HOLYOKE — Ward 4 City Councilor Libby Hernandez has announced that she will not seek reelection this November.
Hernandez said that she made the decision not to run for a second term in order to spend more time with her mother. Hernandez lost her father to cancer on Sept. 7. He was 68.
“It was a personal decision,” Hernandez said. She noted that her mother has suffered health issues after herself getting cancer, which is now in remission. “I need to focus on what’s going on with her.”
Hernandez is the latest ward councilor to announce plans to not seek reelection. In February, longtime Ward 1 City Councilor Gladys Lebrón-Martinez said she would not seek a sixth term. The city will hold a preliminary election on Sept. 21 and a general election on Nov. 2.
Because she was sworn into office in January 2020, much of Hernandez’s experience on the City Council was during the COVID-19 pandemic. City Council meetings were moved online, with all of the council’s work done virtually.
“It has been so surreal and quite a challenge,” Hernandez said. However, she said the use of remote conferencing technology has made the City Council more visible and accessible for people in the community. “People were more involved, we reached out to more people and they participated.”
Hernandez said she also thinks that more candidates are pulling papers to run for office because of that increased involvement.
So far, two potential candidates have taken out papers for a possible run in Ward 4: Kocayne S. Givner — who Hernandez said she plans to endorse and support — and Michael Thomas Siciliano, according to the city clerk’s office. In Ward 1, two candidates have pulled papers: Jaime Cotto and Jenny Rivera.
Dusty Christensen can be reached at dchristensen@gazettenet.com.