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Holyoke CPA committee welcomes new administrator, thanks departing staff and discusses treasurer role
Summary
Chair Jay announced Rebecca Jones will replace outgoing administrator Naomi; Naomi thanked the committee. Members discussed restoring a treasurer position, survey outreach to update the community preservation plan, and reported the FY26 budget and a small-grants proposal were favorably received by the city council finance subcommittee.
The committee opened its meeting with personnel updates and operational items. Chair Jay announced that Naomi is leaving and that Rebecca Jones has been hired as the committee’s new administrative staffer; Rebecca told members she was “excited to get started in supporting this commission.” Naomi, who said she served eight months in the role, thanked the committee and said she had learned a great deal about the city during her tenure.
Chair Jay and several members praised departmental staff who support the committee’s work. He specifically named Tanya in the auditor’s office and Sharon Bittner Willis for prompt assistance; Jamie and Mari in purchasing for help with Munis and VPN issues; Antoinette in personnel for rapid responses; city solicitors Lisa Ball and Michael Bissonette for contract support; and Treasurer Rory for financial trainings and support.
On committee governance, Jay raised restoring a treasurer position that is described in the committee bylaws but was eliminated before his tenure. He said having a committee member focus on financial oversight would improve checks and balance around the chair and the external financial consultant (Daniel Koff). No vote was taken on restoring the treasurer role; members were asked to consider it and a vote may be scheduled at a future meeting.
Staff and the chair also discussed survey outreach and an update to the community preservation plan. Rebecca will work with staff to update demographic data in the plan and update the survey instrument; the chair urged members to share the survey broadly to improve the sample of resident responses.
Finally, Jay reported he attended the city council finance subcommittee, which approved the committee's FY26 budget and responded favorably to the small-grants proposal. The finance subcommittee suggested some additional council-level sign-off for small grants to add accountability; Jay said the subcommittee’s feedback will be incorporated into the process.
Quotations recorded in the meeting include Rebecca Jones: “Thank you all for having me, and I'm excited to get started in supporting this commission,” and Naomi: “I just wanted to say thank you to all of you… it was a pleasure to work side by side with all of you.”
No formal vote was taken on the treasurer position; staff will follow up with members about timing for any proposed change.
