Parkhurst Enters Race for Springfield Mayor
by Bill Dusty
Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno will not be running for re-election unopposed this year – and the name of the first challenger to formally announce his candidacy to replace him is not Williams or Tosado.
David Parkhurst, 32, will be running for political office for the first time in his bid to become the city’s next mayor. Parkhurst, a life-long city resident currently living at 251 Norfolk Street, intends to begin collecting signatures as soon as the filing period begins this March 31. His committee registered with the State of Massachusetts on January 28 of this year.
Currently unemployed, Parkhurst most recently worked as a general manager at the Hampden Inn in Greenfield, MA. Prior to that, he worked at the Marriott Hotel in Springfield back in 2001, during which time he also worked as a volunteer Park Ranger for the Springfield Parks Department, rising to the rank of Deputy Chief, according to his campaign Web site. Parkhurst, a Democrat, spent his childhood in Springfield’s Forest Park section, departing for a few years before returning at the age of 21 years. He is married to his husband of two-and-a-half years, Sam Velazquez.
Parkhurst understands he has a tough road ahead of him. But he said the City of Springfield needs “young, energetic leaders” to carry it through these difficult economic times.
“When an initiative comes up, there’s no follow through,” said Parkhurst. Economic growth is Springfield’s number one priority, he said. Ultimately, said Parkhurst, the Mayor is responsible for the financial well-being of the city. He said the city needs more financial accountability. “The old saying is, ‘If you don’t have the dollar, don’t spend it’,” he said.
Meanwhile, Parkhurst said he was not in favor of the city’s trash fee. “I did not like it when it first came out. That’s what your property taxes are for,” he said. “If you’re more aggressive in going after people who owe the city back-taxes, then the money could be found to replace it.”
Parkhurst was critical of the Mayor’s statement that police and firefighters would not be touched by the pending city layoffs. “How can you say that knowing you have such a large deficit?” he said. “You have to go through the whole list of departments. I think now is the time for the city to address its staffing levels – what department has too much, what department has too little.” He said any cuts to public safety should be a last resort, but not kept entirely off the table.
As mayor, Parkhurst said he would focus more on the well-being of city’s taxpayers and homeowners. “More attention needs to be given to the middle class in Springfield,” he said. “That’s what keeps our city going.”
On the redevelopment of Longhill Gardens, in the city’s Forest Park section, Parkhurst said he was not in favor of the decision to award WinnDevelopment funding for redeveloping the former condominiums into 100% affordable housing. He said the city needs to re-examine whether or not there is too much or too little affordable housing in the city.
On education, Parkhurst said he doesn’t place the responsibility of educating the city’s youth squarely on school teachers. “It’s everybody’s responsibility to educate our youth,” he said, “and it starts at home.”
Parkhurst said he wasn’t pleased with the suspension of two School Department employees as a result of the School Transportation deficit controversy. “I thought there should have been a lot more investigation into the issue than just jumping the gun and suspending two school employees,” he said.
Springfield School Superintendent Alan Ingram suspended School CFO Robert Peters and Transportation manager John Maloney after the School Transportation Department suffered a $7.5 deficit in 2008.
The relocation of the Mason Square Branch Library is another contentious issue that has divided city leaders. Parkhurst said he was against the city taking the Urban League building by eminent domain. He said the Urban League purchased the property legally, and that the city should look elsewhere for the library site.
The Urban League bought the building that was formerly the Mason Square branch library back in 2003 for $700,000 from the Springfield Library and Museums Association. Controversy swirled about the purchase, however – especially in light of the library having just undergone a $1 million-plus renovation prior to the sale. The City of Springfield took over management of the library system in 2004.
On crime and policing, Parkhurst said he favored going back to a police commission for the city and having it headed up by the Police Commissioner. He said that, unlike the current practice of the city’s Community Complaint Review Board, he would have the commission conduct open meetings. Since they would be appointed by the Mayor, said Parkhurst, “they need to be accountable to the people.”
The downtown neighborhoods are of particular concern to Parkhurst. “We’re doing something wrong with downtown Springfield,” he said. With the economy slumping, said Parkhurst, he wouldn’t be surprised to see an increase in crime. “People ultimately become desperate,” he said. “There is no mayor, no governor, no president who’s going to get rid of crime. There are ways to help prevent it through education and resources, but then again you’ve got to get the community involved.”
