Garcia talks to his supporters at his reelection campaign rally about his first term accomplishments and priorities for his next term.
Reminder Publishing photo by Tyler Garnet
HOLYOKE — The community, supporters and public officials joined Mayor Joshua Garcia as he officially launched his reelection campaign at a community rally on Feb. 27 at LightHouse Holyoke, formerly Gateway City Arts.
All residents and stakeholders were invited to attend and hear more about his vision for Holyoke’s future.
The room was filled with several current and former elected officials from across the state including Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi, state Sen. Adam Gomez (D-Springfield), state Reps. Pat Duffy (D-Holyoke) and Carlos Gonzalez (D-Springfield) and multiple Holyoke city councilors.
In mid-January, Garcia announced his bid for reelection, emphasizing the transformative progress made during his administration over the past three years.
Reminder Publishing photo by Tyler Garnet
Guided by his principles of connecting, building and growing, Garcia expressed his unwavering commitment to ensuring a stronger, more unified Holyoke for generations to come.
He said, “Serving as mayor of Holyoke has been the greatest honor of my life. Together, we’ve made remarkable strides, and I am dedicated to continuing the work of building a stronger, more vibrant Holyoke for all who live, work, and visit our city.”
Reminder Publishing photo by Tyler Garnet
Mayor Garcia’s administration has focused on strengthening the city’s infrastructure, fostering economic development, and improving the quality of life for residents. Through community collaboration and strategic investments, the city has undergone significant transformation.
Central to Garcia’s vision is strengthening internal controls, reducing liability to public resources and modernizing fiscal management.
Under his leadership, Holyoke has brought its financial operations into the 21st century, implementing updated systems, policies and oversight to better support city departments working to enhance residents’ quality of life.
Looking ahead, Garcia’s priorities include expanding diverse housing opportunities, advancing climate resiliency and fostering sustainable economic growth.
His vision for Holyoke’s future includes leveraging public-private partnerships and maximizing the city’s assets; affordable real estate, a skilled workforce, low utility costs, and its strategic geographical location, to position Holyoke as a regional economic hub.
Garcia stated, “We’re breathing new life into Holyoke by capitalizing on our unique assets, sturdy mill buildings, a historic canal system, and low energy and water costs. These features, rooted in Holyoke’s legacy as America’s first planned industrial city, are attracting clean-tech industries and future-focused jobs. Holyoke is rising, but the work is far from over. Together, we will continue connecting, building and growing our city, ensuring it remains a place everyone is proud to call home.”
Garcia, who made history in 2021 when he became the city’s first leader of Puerto Rican heritage of the city, reflected on some of his accomplishments from his first term.
Some of those accomplishments included ending state receivership in the city’s school district and entering local control, auditing the Police Department, hiring a new chief of police, securing $200 million for a new middle school and upgrades across the district and pushing for the treasurer position to go from an elected position to an appointed one.
As City Council President Tessa Murphy-Romboletti said at the event, “I’m excited for what the next four years will look like. We have a lot of really great plans to modernize our municipal finances. Who doesn’t love that?”
Cocchi also stated his full support for Garcia and said, “I just think he’s done such an unbelievable job in transparency. He’s done an unbelievable job of listening to the people of this great city. I can’t think of a better thing to kick us off, get us all in the good spirit of rallying around what I consider to be the next generation of greatness coming out of the mayor’s office with Mayor Josh Garcia.”
At press time, no one has announced to challenge Garcia as Holyoke residents will vote for a mayor this November.
