Ronald Chimelis

Sep 1, 2023 | masslive.com | Ronald Chimelis

If Springfield residents can’t get to Rio, David Ciampi proposes bringing Rio to Springfield. “We need a new economic engine,” says the Springfield pyschotherapist and counselor, who is asking voters to elect him as mayor. Ciampi’s proposed economic engine is a month-long ethnic carnival patterned after an event staged successfully in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Springfield’s population is 155,000. There are 6.74 million people in Rio.

Sep 1, 2023 | masslive.com | Ronald Chimelis

Any election involving an incumbent is, by nature, a referendum question. Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno says that’s fine with him. “Judge me by my decisions,” says the 60-year-old mayor, whose 16 years in office make him the longest-tenured chief executive in the city’s history. “When I took over (in 2008), the city was on the brink of bankruptcy. We now have the highest bond rating in city history and a healthy reserve fund,” he says.

Sep 1, 2023 | masslive.com | Ronald Chimelis

Justin Hurst has been a Springfield City Council member for 10 years, serving part of that time as its president. “I have a track record of speaking out against the injustices of this administration, and not forgetting the people who need government most,” said Hurst, one of four challengers to the incumbent mayor in the Sept. 12 preliminary election. The two top finishers will compete in November. “Has Domenic Sarno changed?

Sep 1, 2023 | masslive.com | Ronald Chimelis

As he seeks to unseat the longest-serving mayor in Springfield’s history, Jesse Lederman wants to make clear it’s not personal. “I haven’t been attacking other elected officials. I do not campaign by press release, and as City Council president, I have put people in positions (of influence) even if they weren’t my closest friends, if they were the most qualified,” Lederman said as the city’s Sept. 12 preliminary election approached. The two top finishers will compete in November.

Sep 1, 2023 | masslive.com | Ronald Chimelis

Twelve years ago, Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno appointed Orlando Ramos to the city’s License Commission. Ramos has since been elected to the City Council and served as its president, and won a seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Now, Ramos says it’s time for Sarno to be replaced — by him. “I don’t think we can afford four more years of Domenic Sarno as mayor.