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Date: 2/28/2023
NORTHAMPTON — Northampton’s Chief Procurement Officer (CPO), Attorney Joe Cook, has officially retired after 35 years serving within the city’s municipal government.
“It feels distinctly odd to not be on vacation but not working,” Cook said with a laugh, in an interview with Reminder Publishing. “It feels weird after 35 years.”
While not the “flashiest” job, as Cook described it, the CPO is quietly one of the most essential positions in a municipality.
“The city of Northampton is profoundly grateful to Joe Cook for his incredible service,” said Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra. “As an attorney, Joe brought a unique set of skills to city procurement and an unparalleled historical memory about city projects thanks to his long service. As I took office, it was immediately apparent how sincerely Joe held the city’s interests in every contract negotiation and how well he has served the people of Northampton in his role. Joe will be missed.”
As the city’s CPO, Cook performed administrative and supervisory work in implementing and administering the purchasing policies, practices and procurement of citywide third-party supplier spending for departments within the city.
Concurrently, the CPO ensures that all purchases of goods and services, as well as construction and capital project bids, are in accordance with the city’s ethical standards.
“Approximately half of a city budget is spent on through procurement, with payroll being the other half,” said Cook, who indicated that a little over $60 million a year was spent on some sort of procurement process in Northampton. “That’s a lot of money…and the public has a right to expect that their money is going to be spent honestly, legally, and hopefully getting the most bang for your buck.”
When Cook was hired as Northampton’s CPO in 1990, Massachusetts Procurement Law, Chapter 30B was passed, which is a statewide law that governs the procurement of supplies, services and real property by cities, towns and other jurisdictions in the commonwealth. Generally, it also contains procedures to ensure open and fair competition for contracts paid for with public money.
The monumental law shaped the future of procurement but Cook said there was definitely a learning curve when it first passed.
“When the legislation was first passed there was nothing to explain the new law and there was very little in the way of explaining construction law at the time,” said Cook. “Nowadays, [the state’s] Inspector’s General office has produced an excellent construction manual, which is very helpful in understanding a very complicated set of bidding laws.”
Cook began his career in Northampton in 1987 as the assistant city solicitor under then-City Solicitor Kathleen Fallon. He was named the city’s chief procurement officer in 1990, where he reported directly to the central services director. Cook spent the rest of his career as the CPO under the Auditor’s Office, starting in the early-2000s.
While with the city, Cook said Northampton never violated any statute or regulation related to procurement, and he even wrote the chapter on procurement found in the state’s municipal law handbook about 15 years ago.
“I was lucky to have five mayors to work with who were supportive of doing things the right way,” said Cook. “They always knew that I knew what I was talking about.”
Cook said he is eligible for the maximum retirement benefit, which was a major reason why he decided to end his tenure with the city, now.
With the additional free time, Cook said he wants to manage his family’s rental properties and consult with municipalities throughout the state with procurement issues.
“There’s 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts,” said Cook. “Somebody’s got to be without a chief procurement officer all the time, so I can step in for a month or two months to keep things rolling.”
Cook’s retirement comes at a transitional phase for Northampton, where the CPO position is moving from the Auditor’s Office to Sciarra’s newly created and now City Council-approved Climate Action and Project Administration (CAPA) Department.
The organizational change and Cook’s retirement means William Coffey will be the new CPO under this new department.
Coffey, who was introduced by Sciarra during the City Council meeting on Feb. 16, said he is a Westhampton native who became accustomed to the Northampton aura by visiting the city a lot as a child. He has a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from Skidmore College and earned his MBA from Colorado State in a program called the Global Social and Sustainable Enterprise Program.
He told the council he has a background in waste management and environmental sciences.
“He impressed me a lot of being very smart, organized, and super motivated to learn the material,” said Cook, of Coffey. “He will learn it, and he will do well.”