Springfield At-Large City Council Candidates Debate Problems with Absentee Landlords

This article first appeared on Masslive.com on September 24th, 2025. I attended a candidates forum hosted by the South End Citizens Council, the McKnight Neighborhood Council, the Six Corners Maple Heights Neighborhood Council, and the Metro Center Association. During this forum, I spoke with voters about the need for generational change in Springfield, how we can properly address quality of life issues, create a neighborhood park in Downtown Springfield, and why Councilors should vote in person, every time.

Latorre, an engineer and active member of the Sixteen Acres Civic Association, said he wants to continue the work he has begun with existing city councilors to create a woodlands ordinance that would call for responsible development to protect the remaining wooded areas in the city.

He also called for the city and local businesses to support initiatives to help employees become homeowners and compete with outside companies buying multifamily homes as investments and creating a problem with absentee landlords.

City Council candidates also debated questions about remote attendance. Most incumbents…said they believe it should be used sparingly but should be available so those who have work or family commitments. Latorre…said [he] would pledge to attend every regular meeting in person.

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SPRINGFIELD — Quality-of-life problems came to the forefront during an election forum while at-large City Council candidates offered new ideas to solve problems and enhance life in the city.

Four urban neighborhood associations — Metro Center Association, McKnight Neighborhood Council, South End Citizens Council and Maple-High/Six Corners Association — joined forces Wednesday night to host a debate for the eight candidates running for the five at-large seats on the City Council in November.

None of the eight — incumbents Kateri Walsh, Sean Curran, Tracye Whitfield, Jose Delgado and Brian Santaniello and challengers Justin Hurst, Juan Latorre III and Nicole Coakley — live in the four neighborhoods so the forum gave association members a chance to quiz and educate the candidates about their unique issues, said Betsy Johnson, president of Metro Center.

Santaniello had a prior engagement and was unable to attend the event.

Candidates said the issue of problems with absentee landlords is in many ways a problem of the city’s code enforcement and called for making it a priority to expand staff there.

In many cases, councilors agreed with each other on issues such as a proposal to build a full park with playground equipment and basketball courts in the Metro Center area, which does not have one.

Candidates also revealed their plans for initiatives they expect to push if elected to one of the two-year seats.

Latorre, an engineer and active member of the Sixteen Acres Civic Association, said he wants to continue the work he has begun with existing city councilors to create a woodlands ordinance that would call for responsible development to protect the remaining wooded areas in the city.

He also called for the city and local businesses to support initiatives to help employees become homeowners and compete with outside companies buying multifamily homes as investments and creating a problem with absentee landlords.

Coakley, a clinician who is completing her doctorate degree, said she has a list of priorities such as reducing the distance children have to walk to school, looking at zoning issues and expanding communications with residents.

“I would seek to amend the ordinance on residency…We know it is important for people who work here to live here,” said Hurst, a lawyer who has served on the City Council in the past.

He said he was against a recent council decision to extend the time period new employees have to move into the city to two years and said he would make sure all city workers are held accountable to the requirement.

Delgado said he too opposed the extension, saying it gives people too much time to gain experience and then leave the city.

Delgado said he is focused on following through on some of the initiatives he started in his first term on the council, including an ordinance to install cameras on school bus arms to catch scofflaws who blow by stopped buses and another allowing people to substitute skills for degree requirements to ensure the city attracts the best candidates for jobs.

Curran is also working on following through on an ordinance now in committee to require minimum sizes for apartments in the city so renters are living in humane quarters. He said he also plans to advocate for a courthouse downtown, endorsing a proposal for one to be built on a block at Lyman and Chestnut streets.

“We need to talk about Clean Slate. No one should be discounted for what they did in the past,” said Whitfield. The state initiative, which has been endorsed by the council, would automatically seal past criminal records after a certain time to prevent those who have turned their lives around from being haunted by past mistakes.

She is also pushing for the city to create a list of residences owned by absentee landlords to keep a better eye on problems that especially plague the more urban neighborhoods.

“We need to strengthen ordinances,” Walsh said. “We need to review our zoning, maybe there is red tape that stands in the way of development.”

If reelected, Walsh said she wants to explore a new initiative started in other places that would help churches turn unused property into housing similar to a new state ordinance allowing accessory dwelling units at single-family homes.

City Council candidates also debated questions about remote attendance. Most incumbents and Hurst said they believe it should be used sparingly but should be available so those who have work or family commitments. Latorre and Coakley said they would pledge to attend every regular meeting in person.