Three municipal meetings were held this week. Here are highlights from the City Council and special City Council and School Committee meetings.

CITY COUNCIL AND SCHOOL COMMITTEE

Orlando Isaza

In a special meeting this week to interview candidates for two open positions on the School Committee, longtime community advocates Orlando Isaza and Glady Lebrón Martínez, a former City Councilor, were voted in by a majority of both elected bodies.

CITY COUNCIL

The City Council meeting began, as is customary, with Public Comment.

David Weinberg, a resident, expressed concerns about taxpayers funding MIFA, Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts. He said he reviewed the IRS tax form 990, which is the tax return form non-profits must fill out, and said questioned expenses by MIFA.

“The Victory Theater and 2023 year end paid $96,000 for lobbying until you need to ask (MIFA Executive Director Don) Sanders to whom the money was given and why. This is a lot of money for such a small organization. I’m just showing also that $49,000 travel expenses for your end 2022. … Sanders was paid $49,000 compensation a tax year 2021. … The Victory Theater Project should not be supported by the city or state, and should only continue to be privately financed. I don’t want my taxes to be used for it.”

David Weinberg

MIFA applied for $2M in ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) from the city. The city ultimately decided to not grant the money. You can read the letter sent to MIFA here.

Here is a video of the press conference held by Mayor Joshua García and Don Sanders, executive director of MIFA, before the decision was made.

ARPA money is funded by federal income taxes through the program created to mitigate economic challenges brought on by the COVID pandemic. The process involved a special committee, the Office of Community Development, and ultimately, Mayor Joshua García decided which organizations would receive money. You can review which organizations received money here.

The City Council also received an investigator’s report regarding sexual harassment claims made against then-Capt. Manuel Reyes by an officer who worked under his supervision. The investigator determined that Reyes did indeed, sexually harass the officer. He has since resigned from the Holyoke Police Department.

Stephen Superba, a resident, submitted a letter regarding this incident. It is here.

Also, councilors discussed the dire situation at the city’s Department of Public Works, which is hobbling along with an interim engineer while it needs two permanent engineers to be hired. City Councilor Meg MaGrath-Smith said that hiring engineers is beyond whether these are union positions or even the salaries.

“It’s also that it’s a city where there’s a lot that we’re trying to accomplish currently,” she said. “And they’d be walking in without a staff.”

In other matters, a proclamation to honor the work that Kate McCoy has done as a payroll clerk at HPD was roundly supported.

And the councilors were unanimous in their support of the Hero Act:  Expanding Veteran Property Tax Exemptions.

Full agenda here.

Documents presented to City Councilors here.