Springfield candidates talk campaigns at sheriff’s picnic

Nicole Coakley, candidate for state representative in the 11th Hampden District, joined the latest episode of “So That Reminds Me” at Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi’s annual cookout.
Reminder Publishing photo by Dennis Hackett

SPRINGFIELD — For the latest episode of “So That Reminds Me,” the hosts took the podcast on the road to Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi’s annual cookout on Aug. 19.

Among the attendees were several candidates seeking election to positions representing Springfield, including state Rep. Angelo Puppolo Jr., Michael Lachenmeyer, who is challenging Puppolo for his 12th Hampden District seat, which includes parts of Springfield, East Longmeadow, Wilbraham and Monson; and Nicole Coakley, who is facing off against incumbent state Rep. Bud Williams and fellow challenger Johnnie McKnight for the 11th Hampden District seat, which covers parts of Springfield. Candidates’ interviews are listed below in alphabetical order.

Nicole Coakley

Coakley said she wanted to run because things are changing with incumbents being defeated across the country.

“It’s time for change, it is time for change, as you look across the U.S., those incumbents that have been there for years are being knocked out, and that tells us that our communities are waking up and they’re realizing that the same old good old boy club is not doing what our families need, so it’s time for them to go,” she said.

Coakley said some of the biggest issues residents have brought up on the campaign trail are around affordable housing and economic stability.

“So many of them are worried about losing their homes, not being able to pay their mortgage because they are trying to figure out, ‘am I going to pay my mortgage or am I gonna put food on my table, or how am I gonna do this?’” Coakley said.

She said she knows firsthand about what the rental market has become.

“When I went from an apartment that I moved into where I started out at $950, went to $1,500, and on Aug. 1 it’s $2,200 for the same apartment that I’ve been living in for over 10 years, it’s an issue. But do you blame the landlords? No, because things are increasing for them too,” she said. “So how do we work with homeowners and homebuyers to help our community to rise? We have to continue to figure that out.”

Coakley also talked about the importance of supporting the youth.

“A lot of them need guidance. We have to make sure that we are not too busy that we can’t support our youth because they are the next generation that’s coming up, so when we’re gone, it’s gonna be on them, so we gotta make sure that us as mentors are doing what’s needed to make sure that our youth are being met with all the necessities they need to be successful,” she added.

Coakley said the best way to improve things in Western Massachusetts is to give the community a voice at the table.

“I’m not afraid to advocate for the need of my community, and a lot of times that doesn’t happen because people’s hands are tied. My hands are not tied. When I tell you ‘Nicole Coakley worked her way from the bottom to the top,’ I don’t owe nobody anything but God, that’s who helped me get here,” she said. “So, when I get there, I’m bringing my whole community with me.”

She added that work needs to continue to be done in her district beyond photo opportunities in Mason Square.

“Right now, we don’t get no funding here in the city of Springfield, especially in the 11th Hampden District. If you look at the Mason Square area, it’s going downhill,” Coakley said. “These are lives that matter, these are people that need help, we have real reality situations that we need to focus on; it is not a photo opp for me.”

Candidate for the 12th Hampden District seat Michael Lachenmeyer joined hosts Dennis Hackett and Ryan Feyre on the lates episode of “So That Reminds Me,” live from Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi’s annual cookout.

Reminder Publishing photo by Chris Maza

Michael Lachenmeyer

Lachenmeyer said he was spurred to run after visiting Puppolo’s office in 2025 to lobby for singlepayer universal healthcare, when Puppolo’s staff said he would not go on the record supporting it.

“That frustrated me because I believe that as a politician, your job is to fight for the ideas you support, or if you don’t believe in them, then tell your constituents why; let’s have an honest conversation instead of kind of just trying to tell me what I want to hear,” he said.

With few candidates running against Puppolo, Lachenmeyer said it was a good time to make a run against him.

“I saw nobody had run against him since 2006 in the primary, so I figured that if I didn’t run against him, nobody was likely to, and I decided that this would be how I could make a positive impact on the community and do something to push forward the values that I believe in,” he said.

