Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia sat down with Reminder Publishing hosts Dennis Hackett and Tyler Garnet for an episode of So That Reminds Me.
Reminder Publishing photo by Chris Maza
HOLYOKE — On the latest episode of “So That Reminds Me,” hosts Dennis Hackett and Tyler Garnet sat down with Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia to talk about his new term so far, the city’s finances, data centers, recent development news and much more.
In January, Garcia was sworn in for his second four-year term. He stated that he felt “really good” about the first seven months so far and acknowledged that the city has been able to pass initiatives and other important changes after the results of the recent election that welcomed new faces to the City Council.
“Throughout the first four years, it was a difficult path to carve out with certain councilors who were on the council that were engaging in some level of obstruction, for whatever that reason might be or might look like,” Garcia said. “We’ve been able to make incremental progress the first four years; little changes here and there, and now it’s like, the floodgates opened up, and we’ve been able to move much quicker.”
Garcia also reflected on the Holyoke fiscal year 2027 $213 million budget that the City Council passed and went into effect July 1. He said there were some challenges due to rising costs, but he was pleased with the final approved budget.
Garcia stated. “As a municipal manager, the fact that I was able to get the budget balanced allows me to put my head down at night, but I do not lose sight of the reality that there is an effect on the taxpayers, the economy, concerns around the elderly on fixed income. That weighs heavily on me all the time.”
Since taking office, Garcia said he has prioritized strengthening Holyoke’s financial management by including advanced municipal finance modernization initiatives. In February, the Holyoke City Council approved provisions to the city’s Municipal Finance Modernization Act before Garcia eventually signed it into law. The act created leadership positions including the chief administrative financial officer.
The creation of the CAFO position was designed to provide executive leadership over the city’s financial operations. On July 27, Garcia announced that Timothy Plante will lead the city’s modernized Finance Department as Holyoke’s first CAFO.
Garcia also highlighted voters’ decision to change the treasurer position from an elected to an appointed position. The city’s tax collector is currently being trained to become the city’s first treasurer/collector. There is also a new comptroller position as well as new faces to fill the city auditor role and other key leadership roles.
Garcia said the overall benefits of the Municipal Finance Modernization Act will not be seen for a little bit. “We’re building an airplane as we fly it. We won’t really start seeing the benefits until it’s fully executed and built. However, the team is working really well together. They understand the end goal and have really taken ownership of their roles.”
On the topic of tax overrides, Garcia acknowledged that situations that happened in South Hadley or Easthampton could happen in Holyoke, but he said he is not too worried at the moment.
“Things can change. The workforce health situation can change, what’s happening with the economy can change, and next thing you know, you get that surprise email about ‘hey, your rate is going up X percent, and you have to find that somewhere in the budget,” Garcia explained. “I can’t sit here and confidently say it will never happen to us, but I can point to things that exist in our city that I can tell you if it were to happen an unforeseen circumstance, we’re very blessed in the city of Holyoke to have things at play to help us respond to those unknowns and be resilient so we’re not putting unnecessary pressure to the rate payers.”
A highly contentious item that recently took place in Holyoke was the discussion about data centers. The City Council recently approved defining their use and banning any future developments of the building in the city while still allowing the Massachusetts Green High-Performance Computing Center to continue as a permitted use up to 12 megawatts.
Garcia applauded the City Council for being proactive in case any data center proposals came in front of the city.
Although he said there were a lot of public relations problems, miscommunications and misleading headlines, Garcia said the final result was good.
“People are confused with the term ‘ban.’ We can’t just ban things; it’s temporary. It’s a ban, but it’s still temporary in nature, and the intent behind the current ban or if it was a moratorium is to set up our community to put up the bumpers and the parameters and help navigate, set the tone, the expectations so that when there is a party that wants to do a data center.”
He said the concerns that residents brought up, including noise complaints, environmental concerns, and an increase in rates, were valid. He added that these discussions have led to a temporary ad-hoc committee, which will study the potential impacts of commercial data center development in Holyoke.
“I can tell you right now, if there is going to be harm, then we’re not interested in the city of Holyoke,” Garcia said. “I am very well interested in continuing to explore and pursue any opportunity that helps me achieve growth within my city when it comes to revenue, but also, I’m not willing to poison the well for lack of a better term for it.”
Garcia also talked about his presence on social media. He said he likes to utilize platforms like Facebook to share news, whether good or bad.
“People say you’re not active enough, then they say you’re too active,” Garcia said. “I’m all about transparency and accountability.”
To hear the full episode and other discussed topics, visit thereminder.com/our-podcast or search “So That Reminds Me” on your favorite podcasting platform.
