HOLYOKE – Strapped into an ambulance. Screaming as workers inject a sedative.
This is the story of Ariel Feliciano, a 29-year-old Holyoke resident, when a concerned neighbor called 911 after seeing her drunk and alone. As police arrived, Feliciano said they told her they had to take her to the hospital, even after she refused and said she could not afford it. She said she woke up to a $3,000 bill.
Feliciano was one of the multiple residents who protested at an “Our Safety, Our Say” rally on Oct. 19 in Holyoke, against Mayor Joshua Garcia’s latest public safety budget proposal. Neighbor to Neighbor, a local chapter for democracy and working-class rights, organized the rally before a City Council Public Safety Committee meeting on the budget proposal named “Ezekiel 2.0.” The proposal would allocate $750,000 to strategies for public safety, including increasing policing and surveillance in the city.
It’s a proposal that Garcia says will help improve safety and prevent crime in the city. But for the protesters gathered last week, they say the proposal will worsen their safety concerns and well-being.
“Why are our communities paying for systems that make our problems worse?” asked Feliciano, an organizer with Veterans Against the War and the Party for Socialism and Liberation. “It’s such a slap in the face and so insulting to the community to propose increasing police funding when there are strong initiatives and proposals for community-led alternatives.”
Ariel Feliciano, organizer with Veterans Against the War and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, speaking at the “Our Safety, Our Say” rally on Oct. 19. (Photo by Neighbor to Neighbor)
The budget is named after a local tragedy, when an unborn baby named “Ezekiel” was killed due to gun violence in 2023. According to the mayor’s budget proposal, a fight between several men escalated into gun fire and hit a passing PVTA bus, striking a woman who was 8 months pregnant. She was forced to deliver her baby, who did not survive.
This is the second time the mayor has proposed increasing funding to address public safety concerns after the tragedy. Ezekiel 2.0 is more modest than its first version, scaling back new funding by a quarter of a million dollars. The city is proposing to pay for this initiative through revenue it has collected from impact fees recreational marijuana companies have paid, as well as community block grants.
“It is one of the saddest things when the [solution] that comes out of a tragedy is something that creates more suffering,” said Clara Wagner, a Holyoke resident, at the Public Safety Committee meeting directly after the rally.
In a press release from Oct. 19, Neighbor to Neighbor said that the organization refuses to accept “a false choice between public safety and community care.”
“Our community deserves both,” the statement said.
Protestors expressed their worries about an increase in police funding as a solution for public safety.
“If we are going to do all this policing of citizens, who is it for and what are we prosecuting?” said Claire McGale, an organizer for the activist organization Real Majority Holyoke. “Because it is really about protecting private property.”
Many residents raised worries about surveillance and AI technology in the city. There has been a rise in automated license plate reader (ALPR) technology — like those made by Flock Safety and Motorola Solutions — in Holyoke in the past year, which track cars and take detailed photos of drivers.
“Private corporations are developing and profiting from this surveillance infrastructure and it is not even keeping us safe, it is really doing everything but that,” Feliciano said.
According to data from The Shoestring, Holyoke’s license plate readers were included in more than 3.5 million searches from police departments across the country in the beginning of 2026. A Texas officer wrote the reason for one of their searches in Holyoke’s cameras was to “ASSIST ICE.”
At the Public Safety Committee meeting, Garcia said “we are not looking to invest in Flock cameras,” and he explained that the written proposal expressly excludes Flock cameras and ALPRs.
However, residents brought up the potential use of other ALPRs like those made by Motorola Solutions.
“There’s still a contract with Motorola that’s poised to be renewed,” said Holyoke resident Bridget Kearney. “There’s no specification here about how or whether these current ALPRs in the city will be used in the campaign.”
The budget also includes strategies of community outreach and partnership with local organizations to address tenant protections, housing instability, youth programming, and mental health services. Jennifer Keitt, a member of Neighbor to Neighbor, said “[The budget proposal] includes initiatives worth supporting … but these are needs that exist independently of public safety enforcement initiatives.”
Some city councilors critiqued the lack of specificity in the budget.
“We really need more details about where precisely the funds are going,” City Councilor Mimi Panitch said. “As it’s structured now, from our point of view, this looks a lot like a slush fund.”
Handmade signs reading “Services, Not Surveillance,” and “Programs 4 People, Not Punishment.” (Photo by Neighbor to Neighbor)
Several residents were concerned about the uncertainty of the allocation of funding. “$750,000 and we don’t know how much is going where,” Keitt said. “That is a serious concern when we are talking about public accountability.”
“There needs to be so much more transparency so that we know that the money is going into [efforts] that support community wellness,” Wagner said. “The police budget for 2027 is looking to be over $14 million,” said Kearney. “[The budget proposal] is a drop in the bucket, and every cent needs to go to public programming.”
Attendees of the meeting focused on a lack of trust between the city government and the public.
“When I was listening to the presentation, I was very disappointed that there wasn’t more explanation or details [in the budget proposal],” said Jaenette Ramera, a Holyoke organizer with Neighbor to Neighbor. “There is no trust yet.”
During public comment, several residents said they felt their community was not being represented in the budget proposal.
“People are out there suffering, and they are not being part of the policies that are being made,” said Gloria Caballero Roca, the director of programs at Homework House Holyoke and a member of Neighbor to Neighbor.
Holyoke is a majority Latino city, with Latinos making up 52% of the population and white residents accounting for 42%, according to 2024 US Census Bureau data. “This is not the community conversation that we need to be happening, we don’t see Hispanic people represented,” said Caballero Roca. “Here I am speaking in English when I should be speaking in Spanish.”
Some in the room addressed what they saw as a lack of voices in the discussion from the communities that the proposal will most impact.
“If the community that we are trying to impact is not necessarily involved or on board or even a part of it … there are significant gaps,” said City Councilor Israel Rivera. “How many people that are going through [these issues] on a regular basis are not being included in these conversations?”
Garcia agreed with the need for greater community voices.
“[The public comment] isn’t reflective and representative of how people really think and feel city-wide,” he said. “No matter how much communication I do, it is never enough … We have to do a better job about connecting City Hall with the community.”
Protestors advocated for community-led solutions to public safety, rather than policing.
“If we really want to prevent [crime], we really need to tackle those gaps, and enforcement should be in investing in our communities,” said Caballero Roca. “We don’t need a lot of enforcement because we would take care of ourselves, because we know what we need.”
Garcia and OneHolyoke, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving housing in the city, are holding a community meeting on Oct. 28 at the Holyoke Senior Center to invite residents to shape the vision for the city. At the meeting, city leaders aim to share Holyoke’s Comprehensive Plan and engage in a roundtable discussion. They are encouraging residents to join.
Several protestors said the committee meeting felt like a chance for change in Holyoke.
“Sometimes it feels like it is impossible to fight [issues] when [they are] coming from up-top, but the town halls and the city meetings are where people’s vote and voice really can have a visual impact,” said Tyler Nichols, a 36-year-old Northampton resident. “It’s important to stand here, so we can stand anywhere else.”
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