Those in attendance included City Councilor Tim Allen, State Representative Jacob Oliveira, Health and Human Services Commissioner Helen Caulton-Harris, Fire Commissioner BJ Calvi, City Solicitor Ed Pikula, Deputy City Solicitor Kathleen Breck, Executive Director of PBRM Patrick Sullivan, Director of Disaster Recovery Tina Quagliato Sullivan, Executive Director of the SRA Chris Moskal, Spirit of Springfield President Judy Matt, Mayoral Aide Lavar Click-Bruce, Director of Constituent Services Molly Shea, Communications Director William Baker, and members from Springfield City Hall Facilities Department and the Springfield Police and Fire Departments, as well as representatives from American Medical Response.
Commenting on the tenth anniversary of the June 1, 2011 tornado that left a 6.2 mile long scar through the City of Springfield, Mayor Sarno stated, “Ten years later, Springfield is again showing our resiliency and strength as we continue to work together to defeat this COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic, and we will. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the EF-3 tornado that devastated our neighborhoods. The reminder I want to take away from this is that even during what may seem as our darkest days, we will recover and see better times with hard work, belief, compassion and unity. Please join with me as we take a moment of silence to pause and reflect on our ability as a city to join together and work so diligently on making our city whole again. It has been a long and arduous recovery process, but the resiliency of the entire City of Springfield has shone through time and time again.”
“The City of Springfield like much of New England is used to nor’easters, blizzards, and hurricanes, but never in our wildest dreams would we ever imagine taking a direct hit by a major tornado,” Mayor Sarno added. “As I reflect on the response my dedicated city team and I did during and immediately after the tornado touched down, I am truly humbled as I recall the heartfelt responses from our residents, business community, nonprofits, the private sector, and my colleagues in government during these states of emergencies. The compassion and support we have seen during these challenging times is a testament to the patience, strength, and fortitude of our City of Springfield and we all should be proud.”
