November 15, 2023 by pkzadmin

FITCHBURG — Even though these constituents were a few years short of voting age, youngsters at Busy Bees Preschool Center dutifully “visited the polls” in their classrooms and happily filled out ballots on Nov. 7, Election Day.

“Here at Busy Bees, we teach our children that their voices matter and that they have a choice, so we held our own city elections,” lead preschool teacher Nahiomy Miller said about the voting activity at the preschool.

State Rep. Michael Kushmerek, far right, paid a visit to Busy Bees Preschool Center in Fitchburg on Nov. 7, election day, where youngsters ages 10 months to five years cast their votes. (COURTESY BUSY BEES PRESCHOOL CENTER)

She went on to say that they “had the honor” of State Rep. Michael Kushmerek paying a visit to the center that day.

“Lucky for us he came on voting day,” Miller said, adding that the whole experience was nothing short of “positive” for the 25 children, ages 10 months to five years old who cast their votes.

“All the children who were here had a chance to vote, even the babies. We had one child tell us that he was going to vote for the man that looks like a dad.”

Kilian Corey, 2, was excited to cast his vote at Busy Bees Preschool Center in Fitchburg on Nov. 7, election day. (COURTESY BUSY BEES PRESCHOOL CENTER)

Miller said they got a kick out of the responses from the kids when they were asked what they would do if they were in charge of the city.

“The funniest things were part of the board where the children were asked what they would do if they were the mayor,” Miller said. “We had one girl say that she would make homes for all the bees and plant flowers to keep them safe. Another child said that Fitchburg would have lots of ‘candies and dinosaurs’ if he were the mayor.”

Editorial: No one answer for flipping voters’ turnoff to a turn-on

November 15, 2023 by pkzadmin

While there’s no way to know if Lowell’s results would have differed if more majority-minority district residents had shown up at the polls, their lack of participation did signify one of the many symptoms contributing to the ailing state of municipal elections.

With less than a 10% voter turnout, democracy took a back seat to indifference in last week’s Lowell election.

How to remedy that lack of civic engagement remains a conundrum that some have tried to address.

City Councilor Wayne Jenness’ motion on Tuesday’s agenda sought to determine whether Lowell’s election policies and procedures can be strengthened to encourage greater voter turnout.

It asked City Manager Tom Golden to have the proper department analyze the city of Worcester’s policies to see where improvements can be made.

And Councilor Kim Scott authored a motion to investigate allowing voters to directly elect the mayor.

In a post-election day interview, Director of Elections Greg Pappas suggested Lowell’s low vote count was due in part to the automatic voter registration law.

“The percentages are going to be lower now than they were years ago because the agencies like [the Registry of] Motor Vehicles automatically register you to vote whether you want to be registered or not,” Pappas told the newspaper. “Lowell usually is around 53,000 people registered to vote. If you had 20,000 people come out to vote, the percentage would be higher. Now you have 75,000 people registered to vote … Now when you divide the percentages, they look smaller.”

While Pappas’ math is a little off – Lowell’s registered voter count over the last several years has totaled from 60,000 to 65,000 — his rationale makes sense, to a point.

However, Lowell’s problem isn’t unique. Worcester, another gateway city with a population of more than 200,000, saw voter turnout jump from 16.56% in 2021 to 21.89% in 2023, despite greater numbers due to the voter registration law.

In Worcester, which shares Lowell’s Plan E form of government, voters can choose the mayor from a pool of five at-large councilors, a larger field than Lowell’s three citywide councilors.

At-large Councilor Vesna Nuon has previously said he did not believe the plaintiffs in the voting rights lawsuit that brought about district representation would support using the Worcester model.

“We need to have a framework and that framework needs to allow everyone, district councilor or at-large, a chance to put their name forward for the mayorship,” Nuon said.

Councilor Dan Rourke had mentioned this issue had gone before the Election Laws/Redistricting Subcommittee. While many motions were filed, it came back to using the Worcester model or Lowell’s current method of choosing the mayor.

