HOLYOKE — Outgoing Democratic state Rep. Aaron Vega will trade in Beacon Hill for City Hall this upcoming January when he takes over as the next director of the city’s Office of Planning & Economic Development.
Mayor Alex B. Morse on Thursday announced that he has appointed Vega as the successor to Marcos Marrero, who is resigning after more than eight years on the job. Marrero’s last day will be Jan. 22, 2021, with Vega’s first day on Jan. 25.
“I’m excited, and to be honest, it wasn’t on my radar at all. I work with Marcos all the time and I had no idea that he wanted to leave, so he reached out and it was really exciting,” said Vega, who in January announced he would not seek reelection as Holyoke’s representative in the state Legislature, a position he’s held since 2013. “The ability to focus back in on Holyoke and work with the great team over there in the office, it’s pretty exciting.”
Morse said in an interview that Marrero was one of his first appointments when he became mayor in 2012 and said he was “incredibly grateful for his work,” adding that he thinks Marrero “on both a personal and professional level” made him a better mayor over the years.
“I’ll forever be grateful to him for helping us make the progress that we did,” he said.
Marrero said that he’s leaving his position to take a break so he can spend more time with his wife and two young children. He does not yet know what his next steps will be. He said the city is in a “very important inflection point in its economic development,” and is confident Vega will succeed in the role.
“I can’t imagine anyone who is better suited to just jump in and carry these projects to fruition, those that are mid-way and those we aspire to have next,” Marrero said.
Morse said he believes that Vega is “well-positioned” to succeed in his new role, as he was a former city councilor who chaired the city’s redevelopment committee and worked on a number of state economic development bills during his time as a legislator. Morse said Vega was key to advancing the city’s urban renewal plan during his time on the city council.
“Given his relationships in the community, across the region and statewide, I think it will serve the city well,” Morse said. “He could step into this position without missing a beat, which is important for us, given all of the ongoing work and projects we have currently.”
Vega called his new position a “great opportunity” that keeps him local: “I can basically walk to work,” he said.
Looking forward, Vega noted that the city has a budding cannabis industry and that there are marijuana companies actively looking to do business in the city. He said he’s excited to work with the Holyoke Housing Authority on a planned 90-unit affordable housing development in South Holyoke that is slated to be built around Carlos Vega Park, which named after Vega’s father.
Vega said he wants to “rekindle the conversations about restaurants” in the city. He has successfully worked in the past on getting additional liquor licenses for the downtown area.
“Hopefully with the connections that I have regionally and with colleagues, hopefully, we can tap into those restaurants in the area — or even beyond the area — that want to open a second location,” Vega said. “Because I think that would be really exciting to see.”
He said he wants to continue to capitalize on the potential of Race Street, noting that a new restaurant and sports bar had opened before the pandemic and that such businesses complement the existing art spaces on the street.
As for the COVID-19 pandemic, Vega said that “we want to get people back to work, and I think one of the easiest ways … is through construction projects.”
“As we come out of this recovery, and people are working again, and they see things happening in Holyoke, they’ll think about coming back to Holyoke to spend their money once we can start having gatherings together,” Vega said.
As the city looks to increase opportunities for people to live in Holyoke, Vega said “we’ve got to make sure that people who do live here have the first chance to better themselves.”
“We want to avoid those issues around gentrification,” Vega said. “We will make sure that when we are doing developments in a neighborhood or in an area that it’s complimentary.”
Voters in November elected Democrat Patricia Duffy, a longtime legislative aide to Vega, as the outgoing representative’s successor for the 5th Hampden District.
Michael Connors can be reached at mconnors@gazettenet.com.