Joshua A. Garcia (born February 28, 1986) is an American politician from

Holyoke, Massachusetts Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,247. Loca ...

. He was elected Mayor of Holyoke in 2021, and is the first Latino to serve as mayor of Holyoke.

Early life and education

Born and raised in

, Garcia received a Master's in Public Administration from

Westfield State University Westfield State University (commonly known as Westfield State) is a public university in Westfield, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1839 by Horace Mann as the first public coeducational college in America. History In 1839, Horace Mann founded ...

and worked for the Holyoke Housing Authority and Pioneer Valley Planning Commission. His mother and grandmother came to the United States from Puerto Rico.

Career

Before being elected as mayor, Garcia served as town administrator in

Blandford, Massachusetts Blandford is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,215 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield metropolitan area, Massachusetts. It was the home of the Blandford Ski Area. History Blandford ...

and as a fire commissioner, and school committee member in Holyoke. He became the first Latino to be elected mayor of Holyoke.

Mayoral tenure

Although Garcia's term as mayor officially started in January 2022, starting on November 15, 2021, Garcia served the remainder of acting mayor Terence Murphy's term. Among early key priorities, Garcia has pushed for improved management practices, citing during his campaign his prior experience as a town administrator. Testifying before the Commonwealth's municipal finance oversight board, Garcia stated he intended to draft a longterm capital plan for the city, seeking to strengthen

internal control Internal control, as defined by accounting and auditing, is a process for assuring of an organization's objectives in operational effectiveness and efficiency, reliable financial reporting, and compliance with laws, regulations and policies. A broa ...

s, and work toward eliminating structural deficits to make it less reliant on bonding. In 2024, Garcia announced he was working to expand the city's

payment in lieu of taxes A payment in lieu of taxes, abbreviated as PILT or PILOT, is a payment made to compensate a government for some or all of the property tax revenue lost due to tax exempt ownership or use of real property. Canada In Canada, payment in lieu of taxes ...

(PILOT) program with Holyoke's nonprofit property owners, to address shortfalls in taxes to provide city services.

Personal life

Garcia has served as a member of the board of directors on the Holyoke Community College Foundation, as well as the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts, since 2018. In 2015 Garcia was named in BusinessWest's "40 Under 40" for his work with the

Pioneer Valley The Pioneer Valley is the colloquial and promotional name for the portion of the Connecticut River Valley that is in Massachusetts in the United States. It is generally taken to comprise the three counties of Hampden County, Massachusetts, Ha ...

Planning Commission. Garcia is also a

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

and an active member of the Mount Tom Lodge A.F. & A.M.. *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Joshua A. Massachusetts Democrats American Freemasons American politicians of Puerto Rican descent Hispanic and Latino American mayors in Massachusetts Mayors of Holyoke, Massachusetts Massachusetts city managers 1986 births Living people Puerto Rican people in Massachusetts politics School board members in Massachusetts