NORTHAMPTON — The three candidates seeking the Ward 5 seat on the City Council — a retired educator, a longtime businessman and a service worker — weighed in on a variety of topics at a candidate forum earlier this week as they head into the home stretch of campaigning before a preliminary election next month.
Aline Davis, David Murphy and Vincent “Luke” Rotello are vying to replace current councilor Alex Jarrett, who is not seeking reelection. Ward 5 voters will reduce the field to two candidates at the preliminary election on Sept. 16, and then decide between those two on Election Day in November.
The Ward 5 candidates were the last to take the stage during Monday’s forum at Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity, speaking in front of about 150 people who stayed after hearing from candidates in Wards 1 and 3.
Davis recently retired after 27 years as a teacher, 25 of which were spent as a public school teacher, a job she said that requires preparation and organization, being a good listener and being compassionate. A sense of humor and patience are other attributes to the job, she said.
“I was a leader and a role model,” she said. “These are also, I believe, the requirements for a successful city councilor.”
Davis said she has a thorough knowledge of the city’s budget, given her position as an at-large member of the School Committee, and she identified housing as one of the most complex issues facing the city today.
And communication is key, she said.
“A primary responsibility of the city council is to provide constituent service,” she said. “I’m prepared to listen to questions and concerns, provide accurate information and to respond in a timely manner.
Murphy is no stranger to the council after representing Ward 5 for 14 years, and is looking to make a comeback. He is also no stranger to budget processes, Massachusetts municipal finance laws and regulations, as well as Proposition 2½ procedures.
A common face in city politics since the mid-1970s, Murphy, who owns a real estate company in the city, is running a platform dedicated to fiscal responsibility.
“If I go back there, I’ll be number two in seniority, only after Councilman (Marianne) LaBarge. I’ll never catch her, but I know what I’m getting myself into,” Murphy said.
“City Council is not a soapbox for your personal political views. The Northampton City Council is overseeing the operation of an $145 million municipality that provides vital services to city residents,” Murphy said in his opening remarks in which he highlighted the importance of budget expertise.
“Northampton is getting to be an expensive place to live,” he went on, citing rising water bills and a median property tax bill of $7,487 in fiscal year 2025.
Rotello, 24, is a tenant in the city, and said his reason for running is to form a “bulwark against fascism,” which he identified as being a key role of local governments in the age of President Donald Trump. He frequently attends council meetings and other local government events.
This bulwark, he said, “starts with fully funding our services, ensuring that recurring municipal revenues are committed to our recurring social needs, in particular in our schools.”
By democratizing capital planning, “our country must be affordable for everyone, and that everyone has a right to live here — that includes youth, elderly, that includes working families. We all have a right to live here with dignity,” he said.
As a service worker in the city, he is focused on public engagement, rent control, and addressing the city’s housing crisis.
School budget
Davis said she knows from firsthand experience what it is like to be a teacher without needed resources. But she said there needs to be a long term approach to the problem, and that the city needs to look for sustainable ways to fund education.
“There has to be a balance, I believe, for the entire community, so that students this school year are as successful and have everything they need, as much as students in five years in the Northampton public schools, and 10 years,” she said. “It has to be sustainable.”
Rotello concurred with Davis, saying that sustainability is key, and called out the current council for “reticence” on the issue of school budgets. He said there must be more communication between the council and the school committee.
He called out the “social costs” of not adequately funding the schools — costs that he says are “compounding year after year,” including the risk of litigation by not having necessary resources for students with special needs.
Rotello said he wants to do more research on solutions.
Murphy is concerned that with the extensive talk about school funding and teacher wages, the city is at risk of establishing “two classes of city employees.”
He voiced his support for not only teachers, but also public safety workers, police and fire officials, and those who work in public health.
“I’m really uncomfortable with the fact that the road we’re going down seems to be creating two classes of city employees,” he said. “We need them all. They’re all important. They all work hard for us.”
