Creating Pride

Holyoke has the possibility to be the greatest city on earth and we must make sure that all people can be proud to call Holyoke home.

Mayor’s Citizens Service Center:

As Mayor, I will establish the Mayor’s Citizens Service Center (CSC). The CSC will provide Holyoke residents with a centralized location for complaints, service and information requests. The CSC not only acts as a "Help Desk" for residents by answering routine questions and providing information on any number of issues, but it also logs in complaints and service requests, forwarding them to the appropriate department for action and resolution. The CSC will also streamline city interaction by creating a “One-Stop 3-1-1 Hotline” to report broken streetlights, lost pets, noise violations and other non-emergency issues.

Celebrate Holyoke Commission:

As Mayor, I will create a Celebrate Holyoke Commission. The mission of the Commission will be to revitalize and expand the scope of the Holyoke Cultural Commission to encompass Arts, Culture, and Tourism. The Celebrate Holyoke Commission will work with local groups and businesses such as the Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce, Passport Holyoke, the Victory Theater, and local artists and musicians to promote and create Holyoke’s marketing and branding strategy as the “High Performing Capital of the World.” The Celebrate Holyoke Commission will also be tasked with raising funds to reestablish the annual “Celebrate Holyoke” Festival in Holyoke each summer.

Arts & Entertainment District:

As Mayor, I will push to create an Arts and Entertainment District downtown that provides tax incentives to attract artists and entertainment enterprises to move into empty warehouses and factories. As Mayor, I will take full advantage of the Victory Theatre and incentivize economic development around the Theater to support restaurants, hotels, and other activities that promote activity downtown at night. By concentrating art and cultural resources, the Arts & Entertainment District can be a catalyst for revitalizing neighborhoods by stimulating business activity on nights and weekends, strengthening the tax base and supplementing educational opportunities. The District will include affordable live/work space for artists, photographers, recording artists and others. The District would also encourage the creation and expansion of museums, art galleries, restaurants and entertainment for the entire family.

Three Main Streets Project:

As Mayor, I will target and incentivize investment and development along what I consider to be Holyoke’s three “Main Streets” – Northampton Street, High Street, and Main Street. I will work closely with residents, business owners, and community organizations on all three streets to establish Northampton, High, and Main Street Associations in an effort streamline and support revitalization efforts along each street. I will seek state and federal funding, along with funding from the National Trust for Historic Preservation to revitalize, protect, and enjoy the places that matter most.

Fight Blight:

As Mayor, I will make fighting blight a top priority of my administration. I will implement a citywide “Trash Bash” modeled after the Ward Four Trash Bash, and ensure that all seven wards have their own organized Trash Bash. I will introduce and urge passage of an ordinance that fines property owners who’s property has excessive trash, weeds, and blight, as well as landlords of apartment buildings with alleyways contaminated with trash and other prohibited materials.

New and Improved City Website:

As Mayor, I will create a state-of-the-art website – a citizen dashboard – so that residents can engage with city government in a variety of ways without having to enter City Hall. I will work with city departments to provide electronic services and I will ensure that all community events, public meetings, and special hearings are clearly advertised in advance on the city’s homepage. The new website will also include space for city residents to engage in conversation and provide suggestions to further improve the delivery of city services.

Participatory Budgeting:

As Mayor, I pledge to involve community members in every step of the budget process. I will work with the City Council to implement Participatory Budgeting, a democratic process in which community members directly decide how to spend part of a public budget. Most examples involve city governments that have opened up decisions around municipal budgets, such as overall priorities and choice of new investments, to citizen assemblies. In my first term, I will explore ways in which Holyoke residents can help distribute Community Development Block Grant funds, so that elected officials aren't making the decisions alone.