NORTHAMPTON — The three candidates seeking Ward 3’s seat on the City Council squared off at a candidate forum Monday night, answering questions about the biggest issues facing the city while attempting to set themselves apart heading into a preliminary municipal election in three weeks.
The Ward 3 race features incumbent Quaverly Rothenberg, who is seeking a second term, against challengers Ace Tayloe and Laurie Loisel. The forum, which drew some 300 people to Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity in Florence, also featured candidates for the council seats in Ward 1 and Ward 5. The Sept. 16 preliminary election will narrow the field in all three wards from three candidates to two, who will square off in the municipal election on Nov. 4.
Tayloe, a member of the Northampton Housing Partnership for four years, expressed a particular urgency for affordability of housing in the city. In addition, they advocate for other city services being well funded, including a balance between the need for public infrastructure and the adequately funding schools.
Loisel said that as a journalist she is deeply committed to seeking out the facts, which the 40-year Northampton resident said gives her the “temperament” to lead, in addition to the fact that she has dedicated her life to not knowing everything, but asking questions. She would see her role as a councilor as that of a “steward for public services,” to ensure they serve everyone adequately.
Rothenberg gave her personal history in her opening remarks as a Berkeley, California native who came to Northampton, married into a Polish farming family, and has three kids. She said her whole family is autistic. She said her mission is to help the community connect with resources, so that “government can make people’s lives easier,” and she boasted about a track record of sticking up for her ward.
The candidates spent about an hour answering questions asked by panelists or submitted by the audience ranging from the Picture Main Street downtown redesign to the school budget, housing development and whether city politics have become too divisive.
Picture Main Street
Picture Main Street, a $29 million project set to begin next year that calls for a complete overhaul of Main Street and replacement of critical downtown infrastructure, has drawn both ire and praise from residents.
Candidates were asked to give their opinion on the downtown renovation. Tayloe was hesitant, Rothenberg expressed opposition, and Loisel praised the project.
Tayloe said they have “extremely mixed feelings” about Picture Main Street, saying, “on paper, it sounds great…but I find it severely lacking.”
“We absolutely need to redo the sewers. We absolutely need to redo the sidewalks, which is the core of this project,” they said, adding, however, that, “There’s a lot of legitimate concerns about things like the safety of bike lanes … businesses.”
Tayloe went on to say that they’d like to see solutions to help business, whether it be donation drives or securing grants to help businesses stay alive during the lengthy construction phase.
Overall, they said, “maintenance is a lot easier than creating something new.”
Despite her initial support for the project when she ran for council two years ago, Rothenberg has become concerned about Picture Main Street, especially the price tag. Even though the state is picking up an 88% share of the project, Rothenberg is worried about cost overruns.
“I don’t think it will be free for us. It’s already not been free. It’s already cost millions, and I think it will cost millions more,” she said.
She went on, “I’m concerned about businesses who have been here, some since the 70s,” which are often operating with a 2% profit margin. “I don’t think they’ll survive this,” she fears.
A third reason concerns bikers.
“I think the intersections, which are the most dangerous parts for bikers, will still be dangerous, and I think that public transportation is going to be negatively impacted,” she said.
Regardless of all this, she concluded that, “we can and must do many things to invest in our downtown. That should be part of our normal working capital , including fixing our sidewalks, our crosswalks, our sewer.”
And these projects should, “tie into real economic development, to real earnings,” said Rothenberg.
Loisel, a self-described nerd of everything Northampton, made the case for why the plan for Picture Main Street is a good idea.
She believes that despite many complaints about a lack of community input, the community has been contributing input for decades. She notes that there have been repeated meetings with stakeholders and subcommittees.
“This has been talked about in various forms,” she said, noting that all downtown planning for decades has been done with community input taken into account and that this project is no different.
Like her challengers, Loisel does see the absolute need to update the 100-year-old sewage pipes below the surface.
“I think that we have an 100 -year-plus-old sewer pipes underneath, and it has to be done,” she said. “There’s no way around it, and we’re getting some significant state and federal dollars to support it.”
She also believes the project supports important climate initiatives, including a canopy of trees, with birds and biking and walking that will welcome people.
There is also the issue of safety, in Loisel’s view, who said that, “The Department of Transportation has said Northampton’s Main Street is in the top 5% of crash clusters for pedestrians, and this will make it safer.”
Admitting that the project will nonetheless be “difficult,” Loisel said a lot of work is being done in collaboration with businesses, “to make sure they’ll be strong throughout the construction,” and said businesses working with the city will continue to be vital.
School funding
Over the last two years the city’s schools have seen reductions in staffing and services, despite the budget going up, which has led to backlash.
