Copyright MassLive
Jose Delgado is running for reelection an at-large seat on the Springfield City Council. This year there are eight candidates, including all the incumbents, running for the five seats on the council. During his first two years on the Council, Delgado has headed the council’s task force on digital equity, becoming the board’s expert on bringing faster, cheaper internet services to the city. He is running against incumbents Sean Curran, Brian A. Santaniello, Kateri Walsh, Tracye Whitfield, Nicole Coakley, Justin Hurst and Juan Latorre III. Ahead of Tuesday, The Republican reached out to all candidates for the opposed City Council seats to answer a short questionnaire. Find more candidates and responses in the past week’s print editions or online at masslive.com/topic/election. Name: Jose M. Delgado Age: 39 Address: 37 Candice Circle Profession: Executive Office of Public Safety and Security Position running for: City Council at large Springfield residents elected me two years ago to lead. I have delivered on that promise by passing a skills-based hiring ordinance, advocating for citywide fiber internet infrastructure and holding utility companies accountable. More importantly, I’m trying to keep our residents and students safe by going after drivers who speed and fail to stop for our school buses. I still have more work to do to improve the quality of life for all residents. I am a proud Springfield Public Schools graduate and hold a bachelor’s degree from Westfield State University and an master’s in business administration from UMass Amherst. I live in the city with my wife, who is an educator, and our two children. My 17 years of public and private sector experience began with community service in AmeriCorps VISTA, leading to roles as a mayoral aide, deputy chief of staff for Gov. Charlie Baker, and my current work in the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security. What is the biggest problem in the city, and how would you address it? The biggest challenge is the cycle of poverty and lack of economic opportunity, which worsens issues like housing affordability and crime. I would address this by prioritizing a skilled workforce pipeline through the public schools and vocational partnerships and providing educational options for our youth for college or the skilled trades. Simultaneously, we must prioritize attracting new employers that offer quality jobs for residents and supporting small businesses and entrepreneurship through grants and co-op spaces. The City Council always struggles to keep taxes low while providing needed services and making advancements. How specifically will you balance the three? I will balance these by aggressively going after grant opportunities and prioritizing new revenue sources. Next, we need to be better stewards of taxpayer dollars by cutting wasteful spending and increasing efficiency by streamlining city operations. Any savings can be directed to critical-need areas like public safety and infrastructure to support long-term growth and deliver reliable city services. The housing crisis continues to take a toll on residents and those who want to move to the city. How should Springfield attack the problem? We should attack this crisis with a multipronged strategy focused on supply, affordability and stability. We must incentivize developers to increase the stock of affordable housing, including exploring tiny homes, shared living models and city-owned property. Next, we need to make homeownership attainable by offering first-time buyers down-payment assistance. Finally, I’d like to research policies that limit corporate landlord acquisition of single-family homes that has caused values to increase and has shutout local buyers. What types of development would you like to attract to the city, and how would you do it? I’d like to continue to advocate for west-east rail that connects us to the Boston job market. Next I’d like to target new business growth that makes Springfield a hub for IT, AI and remote work, especially for state departments to relocate to Springfield due to lower commercial leases and lower cost of living. I’d like to do this through collaborations with local colleges and workforce development organizations.