Senior living in the city
When asked about how to make living in the city for the elderly more affordable, Rotello said rent control is a starting point for Northampton, and he would advocate for a statewide rent control measure currently under consideration.
He also said a housing production plan is a must.
“A housing production plan is actually something that is pivotal, that our city needs, that establishes a system of logic of what new housing will look like within five or 10 years,” said Rotello.
Murphy said senior citizens are facing a “double-barreled” attack of being on fixed incomes at the same time as property tax valuations in the city continue to skyrocket.
“You bought a house in 1985 and paid $175,000. You don’t want to move out of it, but now it is taxed at $875,000…that’s a real problem,” he said.
Murphy doesn’t think rent control is the solution, and in fact would actually raise taxes on single-family homeowners, which make up 80% of those in the city.
“The best thing for seniors is try not to raise their taxes more than we need to, because the options if you sell your home are really expensive, because the cost of construction is outrageous,” he said. “It’s really hard to go somewhere cheaper than being where you are already.”
Davis said property taxes come up in a lot of conversations she has with those in the city. She said she would focus on limiting tax increases, which could be crucial in the coming years given that seniors may face cuts to their already fixed incomes due to the federal government.
She also said it is imperative to partner with the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority and other organizations to ensure seniors have transportation options.
Resilience Hub
The candidates also weighed in on the city’s effort to convert a former downtown church into a Resilience Hub, a place for those suffering from chronic or emergency shelter situations. The city bought the 14,500-square-foot former First Baptist Church at 298 Main St. in June 2023 for $3.175 million.
Rotello was critical of the hub, and for those who think city officials are “doing a fantastic job” on behalf of the homeless population. He said that the process of restoring the church “is taking place without any serious dialogue with our unhoused population. It is just being imposed upon them.”
Davis finds the structure and what it will be used for to be “very exciting,” but said their should be signs or other ways for community members to see the current status of the building and the progress of the renovation.
Murphy is not a fan of the city buying the property for double its appraised value, and has expressed this to the mayor’s office.
“The original appraisal quoted Eric Suher’s estimates to finish the building. OK, hardly the gold standard,” said Murphy, referring to the church’s former owner. “We’re upside down on this thing by $1.5 million.”
He said the project will require more money to finish, and even more funds to operate the hub.
Transparency
The candidates were asked to give a plan for how they’d communicate with their constituents and colleagues if they were elected.
Murphy said, “I think one of the criticisms of the City Council is that they seem to be in lockstep with the mayor. There’s many things they unanimously go for, and what the City Council is supposed to do is question the mayor — that’s our job.”
Insisting that the council has not questioned the mayor in four years, perhaps saying because the city is widely progressive, Murphy said he identifies as independent and is not into party politics.
“I’m running for an efficient city, and for doing things well, and I’m happy to question the mayor,” he said.
Rotello said he identifies as one of those in the city who thinks there is a lack of transparency.
“Democratic engagement is at the core of what we are doing,” he said. “I think that is our most profound obligation.”
He said that now more than ever, the need checks-and-balances in government. It is especially important, he said, that capital planning not be done behind closed doors, and he’d like to see taxpayers included in the process.
Davis praised Jarrett for his years of “robust constituent service.” She highlighted her awareness of the need to respond in an efficient manner to constituents when they reach out.
But it is equally important to remember the people who don’t reach out and who aren’t involved in city politics, she said.
“What do they need,” she said is a question that will linger in her mind.
Voters’ take
Before the night began, Ward 5 residents and married couple Dave Reckhow and Cathy Wanat said they are looking for a candidate who will be able to communicate as effectively as Jarrett, saying his communication and transparency was “spot on.”
Jim Laurila has the same desire for a candidate, and said communication is especially important since many people, including himself, are too busy to stay up to date all the time on city politics.
By the end of the night Laurila said the forum was an effective tool to learn about the candidates. He doesn’t know who he will vote for in the preliminaries, but was impressed with Murphy’s experience.