Rothenberg has a track record of being aggressively in favor of bolstering school funding. She stood by her beliefs on Monday, saying that the city has a budget with an annual surplus.
“We’re generating such big surpluses at the expense of children being able to read and write,” said Rothenberg.
Loisel argued that the city does invest in its students, to the tune of $19,600 per pupil annually. She also noted that the city spends more than half of its operating budget each year on the schools, and that this investment has helped Northampton High School secure a ranking of 59th in the state, according to the U.S. News and World report.
She said the school budget is not a fresh issue, but a decadeslong one that has routinely drawn the city’s “consternation,” and will more than likely continue to be that way.
Tayloe agreed that the schools need adequate funding and sees it in the light of worker’s rights, saying, “teachers should not be afraid to lose their jobs.” However, Tayloe added that it is equally necessarily to bring back unfilled positions for the Department of Public Works, and cited the decrepit conditions of sidewalks in the city.
Candidates were asked whether Smith College should be tax exempt, or contribute more than they already do through payment in lieu of tax agreements.
Loisel said the city needs more money, so if Smith is willing to pay more, it would be beneficial. She was unsure of the exact dollar amount the college should contribute.
Rothenberg said the “The City Council and mayor should be very clear with Smith,” given the condition of the city’s schools right now, which she said are replete with “civil rights violations” for not adequately caring for student with special needs.
As a Smith alumnus, Tayloe said “Absolutely,” the college should be contributing more. The question that would remain for them is how to allocate those funds into the budget, and for what purposes.
Division
While all three support Northampton’s “sanctuary city” status, they weren’t so unified on current divisions within the city’s politics.
Tayloe is of the opinion that disagreements are vital, yet they said “it seems to have swung too far,” and politics should be about criticizing policy rather than people.
“It’s a balance,” they said, adding it is also imperative to listen to those who express anger, and apologize for any hurt caused when, as a city official, anger is expressed.
Loisel characterized misinformation as worse than a lack of civility. It is misinformation that leads to personal attacks in her view, and she advocates for collaboration.
Rothenberg diagnosed the problem as being attached to the fact that since Northampton is a progressive community, it is “hard to understand why we might disagree with each other.”
But she said, “This is what representative democracy looks like,” referring to the disagreements that have been frequent at council meetings.
“This works,” she said.
Building development
On the subject of building development, Tayloe said that new units are set to market rate, but this is not enough.
They think that development, “needs to be affordable in the colloquial sense,” and defined that to mean that two people making minimum wage should be able to afford a livelihood.
Aside from investment, divestment is also important to Tayloe, who used their closing remarks to say that they support divestment of L3Harris, the defense contractor located in the city.
Rothenberg said that she believes increased housing development can have unintended “trickle down” impacts that can raise the market rate, and thus make affordable housing even more expensive.
“So I think these developments are actually harming my constituents,” she said.
Loisel expressed urgency about the need for more housing, and would broker a meeting between developers and community members to ensure both sides benefit. She said new developments always meet aversion, but that often developments grow on residents as they are established in the community over time.
Sacrifice
Moderators asked what candidates would be willing to sacrifice to fit in the time and energy required for being on the council.
Loisel, since she is set to retire, said she is just trading a full-time job for a spot in the city’s political life, so very little personal sacrifice is on the line.
Tayloe said, “You don’t deserve me when I’m burnt out” and did the math in their personal schedule to open up 20 hours in their week to make room for city politics.
The advice they have gotten when speaking with current councilors: set boundaries, set limits, and they expect to have a sense of moderation to best serve the community.
Rothenberg said she left her well-paying job as a court stenographer to lead Ward 3, and clapped back at Tayloe, saying “20 hours is not enough” to adequately represent constituents.
Audience
The audience was told to remain quiet and respectful throughout the forum, so very little public input from the audience could be gauged.
But the Gazette spoke with people both before and after the debate to get some takes from those in the pews.
Going into the night, Hallie Novak, a Northampton teacher came with an open mind, although had a preference for Rothenberg due to her stance on the need for school funding. By the end of the night she said Rothenberg still has her vote.
Jo Ella Tarbutton-Springfield was formerly a Rothenberg voter two years ago, but has been disappointed that she does not prioritize housing as opposed to giving all her efforts to the issue of school funding. She also said Rothenberg has a “god complex.”
Her vote is with Tayloe and praised their performance. “They are funny without trying to be…I just think that they were fantastic.”
Ward 3 resident Kelsey Flynn is supporting Loisel, saying, “I find her to be curious, collaborative, and I appreciate her background as a reporter.”
Coverage of Wards 1 and 5, as well as Tuesday night’s Mayoral and at-large preliminary races will continue to be covered throughout the week.
Editor’s note: This story has been changed to correct what Loisel said about the city’s budget for its school system.