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Date: 4/7/2021
HOLYOKE – During her first virtual town hall since being elected, state Rep. Patricia Duffy addressed topics such as legislation to fund construction of a new Holyoke Soldiers’ Home and for the city to forgo a special election.
Duffy began the March 29 meeting by informing her constituents that town halls were something she’d like to do “on a regular basis,” both virtually and in person once world conditions allowed. She then went on to address the hope she felt in the air with increased vaccinations, but urged people to stay vigilant when social distancing and wearing masks. Additionally, she emphasized that the discussions and progress that had begun as a result of inequities brought forth through the pandemic continued.
“Let’s learn the lessons of this pandemic, let’s take a look at the issues, the problems that have been long existing, but the pandemic brought to light,” she said. Additionally, she referenced social justice issues and that women have been “very hard economically hit” during the pandemic. Duffy called on people to be thoughtful, continue to have the difficult conversations and “build back in the most fair way possible,” and to “look for a fair and equitable recovery.”
Duffy also said that she would be opening a district office in downtown Holyoke, but said she’d been waiting for both her and her legislative aide, Juan Anderson-Burgos, to be vaccinated before the office opened.
She then went on to address the recent discussion and happenings regarding the position of mayor within the city. Duffy referenced former Mayor Alex Morse’s resignation, which was official as of March 26, and said acting City Council President Todd McGee had taken over duties as acting mayor temporarily. She said this was how the city’s charter said the acting mayor should be elected. Additionally, she said the charter calls for a special election to take place.
“The City Council has decided, it’s their decision and it’s a completely sensible decision and I support it, and would act on their wishes anyway. They think it’s not really worthwhile to have an election this spring,” she said. Duffy said due to there being more than two mayoral candidates for mayor there would need to be a preliminary election prior to a special election, which would result in a total of four elections.
She said the City Council planned to vote on language during their special meeting on March 30 that would not only allow the city to bypass a special election, but “a new procedure to bring in an acting mayor.” This, she explained, was due to McGee not being able to serve the entirety of the nearly eight-month term of acting mayor. The new acting mayor, Duffy said, would be chosen out of the current City Council body.
“Everyone knows this is moving forward and wants it to move forward as quickly as possible. What they vote on, I will file that legislation and get that moving just as quickly as possible,” she said. “I’m very optimistic we can get that moving as quickly as possible.”
Duffy then went on to discuss a bond bill currently making its way through legislation that would allow for the construction of a new Soldiers’ Home. She said the bond bill filed was for $400 million and the renovations “should have happened years ago.” The upgrade to the Home would allow for 235 new beds and day services for veterans.
She said that the bill had already gone before one committee where it had “passed unanimously out of that committee,” and would still need to go through some other bonding committees. “I’ve been in touch with leadership, everyone knows how important this is. I feel very optimistic that we’re going to get this done in time to apply for federal assistance,” she said. Federal assistance, Duffy explained, would “pay for 60 to 70 percent of construction, which will take four or five years probably.”
The next topic Duffy addressed was vaccine distribution. She said while she, along with many of her colleagues at the State House, had been in favor of a “really localized approach to vaccine distribution,” the state had chosen to go a different route with mass vaccination sites. However, due to how hard Holyoke had been hit by the virus, Duffy said they had “been deemed an equity site for distribution.
“What this means for us is we do have doses of the vaccine targeted for our population coming to us in the coming weeks,” she said. Duffy said the city’s Department of Health would be holding regular vaccination clinics in conjunction with the program with the first one taking place on April 7 at the Holyoke Senior Center. She said the single-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine would be used for these clinics, and those attending the clinic must be eligible to receive the vaccine according to state guidelines. Another facet of the equity program, Duffy said, would be a regional vaccination site at the Chicopee Castle of Knights. This site, she said, would serve eligible residents in Chicopee, Holyoke, South Hadley and Granby.
She then went on to commend the Holyoke Health Center and their recent work of getting many Holyoke teachers vaccinated. “Holyoke Health Center did incredible work, they had a vaccine clinic just for teachers because we’re reopening schools,” she said. “Our educators need to be vaccinated, there were like 600 teachers who got vaccinated and their second doses are already scheduled.”