At a town candidates forum hosted by The Westfield Leader, several council candidates identified rapid development — and specifically the 1 Westfield Place project — as the town's most urgent challenge, and called for more active council oversight of large developers.

"The biggest challenge that's facing Westfield is this high pace ... of overdevelopment," said Liz Rampolla, Ward 1 Republican candidate, arguing the town's infrastructure is already strained by growth. Rampolla said the process used for parts of the large project had been flawed: "We gave our parking lots basically away for somewhere between 11 and $12,000,000 in no bid process," she said.

Other candidates echoed concerns about transparency and developer accountability. Reshma Adwar, Ward 1 Democratic candidate, said council must "hold developers accountable as this process moves forward" and prioritize traffic mitigation and business supports during construction. Several candidates said pilot agreements and tax abatements used on recent projects merit close review.

Vic Pinketturaman, Ward 2 candidate, cautioned that discussion of development should be solution‑focused: "We need to determine what can we do with these pilot revenues. Right? Should we invest in parks, pedestrian safety?" He also noted that some pilot projects have produced revenue the town can allocate to capital needs.

Candidates differed on remedies but agreed on two points: the council should use its oversight tools during construction and the town needs clearer, more transparent processes for negotiating with developers. Several speakers urged greater use of formal procurement (requests for proposals) on large projects.

The topic featured during both general and ward‑specific portions of the forum and was a recurring theme in closing remarks, with candidates from both parties saying they would prioritize transparency and resident input if elected.

Ending note: Candidates proposed a mix of actions — more aggressive procurement, specific oversight milestones tied to approvals, and clearer use of pilot revenues — but no forum participant described a formal council vote or ordinance change during the event. All proposals discussed were campaign positions and potential council directions rather than enacted policy.