John Vieau has won reelection in the race for Chicopee mayor. He defeated City Councilor Delmarina Lopez.
"All those things we had proposed and were working on were put on the back burner," Vieau said Tuesday night about the impact of the pandemic on his time as mayor. "Now we're getting to move those things forward. Reopening our western Mass. post-9/11 K9 memorial park, we'll be cutting the ribbon on that very soon, we're going to reactivate the central library here in the center of Chicopee and rennovate City Hall for phase two and build a new Barry Elementary School."
Vieau was first elected as Chicopee’s mayor in 2019, and was previously a city councilor for 16 years. This will be his third term in office.
Prior to the election, Vieau said he believes the city is moving in a more positive direction and said his goal will be to continue making the city a viable destination for its new and current residents.
"We are fiscally stable," Vieau said. "We have a robust stabilization account, not just on the city side but also the school side, and our taxes are 25% cheaper than our neighbors. I'm trying to keep Chicopee affordable. We're promoting new businesses. The downtown is seeing a renaissance. We're renovating buildings and getting properties that have been defunked back on the tax rolls like Uniroyal. I'm excited for what's happening and I want to continue that progress."
Vieau also said some of his priorities for his next term would include attracting more teachers to work in city schools and continuing to work to improve pedestrian safety.