It’s the same complaint, over and over again: they’re just not nice! This time, it’s City Council candidate Laurie Loisel making the case, in her July 24 guest column [“SOS endorsement? No thanks”] explaining why she declined to meet with voters from the Support Our Schools (SOS) group to seek the endorsement of their political action committee.
I re-read her column a couple of times, wanting to understand where Loisel’s platform and campaign goals diverge from the priorities of the SOS group. I’m still not clear on that — Loisel shares the uncontroversial views that our public school educators are wonderful and hard-working, and that the state funding formula isn’t working. The thrust of her argument is that SOS is “vilifying public servants of goodwill.” That’s when it clicked for me: that has been the basis of all of the criticism directed at SOS specifically … and more broadly, at all of us in Northampton who have been raising concerns about the city’s budget and the crisis in our public schools.
It’s never been about the substance of the issues, always about the tone or the wording, always about chastising anyone — regardless of affiliation — who has been asking questions about how our city is run. And wow, that’s shocking, when you think about it. I’ve watched the City Council and School Committee meetings over the past 18 months at which teachers, parents, caregivers and students have spoken about the crisis in our schools and called on our elected leaders to intervene. I’ve read the letters to the editor and the comments on social media. I’ve heard community members raise thoughtful and well-researched questions about why the budget is structured the way it is, and seek a deeper understanding of how taxpayer money is allocated to stabilization funds and lower-priority capital projects.
Emotions have run high, and hard truths have been shared, but I haven’t heard any personal attacks on elected officials, and I simply haven’t seen the kind of systemic disrespect or unwillingness to work together that Loisel and others have cited. One of our city’s great strengths is its curious, engaged and well-informed citizenry. I’m excited to vote for candidates who see us as the asset we are, not as an obstacle to skirt around.
Connelly Stokes-Buckles
Florence