David Pakman: We're here with Alex Morse, who is the mayor elect of Holyoke, Massachusetts.
You had an election that was closer than you expected, not as close as you expected?
What were you thinking in the morning, and then compared to the results?
Alex Morse: Yeah.
Well, the election that was closer than I expected was the preliminary, when I ended
up beating the incumbent mayor by one vote.
For the general last Tuesday, it was about what I expected.
I was feeling good all day, just the energy in the city throughout the election day, you
could just feel it.
So I was, you know, we expected to win.
We worked really hard.
You know, people often ask, you know, did you expect you were going to win tonight,
and I said well, ever since I announced on January 25th, I expected to be winning on
November 8th.
But it was... it was close.
I think it was a margin of between 600 and 700 votes.
We did well in that we won 10 of the... of the city's 14 precincts, and we won back wards
and precincts that we lost in the preliminary.
David: There's so many kind of side stories, and I guess my question is which ones do you
think aren't really side stories?
And CBS, ABC, there's been a lot of different stories done about your win.
Some of them have focused on Holyoke, some of them have focused on you.
One interesting thing was that, there was always a focus about your age, you're 22.
Morse: Yeah.
David: But the CBS story, interestingly enough, didn't mention at all that you're openly gay.
Morse: Yeah.
David: And you and I talked about this, it was months ago, before the election, and you
kind of gave a few thoughts about is that going to be written about, is it not going
to be written about?
You were a little bit kind of unsure of really how you felt about it.
Morse: Yeah.
David: Did you want that to be part of the story or not?
Morse: It didn't matter to me.
I'm openly gay, I've always been open and honest about my sexuality, you know, so I've
done plenty of interviews for LGBT-specific media, whether it's print or radio.
David: Sure.
Morse: So I'm always mentioning it.
I think CBS News, I don't think they intentionally left it out, and I know folks around...
David: Well, so that's my question... yeah.
Morse: Folks around the country, I mean, GLAAD has contacted the campaign and said well,
did they intentionally leave it out?
I said no, it didn't come up.
I wanted the interview to be about the Victory Theatre, about the High Performance Computing
Center, about renovating the H.H. Richardson Train Station.
And at the end of the day, voters don't care whether I'm gay or straight.
So the fact that CBS... yeah.
David: Well, it's interesting you say that, because well, I have so many questions about
this.
Morse: Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
David: Question one is, I'm guessing more was filmed than what made it into the three-
or four-minute piece.
In any of what was filmed did it come up and it just didn't make the cut, or it literally
wasn't mentioned at all?
Morse: No, it did not come up at all.
David: OK.
Morse: Not one question, not one of my answers brought it up.
I mean, I didn't even know if they knew.
It's not something that I thought was important at the time.
David: Sure.
So I got a bunch of emails in advance of the interview with you, and there's kind of two
sides.
Side one is it's kind of a big deal because it's really part...
Massachusetts, first state to allow gay marriage.
There's such a broad range of gay rights issues across the country, and it should be mentioned.
The other side is the fact that it's not mentioned actually shows progress, because it means
it's just, maybe it's just not really even a factor.
Morse: Yeah.
Yeah.
David: The fact that it's not a story is a good sign.
Which side do you sympathize with?
Morse: Yeah, and I think it's great.
I mean, we had thought about it as a campaign, is my sexuality going to matter in a city
like Holyoke that has sort of struggled with this issue for many years, and some would
say isn't the most accepting place?
And I would beg to differ with that.
I mean, The Springfield "Republican", I mean, which has really high readership in the city
of Holyoke, multiple times said Alex is 22, single, gay, without kids, you know, the Sunday
before the election reminding voters, again, and yet still we won the election.
So it didn't matter to Holyoke voters, which made me really proud of our city, that they
looked not only beyond my sexuality, but they looked beyond my age.
I mean, we had to overcome questions of my age more than questions of my sexuality.
David: Is that surprising?
Morse: No, I always thought I would have to overcome my age more so, because it's more...
David: Right.
Morse: ... it's more important, I think, relevant to the conversation.
To the folks who say, you know, who are upset that it wasn't mentioned in the interview,
it just, it didn't come up, and I was focused on the issues important to voters and my constituents.
And I'm happy to mention it when I need to mention it, and I'm openly gay.
I was endorsed by the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, which supports openly gay candidates
for office, I've done plenty of interviews for LGBT-themed media, and it's something
I'm proud of and something I'll mention as mayor, but I don't want those folks to worry
that, you know, my identity's all of a sudden going to be, you know, invisible, because
that's not going to happen.
David: When we look at the last, I don't know, 10 months, and then we look at the 10 months
that will start when you take office, they're going to be very, very different, right?
I mean, the campaign period is one more of ideas, it's one more of, I hate to channel
President Obama, but of hope and, you know, inspiring people to vote and that type of
thing.
Morse: Yeah.
David: And now you're going to be moving into a job that is mostly an administrative job,
right?
I mean, this is like, it's running a business, in a sense.
Morse: Yeah.
David: Is that, number one, going to be a letdown in any way?
As much as I know you love Holyoke and you... and you're looking forward to it, does it
in a way take a little bit of the air out in the sense that it's slightly more boring,
maybe?
Morse: Not at all.
It's the most exciting job, and it's, you know, to be frank, my dream job.
And I think every day's going to be exciting.
