HOLYOKE – On Nov. 2, residents in the city of Holyoke will head to the polls to determine the outcome of several municipal elections including City Council, School Committee and who their next mayor will be. In an effort for residents to better know the candidates who will be on the ballot and their position on city-specific issues, Reminder Publishing reached out to each candidate running for City Council. Each candidate was asked to submit a short biography along with answers to several issue-specific questions, which will be printed by Reminder Publishing as part of a two-part series.

Responses printed by Reminder Publishing on behalf of the candidates represent their own thoughts, feelings and beliefs. Reminder Publishing does not endorse any candidate nor their beliefs.

Candidates on the ballot for ward-specific City Council seats include Jenny Rivera and Victor Machado for Ward 1; Will Puello for Ward 2; David Bartley and Anne Thalheimer for Ward 2; Michael Thomas Siciliano and Kocayne Givner for Ward 4; Guy O’Donnell and Linda Vacon for Ward 5; Juan Anderson-Burgos and Preston Macy for Ward 6; and Todd McGee for Ward 7.

Their responses, listed numerically by ward and in alphabetical order, are as follows.

Biographies

Thalheimer, Ward 3: Holyoke is a city of diversity, pride and history. I believe our City Council needs to respect our rich history and simultaneously embrace the diversity that makes us unique as a city. My goal is to make local government more responsive, responsible and respectful, and by doing so increase resident engagement, ensure we have broader representation on City Council, and bring a new and innovative voice to the process. I want municipal government to become something residents want to participate in, rather than something inaccessible, contentious, and difficult to follow. I’m running because I can be the catalyst for this change. In 2017 I created ­– and continue to co-moderate – a Ward 3 Neighborhood Association group; in addition, I have been a member of the Holyoke Local Cultural Council for nearly a decade and have served as that organization’s treasurer for the last seven years. I am a proud union member (1199 SEIU) and have been involved with a number of initiatives in Holyoke, including Wayfinder’s (formerly HAP Housing) Resident Leadership Program, voter outreach and education, and protecting free speech in the city. I’m an artist and educator who brings compassion and innovative thinking to my work; it’s an approach I believe our municipal government needs more of, not less. We don’t have to have City Council meetings that are four hours long and difficult to follow; we need a local government that directly and efficiently responds to the needs of the people it serves.

Givner, Ward 4: As a first-generation college grad and American citizen I have a unique appreciation for the struggles experienced by immigrants, people of color, and low-income households.

I have lived in Holyoke on and off since the mid 90s. With struggle, a bit of luck and a first-time homeowner program, I bought my home in 2005. I was 23, working at UMass. Having moved around the Valley, my mom and I were continually priced out of communities. She was a social worker. Human capital is not valued in our society and working with addicts with mental health needs is valued even less. She worked three jobs from the mid 80s until I went to college. We moved to Northampton abruptly when I was 12. The explanation was that the public schools were better. Additionally, one of my seventh-grade classmates had gotten pregnant.

I am a repeat offender when it comes to requests for traffic studies, needs for crosswalks, speed traps, and parking enforcement. I regularly ask why Holyoke has a hard time taking care of basics. I don’t understand why there aren’t more public trash receptacles, why our parks are in disarray, why we don’t take advantage of ticketing revenue from speeding commuters. I don’t understand why it took years to update the crosswalk to Stop & Shop, or why there is no crosswalk on Dwight to the church. I don’t understand why the owners of run down and empty buildings are not held accountable for keeping their properties clean and maintained. I’m running to represent Ward 4 because many of my neighbors have expressed the same frustrations and would like to see our Ward prioritized the same as others. I’m running so that I can understand the processes and procedures of city government to continue to address these concerns.

O’Donnell, Ward 5: My name is Guy O’Donnell and I am running for Holyoke City Council, Ward 5. I have two sons attending McMahon school and I volunteer there regularly. I’ve seen how amazing the teachers and staff are and how they aren’t provided with the tools they need to ensure that every student gets the education they deserve. We need to do better for our teachers and students.

