I was very grateful for a great honor from a great school that has a special place in our community and to me personally. Holyoke is very lucky indeed to have such a wonderful college community of bright students and eneregtic staff and faculty in our midst.
There was a very kind inscription to the DSA award in the program:
"The odds were against you when you ran for Holyoke City Councilor at age 21. You were inexperienced and unconnected, just a few months past your own college commencement cerenmony. But along with a bachelor's degree in political science and economics, you had faith in yourself and faith that the city you loved could overcome its challenges. So you pounded the pavement, knocked on doors, handed out campaign fliers. In January 1994, you became the youngest Councilor ever elected. You have held the position ever since, even while earning a Master of Business Administration degree and Juris Doctorate, even while starting a family that now includes three children under age seven, even while advancing as a finance professional to your current position of senior financial analyst for the Sisters of Providence Health System. During your tenure, tens of millions of dollars have been spent to renovate Holyoke's schools, fire stations, ball fields, sidewalks, sewers, and roads. A new library has been planned. An $80-$100 million computer center has been slated to open in the future, projected to make Massachusetts a leader in high performance computing for scientists and bring as many as 1,000 jobs to the region. Federal High-Speed rail funds have been secured to develop a train station that will put Holyoke on the Amtrak line between New Haven and St. Albans, Vermont. Renovationsare nearly complete in the former fire department headquarters on Maple Street; soon the building will reopen as the four-story Holyoke Multimodal Transportation Center, housing a new bus terminal, a daycare and preschool program, and an adult literacy program run by HCC. With investments like these, you have revitalized Holyoke and positioned it for continued growth. At the same time, you have been a fiscal watchdog, taking care to build a rainy day reserve and avoiding excessive bonds that would compromise the city's financial future. In short, you've performed an impressive financial balancing act for the city, and you've repeated it with equal success for HCC. When former Governor Romney asked you to become a college trustee in 2006, you quickly agreed to support an institution you had long admired as a partner in building your city and region. You supported vital spending at HCC, such as initiatives to reach out to more minority students in your city; you simultaneously protected rainy day funds and worked hard to keep student fees as low as possible. You were part of the grand opening for the Kittredge Center for Business and Workforce Development and played a vital role in shaping it as a major regional resource. In 2008, BusinessWest named you one of the "Top 40 Young Professionals under 40 in Western Massachusetts." We second that nomination today, acknowledging you as one of Holyoke's most dedicated public servants and presenting you with a 2010 Distinguished Service Award."
Re-Elect Holyoke's Fiscal Watchdog!
