7 people have taken out nomination papers for mayor, including incumbent Domenic Sarno, City Council President Jose Tosado and School Committee member Antonette Pepe.
Springfield City Hall, with Campanile.SPRINGFIELD – Residents have until Friday to take out nomination papers if interested in being on the ballot for City Council or mayor in the fall election.
The papers must be obtained from the Election Office by 5 p.m. Friday, and must be returned by July 26, at 5 p.m., to be certified for the ballot.
As of July 15, 39 residents had taken out the papers including a mix of current office holders and new candidates, Election Commissioner Gladys Oyola said.
Candidates for mayor need to gather at least 500 signatures of registered voters, and candidates for council need at least 200 signatures to be certified for the ballot.
There is no School Committee race on the ballot, as members are currently midway through a four-year term.
Oyola said she strongly recommends that candidates bring the signatures in early, even just a sheet at a time. There have been cases in the past where interested candidates thought they had enough signatures, only to fall short by a handful of signatures in the final hours, she said.
Of the current 13 members of the City Council, 12 have taken out nomination papers seeking re-election. Council President Jose F. Tosado is a candidate for mayor, which will leave his at-large council seat up for grabs.
Seven people have taken out nomination papers for mayor including Tosado, incumbent Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, and School Committee member Antonette E. Pepe.
Others taking out papers for mayor, without prior election experience, are Alexander W. Fisher-Levesque, Jeffery P. Donnelly, Michael Jones and Albert M. Dziewt. Donnelly also took out papers for City Council.
There are five at-large council seats and eight ward seats.
The Ward 8 Council seat could be a rematch between incumbent John A. Lysak and Orlando Ramos, both of whom have taken out papers. Ramos, who lost by 81 votes to Lysak in the last election in 2009, has announced his candidacy.
At-large Councilors James J. Ferrera III, Kateri B. Walsh, Thomas M. Ashe, and Timothy J. Rooke have all taken out nomination papers.
Ward 6 City Councilor Amaad I. Rivera said Friday he will return papers to run for an at-large council seat.
Others who took out papers for the at-large seats include former Councilor Bud L. Williams, an announced candidate, and Justin J. Hurst, also an announced candidate.
David Ciampi and Bruce S. Adams are certified to appear on the ballot for the at-large seats, while Vera O’Connor, Joseph R. Fountain, Charles H. Rucks, Edward A. Kelly, Miguel A. Soto and John Stevens also took out papers.
Others taking out papers, with the incumbent listed first, include:
• Ward 1: Zaida Luna, Jillian Mercadante and James M. Anziano
• Ward 2: Michael A. Fenton
• Ward 3: Melvin Edwards, William A. Lessard
• Ward 4: E. Henry Twiggs, Charles A. Stokes
• Ward 5: Clodovaldo Concepcion
• Ward 6: Amaad Rivera (not running), Kenneth E. Shea, Jacob Seldin, Matthew Levy, Santino A. Bruno and Steven Dzubak
• Ward 7: Timothy A. Allen
• Ward 8: Lysak and Ramos