Thinking About Change

... and Northampton acting locally is integral to systemic nation -wide change. I am ready and eager to step up and be part of that action. I’m worried, as are many of us, that we have let things slide. A lot.

 Council is the check and balance we must support as an independent body, especially in our 2019 ‘strong mayor’ charter where the mayor controls budget, departments, all city committees, and chairs and votes on our elected school committee.  Is this okay with us?

whose children want to know why their time as students in our schools is not valued as a precious priority by those in elected office who themselves  learned in a far more robust educational setting.  Bigger classes, fewer electives, the ongoing reduction of arts, music, theater and a fundamental disinvestment in curriculum is the consequence every single year that we hear about fuzzy percentage increases, staffing and service cuts  and not about  student learning loss.  We are witnessing a time of nonchalance and outright denial of services to students legally required to receive them. The dismissal of librarians, front office clerks and any position that can be deemed ‘non critical’ leaves our schools wide open to white flight to charters. Have we given up? Northampton believes in education, we market our city as family friendly but we won’t pay for it?  Our students and their parents have dug deeper into city budgets and decisions that impact them more than some officials have, but they have no voice in how their family taxes are spent. Whose city is this? 

 and not cronyism under the guise of being ‘progressive’. Transparency means getting an honest (and polite!) answer from city staff without being dismissed and sent to file Freedom of Information requests simply to know how decisions were made and what they cost. Transparency means no secrets, no separate agenda, no 'if you don’t like it un-elect me in two or four years'.  Transparency means honestly sharing process and outcome and engaging in dialogue and serious consideration of suggestions and ideas.  Transparency means an awful lot in this day and age. 

 it worked because we saved and didn't spend. Even when we have millions in savings, now earning millions in interest, we neglected street, sidewalk, building repairs and  seriously underfunded our schools. Fiscal stability is sound practice. Stubbornly sticking to one outdated plan is not. It's time for a re-examination and re-configuration. 

 As a constituent I have no idea what that might be.  How did we get here? What is the Peoples’ Strategic Plan for this city? Why isn’t this a thing? How many times have we heard that it all happened at that 2011 Nelson/Nygaard Design Charette two mayors ago,  and if you missed it, too bad? How many of today’s voters lived here in 2011 or were old enough to vote? How have Pandemic and Trump changed us, how are we planning for what next and beyond-  inclusively and transparently? 

 What keeps wonderful city  businesses like Paul and Elizabeth’s, India House, Fitzwilly’s, Packards, Herrell’s, The Brewery, Thornes, State Street Fruit, Coopers, Joe's, Miss Flo's, Birds,  Foster Farrar, Florence Hardware (the oldest hardware store in the nation!) stable? How will Picture Main Street impact all businesses that have stood the test of time or have taken the risk of start up? Are we okay with being a city that is geared primarily towards tourists and high end condos? Have we given up on diversity?  

 Why don’t we know the real story of the purchase of the Baptist Church  with  $3 million in city funds and now taken off  city assessment revenues?  Why is Picture Main Street a public relations promo insisting that all community input happened during pandemic and at city planning  committee meetings  few attended, and everything will be fine- when so many in our community have real concerns that it won't?  We need new sidewalks downtown.  Our mayor knows that the first 16 million  of  PMS funding has been pulled by Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and allocated elsewhere, but we don't see that in the PMS FAQ.   What's the plan? Where does community factor in? Can't we make this a really good plan?

How do we bring in more community impact efforts like Pedal People, the Northampton Historical Society Barn Raising, the Department of Community Care, Northampton Survival Center,  Northampton Open Media,  Grow Food Northampton,  Safe Passage and Farm to School meals?  

We could. We should. As your Councilor I will do my best to move that concept forward. Join me.