Former Springfield City Council President Mike Fenton says he has the votes to return to the post when the new council is sworn in in January. The Ward 2 Councilor says he has the backing of at least 10 of the incoming council’s 13 members.
Fenton served as council president from 2014 to 2016 and would replace current President Jesse Lederman, who is leaving the council after a failed bid for mayor.
Fenton says he works well with both the council and Mayor Domenic Sarno, who won another four year-term to extend his record tenure earlier this month. Fenton spoke with WAMC’s Ian Pickus.
I’ve been serving on the council for the last 14 years, and there's been a lot of changes, most often for the better. With turnover, there's been a great degree of loss of institutional knowledge on the council. And I think that we need someone in the presidency who can help guide us to having a really fruitful and productive 2024. So I'm very honored to have the support of my colleagues to do that, and believe I'm up to the task.
What was the case that you made to your fellow councilors to garner that support?
Well, just that I would be fair, that I know the rules and the rules of parliamentary procedure. And one of the most important attributes of a council president is having someone who's impartial and can help to facilitate good public discussion and feedback from both our constituents and our colleagues. So I've demonstrated, I believe, to my colleagues in the past that I have done that, and that I would do that as council president. And I believe that that's a part of the reason why I've been chosen for this role.
What do you think you'll do differently than the current council president Jesse Lederman has?
Well, first of all, I want to acknowledge the great work that President Lederman did during during not just his term of council president, but also his term as a Springfield city councilor. He was a very innovative and productive leader for us. And in that regard, I'd like to continue a lot of the good work and build on a lot of the good work that he started, particularly in the area of increasing public input and building out more hybrid opportunities for participation.
When I was last council president, the idea of a Zoom meeting or remote participation was not permitted. It was not allowed under Massachusetts Open Meeting Law, but with the pandemic, largely in our rearview mirror, we've realized some benefits from the innovations that came during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the ability to have a hybrid workplace. And the council environment is no different. And Council President Lederman did a great job of introducing new technologies to allow for additional public input and transparency in the work that the council does, and I'm going to continue that good work.
What did you think of the election results? This was one of the most hotly contested mayoral races that Springfield's had in some time, but in the end, Mayor Sarno will be back for another term.
Yeah, so I think there were some changes on the council, we saw two longtime colleagues and Councilors, Lederman and Hurst, leaving the council as they sought the mayorship, and I will miss them both and wish them both good luck and fortune and their future endeavors. As you pointed out, Mayor Sarno was elected by a wide margin again in the city. And the length of his term has been historic. He's the longest serving mayor by far in the city's history. And under his tenure, we've seen a great deal of progress, particularly in the downtown and in the areas of schools and economic development. So I've developed a great relationship and partnership with him over the years. And I look forward to working with him and continuing to be a good check and balance on the executive through the city council.
Have you two had a chance to talk since the election?
Yes.
And where do you both see things going in the next council term and in the next Sarno term?
Well, I think the mayor in his campaign ran on public safety being his number one priority. And that is of critical importance to my constituents and to the people of Springfield. So I think he can continue to expect to see a focus from the city of Springfield on increasing public safety efforts, both in terms of community outreach and protecting our quality of life here in the city, but also in terms of ensuring that we have transparency and accountability in the department. And we've made great strides in that area. And I think we're going to continue to do the other thing that the mayor focused on in his campaign, which is also a focus of mine, continuing to develop the economics of the city of Springfield. And we've really seen a transformation in our downtown since the welcoming of MGM Springfield, a lot more restaurants, a lot more economic activity. And it's just a safe and nice place to be to live, play, recreate and work and as someone who lives very close to downtown and works downtown. I've been really happy and fortunate to be a part of local government. As we've seen that renaissance. So I would say that those would be the two top priorities that I think we would have in common would be advancing public safety interests and continuing to grow the economic development portfolio for the city.
Is anybody else going to seek the presidency? Because you're the first out with an announcement about numbers here.
I can't speak for anybody else. But I don't believe so. I've got more than majority of my colleagues. And I think by last count, we had 11, and some other people I still wasn't able to reach. So these are typically unanimous decisions and doesn't mean that other people weren't interested or didn't pursue it. But in the end, we usually do a pretty good job of coming together and having a unifying event when the council president vote formally takes place. And at this point, I have more than sufficient votes to do that. So I'm expecting that it will be a nice unifying event.
Help us with the timeline a little bit. Obviously, the next council term doesn't start until the new year. When will your presidency be official or unofficially official? How does that work?
So there's a caucus that the council has, which is informal during its last meeting in December. I believe that's on the 18th. But I'm not exactly sure. And then a few weeks after that, our swearing in is on the first Monday in January, which happens to be New Year's Day this year. So we will have an inauguration for the newly elected councilors, which is everybody. We're all entering a new two-year term. And that inauguration will also be on the same day as the mayor's for a four- year term. So I will officially take over as council president the first week of January and I think the official date is actually January 1.
