What started as a run-of-the-mill agenda item - one calling on the city to surrender an empty lot for effectively nothing - has become the Springfield City Council’s first controversy of the year, entangling the new council president in the process.
For the most part, it was business as usual during the council’s Feb. 2 meeting. Typical agenda items like a bond authorization and small utility projects needing approvals were on the docket.
So, too, was a “discontinuance” order – a call for the city to abandon 6,000 square feet of land at Wisteria and Wallace Streets, a residential spot just off of Boston Road.
According to JETS Property Development’s Jelani Bland, the wooded lot has gone unused, while also being subjected to illegal dumping over the years.
“We are the current abutters of this property, and we would like to either use it to make additional parking or additional single family resident next door to our duplex that we are building,” Bland explained.
On the surface, the order seemed run-of-the-mill. If approved, it would split the lot between JETS and another neighbor, who would then likely sell the land to JETS, Bland said.
However, it was after Bland’s presentation that a concern was raised with Council President Tracye Whitfield by Ward 2 Councilor Mike Fenton.
“... I have to ask if you intend to recuse [yourself] at all from any part of this discussion,” the former council president asked the current council president.
“Absolutely,” she replied. “At what point… do I recuse now?”
Whitfield would hand things over to Council Vice President Jose Delgado and not vote on the matter. The discontinuance went on to be approved by a 10-2 vote, with Fenton and Ward 3 Councilor Melvin Edwards voting “no.”
What wasn’t mentioned during the council meeting: the fact that Whitfield is listed with the state as a manager of JETS and is also Bland’s mother.
In a legal review later issued by City Solicitor Stephen Buoniconti, Whitfield’s recusals were deemed appropriate, but the timing was an issue, plus several councilors were not aware of the council president’s financial and familial ties to the order and company.
As a result, the vote was considered “tainted” - something a majority of councilors addressed during a press conference on Friday, Feb. 6.
“After an initial investigation by the city law department for violations of ethics laws, the city law department recommends that the City Council call for a special meeting and vote to rescind the vote taken,” said Ward 6 Councilor Victor Davila
According to a petition intended for the clerk’s office, seven councilors signed on for the special meeting, including Davila, Fenton, Edwards, Delgado, Ward 7 Councilor Gerry Martin and Councilors at Large Kateri Walsh and Brian Santaniello.
WAMC learned Ward 1 Councilor Maria Perez also intended to sign, but was unable due to illness.
Holding her own press conference an hour later, Whitfield made it clear she’s owning up to the error and is in favor of corrective action.
“Public service is real, on the job learning and while leaders do make mistakes… what matters is how we respond,” she told the press and, later, Facebook. “I am embarrassed by this mistake, and I offer my sincere apologies.
As seen in correspondence she shared publicly, the council president did notify the solicitor and other legal bodies shortly after the Feb. 2 meeting, seeking guidance.
Per a memorandum shared with WAMC, the legal department found Whitfield previously identified herself as a JETS representative at a planning board meeting in August 2024 – also involving the Wisteria Street lot. She also later recused herself from a relevant council vote(s).
But, Buonoconti contends the recent failure to disclose family and financial ties runs headlong into state laws barring public officials from acting on matters they have financial interests in.
The solicitor added that Whitfield failed to file disclosures with the clerk’s office, as well.
Under state statute, Whitfield is also “prohibited from acting as an agent for JETS in any matter where the city has a direct and substantial interest," the legal review stated while referencing other planning board meetings.
Speaking with WAMC Friday, the council president said mistakes were made, and for someone just entering a leadership role, the chances to learn ins and outs can be few and far between.
It’s part of the reason she’s been looking into starting some type of training program with the University of Massachusetts Amherst
“That's why I'm working with UMass Amherst in Springfield, to create a training for city councilors… we're going to further that education, so we can just have public civic classes available,” she said. “I think there's a learning curve - I got no training except [having] to read the conflict of interest laws … on the computer and things like that. [There was] no one really sitting down, explaining everything to us in detail and I think that’s important: everybody learns differently.”
For now, most of Whitfield’s fellow councilors say her move to notify the city solicitor as well as acknowledge the errors made are positive first steps. Davila says he wants to see the city go a step further and conduct a full review of all business involving JETS.
“I don't know if this is the tip of the iceberg - I don't know. What I do know is that we, the city councilors in the city of Springfield, have an obligation and responsibility and we will protect the integrity, the transparency and the good name of the city of Springfield,” he said outside the clerk’s office.
At the end of his legal guidance addressed to Whitfield, Buoniconti stated the city law department has referred its legal memorandum to the state’s Ethics Commission. Whitfield has previously said she contacted the Massachusetts Ethics Commission over the matter, as well.
She also noted Friday that "additional safeguards" were being put in place going forward, including "further ethics training and meeting with City Council Counsel before every meeting to go over every item, to ensure clarity and prevent any future conflicts."
A meeting to rescind the Feb. 2 vote is slated for Friday, Feb. 13 at 11 a.m. – a move the council president says she endorses.
