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Date: 1/18/2022
HOLYOKE – As vowed in early December, Mayor Joshua Garcia and his transition team have formed advisory councils dedicated to specific sets of issues. Garcia is inviting residents to apply for positions on the councils to make sure the community has a seat at the table during the Mayor’s deliberations.
Garcia shared his reasoning for creating the councils with Reminder Publishing. “I’m not a top-down kind of guy. I don’t want decisions to be Josh Garcia decisions. I want folks in our community to feel like they’ve had a say in whatever direction we go when we try to bring resolution to issues,” he said.
He explained that in government, the greatest challenge is often public participation and civic engagement, and the intention behind this effort is to help stimulate and empower residents in the community to want to be in this role, meet with the mayor and advise on particular areas that might be important to them.
He explained, “We have 40,000 people that live in the city, and I have to say a third of that is youth. So, who knows, maybe 20 to 25,000 adults living in our city borders, that’s our pool of candidates to serve on positions of leadership. And for as long as I’ve been involved, it’s always the same faces, the same groups. I really want to see new names and from different corners of our city too. It’s always the same neighborhoods.” He further said that he would like to see representatives from all seven wards, which would be a change from seeing the usual wards six and seven.
As for how many applicants they are seeking, Garcia said there’s no number right now. He said enthusiastically, “I’ll just be happy if there’s 10 in one of them – and if there’s 30 in one of them, great. I’ll take all 30.”
Furthermore, interested applicants don’t need any experience or background to apply. Garcia said, “What I need is resident engagement. If you do have experience and background and you’re passionate, great, but government is designed so that no one person’s in total [power] or one group is in total power and control.”
While forming the councils, Garcia said he and the transition team spoke about the issues they are facing in the community with the intent to categorize them to make sure they weren’t missing anything. He said, “Every group depending on the scenario or circumstance, is unique within themselves.”
It has been determined that there will be a total of seven Advisory Councils focused on each of the following:
Community Collaboration & Communications
This council will prioritize stronger lines of communication between city departments and entities like the Sheriff’s Department and local nonprofit organizations. In addition, they will advise the mayor on how to best support the community-wide initiatives these groups are working on and then identify any gaps or inefficiencies.
Government Restructure
Garcia explained that this team “is more like government modernization.” Residents that would be part of this advisory council would take an active role in looking at the city’s charter, at the ordinances and researching the best practices in the commonwealth when it comes to government structure, and then coming up with recommendations.
Green Holyoke
This council will focus on environmental and climate resiliency-related issues and examine solutions to achieve net-zero goals and goals around energy. Garcia said, “For Green Holyoke, one of my priorities is to reengage in a city-wide master plan and update our 1999 version of our city master plan. I want that master plan to have a climate resiliency twist to it.”
This group will ensure that while each of the nine chapters of the master plan is developed, natural resources are protected as well as climate preparedness. As the city navigates growth development pressures because of added and new interest in Holyoke and new businesses opening, that there will be a Green Energy Action Plan.
Housing
The goal is for Holyoke to become a leader in providing housing that accommodates its current residents and attracts new ones, no matter their economic background. This council will make recommendations to improve the community’s quality of life through increased types of housing and expanded opportunities for renters and homeowners.
Youth Development
Garcia said an area of concern for this category was the schools were still in receivership, and that there isn’t enough programming in the community to engage youth in positive activities. Therefore, this council will expand the variety and improve youth’s quality of extracurricular activities. It will also consider opportunities for skill-building, healthy development and transitions to the workforce.
Public Safety & Public Health
To address the community’s most pressing health and safety concerns, this advisory council will work to merge representatives from the Fire and Police departments, Public Works, schools, the Board of Health, nonprofits that work in the public health field and the larger community. Crisis intervention, elder affairs issues, property preservation, trash, homelessness and addiction are some issues that this council could address.
Infrastructure and Economic Development
This group will act as a sounding board for the upcoming Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funds and other potential infrastructure projects. At the forefront of these projects is prioritizing job creation and effective utilization of city assets. In addition, it will seek to improve the city’s infrastructure, encourage economic growth and promote marketing initiatives that benefit the city.
Garcia said these advisory groups would meet quarterly, at a minimum, and depending on how active they become, it may be weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. Furthermore, the time commitment for the positions will be based on how well they take off. Also, Garcia pointed out that “these are purely advisory-there’s nothing governing them. They don’t exist by ordinance. They are working sub-groups.”
Garcia said that once the advisory councils are formed, the transition team will no longer exist. Members of that team then can choose to participate in the Advisory Councils or return to their continued roles in the community. Garcia said, “We’re very eager to see how well these Advisory Councils are going to evolve.”
For more information on the advisory councils, visit the Mayor’s Office page at www.holyoke.org. Residents can apply at https://www.holyoke.org/application-for-mayors-advisory-councils/. Applications will be accepted through the end of January, with the potential for an extended deadline.