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Committee recommends no change to two‑year residency requirement in Charter §45
Summary
After discussing whether the city should alter the two‑year residency requirement for candidates in Charter section 45, the committee concluded the rule allows flexibility for residents who left temporarily and voted to recommend no change.
The Charter & Rules committee reviewed an order to petition the General Court to amend section 45 of the Holyoke Charter, which currently requires a candidate to have been a city resident for two years before seeking elected office. After discussion about counting rules for candidates who lived in Holyoke, left temporarily, and returned, committee members moved to recommend no change.
Councilor Patty Devine said she had not realized the two‑year requirement existed and asked how eligibility is checked; other members noted precedent in which returning longtime residents were not disqualified. Councilor Linda Bacon told the committee that state law allows local residency requirements and that the provision had not presented problems in practice. "It didn't seem to rule [returning residents] out," Bacon said.
A motion to leave Section 45 as written passed by voice vote. The committee recorded that the provision should be reviewed again if members have further concerns, but no immediate amendment will be pursued.