There's, you know, always things happening in the city of Holyoke weeknights, weekends,
and I'm honored to be our city's mayor at this exciting time.
Yes, it's an administrative job, but I promised voters that I would be Holyoke's chief marketing
officer and the driving force behind a lot of the things that needed to happen.
So I need to be out there sending a positive message of the city of Holyoke, convincing
new development, new companies to move here, convincing people to move their families to
Holyoke, that's what I want to do and spend my energy on.
Of course there's the day-to-day operations.
We'll have a great staff I want to hire making sure we have the experts in the field, whether
it's the law department or the public health department, making sure we have people that
get up every morning wanting to actually make changes in the city of Holyoke, that you're
not just there for a 9 to 5 job, you actually love the city and want to... want to see things
happen.
So I'm excited.
I think every day will be a challenge, every day will be a new day, but every day will
be exciting, just like this campaign has been.
David: Some of the issues that Holyoke faces are kind of a microcosm or representative
of some of the broader issues in the country that our listeners all across the country
probably are familiar with.
Unemployment is a big issue in Holyoke.
Morse: Yeah.
David: 11%, I believe.
Poverty is a big issue, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think 30% of Holyoke residents
living below the federal poverty line.
And there's so many elected officials that campaign on fixing those issues.
We heard everybody from John Boehner in the House of Representatives to President Obama
talking about jobs.
Morse: Yeah.
Yeah.
David: And then in the end, it's really very hard to move unemployment numbers in any real
significant way in a short period of time.
Do you worry about what exactly are you going to do, even though you have a plan that you
have in mind?
Morse: Yeah, yeah.
David: I mean, how do you manage that?
Morse: Yeah, yeah, we have plans.
And that's why, you know, expectations are really high right now in the city of Holyoke.
I've never before seen so many people excited about the city and the future of our city.
We do have a lot of exciting things coming for Holyoke.
You know, just this morning, I was at the kickoff for the expansion and renovation of
our public library, the Victory Theatre renovation's coming, the arrival of a Green High Performance
Computing Center, all these projects involve jobs, construction jobs.
We do have a little bit more than 11% unemployment rate.
I worked at CareerPoint, a career center, for four and a half years, and the number
one job we need to do is connect unemployed with the jobs that are available, because
there are open jobs now in the city of Holyoke in investment and education.
So throughout this campaign, I didn't promise that we would reduce the unemployment rate
to 5%, that's not going to happen, that's impossible, but we're going to do some steps
in the next few years to sort of set us on a path towards long-term success.
To give people jobs, number one, they need to be educated.
Companies aren't moving to Holyoke because we don't have an educated base of young people,
and college graduates aren't moving back here.
So what kind of economy do we want to create?
I don't think casino gambling is going to bring college graduates back or bring families
to the city of Holyoke, that's just not true.
So what kind of economy do we want to create?
And that's why I want to focus on an art-based, innovation and technology-based economy so
that college graduates want to move back to Holyoke, that entrepreneurs want to start
their businesses here in Holyoke.
And those are conversations I've already started, so on day one, I want to start rebranding
the city of Holyoke, bringing us from the Paper City to the Digital City so that people,
when they think Holyoke, they know we're moving in the right direction and that we're embracing
the 21st century.
David: What's your biggest fear for this term that's coming up?
In other words, is there something that if you weren't able to accomplish, you would
really regret after that term?
Is there...
well, what's your biggest concern?
Morse: My biggest concern is that, I guess the ability of folks to work together.
So we have a lot of good energy.
I ran a completely positive campaign.
And what would disappoint me is if people put politics before people, and I think it's
really important that we have substantive conversations about education and economic
development.
I know in the past, often mayors have sort of hostile relationships with the City Council;
I want to have a mutually positive relationship, be able to work with all of the city councillors.
Even if we don't agree on every issue, we can find common ground on some issues.
So I will be disappointed if some of my plans and visions don't happen because there's a
few folks who don't agree with me 100% of the time.
So it's going to be important that I work with the City Council to make things happen.
David: For all of the concerns people might have about a 22-year-old mayor, what can you
point out that's objectively positive about a young person in that type of role?
Morse: Yeah, there are several things, and I made that argument, and I made the argument
well throughout the past 11 months that at the end of the day, my age didn't matter,
and it was seen as an asset, and that number one, I haven't been around long enough to
have special interests or to owe anybody a political favor, and number two, I'm the only
candidate and was the only candidate that was raised in the Digital Age, who can really
capitalize on the energy and the excitement that's happening in the city of Holyoke.
And I have all the time in the world.
I mean, the newspaper likes to point out I'm single, that gives me more time to dedicate
to the job.
And I really want to dedicate my life to the city of Holyoke, making sure it happens.
David: But, so are you committing to staying single throughout your first term?
Morse: I'm married to the city of Holyoke.
[Laughter]
David: Wow.
Big commitment.
Morse: So I just think it's an asset in terms of... in terms of that energy.
I mean, there's a trajectory of young, you know, single male mayors across this country
who just want to make their cities a better place, especially...
David: Sure.
Morse: For me, it's my hometown, so...
David: All right, Alex Morse, Mayor Elect of Holyoke, Massachusetts.
Congratulations.
Morse: Thank you.
Transcript provided by Subscriptorium Multimedia Linguistic Services.
For transcripts, translations, captions, and subtitles, or for more information, visit
www.Subscriptorium.com, or write us at subscriptorium@gmail.com.