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Date: 9/15/2022
AGAWAM — This summer has been a crash course in local politics for Tom Hendrickson.
He was sworn in on May 24 as the newest member of Agawam’s City Council, a mid-term replacement for the late Gina Letellier. In addition to joining the council just in time for debates on the town budget, he’s also been hard at work as campaign manager for Jake Oliveira, who recently secured the Democratic nomination for state Senate in a district covering part of Springfield and its eastern suburbs.
It’s a continuing education for Hendrickson, who is only 23 and little over a year removed from his 2021 graduation from Providence College. He started with an internship in state Sen. Adam Gomez’s office, paying his way through a master’s degree program in public policy from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Now he’s serving on the council, and also working as campaign manager for Jake Oliveira, who just won a contested Democratic primary election in the state Senate district currently represented by Eric Lesser, and will face a Republican opponent in November.
“We anticipate winning,” said Hendrickson in an interview about a week before the September primaries. Despite that district’s historical support of Democrats, he said he and Oliveira aren’t taking a November win for granted: “We’re not taking our foot off the gas pedal at all,” said Hendrickson.
Hendrickson came close to winning his election in November 2021, where he pulled in about 2,200 votes for city councilor on a budget of $3,500, edging fellow challenger Peter McNair for 12th place by only 9 votes.
Though he didn’t make it onto the 11-member council immediately, as the first runner-up, he was offered the opportunity to complete Letellier’s term after she died this spring following a long battle with cancer.
Hendrickson said last year’s campaign was “a lot of door-knocking,” which seems to have paid off for the young politician, who describes himself as a “card-carrying member” of the Democratic Socialists of America. His politics may not line up with the majority in Agawam — the town voted for Donald Trump in both 2016 and 2020 — but he focused on the sorts of local issues, like infrastructure, that come before the council.
In a 2021 statement, Hendrickson said, “For years, corporate monopolies like Comcast and Eversource Energy have been price-gouging our community. As city councilor, I will support creating a publicly owned electric utility and a municipal internet provider. By bringing these assets under local, community ownership, we can ensure fair prices and better service for many years to come.”
The municipal fiber project is, “to be honest, it’s probably not [happening]. It’s disappointing. The council and the mayor basically decided that they’re going to wait for Otelco, which is another company that is coming in and is doing fiber-optic internet,” said Hendrickson.
He’s been able to make more progress on another of his campaign issues.
“Providing and maintaining sewers for residents is one of the most basic, fundamental purposes of local government; the fact that Agawam has failed to do this for so long is unacceptable. Finding an equitable solution to this project will be one of my main priorities as city councilor,” Henderson said in 2021.
Since then he has voted in favor of the recent rate hikes for water and sewer, which he says are necessary to maintain the town’s infrastructure. Last month, the town also received a $1.5 million grant from the state to perform work necessary to upgrade the town’s sewer pipes.
At their Sept. 7 meeting, councilors voted unanimously to accept a grant to pay for an inventory of lead water lines in Agawam.
Hendrickson said he also hopes to focus on more affordable housing projects in town in the future, something he feels the council has neglected. Of the town’s Community Preservation Act funds, 10 percent must be set aside for use in affordable housing projects. The town has built up an unspent fund of just over $1 million, according to Councilor Rosemary Sandlin.
Sandlin, whom Hendrickson describes as a close ally and an excellent mentor, announced at last week’s meeting an upcoming informational session about the types of state aid available to low-income residents, including EBT, fuel assistance and subsidized broadband internet access.
The session will run twice on Sept. 28, at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m., in the Senior Center at 954 Main St., Agawam.