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Date: 8/7/2019
CHICOPEE – The city of Chicopee now has a four-candidate mayoral race with former Mayor Michael Bissonnette turning in his nomination papers during the last week before the deadline.
Bissonnette was the subject of much speculation about whether or not – based on his Facebook posts – he would enter the race. He served eight years as mayor.
The primary election to narrow the field down to two candidates will be conducted Sept. 17.
Since he became a candidate, he has lost little time posting about issues facing the city. For instance, he posted on Aug. 2, “Old Downtown Library Re-Use: while I was disappointed that the library was not included in the City Hall project (we already removed the asbestos back in 2013), the other options may be limited. One idea is to relocate the School Department as part of an administrative consolidation with some duplicative functions of city government. However we may want to explore an old idea once discussed with the Elms. Combining the library with the Rivoli building connected by a new entrance in the adjoining driveway. Similar to the efforts at the renovated Colonial in Pittsfield, this may be something that we could develop to bring some energy to downtown again. Thoughts, comments or ideas?”
Another post on Aug. 2 read, “The fight for our schools is not over. Although the state budget adds a substantial amount to Chapter 70 school funding, it also will take away $5.4 million from our public schools in Chicopee to pay for school choice and charter tuitions. Chicopee once had a million dollar school choice supplement when I was mayor – one of the highest in the state. Now we lose big money and even have a second charter school from Holyoke taking over the Holyoke Catholic/Assumption building next month. I was proud to have been called ‘the education mayor’ and look forward to working with my colleagues in city and state government to bring fairness to the funding of our schools.”
In an interview with Reminder Publishing, Bissonnette offered other issues which he believes the mayor’s office should address, such as the closing and repair plans of several city-operated swimming pools, the further plans for redevelopment of the Uniroyal site, the completion of the Chicopee River Walk, which he started as mayor, and the status of downtown redevelopment.
The future of how the city copes with the rising cost of trash disposal is another issue of which he said he has heard a lot from residents.
He spoke of the issue of turning waste into energy, something that had been discussed during the Patrick Administration. The unresolved issue is the proper disposal of ash.
He was candid about his cautious nature toward a run for the office once more. He said that gathering signatures was a test to see if people would support his candidacy.
He described himself and his wife Erin as “private people,” and noted that aside from his time as mayor his career has been in the private sector.
“The question was not if I could do the job as mayor but rather what would be the personal cost,” he said. “We knew that attacks were coming.”
Bissonnette has paid $29,000 in back taxes to the city for his commercial property. He noted he has never been behind on taxes for his personal residence.
In a campaign video he released, Bissonnette acknowledged he had made mistakes in the past in both personal behavior and style as an elected official.
He said on this interview that marriage has taught him to be a “more collaborative human being.” He added, “I understand I can rub some people the wrong way. I get that.”
Bissonnette said his first four years as mayor saw cooperation between his office and the City Council, while the second was marked with conflict. He believes the present composition of the council would allow collaboration.
One of the issues he faced as mayor was the selection of a police chief that proved controversial. He said he could work with Chief William Jebb, with whom he has worked in the past and that “he’s the chief until he decides to retire.”
He added, though, the department “should be accountable.”
Bissonnette will announce an official kick-off for his campaign and will conduct a meeting in every ward in the city. He also will do a “breakfast tour,” starting this week, every Monday and intends to have breakfast to listen to people at restaurants throughout the city.
He is also looking for greater interaction through social media on his Facebook page.
“I want people to be comfortable with giving ideas,” he said.