This year, the Advocate is covering the Valley’s mayoral races a little differently. We’ve asked each candidate the same four questions, which we hope will provoke thoughtful and illuminating answers — with a little editing for length and clarity.
This week we quizzed the candidates in the Holyoke mayoral election: current mayor Alex Morse, 26, who is wrapping up his second term, and challenger Fran O’Connell, 56, a Holyoke business owner and the founder of O’Connell Care at Home, who is running for office for the first time.
You have $100,000 free in the budget and you get to decide how it is spent. What department — or departments — would you give this money to?
Morse: If that money popped up unrestricted, I would focus it into economic development in the form of grants for start-up businesses. It’s important to make start-up money available to people who are ready to take their entrepreneurial ideas to the next level. For example, the SPARK program, which we announced this spring, is designed to help create 300 new businesses in Holyoke in the next 10 years. It’s centered on democratizing innovation. We want to invest in people’s ideas here in the community. Maybe with that $100,000 we could do a business start-up competition of some sort.
O’Connell: Springfield has put a receivership program in place to help turn around blighted properties, and I think they’re doing a phenomenal job. Holyoke has a similar program, but it’s run haphazardly. If I had $100,000, I would invest in Holyoke’s receivership program for blighted buildings and get that program self-funding. We have a lot of properties here that have stopped paying taxes, and they have multiple code enforcement problems. If the program is run well, it can net out money, since those properties come back onto the tax roll. It would be the gift that keeps on giving.
What is your opinion of a flat tax rate, in which businesses would pay the same property taxes as residents?
Morse: We have worked hard to have a fair tax rate and put a strategic plan in place to work toward a flat tax. We’ve seen it go to a split tax rate over the past few decades, which has kept resident tax rates low at the expense of businesses. Over time, when we see an expansion of our tax base and a growing population of both businesses and homeowners, we will have more ability to shrink the gap between the commercial and residential rate.
But if we pursued that immediately, it would mean that residential tax rates would go up drastically. Many of our residents are on fixed incomes, and it wouldn’t be good to put that burden so quickly on the backs of homeowners. So, right now I wouldn’t do it.
O’Connell: In theory, a flat tax rate is brilliant. But if you reduce the commercial rate, the residential tax rate needs to go up. To get out of this dilemma, we need property values to increase. In order for that to happen, our school system needs to be functioning properly, and we need more businesses coming in to share the tax burden. We need to do a better job touting Holyoke’s assets. No other city in the area has their own hydroelectric dam and their own utility company with cheap green energy. We’re centrally located, close to market, with fiber optics, good infrastructure, and available building space. Our platform is enviable — we just need a leader knows how to take advantage of those assets.
How would you address problems in the school system?
Morse: The school district has struggled for many years, and we inherited great challenges four years ago. Many of them remain, but we have made some progress. Under the state receivership, we have a focus on growing programs that are succeeding and eliminating those that aren’t. We have fewer than 6,000 students in the public schools right now, so we have a small enough student body to make a real impact. I am optimistic and hopeful about how it will go. I went through this school system from kindergarten, and I have nieces and nephews in school here. I stand ready to work directly with the receiver and our community partners.
O’Connell: It’s a complete travesty that our schools have been taken over by the state. It’s true that the schools have been in trouble for years, and right now we have to work with the state on this. But it’s still our town, and we have to solve our problems from within. We have a very high poverty rate, for example, which correlates directly to MCAS scores. As mayor, I’m definitely going to attend all of the School Committee meetings, which my opponent has not done. I will be present. We will need to give teachers and principals more autonomy with what happens in their buildings. We will also need to cut some top-heavy administrative costs and funnel more money to teachers for student activities.
What area or areas in town are in need of environmental improvements?
Morse: We have been really effective at converting empty mill buildings into galleries, businesses, and restaurants at the core of the city. What we’ve been working on now is a comprehensive plan for South Holyoke — that area needs better housing development and upgrades to the parks. Projects like that provide neighborhood stability and opportunities for site clean-ups.
Green energy is one of our competitive advantages. It’s why the computing center is here, and why we’re getting more green businesses to come to Holyoke. In addition to our hydroelectric capacity, we’re about to announce an incentive program for commercial businesses to take on rooftop solar. We want to be the first carbon-neutral city in the Commonwealth, and we’re well on our way there.
O’Connell: Holyoke has so much opportunity to grow a walkable urban downtown. But in order to do the good things, you need to be fiscally solid. For me, that’s the most exciting part of running for mayor — giving people hope for more jobs, opportunities, and solid fiscal ground.
We have one of the most creative and innovative minds in Holyoke Gas & Electric. I would love to see them explore solar energy for residential and industrial use. Also, we definitely need to connect to the bike path, for commuting as well as recreational purposes. And as Holyoke becomes a more walkable city, hopefully people will be taking more buses and public transportation. I would love to see more of that.•
