EASTHAMPTON — Election signs are popping up in business windows, front lawns and at busy intersections throughout the city, a sure bet that this fall’s election is heating up with just a few weeks to go before ballots are cast.
The deadline to turn in nomination papers passed on Tuesday, candidates are official and debates are coming up.
With Mayor Karen L. Cadieux retiring, two candidates are seeking to win the seat. Joy E. Winnie, who has served on the City Council for 21 years, and Nicole LaChapelle, an attorney and member of the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee, both announced their desire to run the city some time ago .
Meanwhile, the City Council race is contested for the four at-large seats, with eight people running. The race for the five individual precincts is far less competitive, with only one contested race.
And on the School Committee, eight candidates are running for six seats, with only two incumbents seeking re-election.
Winnie and LaChapelle are both courting endorsements with the Nov. 7 election just a few weeks away.
On Tuesday, the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus Political Action Committee announced its endorsement for LaChapelle in her bid for mayor of Easthampton.
“She understands that municipal government is a catalyst to make positive change happen and advance the array of important issues women and families in Easthampton care about,” Linnea Walsh, MWPC’s interim executive director said in a statement.
Former Mayor Michael Tautznik chatted about the city’s leadership over pint of local beer at the Brass Cat on Wednesday. Though he hasn’t officially announced it, Tautznik’s endorsing Winnie for mayor.
“She served with me for all 17 years,” he said. “She has the right experience and knows the community.”
Tautznik said the new leader should have a “long-term vision.”
He said many projects, such as the Boardwalk and other redevelopments, took years to come to fruition. Some were envisioned in the 1990s and were eventually completed by Cadieux, he said.
“In government, you have to have a lot of patience,” Tautznik said.
He said that local government is important to residents as it affects the streets they drive on, the schools they attend, and more.
“It affects you every day,” he said.
On Wednesday, LaChapelle walked around Easthampton, handing out signs and canvasing businesses on Cottage and Union streets. She’s set up a campaign office at the Keystone Building.
Signs for both mayoral candidates are displayed in the window of the Razor’s Edge barbershop on Union Street.
“I stay neutral,” said the shop’s owner Keith Lenkowski, 59.
Lenkowski, who has owned the shop for 38 years, said a lot has changed in Easthampton. It went from a mill town to a progressive arts district, he said.
“The first mayor we had did a good job,” he said, adding that Cadieux has done equally well if not better.
At the Silver Spoon on Main Street, Winnie’s sign sits in the window.
Owner Peter Geis, 61, said Winnie has come to eat at the local breakfast hub and he does not know LaChapelle. He wants a mayor who supports local business.
“In the past, its been business friendly,” Geis said about the city government. He said the city is in need of a parking garage.
The eight candidates running for the four at-large spots on the council include incumbents Joseph McCoy, Daniel Carey and Margaret “Peg” Conniff, and newcomers Owen Zaret, James Mathews, Jared Hinkle, William E. Lynch and Cinza Pica-Smith. Current at-large councilor Tamara Smith is not running for re-election.
Zaret, a physician assistant at Holyoke Medical Center, said he supports the local school system which includes setting regional standards in education and building a pre-K through grade 8 school.
In an email, Zaret said he also wants to create zoning and local ordinances to bring recreational marijuana to the area in a safe, responsible and respectful way.
McCoy, the council’s current president, is running for his seventh term. He said serving on the council is government at the grassroots level. He said issues are discussed directly with the public and some big changes can start with one resident’s idea brought up during public speak time of a meeting.
Mathews, a writer and artist who grew up in Cushman Village in Amherst, said he looks forward to running a campaign that celebrates neighborhood, promotes understanding and encourages young people to involve themselves in the local political landscape.
Conniff said there is more that she can offer to the city.
Pica-Smith is an associate professor for human services and rehabilitation studies and education at Assumption College.
“I am committed to an open dialogue in our community to ensure that the diverse needs of our population are served to the best of our abilities,” Pica-Smith wrote in a statement. “This includes sustainable economic growth, equitable and thriving schools and community, and a plan to protect our most vulnerable citizens when we make decisions about taxes and infrastructure.”
