Three candidates vie for Chicopee city collector
CHICOPEE — There will be a new City Collector after Stanley Iwanicki announced his decision to retire last October.
Rajesh "Raj" Sanghvi, a local businessman; Sandra Ann Peret, a career nurse and School Committee member; and Fred T. Krampits, a longtime City Council member, all pulled nomination papers for the position this year.
The City Collector , which, in Chicopee, is not combined with the city treasurer or assessor's office, is responsible for collecting residents' taxes, excise bills, utility bills, parking tickets and sewer use fees. It is a full-time position and a four-year term.
Sanghvi, who owns the Shell FoodMart on Grove Street in Chicopee, said he wants to make sure everyone has the opportunity to succeed.
"There's no ulterior motive," he said. "I want to give back to the community that has given me so much."
In 2009, the candidate, his wife Kamini "Kamy" Sanghvi, and their son, Jay, moved to Chicopee. Originally from Bombay, India, Raj Sanghvi said his story is an example of the "American Dream."
"To come here with nothing and start from scratch at 44 (years old), we went through a lot of hardship," but, the kindness of the people he has met over the years has made all the difference, he said.
As a small business owner, Sanghvi said he is passionate about the city's economic development, which led him to serve on the city's Planning Board.
If elected, Sanghvi's aim is to help the older, vulnerable community members have increased access to the Collector's Office.
"Whether it's getting a meeting with residents or setting up drop boxes to ensure people are getting their bills paid on time, I want to make sure people know what is available to them," he said.
In addition to the ideas he has for Chicopee's older residents, Sanghvi said he is thinking of "setting up a payment plan to help people pay all of their bills on time."
Recently, The Republican received an email from the Peret campaign voicing concerns that Sanghvi's campaign used wording on his social media that "closely resembles" Peret's slogan: "From the heart of Chicopee for the good of Chicopee."
When asked about this, both Sanghvi and his campaign manager, Jeff Trask, said none of the Sanghvi campaign's flyers, mailers, ads or signs include Peret's slogan.
"My slogan is 'Service with a smile; Solutions from the heart," said Sanghvi, who said that's a personal motto that he lives by as well.
Peret, a registered nurse and manager and director of operations at the Chicopee Visiting Nurse Association, said after serving a total of 16 years on the city's School Committee, she wanted to give someone else the opportunity.
"I thought it might be good time to step back and let someone who has kids in the system and might have different insight and what (student's and teacher's) needs are, to have a say," she said.
Peret announced she would no longer represent Ward 4 for the committee in May, but still "wanted to continue doing something for the city," she said. The candidate is a third-generation Chicopee resident who owns a home and pays taxes in the city, she said.
When she heard Iwanicki, the outgoing collector, was retiring, she said she spoke with him about the role and her decision to run for the position.
Throughout her career, Peret said she has gained experience working closely with the municipal government in her role as the committee's liaison to the city, and she has learned about complex billing regulations while at her day job — the processes of which she said she has had to explain to staff and patients.
She said she has also worked on case management and has learned how to figure out how to assess a person's needs and the services that will assist them.
Peret said her campaign has been a grassroots effort, starting out with just her husband and daughter.
"It's energizing," she said. "A range of people have gotten involved." Her slogan, she said, "reflects on who I am and who my family is," she said.
When asked what she might do differently if she is elected, Peret said "no one really knows the position until you're in it."
However, she said residents have suggested tax bills could go out more frequently than twice a year, which is the practice in Chicopee.
"There's a process to change things, and you can't just arbitrarily change the number of times bills can go out, but the city is compassionate and would welcome making a payment early," she said.
She is also passionate about making the collector's website more easily accessible to Chicopee's growing diverse population and updating the "frequently asked questions" portion of the collector's website.
The candidate said while the city has made it possible to translate English into multiple languages, "it would be good for the city's website to have the language capability prominent as one accesses the site."
"I pledge to the taxpayer that I will ask tough questions, answer their questions, and the door will always be open at the city office," she said, if elected. "I will be truthful to them."
Peret said she will either take an extended leave of absence from her role at the visiting nurse association or she will resign so that she will available for the full-time role.
Krampits, the third candidate, has served on the City Council for more than two decades, representing Ward 5.
Krampits, appointed to the position to finish the term for his father, Frederick R. Krampits, who died in 2002. "It has been humbling that people have re-elected me to the council," he said.
Recently, Krampits became the vice president of the council, taking over for longtime At-Large Councilor Robert "Bob" Zygarowski, who died earlier this year.
Now, he's looking for a change of pace while remaining in public service. Krampits pulled papers in the spring.
While on the council, which is a part-time role, Krampits said he gained experience handling municipal finances.
"I know how finances work through the city, I have worked with constituents on their issues and I have worked with department heads on how to avoid city bureaucracy," he said. "I have the blueprint on who to go to."
At his day job, Comark Communications in Southwick, where Krampits was a customer service engineer for three decades, the councilor said he learned how to build relationships with customers. He also works part-time as chief engineer for WTCC 90.7FM at Springfield Technical Community College.
Prior to reaching a decision to run for the position, Krampits said he met with Iwanicki, the longtime collector who announced his retirement last fall, to speak about the day-to-day operations.
"There isn't a lot of latitude because a collector has to follow Massachusetts General Laws for the processes," Krampits said, but he feels confident he can take on the job.
"I try my best when it comes to anything," Krampits said.
If elected, Krampits said he would focus on: improving customer service by having a live online payment process; creating the ability to view past and present tax payments applied to a resident's account; forming a pay-by-phone option to make the process customer-friendly; and doing research with the Assessor's Office to look into the possibility of quarterly tax payments, he said.
He also said he would work with Iwanicki to ensure there is a "smooth transition" between collectors.
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