At the city level, I’ve watched as our leaders fail to prioritize protecting the environment for our children’s future. Holyoke has already taken in many climate refugees after hurricane Maria, worsened by global warming, devastated Puerto Rico. I was especially disheartened to see City Council vote down a grant for $250,000 to study green energy in Holyoke last summer. We should be leading the way in fighting climate change and preparing for its consequences.

I’m in this race to stand up for working families like the one I grew up in. My parents were hard working; my mom was a full-time social worker raising my sister and I while finishing her degree. My dad worked in construction, sometimes over 80 hours a week, in dangerous conditions. It is unfair that families can work hard and still struggle to make ends meet.

I’ve also seen the power of a community coming together to help one another. I grew up in a Habitat For Humanity house. My dad got better wages and safer working conditions when he joined a union. It was only after joining the union that we were finally able to get braces.

Coming together as a community can make a real difference in the lives of everyday working Holyoke families and we must fight for a brighter future for all of our kids. That’s the leadership I will bring to City Hall.

Vacon, Ward 5: As your Ward 5 City Councilor, in my sixth term, I am a 20-plus year homeowner with my husband John and employed as the director of Health Services-RN at Day Brook Village in Holyoke.   My energy and commitment are focused locally.

As your City Councilor, I bring high energy, consistent commitment and integrity to the table. One of my priorities is constituent service and another is financial accountability to our residents who pay for government services. We work for you.

I am running for re-election to continue my community service by helping our residents and working to keep our city government efficient and affordable for both residents and business owners.  

It is rewarding to solve or prevent a problem even if it often takes longer than desired. I have led on projects to prevent an issue, rather than waiting for an incident to occur. Some examples include the addition of solar flashing stop signs, new sidewalks creating a cul-de-sac for safety in a neighborhood and a new traffic light to be installed soon at the top of Apremont Highway.  

It is critical to keep our city affordable for those who pay rent or own homes. We must reign in the growth of government to keep it from exceeding the ability of residents to pay for them. Support for our teachers and local control of our schools is important as they are the front line for our children and our future. At the same time, we need to support economic development by obtaining an adequate supply of clean natural gas for businesses and homeowners and reduce the use of propane which is less environmentally friendly.  

In considering a run for re-election, my interest, energy and commitment to serve my community remain high. I ask for your vote on Nov. 2.

Anderson-Burgos, Ward 6: When I first decided to run six years ago, I looked at what I could bring to the City Council, and how my background and experience could help me fill some of the needs in our city’s elected leadership. One of the skills I am most proud of is my focus on communication. Even a casual observer of our City Council notices that this is a struggle way too often. It’s an issue between councilors, between the Council and other city staff and board members that we need to work with, and even between the Council and members of the public. When I would watch meetings before I got elected, I was often embarrassed by what I saw. It was a complaint I would often hear from others I spoke to when I ran my first time. I have never expected to agree with everyone all of the time, but I believe the best way for our city government to be most effective is by hearing people out, working to understand where someone is coming from, and finding ways to work together whenever possible. I think this approach has also helped me when trying to find solutions for the concerns that the people I represent bring to me. The best part of the past four years serving on the City Council has been the opportunity to serve people directly, whether it is by filing an order on their behalf, connecting them with city departments, or just being that someone they can vent to. I am running again because our city government has more room to grow and more ways to be effective. I am excited to be an important part of that as we look ahead to a City Council that will have many new faces next January.

Reminder Publishing (RP): Do you have any specific ideas to balance the city budget to stabilize the cost of living for city residents?

