Page 18 - BusinessWest March 7, 2022
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                  Mayor
Continued from page 16
from BusinessWest in 2015. Meanwhile, each of these stops seemed to bring him closer to that ‘someday’ when his friends and family thought he would run for mayor, and that day came last year, and an election that would determine a succes- sor to Alex Morris, who left Holyoke City Hall to become town manager of Provincetown.
“I started getting the questions again ... it was election time, and people were saying ‘why aren’t you running for mayor?’” he recalled. “My answer was that I liked my career track — it was great being a town manager of a town where I could go home at the end of the day and spend time with my family.”
It was with some prodding from his wife, Ste- fany, (Garcia actually called it an “endorsement”) that he was eventually swayed to become the sev- enth candidate to declare for the position.
“That endorsement really sealed the deal for me,” he told BusinessWest. “She just simply said that, in her opinion, being mayor of the City of Holyoke, knowing who I am, is bigger than her family. I thought that was a very humble and unselfish response. We talked more about what that meant ...and felt strongly that if running for mayor to help more people is the sacrifice, then why not?”
He would eventually triumph in that crowded race, becoming the city’s first Puerto Rican mayor. He commenced finishing Morse’s unfinished term in November, and started his own first term in January.
Garcia moves into the corner office at a time when Holyoke is in what most would call a growth mode, especially when it comes to jobs,
new business development, housing, and overall vibrancy. As the story on page 14 relates, the city has benefited tremendously from the strong five- year start of the cannabis industry, with many of its long dormant or underutilized mills roaring back to life as homes to a wide array of cannabis- related businesses.
But there is more to the story than this one industry, he said, adding that, even during a pan- demic, many new businesses have opened across several sectors, especially hospitality.
“During the pandemic, when restaurants everywhere were shutting down, Holyoke was opening six new ones,” said the mayor, adding that the EforAll Holyoke, the nonprofit created to inspire would-be entrepreneurs and help them get started and to the proverbial ‘next stage,’ has helped create a wave of entrepreneurial energy that is bringing new businesses to the downtown and other areas, and also creating more interest in the city as a place to live.
While all this is positive, said Garcia, these forces are spawning some new and different chal- lenges for Holyoke, especially when it comes to the affordability that has defined it for decades now.
“There’s a tidal wave that’s coming in a very positive way, but it’s going to create a new set of challenges that we’re going to have to figure out,” he told BusinessWest. “One of them is affordabil- ity. No one wants to be in a situation where they are priced out of their neighborhood. Costs are rising everywhere, not just in Holyoke but around the region. How to move forward and embrace these new quality-of-life activities that are going on, but also balance that with making sure we’re not pricing people out of the neighborhoods they
grew up in. And that’s why affordable housing continues to stay in the forefront.”
While focusing on these issues, Garcia said he will also concentrate on how Holyoke is managed, with an eye toward improvement. And as he goes about that work, he will take some lessons from his last assignment.
Indeed, while Blandford and Holyoke are seemingly worlds apart when it comes to the size and nature of the communities, Garcia said he can draw on his experience serving that hilltown in his new role in the Paper City, especially when it comes
to creativity — in manage- ment and finding solutions to problems.
“
don’t realize is that small towns have their own set of unique challenges that can be just as challenging as a large city.
What many
     “What many don’t realize
is that small towns have their
own set of unique challenges
that can be just as challenging
as a large city,” he explained.
“The greatest benefit for a city
of Holyoke’s size is capacity
and resources — you have enough resources to hire full-time department heads and experts to help mitigate liability and meet mandates.
 ”
  “In a town, you have the same expectation, but you have to be very creative in how you can keep and be competitive, meet needs and mandates, and maintain quality of life,” he went on. “Here, I make a call to a department, and I have someone on a grant, writing
and executing it,
and doing things. In
 Mayor
Continued on page 53
        A Tradition of Excellence
Proud to Support the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Parade
413-538-7444 • dowd.com
Congratulations to the Parade Committee on the return of the historic St. Patrick’s Weekend events.
As a part of Holyoke for 40 years, Girls Inc. has enjoyed the festivities and is excited to continue the tradition as we renovate our new home at 480 Hampden Street.
To take a tour and/or to learn more about our renovation plans, please contact Ruth Roy
at [email protected].
002687_DOWD-StPatsPrintAd.indd COMMUITY SPOTLIGHT
   Her Future,
 Our Future.
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