EASTHAMPTON — A fourth candidate has emerged for the seat of mayor in Easthampton, someone already familiar with the role — interim Mayor Salem Derby.
In announcing his bid for the position on Thursday, Derby joins City Councilor At-Large Jason “JT” Tirrell, mayoral Executive Assistant Lindsi Sekula and city resident Robert Laferriere in the crowded field. Sekula was the first to announce her candidacy followed by Tirrell, Laferriere, then Derby.
The election is scheduled for Nov. 4 and candidates must have 100 nomination signatures submitted before the deadline on Sept. 16 at 5 p.m., to become an official candidate. Tirrell and Sekula have submitted their signatures, while Derby and Laferriere have yet to. The next official mayor will be the fourth for Easthampton, following Nicole LaChapelle, Karen Cadieux and Michael A. Tautznik.
Derby took office as interim mayor on July 16, after LaChapelle announced she would resign early to accept a position as the commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.
While he originally had no intentions to run for mayor, a moment of inspiration during a meeting for the Ferry Street housing and commercial project changed his mind.
“It was just this moment where we were clicking,” Derby said about the meeting. “Everybody was operating at a super high level and I was helping facilitate the discussion between the developer and our team. We were coming up with really creative solutions to a really complicated problem. It was this inspiring moment and I realized that I didn’t know who else could be sitting in that position.”
Along with the three months he will serve as interim mayor, Derby has filled many roles in Easthampton government. He was elected to the City Council in 2004 and has served as both president and vice president in that time. He has chaired the Ordinance Committee for 16 years, and led the Public Safety and Property Committees.
Derby is proud of the time he has spent in Easthampton government, having served on the council under every mayor. He has seen construction of the Nashawannuck Pond boardwalk, the birth of Easthampton City Arts, and multiple housing developments.
“I wanted to make it better,” Derby said about continuing his time on the council. “I wanted to make this a better place to raise my family. I wanted to make it a better place for other people to raise their kids and that’s why I never left. I got to be a part of kind of shaping what Easthampton has turned into. It was intoxicating in a way.”
Looking back at his time on the council, Derby takes pride in his push to support a concert series at Millside Park hosted by Laudable Productions. Additionally, he boosted efforts to secure a MassWorks grant during his time on the Ordinance Committee, to repave and renovate space behind the Eastworks mill building.
I’ve been working for the better part of my adult life for the city of Easthampton to make it a better place to work, live and play
Salem Derby
Beyond city government, Derby has a background in education, working as a teacher at Northampton Public Schools for more than 20 years, most recently serving as a health and wellness teacher at the high school. He has been involved in Easthampton youth sports, coaching competitive basketball in Easthampton for more than a decade.
Derby noted he has fulfilled multiple experiences that have built his financial fluency. For 10 years, he has helped work the finances for his and his wife’s business, Salon 180 East.
As he has started to look into the budget during his run as interim mayor, he hopes his financial background will help as the city moves toward “leaner times.”
Additionally, he has worked in multiple roles for the Collaborative for Educational Services, formerly known as the Hampshire Educational Collaborative. During that time he helped secure funding including the Physical Education for Progress grant and an Emergency Response hazard mitigation grant.
“I’m looking at my background and I didn’t even realize that somehow the stars have aligned and all of these things in my life that have happened have led me to this confluence of being really uniquely qualified to be sitting in this seat,” he said.
During his short time as interim mayor, Derby has brought back the Keys to the City Program, and made a push for a mural festival that includes a sidewalk chalk art competition, that will begin soon.
Derby’s ideas for the city have been growing from his time as a councilor, to now as interim mayor. Some of the challenges he hopes to tackle include affordable living for younger generations and seniors. He mentioned ideas to explore expansion of the boardwalk for more pond-side dining and partnering with local haulers for free citywide dumpster days.
“I’ve been in this long enough to know what a lot of the needs of the community are,” Derby said. “I feel like I’m able to be creative, find interesting and hopefully low-cost solutions to some of these things so we can improve the quality of life and move Easthampton to a more sustainable, livable, walkable, bikeable future.”
He hopes to work with neighboring communities to expand renewable energy options to strengthen sustainability. He wants to revive the conduit and fish ladder under the bridge on Northampton Street, that runs over the Manhan River.
“I’ve been working for the better part of my adult life for the city of Easthampton to make it a better place to work, live and play,” Derby said. “There’s no way, no matter what happens, I’m going to stop working for that and I would love to do it as the mayor, because I think I have the skills, the experience, the right attitude.”