HOLYOKE — Two vacancies have come up on the Holyoke School Committee and the city is now inviting interested residents of Ward 1 and Ward 4 to apply for interim appointment to the seats.
Elected School Committee representatives Gustavo Romero of Ward 1 and Gloria Caballero-Roca of Ward 4 both gave resignation letters to Mayor Joshua Garcia, chair of the School Committee. Both representatives cited they could not commit the same time and energy toward the position.
“I am no longer able to devote the time and energy required to fulfill my duties to the best of my abilities,” said a statement from Romero.
Caballero-Roca added in her letter she had started a new job as programs director at Homework House, a nonprofit working to support students in thriving academically and emotionally through after school programming. Because of this hiring, Caballero-Roca said her new job “crosses the line of conflict of interest.”
The individuals appointed for these two vacancies will serve out the remainder of two-year terms as members of the committee. When those terms are completed, the ward seats will be filled by the voters at a regular election.
“I have enjoyed working with Gustavo and Gloria on the School Board. Their voices have been critical in getting us to where we are today with working on the transition to local control of our schools,” Garcia said.
Garcia noted the departures do not interfere with the transition process but he hopes to move quickly in filling the now vacant seats so the School Committee can continue forward momentum in its Capacity Building Plan for local control which was just approved at the Aug. 19 meeting.
Interested candidates are asked to send letters of interest, accompanied by a resume to the city of Holyoke Personnel Office, 20 Korean Veterans Plaza, Holyoke, MA, 01040. Letters of interest can also be submitted by email to personnel@holyoke.org.
Candidates will be interviewed at an Oct. 2 joint meeting of the Holyoke School Committee, City Council and Mayor. Applications will be accepted up until then, although candidates are encouraged to submit their interest sooner. The successful applicant will serve until succeeded at the next local election.
Community meets on search for new police chief
Residents had the opportunity to speak with the city’s Police Chief Search Committee inside Holyoke Media on Aug. 27 to provide direct feedback and thoughts on what they want to see in the city’s next police chief.
Former Police Chief David Pratt officially stepped down on July 31 after announcing his decision to retire in May. Holyoke Police Capt. Isaias Cruz will serve as an interim chief until a permanent chief is named.
The public listening session hosted by the Search Committee, tasked with evaluating candidates for the new police chief, saw residents express their ideal wants and needs for a new police candidate.
The committee has engaged the services of Public Safety Consultants LLC to assist the team. One of the firm’s principals, Russ Stevens, participated in the listening session.
Public Safety Consultants offers a wide range of specialized services, including personnel management to municipal fire and police departments in Massachusetts.
City Personnel Director Kelly Curran told Reminder Publishing following the public listening session that she thought it went well.
“I think there could have been more people from the public there, but I think the people that participated online and in person said a lot of the same things and have great feedback that was aligned with what was shared in the survey that we sent out,” she said. “Folks want to see more police involvement in the community. They want things done about crime and drugs and someone with a knowledge of Holyoke.”
Focus will now move to interviews as the application process closed with the end of August. With a handful of candidates applied, the committee will begin interviews and narrow the options down to three candidates for the mayor by mid to late October. The final three candidates will meet publicly with Garcia at a later date.
The full listening session will be available to view in the Holyoke Media recording archives.
