Politics & Government

Political Sparks Fly Over Jefferson Crossing Guard

2007 Democratic candidate questions Republican led Town Council.

The first salvos of election 2011 were fired Tuesday night during public comments to the Town Council over the cut of a south side crossing guard.

Democrat Matt Sontz, who lost a 2007 race against Republican Third Ward Councilman Mark Ciarrocca, questioned the Council over the cut of the crossing guard at the intersection of Central and Sycamore. Sontz, the father of a Jefferson School student, was one of several Jefferson parents to question the Council over the crossing guard cut.

Sontz, a Democratic county committeeman for a third ward election district, quickly brought politics in to the debate, saying he has surveyed Democrats and unaffiliated voters in the impacted neighborhoods and reminding the Council that the crossing guard cuts would be a campaign issue next year. The Council cut nine crossing guard posts out of 59 due to the town's $2 million budget shortfall.

"There are four Republicans up for election next year and the guard issue will be a big issue," Sontz said.

Ciarrocca along with fellow Republicans, First Ward Councilman Frank Arena, Second Ward Councilwoman Joann Neylan and Fourth Ward Councilman Jim Foerst are up for reelection in 2011. None of the incumbents have said if they intend to seek reelection.

Neylan, the public safety committee chairwoman, quickly fired back at Sontz saying that politics did not play a role in her panel's decision making process.

"This is a safety issue and not a political issue," she said. "I take exception. I find it offensive that my decision would be based on political expediency. Every street in this town was looked at with a fine tooth comb."

Sontz shot back at Neylan, saying that he did not think he was bringing politics into the crossing guard debate.

"I did not say that and I do not think I implied that," he said.

Sontz quickly moved on to a funding proposal to save the crossing guard post – moving part time employees out of the town pension system. The pension proposal is a Democratic Party staple in Westfield, being a key part of the party platforms in 2007 and 2009 and being a top issue for Democratic Third Ward Councilman Dave Haas and former Democratic Fourth Ward Councilman Tom Bigosinski.

Sontz said that he believes if the part time employees – primarily attorneys – are moved out of the system it would save a crossing guard for the intersection. Council members said the pension cut would lead to $7,000 in savings, while $10,000 would  be needed to save the crossing guard post. Sontz said he thought it would be a start.

Ciarrocca quickly called out his former opponent, saying he believes Sontz was engaging in political grandstanding.

"It's insulting that you try to political grandstand about this issue," Ciarrocca said. "When you get up and mention who is running next year, it didn't work three years ago and it won't work a year from now. The people in this town see through it."

Ciarrocca, who defeated Sontz with 63-percent of the vote in 2007, then mentioned that he has not seen Sontz at meetings about the crossing guard issue. Sontz has not spoken at a Council meeting in the last year.

"I'm sorry you couldn't show up to those," Ciarrocca said to Sontz.

Mayor Andy Skibitsky quickly dovetailed off of Ciarrocca's comments by suggesting he wanted to hear other comments from Sontz.

"Matt perhaps you'd have more credibility if you came here and talked about what we've done well on traffic safety and that is thousands of things," Skibitsky said, noting the Walking School Bus program, crossing guards closer to schools and other pedestrian safety initiatives.

Not deterred, Sontz rebounded after the Central and Sycamore issue finished to address several other concerns on his list. These included mentioning traffic safety issues at the intersection of Central Avenue and East Broad Street in downtown and the recent downgrading of the town's bond rating by Moody's Investor Service.

Sontz said he is concerned that the traffic light at Central and East Broad is timed in such a way that has drivers going straight on East Broad going through a red light when there is a green light for drivers turning left on to Central. In terms of the bond rating, Sontz said he wanted to know if the town knew this was coming and if the town would address the issue.

"Did the Council know the bond rating was being looked at?" he said.

Skibitsky said the town's new Aa2 bond rating from Moody's will remain the same since the rating service had secretly raised it to Aa1 in the spring before downgrading it. He also said the town retains a AAA bond rating from Standard & Poors. Town officials also said the Moody's downgrade will not impact the town's long term borrowing strategy since the rating would be determined by a rating the town gets when it seeks to borrow funds.

In an interview with Patch after the Council meeting, Sontz, who helped run Haas' 2009 reelection campaign, said that while he may have sounded like a candidate, he has not made a decision on the 2011 election.

"I have not decided if I am running," he said. "When I decided that , there are some ELEC regulation I have to follow. I have to talk to my wife, my kids and my employer before I could make kind of decision."

Sontz said he reached out to the Democratic and unaffiliated voters since he was doing so in his capacity as a Democratic committeeman and he thought Ciarrocca would be reaching out to Republicans. He also said he thought the Republicans were the ones engaging in politics.

"I guess anytime a Democrat stands up to a Republican Council they say it is a political statement," he said.


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