Springfield City Councilor At-Large Jose Delgado (left) sat down with Dennis Hackett (center) and Lauren LeBel at the Sheriff’s Picnic on Aug. 20.
Reminder Publishing photo by Ryan Feyre
Despite it being a rainy, cold afternoon on Aug. 20, Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi’s annual picnic attracted more than 1,000 people, consisting of local and state elected officials, community members and more.
In an effort to speak with some of those individuals, Reminder Publishing took its podcast, “So That Reminds Me,” on the road.
Hosts Tyler Garnet, Dennis Hackett, Chris Maza and I sat down with over a dozen people to talk about a variety of topics going on within their communities, along with some of the upcoming races and challenges to be expected in towns and cities that have an election this year.
From Springfield, City Councilor At-Large Jose Delgado, who is currently serving his first term on the council, also serves as the chair of the Audit Committee and the Digital Equity Working Group and talked about the work he has done so far.
Working with the digital equity group for the past year and a half, he said they have finalized a report that essentially covers some of the equity gaps when it comes to accessibility, affordability and education around internet broadband. And while this work had been going on prior to him, he noted that he worked — and succeeded — in pushing it over the finish line.
Delgado also passed a skills-based hiring ordinance. In the private sector, he said jobs are being opened to people who have relevant skills to those with college degrees.
“We have a lot of talent in the city of Springfield, but we might have talent that are not necessarily going to college now. And so, I want to make sure that anybody who has relevant experience for any of the jobs in the city of Springfield, who have everything but the degree, they should have an opportunity to interview to show what they can offer for a position,” he said.
He noted that with the cost of college nowadays, some kids are picking up trades or picking up other avenues.
“With the support of my colleagues, we passed that ordinance and we’ll be working with the city of Springfield, looking at specific jobs,” he added. While some jobs — like law and engineering — require degrees, Delgado said he doesn’t think all need a degree, but a relevant experience.
On the Audit Committee, he shared that they have been looking at several ways to make efficiencies in city government and saving taxpayers money.
Before going to the ballot box, Delgado encourages residents to do their research on who is running for any office — incumbent or not.
Delgado is one of eight running for five City Council at-large seats.
Ward 6 Springfield City Councilor Victor Davila shared that this year, he is concentrating on the creation of a pilot revenue committee, which he suggested to the City Council president. “We are looking to bring more revenue into the city,” he said. “The city needs revenue. We need cash.”
With that money, Davila said it pays for services — teachers, snow removals and upkeep of sidewalks and streets, to name a few.
“We’re OK this year in services, but we need to start thinking ahead,” he added.
Another priority of his is trying to bring property taxes down. Davila noted that the property taxes in the city have been going up “incredibly fast” post COVID-19, so looking at ways to keep the taxes down.
Other priorities include continuing to support the Police and Fire departments, so they have the tools they need to protect the people of Springfield.
Throughout his time on the council, Davila said he has done two things that he is proud of. The first was passing an ordinance that if there is a vacancy on the City Council at the ward level, a special election will take place to fill that seat.
The second was passing an ordinance that allows veterans to have free on-street meter parking if they have a valid MassDOT license plate, as a way to say thank you to the veterans.
Davila has two challengers in the upcoming election.
Reminder Publishing photo by Lauren LeBel
Springfield resident and School Committee candidate Ayanna Crawford hopped on the mic to talk about some issues the district is facing.
“As a former educator myself and as a Springfield Public School graduate, I think some of the bigger issues are around student mental health and social supports,” she said.
She noted that the challenges that were present coming out of the coronavirus pandemic are still prevalent today, and she would like to see more support for this.
Something else she would like to see talked more about this school year is how to address the schools in the district that are over 100 years old. While she is unsure what the plan looks like, she is hopeful that they can have a conversation about bringing those schools offline and rebuilding them and/or looking at the infrastructure to those specific buildings.
She said they also need to look at teacher retention and compensation and build in some incentives, while also looking at a way for the community to partner with the schools, whether that be coming in and doing a financial literacy class or something as basic as coming in and teaching a child how to tie a tie.
Crawford has one opponent in the November election.
West Springfield Mayor William Reichelt, who ran unopposed in the last two elections, now has an opponent. When asked how it changes his campaign strategy, he said, “I would say the only thing it really changes is kind of expanding on what we’ve done in the past, especially that first year.”
Reichelt, who was elected to his first term in 2015, plans to host a campaign kick-off in the next few weeks. From there, he said his team will do the things they usually do — connecting with voters, talking with people and explaining what they have done over the past 10 years and his vision for the next 10 years and beyond.
One of Reichelt’s biggest projects and focuses throughout his time as mayor has been affordability and making sure West Springfield continues to have the lowest average single-family tax bill in the region for cities on “our side of the river” and similar size communities, he shared.
“At the same time, having with that lowest average single-family tax bill, making sure we have the best schools — and we do — in the region,” he said. “Making sure that while we want to be affordable, we also want to make sure that we have incredible schools and West Springfield’s always been known for that and we’re continuing it.”
He noted that Philip G. Coburn Elementary School opened a few years ago and the city is looking to build another new school, John R. Fausey Elementary School, which he said is one of the “best schools in the state for elementary,” in the coming years.
Reichelt added that the new roundabout was nearly a $4 million investment to the downtown. “We’ve already seen the reinvigoration with new restaurants, more people, a lot more beauty down there than there used to be, so a real highlight to the community,” he said.
Reminder Publishing photo by Lauren LeBel
Westfield Mayor Michael McCabe, who also has one challenger in the upcoming election, talked about some of the successes the city has had under his leadership.
When looking at the city’s final report for fiscal year 2025, McCabe said it talks about redoing 30 roads last year and completing a levy project that hadn’t been done in 70 years.
“We’re now embarking on a new initiative to safeguard our dams — both the Arm Brook dam and the Powdermill Brook dam — are under contract with the feds and with the city of Westfield in order to restore them to help. They’re not in bad shape, but we’d like to increase the footprint, specifically of the Arm Brook dam,” he explained.
McCabe said the city finally received a “good” DOT number, which means the state has agreed to pay for — in its entirety, including design — a new system for Exit 41.
He said groundwork for the $11 million project of the athletic fields at Westfield High School has also begun. This “state-of-the art athletic complex” will take care of sporting events and will be large enough to serve “dual purpose roles” with Westfield State University and be open for public use when games are not being played.
McCabe noted that the fields are not being paid for by taxpayer’s funds.
As this is McCabe’s fourth time running for mayor, he said he now feels “comfortable” campaigning.
“When you look at the city, you have to say that the present administration or the current leadership [actually seems] to be doing things pretty well,” he said, referencing the roads and new sidewalks, among other successes.
Overall, McCabe said, “I’m really kind of happy where we are.”
To hear the full conversations with more local and state elected officials, head to thereminder.com/our-podcast or search for “So That Reminds Me” on your favorite podcast platform.
