Holyoke councilors call for Police Department review
A Holyoke Police Department cruiser. GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
Holyoke Police Chief Manny Febo joins protesters in a march, protest and vigil against racial injustice and police brutality, June 2. GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
Published: 3/15/2021 7:48:29 PM
HOLYOKE Four city councilors are calling for an independent assessment of the Holyoke Police Department after a video of a police officer alleging widespread corruption and racism within the department went viral last week.
At-large City Councilor Rebecca Lisi filed an order for an assessment, which is on the agenda for the City Council’s meeting on Tuesday night. The order proposes that “in an effort to obtain neutral, fact-based data and statistics, the City contract an independent assessment of Holyoke Police Department’s structure, policies, and practices.”
Holyoke City Councilor Gladys Lebron-Martinez will not seek reelection
Updated Feb 16, 2021;
Posted Feb 16, 2021
Holyoke Ward 1 Councilor Gladys Lebron-Martinez, pictured in 2018, has announced she will not seek reelection. (Hoang Leon Nguyen / The Republican file photo)
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HOLYOKE Ward 1 City Councilor Gladys Lebron-Martinez will not seek a sixth term.
Lebron-Martinez, who recently battled COVID-19, cited a career change that would interfere with her work on the council.
Often a quiet presence, Lebron-Martinez could speak passionately and forcefully about issues important to her or in defense of a colleague. She entered city politics in 2003, winning a School Committee seat.
The Holyoke city clerk’s webpage does not show any candidates who filed nomination papers for the Ward 1 seat. Lebron-Martinez’s departure will likely draw interest in the coming weeks and months.
Dozens march for slain Holyoke teen
Holyoke Ward 4 City Councilor Libby Hernandez hangs up posters made by Holyoke artist Sasha Cirino, Sunday, during a peace march in memory of 15-year-old Jonas Nuñez, whose life was cut short by gun violence, in Holyoke. FOR THE GAZETTE/Sabato Visconti
Peace march participants proceed down Cabot Street, led by Alexis Diaz and Jason Antonetti, followed by Holyoke City Councilors Libby Hernandez, Rebecca Lisi, and Gladys Lebron-Martinez, Sunday in Holyoke. FOR THE GAZETTE/Sabato Visconti
Francheska Nuñez marches with others in memory of her son, 15-year-old Jonas Nuñez, whose life was cut short by gun violence, at a peace march in his memory, Sunday, in Holyoke. FOR THE GAZETTE/Sabato Visconti