Before becoming a lawyer, I studied politics and government as a political science major at Boston College, where I was exposed to “600 level” political theory classes. As a law student at George Washington University Law School, I took a whole course entitled Local Government Law.
In my professional, legal opinion, Mayor David Narkewicz is now exhibiting signs of the type of despotism about which Voltaire and other figures of the Enlightenment warned us.
Northampton isn’t a very big fief, so our ruling overlord is running out of civic institutions to harass and intimidate.
Attempted shakedowns of the Cooley Dickinson Hospital and Smith College aren’t just resented by those institutions, but are warning signs for the rest of us. Now, add Forbes Library to the list. The Trustees of Forbes Library actually feel the need to seek judicial protection from this mayor’s hunger for power.
Mayor Narkewicz resents power held by others. Northampton’s nonprofits sought and were granted tax-exempt status to be free of bureaucrats like our mayor. His payment in lieu of taxes program, or PILOT, seeks to leach power from entities that he thankfully does supervise.
Like Vladimir Putin, Narkewicz engineered an expansion of his own power, using a charter change that removes voters’ ability for a redress of grievances from every two years to four.
I have no doubt that seeking a judicial shield from the mayor was the course of last resort for a noble institution like Forbes with a long history of excellent service to the community.
In solidarity with the trustees, I urge all civic minded citizens to visit Forbes (a product of the Enlightenment) and read about life under the Divine Rights of Kings. It will remind you of somebody we know.
Joseph Tarantino
Northampton
The writer is chair of the Northampton Republican City Committee.