Worcester School Committee candidate Ashley Spring, who was arrested by Worcester Police officers during an operation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is ineligible to be on the November ballot due to not meeting the city charter’s residency requirement, the Board of Elections ruled Tuesday.
Spring sprayed water on a Worcester officer during the ICE arrest of 40-year-old Rosane Ferreira-De Oliveira of Brazil on May 8, according to body camera footage from the arrest, and is facing multiple charges.
Spring, who uses they/them pronouns, qualified for the ballot on May 6 as a candidate for School District A, running against incumbent committee member Molly O. McCullough.
The board received an objection to Spring’s candidacy days after her arrest — on May 12 — from Worcester resident Stephen Quist, according to City Clerk Nikolin Vangjeli.
The complaint reads that Spring does not meet the city charter’s residency requirement for candidates.
“Any voter shall be eligible to hold the office of councilor at large; provided, however, that he/she shall have resided in the city for a period of at least one year,” the charter reads.
In his letter, Quist writes that public records show that Spring voted in the November 2024 election as a resident of Bolton — implying that they have not been a resident of Worcester long enough to be on the ballot.
In an appearance before the board on Tuesday night, Spring said that they have two properties — one in Worcester and one in Bolton.
When they voted in Bolton last year, Spring said they were living primarily in the town and were living “partially” in Worcester. They also confirmed that they have had the Worcester property since May of last year.
Commission member Kimberly Vanderspek said that by splitting their residencies between Worcester and Bolton, Spring would not have lived in Worcester for a year.
“That’s categorically false,” Spring said. “I lived at both addresses at the time. As far as I am aware of, the charter states that I had to have lived here in Worcester for one year prior to the election, which is in November. I did live in Worcester.”
Vangjeli asked Spring whether they considered themselves a resident of Bolton when they voted in the 2024 election, to which Spring replied that they considered themselves both a resident of Bolton and Worcester, but spent more time in Bolton.
“Based on what you stated to me, is that on Nov. 5, 2024, you considered yourself a resident and voter in the Town of Bolton,” Vangjeli said. “Is that correct?”
“Correct,” Spring said.
The candidate said that in the weeks following the election, they considered themself a full-time resident of Worcester.
The decision was not by choice, according to Spring, as they were going through a divorce that required them to leave their marital home in Bolton.
City Solicitor Alexandra H. Kalkounis confirmed to the board that a person running for office in Worcester can have multiple houses. Still, their central home or residency needs to be in Worcester.
If they have resided in that residence for at least one year prior to the upcoming election, in this case from Nov. 4, 2024, to Nov. 4, 2025, they would qualify to be on the ballot.
Commission member Paul Franco asked whether a candidate would be ineligible if they declared their residency in Worcester after Nov. 4, 2024.
“Correct,” Kalkounis said.
The board voted 4-0 to find Spring ineligible for the ballot due to the residency requirement.
Spring did not immediately respond to a request for comment from MassLive on Wednesday.
Conflict of interest
Another piece of Quist’s complaint was about a potential conflict of interest regarding Spring and their work as an employee for Worcester Public Schools (WPS).
The charter states that, unless authorized by law, no member of the school committee shall hold any other office or position in the school department.
Spring confirmed to the board on Tuesday that they were a part-time nurse on leave for WPS.
Kalkounis said that if Spring or any other candidate who is an employee of WPS can run a campaign for the school committee. If they win, however, they would have to relinquish their employment at WPS if they want to serve as a member of the committee.
Spring’s arrest
Spring was part of a crowd of more than 30 people who gathered on the street to protest ICE’s arrest of Brazilian mother of three, Ferreira-De Oliveira.
They also protested the involvement of Worcester Police Officers, who were called to the scene by ICE in response to the crowd, according to 911 calls released by the city on May 16.
A police report reads that Spring pushed and shoved other officers trying to arrest Ferreira-De Oliveira daughter after she reportedly kicked the passenger side door of a vehicle her mother was placed in by ICE.
“Officers also observed Ashley directly point at and spray an unknown liquid in a bottle at officers that were on duty attempting to conduct their job,” the report read.
That “unknown liquid” however, turned out to be water, according to body camera video released by the Worcester Police Department.
Officer Juan Vallejo, whose body camera footage was released by the department on May 16, said in the footage he was sprayed with water.
Vallejo was present on Eureka Street and was involved in the arrest of Ferreira-De Oliveira’s daughter.
Footage and audio from Vallejo’s body camera, which shows him and other officers surrounding the daughter and moving her to the ground, was made available to the public on May 16.
The footage and audio of two other officers, Officer Patrik Hanlon and Officer Shauna McGuirk, were also made public on Friday and uploaded onto the city’s YouTube page.
Spring was charged on May 9 with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon — the “unknown liquid” — along with charges of assault and battery on a police officer, disorderly conduct and interfering with police officers.
Lt. Sean Murtha of the WPD told MassLive on Saturday he is not aware of the department dropping any of Spring’s charges despite police saying the liquid was water in the video.
Judge Janet McGuiggan entered a not-guilty plea on Spring’s behalf. Spring was released on her own personal recognizance and is scheduled to return to court for a pre-trial hearing on June 23.
Following the arrest, Spring appeared at a protest in front of City Hall on May 13, calling out the actions of ICE, the Worcester Police Department (WPD) and the city’s political leaders.
They criticized the city hall being closed to the public that night, the same night the protesters planned to attend the city council meeting before it was switched to a virtual format.
“While they may be afraid, we are not afraid,” Spring said of Worcester’s leaders.
The city council meeting switched formats after the rally was announced. Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty said city officials received “threats of violence.”
