List of mayors of Holyoke, Massachusetts

Mayor of Holyoke
Seal of Holyoke
Incumbent Joshua A. Garcia since November 15, 2021 [1]
Seat	Holyoke City Hall
Term length	4 years (2015-present) 2 years (1936-2015) 1 year (1874-1936)
Formation	1874
First holder	William B. C. Pearsons
Website	Official website

The mayor of Holyoke is the head of the executive branch of the municipal government of Holyoke, Massachusetts responsible for presenting an initial budget to the city council, and appointing key office holders such as the chief of police and fire commissioners.

Although members of both major parties have successfully run for office since the city's incorporation, elections for municipal positions are officially nonpartisan, on the ballot candidates do not run as members of any political party, nor require backing of one in any official capacity. ^{[2] [3]}

When Holyoke was incorporated as a city, initially the mayoral term given in the 1874 charter was for the mayor to serve a single-year term, being elected at the end of the municipal year. This was subsequently raised to two years during the mayoralty of William P. Yoerg in 1936, ^[4] and from two to four years during that of Alex B. Morse in 2015. ^{[5] [6]} Mayoral primaries, in which the two candidates receiving the most votes went on to run in the election, began in 1959. ^[7] Oftentimes mayoral administrations and mayors themselves are referred to interchangeably with the office space that each has occupied since the city's incorporation, "Room One". ^{[8] [9] [10]}

Since Holyoke's establishment as a City in 1873, the following individuals have served as its mayor.

Mayor John Cronin shakes hands with George Pearsons, son of the City's first mayor William B. C. Pearsons, during a celebration of the City's fiftieth anniversary.

#	Mayor	Picture	Term	Notes
1st	William B. C. Pearsons		1874–1876
2nd	Roswell P. Crafts		1877
3rd	William Whiting II		1878–1879
4th	William Ruddy		1880
5th	Franklin P. Goodall		1881
6th	Roswell P. Crafts		1882–1883
7th	James E. Delaney		1884–1885
8th	James J. O'Connor		1886–1887
9th	James E. Delaney		1888
10th	Jeremiah F. Sullivan		1889–1890
11th	Michael J. Griffin		1891
12th	Jeremiah F. Sullivan		1892
13th	Dennie L. Farr		1893
14th	Marciene H. Whitcomb		1894
15th	Henry A. Chase		1895
16th	James J. Curran		1896
17th	George H. Smith		1897
18th	Michael Connors		1898
19th	Arthur B. Chapin		1899–1904
20th	Nathan P. Avery		1904–1910
21st	John J. White		1911–1913
22nd	John H. Woods		1914–1915
23rd	John J. White		1916–1917
24th	John D. Ryan		1918–1919
25th	John F. Cronin		1920–1925
26th	Gregory J. Scanlon		1926
27th	John F. Cronin		1927
28th	Fred G. Burnham		1928–1929
29th	William T. Dillon		1930–1931
30th	Fred G. Burnham		1932	Died in office.
Acting	William M. Hart		1932	Acting mayor.
31st	Henry J. Toepfert		1932–1935	First elected in special election to finish Burnham's term.
32nd	William P. Yoerg		1936–1939	Did not seek re-election to become director of Holyoke Housing Authority; presided over Lyman Terrace [11]
33rd	Henry J. Toepfert		1940–1953	Longest-serving mayor. Died in office.
Acting	James T. Doherty		1953	Acting mayor.
34th	Edwin A. Seibel		1953–1957	First elected in special election to finish Toepfert's term. Only mayor to serve concurrently as state representative. Died in office.
Acting	Samuel Resnic		1957	Acting mayor following Seibel's death; was ineligible to run to complete term.
Acting	Paul L. Brougham		1957	Elected in special election to finish Seibel's term; lost in concurrent regular election. [12]
35th	Samuel Resnic		1958–1963	First elected term. Holyoke's first Jewish mayor. [13]
36th	Daniel F. Dibble		1964–1967
37th	William Taupier		1968–1975	Resigned to become City Manager of Lowell, Massachusetts.
Acting	Thomas Monahan		1975	Acting mayor.
38th	Ernest E. Proulx		1976–1986
39th	Martin J. Dunn		1987–1991	Resigned to become a State Senator.
Acting	Joseph M. McGiverin		1991	Acting mayor.
40th	William Hamilton		1991–1995	First elected in special election to finish Dunn's term.
41st	Daniel Szostkiewicz		1995–1999
42nd	Michael J. Sullivan		2000–2009
43rd	Elaine A. Pluta		2010–2011	First female mayor. [a]
44th	Alex Morse		2012–2021	Youngest mayor in city history (elected at the age of 22). First openly gay mayor. Resigned to become Town Manager of Provincetown, Massachusetts.
Acting	Todd A. McGee		2021	Acting mayor.
Acting	Terence "Terry" Murphy		2021	Acting mayor.
45th	Joshua A. Garcia		2021–	Holyoke's first Latino mayor. [15]