In November 2021, Lowell voters overwhelmingly supported a nonbinding referendum to directly elect the city’s mayor.

But that’s as far as it went.

Even though the mayor holds a ceremonial position in Lowell’s manager-led form of government – in addition to chairing the School Committee – allowing the voters to elect that person would likely spur heightened interest and higher turnout.

And supporters of a strong mayor form of government could point to Fitchburg’s recent election to help make their case for that change.

With the prospect of a four-term mayor’s ouster by an at-large city councilor, 25% of Fitchburg’s voters made their voice heard.

That’s despite the fact that Mayor Stephen DiNatale had already seen the writing on the wall, having lost to City Councilor-At-Large Samantha Squailia in September’s four-way preliminary mayoral election by a 53.9%-35% margin.

Squailia maintained that margin of victory in the general election with 60% of the vote.

In Lowell’s case, voters have already demonstrably made their preference known on this issue. Steps should be taken to provide direct election of the mayor – whether that be a field limited to at-large councilors or inclusive of the entire 11-member body.

Other procedural changes could be made statewide to encourage greater voter participation.

Having cities and towns go to the polls in the same election cycle as state rep and senator races would help, since spikes in voter participation now only seem to occur in presidential years.

But we also believe that force-feeding election eligibility on everyone – by involuntarily registering people to vote “whether you want to be registered or not” — has diluted its significance, and by extension, contributed to its increasing irrelevance, as evidenced by the embarrassingly low turnout numbers in our town and city elections.

That’s not how a participatory democracy should function.

Unofficial: Sam Squailia wins Fitchburg mayoral

November 7, 2023 by pkzadmin

FITCHBURG — Voters chose City Councilor-At-Large Samantha Squailia to step up as the city’s next mayor over current four-term Mayor Stephen DiNatale, according to unofficial results reported on Fitchburg Access Television (FATV).

In addition, voters also chose five candidates for at-large seats on the City Council out of a total of 10 contenders, with one new member being elected to the council.

In all, the municipal election saw nearly 6,959 voters – out of 27,935 registered voters – at the polls this year, producing a voter turnout of 25%.

According to unofficial results, Squailia garnered 59.6% or 4,078 votes, against DiNatale’s 2,768 votes, or 40.4% of total registered voters.

Unofficial results for the mayoral race during the 2023 Fitchburg municipal election. Find more results at FATV.org. (COURTESY FITCHBURG ACCESS TELEVISION)

City Councilor-At-Large Sally Cragin garnered the top percentage of votes out of all at-large City Council candidates with 15%, or 3,678 votes. Replacing the seat occupied by Squailia, School Committee member Beth Walsh will become the new at-large member on the City Council, bringing in 10.3% of votes, 1.2% over the next highest vote-getter.

Unofficial results for the City Council-At-Large seats during the 2023 Fitchburg municipal election. Find more results at FATV.org. (COURTESY FITCHBURG ACCESS TELEVISION)

According to the unofficial results, a total of 6,934 residents voted in the election. Find out more results on FATV.org.

Mayoral candidate profile: Stephen DiNatale

November 7, 2023 by pkzadmin

FITCHBURG — Mayor Stephen L. DiNatale is defending his seat and, during a introductory message to voters, said that change may not always be the answer to growth.

In a Fitchburg Access Television (FATV) Candidate Spotlight video, DiNatale explained why he should be reelected by reminding voters of his accomplishments throughout his last term, but also proposing new and innovative developments for his next term.

“Under my administration, our city has facilitated remarkable economic growth: the return of businesses to our downtown, the redevelopment of our historic mills into residential and commercial spaces, and the surge in new entrepreneurs has brought a renaissance in our beloved Fitchburg,” said DiNatale.

DiNatale addressed resident’s concerns over the condition of the roads across Fitchburg, where most of them suffer from severe potholes and poor maintenance.

