Copyright MassLive
SPRINGFIELD — Brian Santaniello is running for reelection for a second consecutive term for an at-large seat of the Springfield City Council. When elected two years ago, however, Santaniello was not a newcomer since he had previously served on the council for a dozen years. There are eight candidates running for five available seats. Santaniello is running against incumbents Sean Curran, Jose Delgado, Kateri Walsh, Tracye Whitfield and challengers Nicole Coakley, Justin Hurst and Juan Latorre III. Ahead of Tuesday, The Republican reached out to all candidates for the opposed City Council and School Committee seats to answer a short questionnaire. Find more candidates and responses in the past week’s print editions or online at masslive.com/topic/election. Brian Santaniello Age: 74 Address: 1983 Parker St. Position running for: Springfield City Council at-large I am a long-serving Springfield public official with deep experience in city government and community service. As a 14-term city councilor, and 12-year park commissioner, I have served all the residents in Springfield. As chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee and member of the Public Safety Committee, I have tackled issues such as infant mortality, breast cancer awareness, forever chemicals, and the ongoing battle of fentanyl and heroin overdosing. On the Public Safety Committee, I have championed walking police patrols, cleaning up vacant lots, and improving street lighting to help bring down violent crime by 15%. What is the number one problem facing Springfield? The heroin and fentanyl crisis in Springfield. Springfield has become the distribution hub for heroin and fentanyl in Western Massachusetts. Law enforcement has uncovered multiple large-scale trafficking networks, moving thousands of bags of these drugs through the city. One raid alone found 520 grams of fentanyl. The solution is strengthening the existing drug laws, putting more money into law enforcement and expanding our harm-reduction efforts to help those who are addicted. The City Council always struggles to keep taxes low, while providing needed services and making advancements. How specifically will you balance the three? The number one way to keep taxes low for our residents and our businesses would be to expand the tax base with new industries. Another example would be negotiating the PILOT program (payments in lieu of taxes) agreements with large tax-exempt institutions. They use our services, but most don’t contribute to the tax base. And finally, make the government more streamlined and efficient, which will reduce costs. AI will help. The housing crisis continues to take a toll on residents and those who want to move to the city. How should Springfield attack the problem? Build duplexes and small apartment buildings that fit into existing neighborhoods. This creates more housing options. We must explore the feasibility of using and restoring abandoned buildings. We should show preference to local developers as opposed to out-of-state/absentee landlords. We just approved housing units on Maple Street. We must do more. What types of development would you like to attract to the city, and how would you do it? As former chairman of the planning and economic development committee for 18 years, I am keenly aware of what this dynamic region has to offer. Springfield is in a unique position because it sits in the middle of the “Knowledge Corridor” and is home to many colleges/universities and thousands of students. Let’s attract life sciences and biotech, AI, and so much more. These industries are supported by nearby research universities.
