Szetela: Do Widzenia! (still via YouTube/ChicopeeTV)

After its sibling city Holyoke had not one but three School Committee vacancies to fill this year, Chicopee is getting in on the action.

Longtime at-large School Committee Chester Szetela resigned October 9 according to a copy of his resignation letter WMP&I obtained. A retired teacher, Szetela was first elected in 2001. That election followed the City Council and School Committee’s failure to fill a vacancy despite 112 votes according to a contemporaneous article from The Springfield Republican. The prior holder of the seat resigned in 2000 to join what is now the Council.

Like Holyoke, Chicopee fills School Committee vacancies with a joint session of the Council and the rump of the School Committee.  While Holyoke has deadlocked to fill vacancies—the Chicopee impasse in 2000-2001 was historic. That Joint Session considered Szetela, but ultimately it was voters who installed him. Whomever is selected to fill Szetela’s seat will serve until 2025 when the seat’s regular election is scheduled.

“I have sincerely enjoyed my tenure for over twenty years as a member of the Chicopee School Committee and the opportunities it has afforded me,” Szetela wrote in his resignation letter to School Superintendent Marcus Ware.

“However, after careful consideration I have decided for my well being [sic] and in the best interest of the committee and the students we serve, now is the time for me to step down,” he continued.

The Chicopee School Committee has 11 members. Two at-large members serve non-concurrent four-year terms while the nine ward members serve two-year terms. The mayor is the chair of the School Committee.

This is a similar setup to Holyoke, on whose charter the Chicopee City Charter is modeled. Chicopee has since added two more wards than the Paper City. The Holyoke City Charter also explicitly bars the mayor from voting at School Committee meetings.

Chicopee has several technocratic elected positions up next year and one is already open. Stanley Iwanicki, the city tax collector, has announced he will not receive reelection. Businessman Rajesh Sanghvi has begun organizing a bid.

A full house of elections next year in Chicopee? (WMP&I)

The mayor, City Council, ward School Committee seats and city treasurer are also on the ballot next year.

Szetela made an impression on many of his colleagues, even those with whom he served only briefly. Before becoming the Ward 6 city councilor, Samuel Shumsky overlapped with Szetela for one term while representing the ward on the School Committee. Yet, he learned a lot from his long-serving colleague.

“Chet’s a great guy and a dear friend,” Shumsky, 23, said in an interview. He said Szetela offered experience both of his years and as a teacher and parent of seven. (Szetela’s daughter is also a long time School Committee member.)

“If I had to pick a piece of advice he gave me on the School Committee, definitely would be thinking like a teacher and what they go through,” Shumsky said.

Now, however, Shumsky, Szetela’s daughter Susan Szetela-Lopes and their 20-odd colleagues have to fill a vacancy. Interested persons can email or mail a letter of interest to the School Department. However, the Joint Session could meet soon.

Chicopee joint sessions have been called since 2000-2001 debacle to successfully fill Committee vacancies. Still, this is the same seat the Council and Committee could not fill two decades ago. Hopefully, the upcoming joint session will not suffer the same as its predecessor and leave the seat empty, forcing voters to ride to the rescue once more.