NORTHAMPTON — A neighborhood leader and regular voice on a bevy of issues affecting the city is the only candidate in the race for the open Ward 3 City Council seat.
But that doesn’t mean Jim Nash, of 18 Montview Ave., isn’t intent on earning the votes of residents in his ward between now and Nov. 8.
Nash was the only council hopeful to collect enough signatures and return them by an Aug. 25 deadline. Former Ward 3 councilor Ryan O’Donnell vacated the seat when he assumed his new role as councilor at-large on Aug. 11.
“I’m going to run a regular campaign,” Nash told the Gazette on Tuesday. “I think it’s important to ask people for their votes.”
Nash served for two years as president of the Ward 3 Neighborhood Association until he stepped down to run for the council seat. He said he’s considered running for many years, but wanted to wait until his children were grown.
“With the kids out of the house, now, I’m ready,” said Nash, who turns 58 on Friday. “People have been asking me for a long time to run for City Council, and now’s the time.”
Nash has spent most of his professional life working with special needs students, developing programming for them as they transition out of grade school and into their adult lives. To that end, he founded Careerworks in Northampton in 2001, for which he serves as director.
Nash has served the city as a member of various boards and committees, including the Disability Commission, the Passenger Rail Advisory Committee and the Zoning Revisions Committee.
As councilor, he said, he plans to address the ongoing issue of large trucks meandering illegally down the narrow streets of Ward 3, and he’d like to take a look at downtown parking.
“I also want to look into ways to provide equitable and convenient parking for our downtown workers,” Nash said. “That ties in with also exploring residential parking regulations for streets in the downtown areas.”
Nash told the Gazette he’s familiar with the unique issues in Ward 3, saying that population density in the ward means more room for differing opinions.
“When you bring people closer together, you create space for more things to be contested,” he said. “It’s completely normal and I welcome that discussion.”
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@gazettenet.com.