Thalheimer, Ward 3: Balancing the city budget often feels akin to spinning plates. Some of it is straightforward, as we saw in this year’s budget: continuing to reduce overtime costs in various departments as well as caps on overtime while ensuring people are able to earn a living wage; there is significant wage inequality within Holyoke and profound wage gaps. Some of it is continuing to find ways to get more properties back on the tax rolls, which can be challenging given the high commercial rate, though we’ve seen incredible growth in the city via the cannabis industry. But some of the challenge also involves thinking more creatively; in previous years (2014) we saw the introduction of a minimal Meals Tax that began to bring additional revenue into the city; are there other similar measures Holyoke could utilize that have similarly minimal impact on the consumer? Stabilizing the cost of living, however, isn’t only about balancing the city budget; it’s often deeply linked with wages and affordability of resources. Are there enough good jobs at living wages available in the city? Is there enough safe, affordable housing? What kind of food deserts do we have in the city? Do we have pathways to home ownership for those who want it in the city and support for when they get there? What means do we have available to ensure people are able to stay in their homes? Balancing budgets is important; quality of life is also.

Givner, Ward 4: Holyoke has the ability to hold absentee property owners and landlords accountable for their properties. It is my understanding that many of the eyesores in Ward 4 are owned by people who are not always held accountable for paying their property taxes. We must do better with collecting monies owed by those that owe taxes and utilities to Holyoke. An additional revenue stream is traffic enforcement. It is my understanding that we used to have traffic enforcement professionals who worked in traffic enforcement strictly. Although I do not want to see our citizens suffer from ticketed parking violations, we must do better with the speeding throughout our supposedly 25 MPH speed limit zones. Dwight, Hamden, Appleton, Pleasant, Cabot and Beech are commuter cut throughs. We should be ticketing speeders and those who run red lights by use of traffic cameras and violations by mail. There is no need to create danger to our enforcement professionals. Radar violations and control light violation can be mailed directly to vehicle owners. Accountability is key and the revenue created would be substantial for a fixed period after which we will see a significant decrease in traffic violations.

O’Donnell, Ward 5: I find it fundamentally unfair that large corporations come into Holyoke, one of the poorest communities in the state, and take money out to send back to wealthy shareholders and executives in the form of huge profits. Big corporations based outside of our community need to pay their fair share back to Holyoke. One way to accomplish this would be to do a two tiered tax, a lower rate for local businesses and a higher one for those that are removing money from our local economy. This will ensure that more of our money stays and circulates right here in our community.

The extra money raised could be used to provide education and assistance to local entrepreneurs. We have a lot of talented folks in Holyoke who should be supported to build their own businesses. We could use the money to support our local business with lower taxes or low interest loans. Bottom line, the money should be invested in our local economy and community. It’s our local residents and businesses that are literally invested in Holyoke and those are the ones we need to support.

Vacon, Ward 5: Some ideas to balance the budget include:

• Leadership: We need to elect a mayor who understands business and budgets and has shown an understanding of the importance of a balanced budget. We need a mayor who has consistently participated in budget hearings for the past five years and has led in working to control the size of government. It is critical for the future success of our community.
• Establish an essential employee category for each department and when a non-essential position becomes open, freeze it to evaluate for efficiency, consolidation and/or reorganization before filling.
• Encourage the mayor, who negotiates contracts, to formally evaluate the current sewer management contract, consider the value of extending it, and if found in the best interest of the city, to negotiate new more fiscally favorable terms for the city.
• Consolidate departments and positions to streamline government and save money.
• Do not add any new permanent positions to the city budget at this time.
• Protect our stabilization fund to ensure favorable borrowing capacity and a higher bond rating. This reduces bond costs over time, helping to balance the budget.

Anderson-Burgos, Ward 6: One of the major ways we can balance the budget is by taking steps to make opening a business in Holyoke a smoother and less confusing process. The way the City Council conducts itself when new business owners come before our committees also impacts our reputation and the decision people make whether or not to do business with us. When the process comes across as too confusing or full of obstacles, or if people see a City Council as overly hostile, that becomes lost tax revenue and lost jobs for the people of our city. Regulations and requirements should always be followed, but we can do better, and we should be working alongside the professionals in our city departments to improve the processes.

There is also more work to be done to go after those who have unpaid taxes. There are too many property owners, many who do not even live in or near Holyoke, that take advantage of the rest of the responsible taxpayers in this city. I will plan to work with my council colleagues in the next term to understand the obstacles that prevent us from going after people in a timelier manner. This may also mean advocating for legislation at the state level to untie the hands of municipal governments. While we should be aggressive with those choosing to avoid paying, we should also work to develop payment plans for those who have hardships.

