NORTHAMPTON — From traffic concerns to issues at Bridge Street School, residents were given an opportunity Wednesday to share their thoughts with City Council President Ryan O’Donnell.
With recreational marijuana outlets coming to the city soon, one resident wondered if one of the city’s most prominent businessmen would seek to monopolize the trade.
“How many retail licenses can Eric Suher have for recreational marijuana?” he asked.
“There’s no artificial limit placed on what Mr. Suher can have,” O’Donnell said.
He said the state plans to enact a limit in proportion to the number of liquor licenses allowed in the city.
Two parents of first-grade students at Bridge Street School said they’re looking at new schools for their children. An inclusion model that immerses special needs students with their peers has caused problems at the school, including allegations of injuries to students and teachers.
Stacey Dakai and Alla Katsnelson said they’ve had meetings with the School Committee, Superintendent John Provost, and with numerous parents, but they saw the community meeting as an opportunity to talk directly to the City Council president about the issue.
“From my perspective, it’s a very complex, tricky issue,” O’Donnell said. “I respect a lot of goals behind the inclusion model, and I also hear from a lot of my constituents and residents in the city that there have been these problems.”
O’Donnell said the city’s in the budget season, and now is the right time to talk about budget resources and models used in the public schools. He also asked to hear more from the parents about the situation at school.
Katsnelson said she and Dakai support the idea of the inclusion model, but there wasn’t proper training for the teachers or administration to carry it out.
“Probably about 15 percent of the first grade has left and many, many more are now thinking about it,” Katsnelson said.
Blair Gimma, 34, of Northampton, told O’Donnell her concerns about a video promoting recruitment to the Northampton Police Department which was shared on Mayor David Narkewicz’s Twitter page.
“I was disturbed by the amount of firearms, including firearms being drawn and shot,” Gimma said, describing how much of the footage was taken at a shooting range.
Gimma said there should be civilian oversight over the police department and that the public should know how many firearms the department has.
“As a community, we should know — not only the use of technology, cameras and drones — but the amount of deadly force that is located in our police departments,” Gimma said.
Another resident agreed, stating there should be a police-civilian review board, and asked what the council’s role is when it comes to managing the police department.
O’Donnell said the council does not have authority over the day-to-day operations of the police department. He said the police have an open data initiative, which includes use-of-force data and arrests.
Aaron Evans-Janes and Jamie Guerin, from the Internet for All movement, brought up the idea of municipal internet in Northampton.
“Broadband will soon be an essential utility,” O’Donnell said, adding that the internet is already used for important tasks like finding jobs and signing up for health care. O’Donnell said he’d like to be kept in the loop with the movement.
Another resident had the idea of putting solar panels on school roofs, which would be sustainable, but also be an educational tool.
O’Donnell said the Sustainable Northampton Comprehensive Plan is reviewed about every 10 years, and he said now is an important time to weigh in on the framework.
Caitlin Ashworth can be reached at cashworth@gazettenet.com.