NORTHAMPTON — National political analyst Bill Scher, who is married to Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra, is apologizing for an incident in which he verbally accosted a member of the Northampton School Committee while at a King Street grocery store.
On Thursday evening, Jan. 8, a day after the incident inside Stop & Shop, Scher used the public comment period during the committee’s meeting to say he was sorry for the interaction with Ward 4 committee member Michael Stein, a frequent critic of Sciarra’s handling of matters related to the school budget.
Scher explained that he initially approached Stein in the supermarket with a request that the School Committee member use a different tack in his public advocacy for the schools.
“When he responded with points I didn’t agree with, I let the emotions get the better of me, lost my temper and I raised my voice,” Scher said, noting that he had also apologized to Stein while they were still in the store.
In a post to his official Facebook page for his campaign, Stein describes the political establishment in Northampton “as a neoliberal vehicle of austerity and a link in the chain of systemic oppression” and that it’s unfair to criticize those who speak out about funding challenges as not being appropriately civil.
“Throughout the last two years of struggle they’ve routinely evoked a civility narrative, one often used by those in power to silence the marginalized,” Stein wrote. “They had all sorts of opinions about caregivers, elected officials and educators who pleaded with them to address our students needs and stop violating the law.”
“We were too loud, too demanding, had the wrong tone, didn’t know how to ‘collaborate,'” Stein continued. “We spread ‘misinformation,’ made hurtful assumptions about the intentions of those in power, and couldn’t ask nicely and appreciate the status quo.”
Scher said his apology was to both Stein and to the committee and he expressed appreciation for their courage to step up to serve the community.
“I was the weak link in our local democracy yesterday,” Scher said at the Jan. 8 meeting. “I did an immense disservice to each of you and to everyone who serves in elective and appointed office in the city.”
Scher said the “shame and regret” he feels will be a cautionary tale for others to avoid. “You have my promise to not repeat this mistake,” Scher said.
Sciarra also apologized to Stein during the meeting, and issued a statement through her office on Monday.
“I’m sorry that this happened,” Sciarra said. “I’ve apologized to Mike Stein personally, and I appreciate the public apology that my husband gave at the School Committee meeting last week.”
The concern over civility was made during the political campaigns last fall, when Sciarra narrowly earned a second four-year term, just clearing 50% of the vote against challenger Jillian Duclos.
During the inauguration of elected officials on Jan. 5, Sciarra said the committed and enthusiastic community in Northampton is a true gift and she pledged to “lead with integrity and care to create a resilient, equitable and thriving community for all, and that can sustain for years to come.”
She observed that there will be debate. “Of course, in any democracy, there will be disagreements, that is the beauty of democracy,” Sciarra said.
But she suggested that residents can disagree “joyfully.” “I believe that division does not define us, we can debate and disagree with respect, even kindness,” Sciarra said.
Yet others who spoke during public comment at the Jan. 8 meeting outlined the hostilities they have encountered from the current government, with parent Gaurav Jashnani requesting that Sciarra, who chairs the School Committee, issue a formal public apology.
“To have her husband violently intimidating the mayor’s most outspoken critic the night before the new School Committee starts its work is truly astonishing,” Jashnani said. “Frankly, it’s scary and unhinged.”
Jashnani said there is much talk of civility by those who have created a toxic culture, contending that when parents talk about their children suffering from unnecessary budget cuts, that is considered bullying.
Jashnani successfully was able to get the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to force the district to take several corrective actions related to an Individualized Education Plan for his child. Yet staff were caught making negative comments toward him at a January 2025 meeting, and were later cleared of any wrongdoing.
Lisa Modenos, another parent of a special education child, referenced the IEPs not being followed and “smoke and mirrors” being used to cover up a terrible system and a lack of funding.
“Our families have been called uncivil and uncooperative by the mayor’s supporters, and we were sucked into some bizarre symbolic chest-pounding display of power by the establishment against two elected officials that they hated,” Modenos said. “Given the details of the Stop & Shop incident, it seems that this hate continues.”
Former Ward 3 City Councilor Quaverly Rothenberg spoke and compared the atmosphere in Northampton City Hall to how the White House defended the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who killed Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.
“The same day that our country’s executive and their gross abuse of power was on full display, our executive’s husband was abusing a dissenter,” Rothenberg said.