Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia says despite federal tailwinds, the city is in good fiscal shape and on the upswing, from city schools to policing and more. It’s progress that he says could go even further if the council green-lights a series of reforms that have been put on the table.
City councilors, department leaders and other locals gathered in city hall Tuesday night as Mayor Joshua Garcia gave his annual “State of the City” address – highlighting achievements in The Paper City as well as promoting his own proposals.
Carried by Holyoke Media, the speech covered everything from Holyoke Public Schools soon leaving receivership to the city’s new police chief to voter-approved reforms for the treasurer’s office.
Reforms in general ended up being a central part of Garcia’s address. After promoting work being done to fix sidewalks and roads, the mayor shifted to discussing “internal” fixes for the city’s departments and more.
That includes the “Municipal Finance Modernization Act” – multiple city charter and ordinance changes that, if approved by the city council, would realign departments to “meet 21st century needs,” the 20-page document states.
Garcia says the city has needed such changes “for a very long time.”
“It's going to reorganize city departments, change important job titles and rectify issues with auditing that have been plaguing our city for decades,” he said of the proposal brought forward in April. “It will also increase efficiency and add critical oversight and improve the overall accountability for the people. And it will also create a new position - get this, a ‘Chief Financial Administrative Officer.’ That's right, it's time to talk about the CAFO yet again!”
According to the mayor, the state’s Division of Local Services has recommended Holyoke create a CAFO position for almost 20 years.
It would oversee a newly-renamed “Department of Administration and Finance,” also mentioned in the act - responsible for “the overall budgetary, financial and personnel administration of the City.”
The reforms would also allegedly address concerns raised by audits of the city in the past, improve constituent services and reduce reliance on contractors for “basic functions,” a summary of the act claims.
The improvements would come as the city, like many western Mass. communities, braces for federal funding and grant cuts.
Earlier this year, Holyoke learned at least $20 million in grant funding was to be rescinded – money that would have funded urban forestry plans, a new fuel depot for city vehicles, and other infrastructure projects.
“There's likely to be more upheaval in the months ahead, with things like Community Development Block grant money currently on the chopping block,” the mayor said. “If this succeeds, this means we can lose out on these important funds that we've benefited [from] for many years, to support our food banks and housing initiatives and programs that protect the health and safety of the public - after school programs, domestic violence shelters and so much more; things that give us the flexibility we need to take care of our most vulnerable people.”
The speech also featured the mayor’s FY26 budget - $180 million, up from $172 million from last year.
According to the mayor, some of the biggest drivers included the city’s local contribution to schools - increasing by over 5 percent, totaling $23.8 million, while transportation costs are up 10 percent, totaling $12.7 million.
On the city website and Facebook, the mayor says the budget would also cut at least 18 positions across city departments. The mayor’s office says 13 of those jobs are unfilled, while employees occupying the remaining five would be offered jobs elsewhere within the city.
The proposed cuts would be due in-part to “budgetary constraints” but are also “part of a much larger plan to create government efficiency,” a spokesperson for the mayor’s office tells WAMC.
