Holyoke finance overhaul clears committee 4-1, heads to full council

HOLYOKE -- January 27, 2026, Holyoke's Ordinance Committee voted 4-1 to send a finance department overhaul ordinance to the full City Council. The package, debated at a January 27 meeting chaired by Councilor Meg McGrath Smith, would create a centralized finance department under a Chief Administrative and Financial Officer, adding a comptroller and director of technical assistance while consolidating the treasurer-collector position, a partial response to what the state Department of Local Services has described as years of catastrophic financial mismanagement. The committee amended the draft to keep the director of internal audit as a City Council appointment rather than a mayoral one, a compromise endorsed by Mayor Garcia, who participated by video. Financial officer positions were exempted from the city's residency requirements after HR Director Kelly Curran testified the rule had deterred applicants. Councilor Linder Veen cast the lone dissenting vote, arguing members had insufficient time to review the full legal language. In a separate 4-1 vote, the committee ordered the removal of two long-disputed handicap parking spaces on Ivy Avenue after Councilor Divine Anderson Bergos presented research showing no placard application for either space could be found dating back to 2018.