Lachenmeyer also said that his campaign has featured a large volunteer effort.

“My campaign has done a ton of canvassing; we’ve knocked more than 10,000 doors at this point and we’ve mobilized an army of volunteers to help us,” he said. “My opponent’s got a lot of money, but we have people, and that is how I plan to win this race.”

He said the issue he has heard the most on the campaign trail is about affordability.

“The number one issue people talk about is affordability, whether it’s young people who can’t afford to buy a house or old people who are worried about keeping their houses because property taxes keep exploding,” he said.

Lachenmeyer said he had three policies for solving the affordability crisis: raising taxes on the wealthy, creating a singlepayer universal healthcare program and to make utility companies publicly owned. He also said he wanted to ban stock trading in the Legislature, pass the audit of the Legislature and prevent representatives from becoming lobbyists for five years after their terms expire.

Lachenmeyer said that by increasing taxes on the wealthy, it would support schools across the state.

“I believe that we should be raising taxes on the wealthiest people in this state and the wealthiest corporations so that we can fund the schools without asking for higher property taxes, and so that we can create a better baseline that’s more equitable for people across the commonwealth,” he said.

Angelo Puppolo Jr.

Puppolo said the district needs an experienced leader to continue to advocate for it.

“We’ve been working very, very hard, not taking anything for granted, but I think — especially now in this time that we’re in — it’s critically important that we continue to have strong, experienced leadership, someone that knows how to get things done, someone that can go to Boston and deliver,” he said.

Puppolo highlighted the $775,000 he has secured for Rick’s Place in Wilbraham since he has been elected.

“We need to make sure that we continue to have somebody that’s gonna go — not only ask for money in Boston — but to continue to advocate for issues that are important to us, whether it’s affordability, whether it’s housing,” he said.

Puppolo said that constituent services have been a hallmark of his time in the Legislature as he has maintained a district office since he was elected.

“I’ve had one in the heart of my district in Wilbraham since day one and that is there to serve constituents. We’re there, my staff is there, we help with Department of Revenue issues, Registry of Motor Vehicles issues, housing issues, unemployment issues, we’re working on a lot for reforming healthcare,” he said. “We’re there, we take the calls and we’re in the community, and it’s like having a town meeting every day of the week because we have a district office that’s open.”

Puppolo said that he still enjoys being in the community and meeting with constituents.

“I enjoy going out into the community meeting people. I go to events, this is a great event — the sheriff’s cookout every year — I don’t miss it, going back to Sheriff [Michael] Ashe’s when he had the clam bake every year. These type of events are critically important, so I don’t hide, you know where to find me, people know where to find me, I’m accessible, I’m available,” he said. “My approach hasn’t changed, if anything, it’s become more familiar because you get to know so many people.”

Puppolo also talked about a recent effort to clean up the former Sears property on Boston Road in Springfield.

“Sears is still an eyesore, and I saw it was getting way out of control. There was a lot of overgrowth, you had issues relative to trash and debris, there was all kinds of graffiti on the building; there was holes in there, people were sleeping in there; they were breaking into the building, needles, all kinds of just garbage around there,” he said.

Puppolo said the owners eventually began remediating the property after he put pressure on them.

“They’ve taken some great first steps, and I’m gonna continue to stay on them until that property is developed,” he said.

Puppolo said he also filed legislation targeting vacant commercial properties that are larger than 5 acres. The legislation would allow cities and towns to go after the owners of these properties if they become blighted or if they feature public safety issues.

The hosts also sat down with Ward 6 City Councilor Victor Davila and previous City Council candidate Juan Latorre at the cookout. Those interviews, along with interviews with candidates for several statewide office can be found at thereminder.com/ourpodcast or by searching “So That Reminds Me” on your favorite podcasting platform. A story about candidates for the statewide offices can also be found in this edition of The Reminder and at thereminder.com.