Northampton Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra demonstrated in the mayoral debate last week why she deserves our vote to continue leading our city. She is unparalleled in her expertise and understanding of our city’s needs with an extraordinary commitment to our community’s well-being.
We are a city with a $145 million budget. From public education to police, fire, roads and bridges, senior services and more, she knows what it takes to stretch every dollar to meet critical demands that far outweigh our fiscal supply.
One example among many: Northampton joins with communities across the state in battling the state’s chronic underfunding of our public schools. Mayor Sciarra has led the way in advocating for state-level change while devoting an ever-increasing portion of the city budget to our kids’ education. We need more. And our mayor is working with us and for us to get it.
As we stare down the Trump administration’s assault on everything we hold dear, including our democracy itself, we need a leader who offers us a strong and steady hand, one who we can trust to navigate these rocky waters with the knowledge, the vision and the determination to keep our community safe on every level for every person. Mayor Sciarra is that leader.
I have lived and worked in Northampton for 32 years; I am a proud parent of three Northampton public school graduates and worked hard to protect our school funding. I am also a former Ward 4 city councilor who had the honor of both representing Mayor Sciarra — a ward 4 resident — and then being represented by her when she was first elected to serve Northampton 13 years ago.
I am so grateful for her continued willingness to serve. Please join me in voting for Mayor Sciarra on Sept. 16 and Nov. 4.
Pamela Schwartz
Northampton