“Managing a city comes with challenges and opportunities. One of our more daunting challenges is the maintenance of our roads,” he said. “I’m proud to say that our [Department of Public Works] continues to carry out a comprehensive pavement plan, encompassing a five year time frame. This process is complicated and may change at any time.”

DiNatale reassures that road maintenance isn’t something he has neglected in his past term, but rather something he has consistently pushed for himself.

“We are and have been prepared to implement road improvements with the expertise of our engineering group. We know what to do,” he said. “However, at the end of the day road-paving needs more than a plan, it needs revenue. I have been a frequent visitor to the state house fighting for more dollars to address our paving needs and I will continue that fight.”

According to DiNatale, his administration has been able to secure $658,000 for Fitchburg’s city parks, as well as $2 million dollars for the Crocker Field Restoration project, a project dedicated to the renovation and restoration of Fitchburg High School’s own football field, Crocker Field.

“I’m also proud to mention that last year we cut the ribbon on the Sam Pawlak Community Playground, which is the region’s first ever sensory inclusive community park for children with intellectual impairment, autism, and visual limitations,” said DiNatale. “This is an acknowledgement that urban planning isn’t just about buildings and roads, but about creating spaces where all residents can breathe, play and come together.”

DiNatale tells voters that the blossoming of the community doesn’t depend solely on the physical growth of it, but on the rich blend of cultures, a commitment to education, and an unmatched spirit of community.

“Together we have turned challenges into opportunities. In areas where there were once empty lots now stand new developments. In areas where there was once doubt, now there is a robust sense of community pride,” said DiNatale. “Let’s not forget that growth requires persistence. The journey ahead, though promising, will have its challenges. But if history is any indicator, Fitchburg will remain resilient. Together we will not just endure, we will thrive.”

DiNatale concluded his Spotlight video with modesty and gratitude for all the Fitchburg residents that placed their faith in him:

“I am deeply humbled to be your mayor, and thank you for your unwavering faith you have placed in me and this city’s leadership,” said DiNatale. “I ask for your vote. Vote not just for me, but vote for progress, promise, and prosperity for all. God bless this nation. God bless this commonwealth. And God bless this great city of Fitchburg.”

The 2023 municipal election polling locations are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 7, 2023. To find your polling locations go to sec.state.ma.us/WhereDoIVoteMA.

City Councilor-At-Large candidate Q&A: Thomas” Frank” Ardinger

November 6, 2023 by pkzadmin

LEOMINSTER — City Councilor-At-Large Thomas” Frank” Ardinger is among the five candidates running for four at-large seats on the City Council during the 2023 municipal elections and one of the four going for reelection.

City Council candidates running for at-large seats have answered a short questionnaire in order to provide important details about each before voters cast their ballots next Tuesday. This is the second Q&A in this series.

The 2023 municipal election polling locations are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 7, 2023. To find your polling locations go to sec.state.ma.us/WhereDoIVoteMA.

Leominster City Councilor-At-Large candidate questionnaire:

Occupation

Retired

Hobbies

Model Trains. Riding historic trains. Camping

Last book read

“Johnny Appleseed: The Man Behind the Folklore” by Mark Bonanza

Favorite spot in the city

Sholan Farms

What are some of your experiences and/or accomplishments that voters should know about?

I am married, have five children and eight grandchildren. I served eight years in the U.S. Navy and was a Nuclear Reactor Operator aboard a Fast Attack Submarine. I am active in a number of Veterans organizations and was recognized as Leominster’s Veteran of the Year. I volunteered in the Boy Scout of America program for 35 years and received the highest award granted by a local Boy Scout Council. I’m currently involved with the Leominster Rotary Club. I ran for City Council because I wanted to give back to a city that I fell in love with in 1974.

What are some of the goals you would pursue if elected/reelected as a city councilor-at-large?

If Re-Elected, I will work with the mayor and other Council members to maintain the strong fiscal status of Leominster. I will also advocate with our legislators to get an increase in school funding and road funding.