Page 26 - BusinessWest August 31, 2020
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 Fenton
Continued from page 21
commercial real-estate market was doing much better than it had in the decades leading up to 2020, and then the pandemic hit, and like every other place, not only this country but around the globe, it’s a completely different environment now.
“There’s no doubting that Spring- field was hitting its stride, and the pandemic has thrown us a curveball,” he went on. “Everything from stalled progress at MGM to questions now about development in the area around the casino, to Worthington Street and what’s going to happen there, to losing Big Mamou’s ... there’s a lot of losses that will have to be made up when we get to the other end of this pandemic.”
Fenton said he’s looking forward to serving the city as it works to recover from those losses. To explain this pas- sion, he flashed back to 2009 and his decision to seek public office. Actually, he started the discussion with a differ- ent decision — the one to attend law school at Western New England, which offered him a full scholarship, instead of Boston College, where he thought he was headed.
That decision, which he now counts among the most important (and best) of his life, brought him back home. And as he was making that decision, his cousin sent him a news article detailing how Springfield was going
through a change in its charter, moving from nine at-large city councilors to a 13-member board, with eight of them representing wards. And this started talk of a possible run for one of those seats.
“I was a political science major,
but I never thought about a career in politics — I didn’t want a career in poli- tics,” he explained, adding that a City Council seat wasn’t a career, but it was “a great opportunity to meet people and serve the city I love.”
So he ran, launching his career just a few weeks after graduating from Providence College. And again, to his surprise, he prevailed against a num- ber of opponents with better name rec- ognition and better credentials.
He now represents Ward 2, which includes Hungry Hill, East Springfield, and Atwater Park, balancing a long list of city responsibilities with an equally hectic schedule within his law practice. “I’ve been successful at balancing the two because I’m extremely passionate about both of them,” he told Business- West. “Politics, and elected office, is not my career, and it will never be my career — but I really enjoy serving my city in this capacity.”
With that, he explained not just why he’s a finalist for the Alumni Achieve- ment Award, but why he’s now been a finalist several times. v
—George O’Brien
Leahy
Continued from page 24
this country from Ireland, arrived with a strong work ethic, and passed on to his children some strong advice about service to the community.
“When my father arrived here, he worked in Boston, and he heard stories about [former Mayor] James Michael Curley and other politicians,” Leahy explained. “He was always talking about politics, and he loved politics. I was named James Michael Leahy, and I’m pretty sure that has something to with James Michael Curley.
“My dad always talked about giv- ing back and how America gave him what he has,” Leahy went on. “He was always stressing two things — one, that you had to give back, and two, if you’re going to live somewhere and raise your family there, you should be a cog in the wheel; you should be part of the community.”
That mindset was reinforced by his mother, Mary Ellen, a prolific volun- teer, he continued, adding that it was only a few years after graduating from Westfield State that he first decided to seek one of Holyoke’s at-large council seats. He remembers the time well; he was not only running for office that November, but getting married that same month. And his birthday and his his fiancée’s birthday were the same day, Nov. 19.
“I was thinking, ‘this could be the
best month of my life,’” he recalled. “And then I thought, ‘if I lose the elec- tion, that will put a damper on things.’”
But he didn’t lose, and he’s gone on to win every two years since. But, as noted, his work within the city goes
far beyond City Council chambers
and City Hall — and to institutions
like the merry-go-round, the children’s museum, the YMCA, and especially the parade, which he became involved at the behest, if one can call it that, of his father-in-law, attorney Peter Brady.
“He was very active on the parade committee,” Leahy recalled. “I was still in college when I started dating his daughter; I can remember him hand- ing me an application and saying, ‘fill this out — if you’re going to be part of this family, you’re going to be part of the parade committee.’”
And he has been, serving in a num- ber of capacities, from board president to his current assignment, co-market- ing director. He is one of many working hard to help the parade bounce back from a year when it had to be canceled — for the first time anyone can remem- ber — because of the pandemic.
No, ‘at-large’ has nothing to do with Leahy’s size. But you could say it has everything to do with his involvement in — and impact on — this historic city, which continues to be very large indeed. v
—George O’Brien
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