04/30/2026
No Experience, No Effort, No Elections:
How the Ultimate Yes-Man Beat the System
— April 29, 2026
Rory Casey is a classic Holyoke political hack — a professional yes-man who has spent years swinging from one administration to the next, always landing on his feet through loyalty rather than expertise. A marketing consultant by trade who once ran unsuccessfully for City Council, Casey has built a career as the ultimate insider operator, serving whoever holds the mayor’s office and earning a reputation as a reliable team player in the city’s entrenched political scene.
With no CPA license, no accounting degree, and no formal financial credentials, this unqualified insider was appointed interim treasurer in 2022 and later elected to the post.
In a remarkable display of political theater, Casey urged residents to eliminate the elected job he held — all while secure in the knowledge that the current mayor would simply keep him on in the new appointed structure. No more pesky elections to worry about. No accountability to voters. Just a cozy continuation of the status quo, protected by insider connections.
He has presided over the same dysfunctional department he once publicly labeled a “recipe for disaster.”
Years later, the city’s books remain open, audits are delayed for years, free cash still cannot be certified, and basic financial reconciliations are in shambles. The results have been devastating:
- The state withheld $7 million in local aid.
- The city lost its bond rating, driving up borrowing costs.
- Chronic budget shortfalls triggered tax increases on already overburdened homeowners.
Everyday city services have predictably collapsed. Potholes go unfilled for months, snow removal is slow and unreliable, and critical infrastructure repairs are stalled — all because the Treasurer’s Office cannot manage or certify the funds needed to keep the city functioning.
The worst pain falls on the schools, where teachers have gone more than 300 days without a fair contract, forced to plead for basic cost-of-living adjustments while millions in potential aid remain trapped in accounting backlogs.
This mess is no accident. It is the direct product of Holyoke’s entrenched politics — where loyalty as a yes-man and the ability to swing smoothly between administrations matter far more than professional competence. The elected treasurer position, which required zero expertise, simply rewarded another political hack with the keys to the vault.
It's true Casey inherited problems, However he has only deepened them. His tenure stands as a textbook example of how placing unqualified insiders and loyal operatives in critical roles leads to higher taxes, worse roads, and neglected public employees.
Reforms like the Municipal Finance Modernization Act are finally in motion, but Holyoke residents have already paid a heavy price for years of political favoritism over actual ability.
*Holyoke deserves better.*
