MICHAEL TAUTZNIK
EASTHAMPTON – Two Democrats and two Republicans will be running for the state Senate seat vacated by Sen. Michael Knapik, who took a job at Westfield State University. The Democratic candidates who will face off in the Oct. 8 primary are Easthampton Mayor Michael Tautznik and Holyoke City Councilor David Bartley. Republicans competing in the primary are Westfield state Rep. Donald Humason Jr. and Holyoke Veterans Services Officer Michael Franco.
It has been almost two decades since the Second Hampshire and Hampden County District seat has held by a Democrat in the Massachusetts State Senate.
Easthampton Mayor Michael Tautznik is looking to change that in the coming months, as the resignation of the seat’s longtime Republican occupant Michael Knapik has given way to a special election to be held this fall.
Tautznik believes that his lifetime of public service and local ties will make him an appealing candidate.
“I have lived in Easthampton my whole life, in the same house as my father and grandfather,” the Hendrick Street resident said. “I’ve been Mayor for seventeen years and a selectman before that, as well as other positions in the city.”
“I have 35 years of public service,” said Tautznik, who served on the legislative town meeting from 1977 until it’s dissoloution in 1996, the year he was elected to his first term as the first and only mayor in the city’s history. “I have a background in local government and a set of skills that I can bring to the senate and western Mass.”
A lifetime resident of the city of Easthampton, Tautznik is familiar with the greater Westfield area from his time working for Cernak Fuel, and believes that, along with his work with green energy, will help him with western Hampden County.
“I bring a knowledge of how communities work,” said the 59-year old. “I have a history of farm land preservation and green energy.”
As mayor, Tautznik has helped to establish Easthampton as a green energy community, while also working with city officials in an effort to build a 2-megawatt solar generating plant, which was started in 2009 and went on-line in 2012, bringing in $89,000 annually to the city. Additionally, he led an effort to replace streetlights citywide with more modern and energy efficient LED fixtures, at a time when Boston was the only other municipality in the state to do so, according to Tautznik.
Tautznik, who also served as the Director of the Economic Development Council for Western Massachusetts, believes that he can not only fill the seat vacated by Knapik, but that he can replicate his impact on the Commonwealth.
“I see myself fitting in well with (the Senate),” said Tautznik. “I don’t think being a career politician is a bad thing. I have the qualifications, and western Mass. needs another strong voice and, if elected, I’ll be that voice for the district.”
The special election is Nov. 5.
