Eva O'Connell, a retired police lieutenant, jumped into the 2009 Holyoke mayoral race for a simple reason: she thinks the city needs change and she believes she can help.

"I just would like to see some improvements to the city," she told PolitickerMA.com in a recent interview. "I just think that I know the city well. I know a lot of the city employees."

O'Connell is the first of what is likely to be a large field vying to replace Holyoke Mayor Michael Sullivan next year. But unlike the numerous pols that have expressed an interest in the race, O'Connell has officially entered it.

Though it is in its early stages, O'Connell said her campaign will focus on bringing businesses to Holyoke and improving the city's education system. New businesses, she said, can afford to pay taxes and therefore lessen the burden on residents.

"We need to bring business into town and improve the tax situation," she said. "Taxes are high and the only way you are going to improve it is to have more businesses in town that can pay taxes."

On education, O'Connell, a 36-year police officer who retired in 2007, said graduating high schools seniors fall into two camps: those that go to college and those that don't. O'Connell would like to work to help provide those that can't go to college with good jobs.

O'Connell also said that she only recently decided to run for the job after meeting with several individuals in the city. "You don't want to go out and start a campaign and not have a shot at it," she said.

She noted that she is new to politics so she is starting at a disadvantage compared to the several Holyoke city councilors that are also considering running.

"I've never been involved in politics before, so I'm starting at the bottom," she said. "It's not like I've had any campaigns and can draw on those people."

O'Connell hasn't started raising money yet and said that fundraising was one of her top concerns when she was thinking about jumping into the race.

"The amount of money being spent on campaigns is crazy," she said. "If the two parties took half of what they raised during the presidential and gave it to the government we'd all be in a better shape."

O'Connell noted that she does not view herself as a career politician and is "not looking and the mayor's job as a stepping stone to Boston."

"I just would like to work for the city," she said, "and see if I can't do something to put us on a better foot."