Councilor Israel Rivera asked the Holyoke City Public Service Committee on March 25 to develop a council-wide mission statement, vision and list of core values, and the committee voted to table the matter for 30 days while Rivera prepares drafts.

Rivera told the committee he had pulled examples from other cities and wants the council to adopt a “living and breathing” document that provides guidance and transparency to residents. “What I did was take a couple examples from other communities, throughout the country, that have mission and vision statements as well as core values,” Rivera said, citing examples in the transcript from “Lepine, Oregon,” “Pacific Grove, California,” and “New Hope, Minnesota.”

Committee members discussed scope and purpose. At-large Councilor Howard Graney asked how the proposed statements would relate to the city charter and what, if any, enforcement mechanisms would exist; he described mission statements as “very nebulous” without enforcement. Rivera responded that the item is intended to create shared guidance among the 13 councilors and that drafting would continue through committee and ordinance review. Rivera said he would circulate additional city examples and create a shared document for councilors to edit.

Councilor Gibner and others noted that many Massachusetts towns have mission statements and urged Rivera to include in-state examples; Rivera and committee staff said examples and links had been circulated to the committee earlier in the day. The committee agreed to package items 4, 5 and 6 (vision, core values, mission) and then table them; a motion to table for 30 days passed by voice vote.

The tabling gives Rivera time to develop drafts, share a Google Doc with councilors, and solicit broader input before returning the matter to committee. Rivera said the document is intended to be iterative and that further review would take place in ordinance committee before any final council action.