Parkhurst said members of the community must be more cooperative in reporting crimes in their neighborhoods if they expect the police to be effective.
With the Springfield Finance Control Board’s term set to expire at the end of June, Parkhurst said it is up to the city to show it can tend to its own business – and he believes it can. “I think it’s time,” he said. He went on to say that the proposed 4-year term for the office of Mayor was not a big issue for him. “Being there four years gives you more time to accomplish things,” he said, “but on the other hand, two years makes it a lot easier for voters to get rid of you if they don’t like you.”
Parkhurst said that win or lose, as long as he runs a good campaign, he’d be proud of the job he’s done.
“We’re in for the long haul,” he said. “We’re in for the fight.”
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34 Responses for “Parkhurst Enters Race for Springfield Mayor”
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um… Go Sarno?
btw bill, how was lunch?
Well well….is it true! This is very exciting to hear. By the sounds of the article, this guy is really new and fresh and with the people. I can’t wait until he comes out to visit people. Maybe we can now face reality and realize that Sarno needs to go. Good luck Mr. Parkhurst!
You know I heard someone was running outside of the regular people who always run, this is great. When I saw this I was glad I was sitting down and couldn’t wait to share this with my family. It seems that Sarno has got someone going against him who is definately DIVERSE and understands the true meaning of diversity, and to top an openly gay person and not afraid to let people know right off the bat instead of waiting until someone asked about it so points to him on that. I love his openness in the article, specially when he talks about the Longhill issues and the current Review Board. I agree with him that we need to go back to the old way of the police commission, we have a police commissioner so why not have a commission and then it has to be public, it seems Sarno wants to hide behind this so called review board, maybe we need a review board on Sarno but wait, it wont be public just like his Administration always hiding behind the door of the Mayor’s Office. I hope that Springfield will get a new lease on life and so far this has given me HOPE……that Springfield will again become a city of homes and not a city of violence and corruption. Mr. Parkhurst I hope you read these comments, because I must say to you have given me that HOPE and look forward to watching you campaign and become our Next Mayor.
First of all, Obama has made the words hope and change meaningless for me.
Second of all “Stand4change”, who cares if he’s gay? being gay or diverse should have ZERO meaning when it come to running a city. He should be judges squarely on the issues and nothing else.
Bye Bye Domenic …
Hey blabbit, I am all about that. Even with the recent events with violence and our Mayor Sarno makes no official responses…but I guess he is at home all nestled up and relaxing while the rest of the city is concerned. I know one thing I am praying that Sarno and the rest can be like the new guy Parkhurst and make a response, just check his web site out….at least he is not sitting idle of the events of the day. So yes blabbit, I would like to say bye bye to Sarno, Williams, Tosoda, Walsh and Morriarity, Foley and the rest of those useless politicians.
The only way his candidacy makes more than the slightest of peeps is if Judas comes home from Boston to campaign for him, riling up the people HE doublecrossed on gay marraige.
As for this article, it is pretty much a summary of his campaign site. It is easy to be “Open” when you don’t have tough questions being thrown in your face… Just ask The Messiah!
But since his site is all we have to go on thus far, the first thought is that his attention to detail is lacking. The spelling and grammar on his Reponse Page is atrocious. Does he not even have a spellchecker? Is his campaign manager already asleep at the switch?
“appauling” “premediated” “congragate” “continious” “obvioulsy” “teeenager”
Moving onto the actual content, he has already contradicted himself on the police staffing issue. In the article above he says:
Parkhurst was critical of the Mayor’s statement that police and firefighters would not be touched by the pending city layoffs. “You have to go through the whole list of departments. I think now is the time for the city to address its staffing levels – what department has too much, what department has too little.”
Yet on his website, he says:
“We need to focus on the public safety of our community and again, we need to look at other areas of the police budget to cut and not the officers. Without the officers what good is the police force. ”
So he criticizes Sarno for promising not to cut police staffing, then cries that we have to look at other areas to cut OTHER than police staffing.
Who to the what now? Does the Democrat caucus have a course in Doublespeak, or does it come naturally to his type?
