UPDATED 11/9/15 5:41PM: To reflect that O’Connell did give an interview on Election night to The Reminder. Afterglow 2015 is a series analyzing the results of the 2015 municipal elections in the Pioneer Valley and beyond. HOLYOKE—Music blared, drinks flowed and hugs abounded. In the
UPDATED 4:19PM: To include details of another candidacy for council president reported by Masslive. While Tuesday’s election results rocked the composition of the City Council in Springfield a little bit, one change not in the offing is in the body’s leadership. In a prepared release,
It’s ELECTION DAY in Chicopee, Holyoke, Springfield, West Springfield and Westfield! You’re reading this and you have not voted, turn off your smartphone or close your laptop and get to the polls! Find your polling place by entering your address into this nifty form at
While the mayor’s race may be somewhat anticlimactic, the City Council races are not. Moreover, the City Council is an integral body in Springfield government. True, its power and its potential are weighted down by misperceptions of its power, even among its own members. However,
WEST SPRINGFIELD—It was the first election Michael Finn had lost in a 13 year political career. After an upstart candidate zoomed past him in the September mayoral preliminary, Finn, a three-term state representative and former Town Council president, vowed not to go down without a
Holyoke is at a crossroads. Intractable problems of poverty, disparity and want remain as it has in ilk cities for some time. Yet of late, there is a spark of life among the citizenry and in the earth of the Paper City. People are engaged
Before the casino referendum vote in July of 2013, we urged Springfield residents to vote with their whole heart, their whole soul and their whole mind. It was crucial that they rise and register their opinion that day. Tuesday’s mayoral election in Springfield, may not
UPDATED 11/2/15 1:07PM: To add additional details to paragraph 2 under the Ward 6 endorsement. The future of the city of Holyoke is about more than just the lives of its residents. Like our home base of Springfield, the restoration and revitalization of Holyoke is
WEST SPRINGFIELD—When William Reichelt, the town attorney, placed first in the mayoral preliminary two months ago that eliminated former mayor Gregory Neffinger and left State Representative Michael Finn in second, he had turned the election narrative here on its head. Facing Finn one-on-one, however, Reichelt
In Pioneer Valley cities this municipal election year are a number of questions submitted to the voters. Some are binding and some are not, but all could have an impact on how Holyoke and Springfield and how they each govern themselves.