Precinct 1 Councilor James “JP” Kwiecinski, Precinct 4 Councilor Salem Derby and Precinct 5 Councilor Daniel Rist are running for re-election uncontested.
Thomas Peake, 28, is the sole candidate for Precinct 3, a seat held by Winnie for 21 years. Peake, a city resident for the past decade, is an economist at the University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute. He said he’s interested in economic development strategies and what local and regional governments can do to stay healthy in uncertain times.
“I thought that my voice could be useful on the Council as we work to make sure that Easthampton remains affordable, safe and beautiful for the people who live here,” Peake said.
Homar Gomez and Paul J. St. Pierre, Jr. are both running for Precinct 2, a seat previously held by Jennifer Hayes, who is not running for re-election.
St. Pierre, 29, runs a small manufacturing company in Agawam. He said his overall goal for running for City Council is to explore new and creative ways to improve people’s quality of life and ensure long-term stability and prosperity for the community.
Cynthia Kwiecinski and Marissa Carrere are the only two incumbents running for re-election. The newcomers are Laurie Garcia, Alexandra Lynn Dodge, Jonathan Schmidt, Marin Goldstein, Rose Spurgin and Shannon M. Dunham.
Kwiecinski said that after a difficult year of turmoil and unrest within the school district, she is dedicated to helping Easthampton heal and ensuring the action plan is implemented, broadened and further developed.
“We have a long way to go and I want to see it through until the healing is complete,” she said.
Carrere is the chairwoman of the Policy Subcommittee, where she said she’s been leading the subcommittee in establishing protections for transgender and non-binary students as well as undocumented students.
She also plans bring the community together in support of a new pre-K though grade 8 school building while the school as the “rare opportunity” to take advantage of funding from the Massachusetts School Building Association.
Garcia has been an educator for more than 25 years, teaching English as a second language and Spanish at a variety of schools. She is currently teaches Spanish at West Springfield High School.
On Garcia’s campaign website, she states that she has experience for some issues facing the district including racial tension. She holds a master’s degree in intercultural relations.
Dodge said she has two children and one of them just started at Center Elementary School. She has more than a decade of experience working in educational publishing and now works at a software company.
“I felt a strong need to run for School Committee when I learned that there were so few candidates,” she wrote in an email. “It’s just too important — to our family and this city — that we have a functional and thriving school community.”
Schmidt is the youth services librarian at the Emily Williston Memorial Library who grew up in Easthampton, attending the public schools.
“It is my hope that a seat on the School Committee will allow me to support public education so that today’s students are granted the same opportunities for enrichment and success that I had growing up, and so that we may continue exploring new ways to improve our education system,” Schmidt wrote in an email.
Goldstein, 44, who holds a master’s degree in education and works as a project’s manager for Trinity Solar in Holyoke, said he has experience leading environmental education and has worked with at-risk youth. He is currently on the School Building Committee, which is looking into constructing a consolidated pre-K through grade 8 school.
Goldstein said in an email he “believes that the path forward is to increase community involvement and dialogue in regards to the diversity and safety issues in our schools.”
Spurgin, an insurance agent, created a Facebook page announcing her candidacy, but received some backlash.
Some of her comments posted on the Easthampton, MA Group Page on Facebook were perceived as rude, and she said she has been getting bullied on her candidate page. She said the race is important to her. Two of her sons are of mixed race and she said the attorney general’s office investigation findings into discipline disparities were no surprise.
Easthampton Media will host debates and events leading up to the election on Tuesday, Nov. 7.
The first event is a mayoral debate on Thursday, Sept. 28 from 7-8 p.m., 50 Payson Ave. A “speak easy” event will follow at the Brass Cat at 8:30 p.m. where the community can discuss what was talked about at the debate.
A City Council candidate debate, School Committee candidate debate and a mayoral forum, hosted by Easthampton Media, will all take place throughout October.
On Oct. 5, the Chamber of Commerce will be holding a “Meet the Candidate” event from 6-8 p.m. at Eastworks, 116 Pleasant St.