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Date: 11/16/2021
HOLYOKE – In an emotion-filled press conference on Nov. 10, Acting Mayor Terence Murphy reviewed what he had done in the past seven months as mayor and thanked a long list of people.
On Nov. 15, his successor, Joshua Garcia, will take the oath of office.
Murphy gave a proclamation to retiring Executive Assistant Nilka Ortiz recognizing and thanking her for many years of service to the city.
Murphy noted at the start of the press conference, conducted outside of the mayor’s office in City Hall, “As you get old, you get more emotional.” Several times during his address Murphy stopped to compose himself.
“I want to express gratitude to many who have supported me and guided me through this time,” he said.
He thanked his colleagues on the City Council “for trusting me with responsibility at a trying time.”
Murphy noted many of the events and accomplishments since former Mayor Alex Morse left for a new job as town manager of Provincetown.
Murphy explained he had four weeks to devise a FY22 budget, which he said passed the City Council without major cuts in services. The new sewer rate increase will address the deficit that service is facing, he added.
He thanked the Health Department for guiding the city through the pandemic and said the vaccination rate this week in Holyoke showed an increase, while the positivity rate had not increased.
There were city department heads in attendance at the event and Murphy thanked them for their help. He had an open door policy for any city employee to bring a concern and expressed the belief that teamwork was elevated in the city.
Bonds that he proposed and were passed by the City Council will offer “significant quality of life improvements,” Murphy said, such as the repaving of streets, the construction of sidewalks, a new roof on the War Memorial and the repairs of the high school track.
He appointed a School Building Committee as well.
Looking at the reporters who gathered, Murphy said with a smile, “This may be a first, but thank you for helping me get the message out.”
He also thanked his wife, saying, “This is not an easy thing for a spouse.”
At the close of the press conference, Murphy paused and took a breath, and said, “I want to thank the people of Holyoke who have treated me with respect, kind words and thoughts.”
The audience broke into applause and one man shouted, “God bless you, Mr. Mayor.”