At-large councilor announces he will not seek reelection after one term
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Summary
An at-large Chicopee councilor announced during public input that he will not seek reelection, recapped accomplishments from his term and said he will continue to advocate for professionalization of municipal finance and monthly budget transparency.
An at-large member of the Chicopee City Council announced Jan. 7 that he will not seek reelection.
The councilor, speaking after a suspension of the public-input time limit, said he was sworn in just over a year ago and described himself as the council's youngest member, the first Gen Z member and a member of the LGBTQ community. He listed accomplishments including recreating an economic development director position, pushing rules changes to give council committees more autonomy, adopting a new master plan and advancing reporting for school finance subcommittees.
Nut graf: The councilor said he will not be a "lame duck" during his remaining year, pledged continued advocacy for monthly budget presentations or at least posted budget reports on the city website, and said he planned to pursue ballot initiatives to move certain municipal finance positions toward professional appointment requirements.
He said Chicopee manages a budget of "over $200,000,000" and argued the city should select key finance officials based on professional qualifications rather than popular election, and pledged continued work on economic development, Chapter 90 funding advocacy and transparency measures.
Ending: The councilor thanked colleagues and constituents and said he will continue to serve for the remainder of his term; the council record does not show any formal motion or vote tied to the announcement.