TTFK I have to say that you are pretty brutal, as if you would rather keep Springfield in the hole. Your religious insights are way right on the topic. Religion and politics do not mix. As for his campaign manager I dont think he is sleeping because I personally do not see any grammar issues, so he must be doing something. I work with web sites and know that it will take anywheres of up to 22 hours before actual corrections are posted. As for his response to the violence in the city, I can clearly see where he is comming from. If you understand it, and read it completely he is saying that he would not want to lay off police officers but cut other areas of the budget, so in my view I would be behind that. So that is my thought and notice it didnt have any religious bull crap.
I am willing to listen to anyone who is NOT a Sarno or a Ryan clan member, and NOT affiliated with Likausis or Pikula. I don’t know enough about Parkhurst, but if he has something to say, I am willing to listen and also to ask him some intense questions and see how he answers.
Yikes! Did I spell Lisauskis wrong or what?
Kathy:
To even attempt to equate my being critical of Parkhurst with wanting to keep Springfield “in the hole” is nothing more than an disingenuous attempt to put words in my mouth. No matter the candidate, office or political affiliation, I am going to be equally critical. On the other hand, I am (sadly) getting used to the ad hominem, strawman and “get the messenger, not the message” responses so prevalent in this day and age.
On the subject of his campaign management oversight (or lack thereof,) the fact that there was not even enough thought to run the posting through a spell checker speaks volumes about his attention to detail. As the saying goes, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. His first impression came across as sloppy and uncoordinated.
This is all completely aside from his sexual orientation. I will state for the record, however, that I believe gay marriage is a cultural abomination.
On his contradiction, I went back and read it again. Here is the shortened version of what I posted before:
“Parkhurst was critical of the Mayor’s statement that police and firefighters would not be touched by the pending city layoffs”
vs
“We need to focus on the public safety of our community and again, we need to look at other areas of the police budget to cut and not the officers. ”
These two statements, one made in the above article and one on his campaign website, are directly contradictory. He is going after Sarno because he is NOT laying off police officers while at the same time saying on his site that police should not be cut.
Doublespeak or hypocrisy — You decide. In either case, he is following the sadly-typical model of changing his stance based on the perceived audience. He is acting no different than 99% of other politicians.
Do not get me wrong: I dislike Sarno as much as the next person. I voted for Ryan. But replacing an experienced and polished doublespeak artist with an inexperienced, sloppy one is not Change I Can Believe In.
This has to be the biggest joke this guy has ever attempted.As for his full name it was David Stuart Mortimer-which he changed to Parkhurst. His past will come back to haunt him and the truth .As far as facts that are printed his brother is not named Rob it is Walter .And the reason he was fired from other jobs will come to light .Please get your facts before putting faith in someone who went around preteneding to be a police officer with a badge he kept from the Enfield Police Aux. Also can he explain for being 32 why he has only had 2 jobs and his short period of work at Stanley Park? The truth will always previal stop trying to hid the facts .Police records do not lie.
To this person “Dennis” just to give you some facts because I know David, we were good friends in high school and lost touch when I moved away….in relation to his name change did you ever thing of asking him why? I know why….because he didn’t want to keeps his Father’s name, ask him. As for his brother I bet if anyone asked him he would tell them his full name, growing up Rob was his brother’s nick name and that is what he called him. And yes he was an Aux Police Officer because I was with him. I personally do not know about his employment world but if I was 32 and only held two jobs for my life, I would think that would be great…..so before you pass judgement you should have the facts…instead of posting childish crap…as for him running for Mayor I think its great and I dont think he would have decided to run unless he knew he could do it. Good luck Dave
First off “Dennis” it sounds as though there may be a bit of envy or spite in your e-mail. If you do not know the reasoning behind the name change, you should not comment. As far as using his brothers “nick name” what is the problem you have with it. I’m sure you have nick names your family or friends call you, and by the sounds of your attitude perhaps not so friendly.
You cannot “pretend” to be an “Auxililary Police Officer” If you had read the article, how is it that he became Deputy Chief of the Forest Park Rangers? They do “background checks” to make sure you have not violated any laws, so yes
police records do not tell lies.
It almost sounds as though his past has come back to haunt him and it seems to be you.
What ever the reason, why don’t you just get on board and try and fight for the city of Springfield as Mr. Parkhurst is trying to do.