RP: Recently, residents have expressed city services (such as trash, recycling, and limited staff in some city departments) have been inconsistent. If elected, what would you do to ensure these services are fully staffed, funded and consistent?

Thalheimer, Ward 3: I think it’s worth looking at the ways in which departments can work cooperatively and in collaboration, but also we need to ensure that these jobs are well compensated and supported. Many delays this year with DPW services were due to pandemic-related staffing issues. If there are continued staffing issues, departments who share or borrow workers from one another should either be consolidated or given enough support to operate independently. Consistent communication about city services to residents is also crucial; encouraging more people to sign up for the city’s notification service to be made aware of delays in service can help as well as consistent follow-through: if you’re going to ask residents not to put their recycling out until 9 a.m. due to weather, stick to that same schedule for pickup. The city can also explore providing incentives to apartment buildings or other multi-dwelling homes who hire their own private refuse and recycling services to tenants, thus reducing overall demand on city-wide municipal resources as well as waiving the city refuse permit requirement during periods of service interruption. Similarly, other direct incentives (perhaps a credit towards either a water or sewer bill) can be provided to residents who are able to bring their recycling to the DPW, again reducing overall city demand.

Givner, Ward 4: Full staffing and funding are obvious keys to any successful services. Violations to absentee landlords, who do not take care of their properties, can create revenue for our city departments. Much of the trash picked up during community cleanup events is branded from local chains. Surely we can have conversations with these chains to support our service departments and cleanup efforts.

Coming from administrative and production management backgrounds, I will first seek to understand why these departments are not fully staffed and funded. As a community we must look at these functional issues and ask how we can do not just better, but work differently. How can we encourage efficiency? How do we support our public servants as they struggle to do the best they can with the resources they have? How can we attract well intentioned, hard workers, who will also take pride in these professions? How can we update administrative systems and teach our city staff to use them to their benefit? We have everything we need in human capital and mental ability. Let’s not look for ways to work even harder. We need to do better by working smarter and using technology to update our systems and relieve the frustrations of our municipal employees, as well as our citizens.

O’Donnell, Ward 5: Governments are often judged by their ability to pick up the trash. Last year we failed that test. We need to ensure that the Department of Public Works has the funding to meet the needs of Holyoke residents. As I talk with residents of Holyoke it’s become very clear that people want simple things. They want potholes filled, they want a park for their kids, and they want their trash picked up on time. I will ensure that these departments have the funding and are prepared to consistently meet our residents' simple but important needs.

To be truly responsive to our constituents’ needs we must properly fund the departments that provide those services. We can’t continually cut their budgets and then be surprised when they don’t perform well and residents are upset. Holyoke deserves better.

Vacon, Ward 5: The departments are funded adequately to meet the essential services to our city. The management of the budget within each department needs to be carefully reviewed to ensure the most effective and efficient use of the funds.

Strong leadership in each department with a mayor who is committed to the citizens of Holyoke as the head of all departments is key.

Anderson-Burgos, Ward 6: When it comes to issues with city services, there are many factors that have led to these issues. Services such as trash and recycling pickup are basic services that every resident should expect to be consistent. I commend several of my colleagues that worked on a bonding order that will allow the city to purchase new trucks. One of the major issues that led to delays in these services late last year was a fleet of trucks that were constantly breaking down. Outdated equipment not only takes them out of service but adds to the expenses in the budgets of city departments. Going forward, we should work with these departments to assure we’re addressing equipment issues in a timely manner.

Another part of that question brought up understaffed departments. A big part of assuring that city departments are staffed to cover their needs is to make sure we are a city government people want to work for. These are hardworking professionals that take pride in their work, and the City Council must do more to respect them and the work they do. Again, there are times when the Council is hostile toward city departments and I do not believe this is a successful strategy to retain good employees.

Reminder Publishing reached out to Rivera, Machado, Puello, Bartley, Thomas Siciliano, Macy and McGee, but had not received responses by press time.