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Date: 8/11/2020
HOLYOKE – Three candidates are vying for votes to be elected to the 5th Hampden District seat during the Massachusetts Primary on Sept. 1.
Currently, Rep. Aaron Vega serves as the representative for the district. However, earlier this year he announced he would not be seeking reelection. Since then three candidates have secured enough signatures to have their name appear on the ballot in the primary election. Among the candidates are Vega’s current legislative aide Patricia Duffy, current city councilor David Bartley and Patrick Beaudry who works for the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission.
Reminder Publishing (RP) reached out to each of the three candidates and asked them the same three questions in an effort to help voters get to know each caniddate. Their responses are as follows.
RP: In your opinion, what are some of the most pressing issues currently facing the district?
Bartley
Many candidates will answer this question by reciting a “laundry list” of problems and, truth be told, those of us who grew up in Holyoke and lived here all our lives are certainly aware of many of them. My take is that those problems (receivership, crime, poverty, drug addiction, panhandlers) and others will persist unless and until new leadership is installed. I don’t just mean City Hall though many of us know that’s a major problem. But what I want to point out is our business, educational and civic leaders, many of whom earn very handsome salaries, simply live elsewhere. They choose to collect their checks and at 5 p.m. turn their back on Holyoke. We need leaders who want to help Holyoke by not just passing by to collect checks but by living here and being a part of the creating solutions.
Beaudry
Education and the economy are absolutely Holyoke’s top issues. They are incredibly interdependent. They impact the decision-making of businesses who need a quality workforce in order to expand or relocate here, subsequently impacting the economic prospects of our residents as a result. They impact whether young families with children who need a school district [so] they can have confidence in buying homes here and the subsequent ability of our seniors to sell their homes to such young families as they seek to downsize.
Duffy
The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored my legislative priorities, which address the most pressing issues in our district: a safe return to schooling (be it remote, blended, or a full return) with equitable funding; protection of our current healthcare facilities including the Soldiers Home; and support for small businesses and their employees returning to the workplace. Our public schools are our most important institution and are facing uncertainty in reopening. It is going to cost money and require state and federal support to provide a rich education either online or in a blended setting. In addition, Western Massachusetts as a region is facing a crisis in our vital healthcare facilities. A large corporation, Trinity Health, is closing a crucial behavioral health unit in Providence Hospital; our community hospital Holyoke Medical Center is closing its birthing center; and our veterans were not protected at the Soldiers Home when the deadly virus hit. This crisis has exposed the many holes in our systems and it is critical that we learn from this and begin the work of implementing the changes that level the field in the best of times and save lives in times of crisis.
RP: If elected, how would you address some of these issues?
Bartley
Addressing these issues starts with our school system. If Holyoke is going to attract families, we need great schools. In order to achieve greatness, Holyoke has to emphasize its strong suits: diversity, history, tradition and community. Holyoke is a great place and I’m proud to live here.
Beaudry
The recently passed Student Opportunity Act has the potential for tens of millions of additional dollars in school funding for Holyoke Public Schools, but only if the law is implemented with fidelity. That is the central fight of Holyoke’s next State Rep. We have some great programming at HPS at the moment between the Dual Enrollment Program, allowing juniors and seniors to earn college credits before even graduating high school, and the Dual Language Program in our elementary schools has proven a major draw for families who may not otherwise have enrolled their children in our district. We need to continue to expand such programming, but desperately need more state support to meet the needs of our special education, English as a Second Language, and low-income students as well.
Economically, I believe we need to continue to expand state and local governments’ community development toolboxes to allow cities like Holyoke to address blight, prepare and promote parcels of urban land primed for redevelopment, and continue to modernize our transportation and public utilities systems to best serve our businesses, workers, and residents of this city. I would be an enthusiastic supporter of the Neighborhood Stabilization Act - designed specifically to address the economic needs of so-called Gateway Cities like Holyoke - should it fail to pass in this hectic homestretch of the current legislative session.
Duffy
I specifically plan to advocate for full implementation of the Student Opportunity Act (and its funding) and also for changes in our health care system that help maintain essential medical services in our communities as well as systemic changes that minimize (or eliminate) the influence of health insurance companies. I plan to advocate for the Department of Public Health to have true enforcement power when it deems a healthcare facility is an “essential service.” At this time, as we’ve seen with the closure of the Providence Behavioral Health Unit, hospitals can move forward with their plans to deprive a community with services even if they have been deemed essential. If we cannot take action on health care access and public education equity because of revenue shortages, then we need to look at the very unique ways that Massachusetts can tax the wealthiest of our residents and corporations.
There is no need for our state to cut any social safety net programs in this crisis. We must act to close loopholes that allow offshore corporate money to go untaxed and we must pass the “Fair Share Amendment” for increased tax on income over one million dollars. This is a moment to learn from our experiences and then to take action to ensure state and local governments have all the resources they need as support from the federal government is so uncertain.
RP: Why should voters elect you to the 5th Hampden District seat?
Bartley
A lot of reasons! Seriously, I do ask for your consideration at the polls based on my education, legislative experience, my commitment to constituent services and the numerous matters I’ve successfully initiated in Holyoke as five-term city councilor. Importantly, I’m very passionate about my hometown and I intend to represent Holyoke with dedication.
Beaudry
On Sept. 1, Holyoke’s voters have a choice between the status quo and a brighter future for our city. While I have the education and state government experience to hit the ground running on day one, I would also be a fresh set of eyes on Holyoke’s more persistent challenges, as well as opportunities, as the only candidate in this race not currently part of our city’s political leadership.
I will succeed in making meaningful gains for the city and ensure it gets its fair share from Boston, because as a 33-year old homeowner here, failure is simply not an option. I grew up in this city and I hope to grow old in this city. I’m ready to take on this role and give it everything I’ve got for a Holyoke we can all be proud of.
Duffy
The past twenty years have put me on a path right towards being Holyoke’s state representative. In the mid-1990s I was a graduate student at UMass Amherst, where I got a master’s degree in sociology. I studied work and family, specifically how the greater economy impacts the choices families make. There I became involved in my union, rising to leadership and working with other unions to fight the higher education budget cuts of 2000 – 2001. That union work led me to realize the power and impact one could have in local politics and I became involved both in the labor movement and Holyoke municipal politics, serving on local agency boards and getting appointed to the Holyoke Redevelopment Authority.
My research skills and my policy background, combined with my community organizing experience, have served me well in my current role and will continue to serve Holyoke well in the State House. I have spent almost seven years working for Rep. Aaron Vega and, in that time, I have built key relationships and alliances with legislators whose priorities are similar to my own- addressing opportunities and protections for our most vulnerable constituents – from criminal justice reform to equitable cannabis legalization to the Student Opportunity Act. I can now bring these established relationships with me into the work of representing Holyoke, both building on victories and also forging paths to new ones.