Notes

1. The first woman run for mayor, albeit unsuccessfully in 1928, was publisher Elizabeth Towne, the first female city councilor in Holyoke, and first married woman city councilor in the state. ^[14]

References

1. Alamo, Hector Luis. "Holyoke Elects First Latino Mayor, Puerto Rican Joshua Garcia". Nov 3, 2021. latinorebels.com. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
2. Gerson, Jeffrey; Hardy-Fanta, Carol, eds. (2014) [2002]. "Holyoke". Latino Politics in Massachusetts: Struggles, Strategies and Prospects. Routledge. p. 101. ISBN   9781135672140. The electoral system in Holyoke is nonpartisan in municipal elections; candidates can run at-large or from their district
3. Vecinos DeBarrio Uno v. City of Holyoke, 880F. Supp.911 (D. Mass. 1995March 27, 1995)("All municipal elections in Holyoke are non-partisan, and the requirements to run for office are minimal. None of the suspect devices often used historically to exclude minority candidates, such as majority vote requirements or anti-single shot provisions, has ever existed in Holyoke.").
4. Executive powers vested in mayor; manner of exercising power; term (Sec. 25, Holyoke Code of Ordinances Title IV- Executive Department). 1936. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
5. List of Laws which are not printed in the subpart- Special Acts Applicable to the City- (Sec. 25, Holyoke Code of Ordinances State Laws Accepted or Adopted by the City). 2015. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
6. An Act Establishing A 4-Year Term for the Office of Mayor of the City of Holyoke, 2015 Mass. Ch.91.
7. "Resnic and Gavin Win Holyoke Mayoral Test; Jubinville Third in First Preliminary Election; Total of 10,426 Votes cast". Springfield Union. Springfield, Mass. October 7, 1959. pp. 1, 4.
8. "Rte. 5 Changes Considered by Official Group". Springfield Union. Springfield, Mass. December 18, 1958. p. 40. Agreement on important points involved in the forthcoming relocation of Route 5 west of the city as Interstate Highway 91 was the subject of serious discussion Wednesday night during a Room One meeting
9. Sullivan, Edward J. (April 16, 1974). "Our Holyoke readers Talk Back:Room for More in Room One?". Springfield Union. p. 11. However, with the present occupant of Room One, the one question that immerses me in puzzlement is, 'How many CAO's would Bill go through in two years?'
10. Plaisance, Mike (February 20, 2018). "Councilors to discuss financial problem racking Holyoke City Hall". The Republican. Archived from the original on February 20, 2018. 'Room One' is the nickname used for the mayor's office in City Hall
11. "Yoerg Quits Race to Head Holyoke Housing Project; Mayor Sees New Job Important to Democracy and Has Found Official Life Wearing". Springfield Republican. Springfield, Mass. October 3, 1939. p. 1.
12. "Bossy Gillis Regains Mayor's Seat at Newburyport". Boston Traveler. November 6, 1957. p. D11. Holyoke voters actually picked two mayors. Atty. Samuel Resnic won the two-year term starting next Jan. 1. Paul L. Brougham was victor in the special election to complete the unexpired term of Mayor Edwin Seibel, who died in September.
13. Feinberg, Mark (November 10, 1957). "Holyoke's Mayor-Elect Created 500 Jobs in City". The Boston Globe.
14. Gover, Tzivia (Spring 2009). "Mrs. Elizabeth Towne: Pioneering Woman in Publishing and Politics (1865 – 1960)" (PDF). Historical Journal of Massachusetts. XXXVII. Westfield State University.
15. "Joshua Garcia prevails in Holyoke mayor's race". Daily Hampshire Gazette. Northampton, Mass. November 2, 2021.