WESTFIELD – Ahead of the election in November, the three candidates for state representative of the 4th Hampden District squared off in the first of two forums on Sept. 16.

During the forum, the three candidates, Republican Kelly Pease, Independent Ethan Flaherty, and Democrat Matt Garlo, faced several rounds of questions and were given the opportunity to share their positions on the race’s big issues.

When asked about how the city was dealing with chemicals in the water, including PFAS, Flaherty said there was more work to be done.

“We aren’t testing enough at all, we have at least six known PFAS in Westfield that we aren’t even testing. We need to increase the funding for testing because we have potentially been being poisoned for years and we need to understand the health effects. We need to clean it up,” he said.

Pease said that so far, the city has done a good job of cleaning up the chemicals, but he would push to get more federal funding to help get Wells 1 and 2 up and running.

“They are currently trying to acquire a 0 percent interest loan to help finish the buildout for that. As state representative, I would advocate for that to allow our city to get that money. I would advocate for us to pressure the federal government because it’s based on the fire foam that caused it years ago and they need to pay their fair share as well,” he said.

In order to help fight the chemical issue, Garlo said he would cooperate with other members of the legislature to bring more funding to the city.

"I would immediately try to join the informal PFAS caucus in the legislature, which was formed recently. [State] Sen. John Velis wrote an amendment in last year’s budget to have the state acknowledge that we are owed some reimbursement that will go testing, and I would absolutely be one to shepherd this through,” he said.

Each candidate was also asked how he would help Westfield Public Schools, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pease said he would support more fluid guidance from the state.

“The state just needs to support them, the only thing I would caution is that the state should not be mandating so much, they need to put out the guidelines. Every city and town is different with the COVID-19 issue. They need to be able to manage it based on their current situation in their city or town and the state needs to support that,” he said.

Above all else, Garlo said that the district should be supporting students with “special needs” in every way possible.

“The public schools and all schools in Westfield are near and dear to my heart. Special needs students need any amount of care possible in times like these, it is unfortunate that sometimes government funding gets in the way of that. These are lives that matter and cannot lose this time they need for progress,” he said.

Flaherty said the Westfield Public Schools are already doing a good job and should continue with what they are doing.

“The most important thing is continuing to educate students with IEPs, special needs, English as a second language students, they’re going back to school first and I think that’s important. I know the teachers are doing the best they can and we need to keep going forward,” he said.

Each candidate was also asked what their stance was on police reform. While Garlo acknowledged there are issues across the country, those problems have not hit the Westfield Police Department.

“In certain places in this country there are wrong practices going on that create awful changes in lives. That being said I am representing Westfield, and until those things are brought to our attention in our own Westfield Police Department, I would address them then because Westfield is not some of these other cities we are seeing in the news,” he said.

Flaherty said he was in favor of making some changes to current policies.

“While I do support our police and all the work that they do, I think there are some reforms that should be passed. I don’t think police should be able to investigate themselves, and I do support efforts to have centralized reporting for use of force statistics at the state level. We do need to be able to compare department to department and see what polices work and what don’t,” he said.

Pease said that he would be against any legislation that would direct Police Department funds into social programs.

“Our Westfield Police Department does an outstanding job. They work really hard to make sure they get the job done. In terms of redirecting their funding to social programs I would be totally be against that. If police wanted more funding for more mental health personnel in their budget, I would support that,” he said.

The candidates are set to meet again on Oct. 13 for their second debate.