Lefebvre campaigns to ‘put people before politics’

Date: 9/28/2011

Sept. 28, 2011

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

CHICOPEE — Gary Lefebvre has worked for corporations and for himself and now he wants to work for the people of Chicopee.

Lefebvre formally announced his candidacy for mayor on Sept. 21 at a campaign kick-off at the Cavalier Restaurant.

Lefebvre is a life-long resident of Chicopee and the owner of Gary and Nancy’s Place at 930 Chicopee St. About 60 people attended the event.

Although there were no endorsements offered, a number of city officials attended the announcement including City Councilors Frank LaFlamme, John Vieau, George Moreau and Dino Brunetti and School Committee members Donald Lamothe, Michael Pise, Deborah A. Styckiewicz and Adam D. Lamontagne.

Both Brunetti and Lamontagne said they were at the announcement simply to listen to what Lefebvre had to say and not to make any endorsement.

Lefebvre said, “I’m running to put people first, to put people before politics.”

He added his decision to make his first attempt at elected office came after many discussions with his wife and much soul-searching.

He explained there are significant issues between himself and Mayor Michael Bissonnette and mentioned his stand on casinos first. This week on his Facebook page, Bissonnette said that in light of the anticipated passage of a bill that would legalize casinos in the state, developers have begun looking at Chicopee as a possible location.

Lefebvre said he is personally opposed to a casino in Chicopee, although he is not opposed to one in Holyoke. He believes a casino would bring additional crime and traffic and hurt local businesses.

Ultimately, Lefebvre thinks the citizens of Chicopee should decide if they want a casino here.

He is also taking an opposite stand than Bissonnette on the subject of a four-year term, which would make the mayor “less accountable.”

“[The mayor] should be subject to a performance review by the voters,” Lefebvre said.

As the person responsible for crafting the city budget, Lefebvre said he would be a “voice for fiscal sanity.”

“We need to be smart with our money,” he said. “We need to make targeted investments.”

He criticized raises to three city employees in the last budget — the city solicitor, the golf pro at the municipal course and the director of human resources — proposed by Bissonnette, saying the city could afford them in “the worse recession in a generation.”

Lefebvre also criticized the planned demolition of the Market Square Billiards building.

“The city spent hundreds of thousands of dollars tearing down Market Square Billiards to make 23 parking spaces. We don’t have a parking problem in downtown Chicopee,” he said.

“Parking spaces don’t create a single job,” he added.

The building has yet to be demolished.

After his speech, Lefebvre said that he is running a “blue collar campaign,” and that he doesn’t intend to debate Bissonnette.

“I don’t want to get into a rebuttal contest,” he explained.

Lefebvre added, “I will keep it [the campaign] clean, go by the issues and talk to the people.”