This is a huge Joke. Parkhurst is nothing but a CON-Artist. Why is it that he has not been truthful about his employment?? Yeah he was an Aux-Cop in Enfield, so what. Yeah he was a Deputy with the Park Rangers, So!! Oh yeah, as a Deputy he hired several Rangers with out doing CORI checks, and all of them had CORI issues, which would not allow them to work for a REAL police department, Parkhurst was just looking for numbers. Why isn’t he still the Deputy Chief with the Rangers??? Maybe because he was asked to leave? or maybe his disappearing act?? ask him or if you want the truth ask a Ranger. He isn’t a Deputy any more because he got caught not doing his Job, which he was getting paid for. Yes, he was paid as a Ranger, even though Rangers are volunteers, hummm, interesting. Parkhurst was paid out of the Toll Booth fund, he was supposed to lock all the park gates at night and investigate all illegal dumping. He had Rangers close the gates, but he collected a check, sounds like a “No-Show” job. The Rangers have computer records to prove this. Why isn’t Parkhurst still working for Stanley Park??? He disappeared again and was fired or asked to leave. Oh yeah, what about the Domestic A&B in his own CORI on his ex-partner T.V.
Don’t be snowballed by Parkhurst, I will give him credit, he is a good con artist. What about his education????? He has told several Police Officers that he had a degree in Constutional Law??? No such thing, there are Lawyers who focus on constutional law, but he is not a lawyer.
One final Question: if you want to contribute to Parkhurst’s campaign, why would you send a check to his residential address???? Last I checked Politician’s put the money in a thing called a BANK. I know I wouldn’t send him money, I know three people who he owes several hundred dollar’s too, and has yet to pay.
If you want the truth, a good investigative reporter will dig up Parkhursts past, which will come back to haunt him with the quickness. I worked with him, he is a joke!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He only lasted one week as an AIC campus cop, why is that?
Parkhurst for mayor, yeah right. Him being gay doesn’t make him diverse and appropriate to be mayor. If you vote for him, your an idiot. Like he has a chance with Sarno and Williams running. Whatever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
With rants like this, you just put him on the map. Duh!!
Wow! Charlie 1 – what a nasty load of stuff you just posted. I don’t know about this Parkhurst, but I do know nasty tactics when I read them. Your words are full of innuendo, smear tactics and vague questions designed to make the reader believe the stuff you allude to is true. IF it any of it is true, then be short, brief, and to the point: write what happened, the date it happened, who did it and why. Factual stuff. Truthful stuff. Without your own personal nasty narration. Not a raging smear with nasty and vague innuendos about how someone “might have been fired or might have left” and how they “might have done this or that.”
If this Parkhurst is not the one who should be Mayor of Springfield, we will all find out about it without your smear campaign. We will find out about all the candidates because their personal bios and their stand on the issues will be made public.
Maybe I am finally gaining wisdeom because I no longer have patience with people who resort to these nasty tactics.
Well, Charlie 1 how about you tell us a little about yourself? Your relation with T.V.? You may not like Parkhurst for one reason or another, but perhaps you need to get your facts straight first!
This is a campaign for Mayor, not a personal vendetta page!!! There will probably be several people who dislike Parkhurst along with Sarno and Williams, but if they voice an opinion they at least have the mentality of an adult. If you have personal issues keep it to yourself!, and clean out your own closet! keep to the subject of people running for Mayor, trying to make Springfield a better place to live!
Oh and 1 more thing I forgot about, go to his web page and you will find pay pal which has all funds go to a bank! Last I knew people read things first before making accusations!
Ask Patrick Sullivan why he was being paid, perhaps he didn’t like working at AIC especially if he had to work with you.
GOOD LUCK DAVE!
As an ex from the past of David Parkhurst I could not agree more with those statements.
David is very manipulative person.
I have to say here we are at the political tactics of nasty tactics. I awlays find this disappointing when people are trying to be such children about adult issues. I truly do not feel that the voters really care about those people who have become an “EX” of Mr. Parkhurst. It clearly in my opinion shows that those that may be an “EX” of Mr. Parkhurst are not to happy with themselves and now that Mr. Parkhurst seems to be happy and trying to make things better the rest of you with the nasty tactics are upset because it wasn’t with you. To the campaign of Mr. Parkhurst, I think he is at this point doing a wonderful job. His platforms are serious and the right ones whereas his opponents have not yet created a platform for their campaigns. I actually ran into Mr. Parkhurst at the Hoop Jazz Festival and it was nice to see him attending and mingling with the people. As with any election of a local level we are worried about the issues and what a person can do about fixing them or finding new ways to deal with not their relationships PAST.
