On Tuesday, voters in Holyoke will make some important decisions when they head to the polls on Election Day. There is a robust and impressive field of candidates locked in 14 races for seats on the City Council and School Committee.

But no elected office carries more weight or will have more of an impact on the city’s immediate future than that of mayor.

Since emerging from a September preliminary election, At-Large City Councilor Michael Sullivan and Blandford Town Administrator Joshua Garcia, both city natives, have been meeting with voters and sparring in various candidate forums. In just two weeks, one of them will take over as the city’s next mayor, replacing interim Mayor and City Councilor Terence Murphy, who replaced former mayor Alex Morse in March. Morse took a job as town manager of Provincetown after serving 10 years in the corner office at City Hall.

The issue of qualifications has been a central theme on the campaign trail. Who is better suited to lead this diverse city in need of solutions to a myriad of complex problems in local government and its schools? In our view, the answer is not a slam dunk.

Sullivan, 69, now in his sixth year on the City Council, brings a strong business background, having founded and run his own businesses. He has inside knowledge of the city’s budget and how it is built, having served on the Finance Committee. He has played a key role in making decisions that affect the day-to-day lives of city residents. He is clearly passionate about the city when citing its strengths and his own experience growing up and volunteering with various organizations. He has cited areas like green energy, youth programming, vocational training, and tourism as places of untapped potential. He has advocated for lifting the gas moratorium.

Sullivan also identifies the city’s weak spots, drawing attention to Holyoke’s high commercial tax rate, its aging and neglected infrastructure, and six-plus years of receivership of the public school system, which he described in a recent campaign forum as an “absolute disaster.” Sullivan has pitched a vision of “rebirth and rebuilding” and has tried to distance himself from Garcia as the more experienced candidate who can hit the ground running. He says Holyoke with its 38,000-plus residents and nearly $145 million budget “just doesn’t compare” with Blandford’s $4.6 million budget serving approximately 1,240 residents. Garcia says he doesn’t see the size of the two municipalities as a problem and would simply “scale up.”

But the qualifications of the city’s next mayor should not rest on the size of municipal budgets and population one serves. It is as much about leadership, civic engagement and potential. It has more to do with the ability to identify problems and have the will to work with others to fix them.

Garcia, 35, says Holyoke has an “antiquated form of government,” and when it comes to its most pressing issues, a “management problem.” That may or may not be true, but he has pledged to find the inefficiencies in City Hall and help retool local government in a way that better supports city departments and serves city residents. Revisiting the city’s charter is one place he said he plans to start.

We like the range of experience Garcia brings and believe he has the skills and enthusiasm necessary to achieve common goals. Prior to serving as Blandford’s town administrator, Garcia was a manager for municipal services at the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission for five years, working closely with city and town officials to identify inefficiencies and improve the effectiveness of local government. He earlier worked as a service coordinator for the Holyoke Housing Authority, as a fire commissioner, and on the Holyoke School Committee for a term. He also has been involved with various community nonprofit organizations over the years, such as Nueva Esperanza and the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Holyoke.

While we would have liked to see Garcia provide more specifics about his own ideas for change on the campaign trail, we nevertheless believe he is the stronger candidate to lead the Paper City over the next four years — and the candidate who shows the most promise to connect with the majority of the city’s residents.

The son of a single mother who moved to Holyoke from Puerto Rico, Garcia grew up in South Holyoke and attended the city’s public schools, where his children attend today. In a recent editorial board meeting with the Gazette, he described himself as “a Holyoker with an experience that is Puerto Rican,” who seeks to “help lift and motivate” the city’s majority Hispanic population. We believe the time has arrived for the city to elect its first Hispanic mayor and encourage city residents to vote for Garcia on Nov. 2.

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