NORTHAMPTON — Two candidates are running to replace Ward 1 City Councilor Michael Quinlan in the Nov. 2 election after Quinlan joined the race for an at-large seat instead of seeking reelection.
Ward 1 is the city’s northeast corner. The ward runs from the Hatfield town line down King Street to Summer Street and includes Damon Road, Bridge Road and Industrial Drive. The ward is bordered to the northwest by Leeds, and Cooley Dickinson Hospital sits just across the western border in Ward 5A.
The Ward 1 candidates, in the order they will appear on the ballot, are Emily “Lemy” Coffin and Stanley Moulton.
A social worker, family therapist and queer community organizer originally from Los Angeles, Coffin has lived in Northampton for more than 10 years. In California, Coffin, who uses they/them pronouns, was an advocate for teaching LGBTQ history in schools and addressing the school-to-prison pipeline, among other social justice causes including marriage equality.
Coffin served in AmeriCorps before moving to Northampton to major in government studies at Smith College and has also worked in a group home for troubled teens in Springfield and for DIAL/SELF Youth and Community Services in Greenfield.
Coffin, a renter, said housing affordability is a central concern for their campaign, and that in addition to building new units, the city and state need to ensure that repairs and energy upgrades are made to existing affordable housing.
In an interview outside their Aster Fields apartment, Coffin said they are “progressive and pragmatic,” with a “fresh and informed” perspective on the issues facing the city.
Voters are concerned about empty storefronts downtown, and how to revitalize the local economy after it took heavy hits during the pandemic, Coffin said. With $21.7 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds available to spend over two years, Coffin said the city has an opportunity to help low-income people and people of color, as well.
Coffin supports the new Department of Community Care, an alternative emergency response department that will manage suspicious person calls, mental health crises, wellness checks and other matters typically handled by police. The department received a $424,000 allocation in the fiscal 2022 budget, about half of the amount recommended by the Policing Review Commission.
“When police are not the right fit, who do we call? Usually, we call nobody,” Coffin said. “I don’t want to call the police on a neighbor, or a family member who’s come to a gathering. I just want to give people more options.”
A former member of the treasury team at Western Mass SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice), Coffin said the success of the department depends on hiring the right implementation director, and providing that person with the support and resources they need to request more funding from the city and outside sources.
Voters will answer ballot Question 1, asking if they support the city providing broadband internet service. Coffin said that internet service “has become as necessary as water and electricity,” and she backs the question to give Northampton residents another choice besides Comcast.
Coffin has earned the endorsements of incumbent Ward 7 City Councilor Rachel Maiore, former Ward 7 councilor Alisa Klein and Dan Cannity, who served as co-chair of the Policing Review Commission.
Moulton worked at the Daily Hampshire Gazette for 42 years as a reporter and editor before retiring in 2018. He serves on the board of Northampton Open Media, chaired the city’s Charter Review Committee in 2019 and spent a decade as chairman of the Citizens Scholarship Foundation of Northampton.
A graduate of Hampshire College in Amherst, Moulton bought his Perkins Avenue home in Northampton more than four decades ago. He grew up in New Hampshire.
Moulton supports the construction of affordable housing units at 33 King St., the former Hampshire County Hall of Records, and he said the city has to prioritize the needs of low-income people and people of color when distributing federal COVID-19 relief funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
ARPA money, Moulton said, should support families disproportionately affected by the pandemic, provide premium pay for frontline workers and boost small businesses.
Moulton said he is a “big supporter of Question 1,” which would allow the city to continue the process of establishing municipal internet service. He said the state-mandated language of the question is “confusing,” and it’s up to backers to explain it to voters.
“People want their city councilor to show up, provide clear answers to their questions, to communicate with them,” Moulton said, adding that one leadership goal is to “act early. Try to reach common ground rather than letting divisions fester.”
During the campaign season, Moulton said he has walked all of the more than 60 streets in Ward 1 and knocked on hundreds of doors.
“My approach really has been to have individual conversations. I feel like I’m able to make that connection when I’m at a person’s door,” Moulton said.
The state Legislature recently approved a batch of charter changes recommended by the committee that Moulton chaired. He said he is “very, very proud” that the city clerk’s job is now appointed, rather than elected, which “reflects the professionalism of that job.”
Moulton said he is concerned about putting the Department of Community Care in a position to succeed, and with improving safety and accessibility downtown through the redesign of Main Street.
He has earned the endorsements of Sam Hopper, the vice chair of the Charter Review Committee during his tenure, and four former Ward 1 councilors — Maureen Carney, Judith Fine, Michael Kirby and outgoing at-large Councilor Bill Dwight.
Moulton also earned the support of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1459. Moulton said the union represents thousands of “working families, and those are certainly people I will work hard for on the City Council.”
Brian Steele can be reached at bsteele@gazettenet.com.