Early this summer, I observed Northampton’s Division of Community Care team working on our streets. What I saw wasn’t revolutionary, or was it? It was people in crisis actually getting connected to resources instead of being moved along to become someone else’s problem. That division exists because of the municipal leadership and guidance of Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra who believes that we needed to find and then fund a different approach to houselessness, addiction, and mental health crises.
I care about this because health equity and housing aren’t abstract concepts to me, they’re about whether my neighbors can stay in this city, whether people in crisis get help or get criminalized, and whether Northampton becomes the kind of place that just talks about its values or actually funds them.
Mayor Sciarra also cares about the other ways we build community and in July she joined us at a lovely event celebrated by hundreds of community members to cut the ribbon at our new pickleball courts (though she still hasn’t taken us up on our challenge to actually play the game). I’ll be voting for Mayor Sciarra because while she’s navigating city ribbon-cuttings for courts and new businesses, she’s also steering us through the big stuff: climate resilience, education funding, and making housing accessible.
Perfect? No mayor is. But strategic, budget-conscious, and actually delivering on the things that keep communities intact? That’s GL Sciarra and she’s got my vote.
Julia Chevan
Florence