Awesome work Bill on the reporting love your articles.
Ditto Mike R! Nasty tactics speak more about those using the tactics than their target.
I am glad that a number of people know just what a con-artist David is. He is superbly talented at convincing people he is dedicated to the city and the people he works with, and then proceeds to take whatever he can get away with for his own advantage. I have known him personally and believe strongly that he is a phony and would be the worst thing for this city.
I think he actually believes he would be a great mayor, but I can assure you, you are dealing with a “wolf in sheeps clothing”.
AgreewithCharlie2: Let me first say your past expierence with Mr. Parkhurst is simply that your past. I think we all have them. You are entitled to your opinion but the purpose of an election to for the voters to decide. As most people know when you make a run at your first election you usually get the votes but not enough to win and again the nasty tactics of you and some the rest of them with personal issues is not something voters are going to concern themselves with, though as you stated in your opinion he is a phony and would be the worst thing for this city, maybe you are right or maybe you are wrong. We need to just look at the issues and the platforms each candidate will run on and base it on that and that alone. Just my thoughts on your statement.
ok, So based on David’s stance on issues with Springfield, My question is how is he going to do all these ideas without increasing your tax base?
Mark, im sorry you see that as in the past but one does not change the one way is.
Personal issues is what voters look at when they are to elect someone to run the town, city, state, country. If they have a shady past then how is one to trust that that politician will make the right decisions.
I for one would like to know more why he “left” the ranger position. Or why he is no longer working for the hotels he claims he was GM for.
I’m sure the people who know why Mr. Parkhurst “left” the rangers would be Patrick Sullivan and the present Chief of the Rangers, Joe Luvera. Although you would probably not get a straight answer out of either of them. The Park Commission is responsible for making the appointment, so you might want to consult with them. It may be considered nasty innuendos to smear David’s name as a mayoral candidate, but I can vouch that anyone who has been a victim of David’s true colors would feel compelled to express their negative feelings about him.
Don’t have to worry about him being mayor…he stepped down
AgreewithCharlie, before you cast your stones only his closest friends knows why he pulled out of the race. You know maybe people like you are just as*$%^*&s and make up so much s*&*& about people. Maybe you should look into your closet for your skeletons. As for David stepping down I was part of the process in which he made is final decision and when everything is situated he will inform the press. Remember this does not mean he will not be involved with the city politics.
I think you just made a good case as to why David is not the best for the job. I mean you can’t even make a post without swearing. So if that is the type of person David surrounds himself with, we don’t want him in office.
I am disappointed that Mr. Parkhurst has stepped down, as for all of you going back and forth on whether or not he was a good choice for Mayor, that would have determined at the polls. AgreewithCharlie, you are entitled to your opinions but you should not continue to slander a person based on your own past with someone. I am not saying you do not have the right but it could have been done in a more adult fashion. I personally would have love to see a new face at City Hall, I understand that at this moment there is a personal matter that is concering him that he feels would not be in the best interest of the city right now, I admire that and respect a person who can say that, so in closing Mr. Parkhurst I wish you luck and hope to see you in the public arena again.
show me were i contiune to slander?
Boo Hoo, so David AKA “Mortimer” will not be running for mayor. He would not get enough votes to get into office. Those who stick up for him have bought into his deception and await to find out who he really is. He was probably afraid that “HIS” past would come back to haunt him.
Yes, we all have skeletons, but Mortimer has many many more than the rest of us, and they were waiting to give facts about Parkhursts character. And we all know he is a character.
I will give him credit, he can be good at what he does, which is BS people, right out of their wallet. He would have fit in with many other politicians, being the BS’r that he is.
A little advice for Mortimer, if he wants to be a success at being a BS’r, he needs to move to Las Vegas where a sucker is born every min.
So he will run for another political office??? Which one, city council, school cm??? With ward representation he still will not get the needed votes. He himself stated on his web site that he was walking in his neighborhood and had difficulties getting people to sign. He should think long and hard about politics, because there are many many skeletons ready to live once again to bring truth to who Parkhurst really is.
So Mr. Parkhurst, for you I sing a song, which is one of my favorites and fitting, nah-nah-nah-nah, nah-nah-nah-nah, hey hey hey, GOOOOD BYE