HOLYOKE — The empty field of candidates to replace outgoing Mayor Alex Morse began filling up Friday.
Two of the city’s elected officials announced their candidacies for the position within hours of each other: At-Large School Committee member Devin Sheehan and At-Large City Councilor Rebecca Lisi.
Morse announced in December that he would not seek reelection to a fifth term in office. Morse was first elected mayor at age 22 in 2011. He lost the Democratic primary for the 1st Congressional District House seat held by U.S. Rep. Richard Neal in September.
Sheehan, 38, has served on the School Committee since he was first elected in 2009 and declared his candidacy on a public Zoom call Friday morning. A recent president of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees and Holyoke Parade Committee, he was educated in the Holyoke schools and currently works as a senior analyst to the chief instructional officer in the Springfield Public Schools.
In a phone interview, Sheehan said his decision to run for the corner office is driven by a desire to serve the city and to ensure that Holyoke is a welcoming and responsive city, including helping businesses get “back on their feet.”
“First and foremost, it’s going to be a mayor to lead us through this COVID recovery,” he said when describing the immediate challenges facing the next mayor.
Sheehan said he supports expanding the city’s tax base, lowering the tax rate and helping small businesses face fewer obstacles, especially when seeking to open in Holyoke.
“We need to examine that process and our city policies around starting a business,” he said. “They need that help.”
Shortly after noon on Friday, Lisi announced her candidacy. She will hold a press conference Monday at the Holyoke Public Library to discuss her campaign with remarks in English and Spanish.
Lisi, 42, has served on the Holyoke City Council since 2008 and is a doctoral candidate in political science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In a statement announcing her candidacy, she said her main priority would be to “build bridges that link us, instead of walls that divide us.”
“For me, running for mayor is a chance for me to extend the reach and scope of the work I’ve been doing in the council chambers,” Lisi said in a phone interview. “I think there are a number of divisions we need to bridge, some are from the past to the present and future.”
Lisi added that a contested race for mayor will benefit the city’s voters.
“I’m excited that Devin’s running and I think the city deserves to have good, quality candidates putting their ideas out there,” she said.