EASTHAMPTON — Nine city unions have banded together representing nearly 400 Easthampton employees, along with the Easthampton Tenants Union, to support the proposed $6.9 million Proposition 2½ override.
Since the city announced in April it would be proposing the override, residents have had to grapple with the two potential outcomes of the June 9 vote — an increase in property taxes to save most services or deep cuts to every corner of the city.
The unions that represent 375 employees — at least 160 of whom live in Easthampton — vocalized their support for the override Monday at a press conference in front of Nashawannuck Pond. The city has approximately 436 employees in the current year.
“We come before you as members of this community, not just people who work here,” said Kelley Brown, representing the Easthampton Education Association, a teachers union. “Many of us grew up here. Many of us live here … Easthampton is a special community, and we are deeply concerned about what these budget cuts will mean for the community we love.”
Brown, an Easthampton High School teacher, spoke alongside Easthampton Police Lt. Andrew Beaulieu, the president of the Easthampton Local 367 IBPO, and Mike Greany, president of the Easthampton Firefighters Local 1876.
“We come before you today not as politicians, elected officials or administrators, but as city employees,” Greany said. “The people who work in our schools, respond to emergencies, care for our seniors and veterans, and support public health and safety — [who] show up every day to serve this city.”
Brown told the Gazette that this first-of-its-kind cross-union meeting allowed members to collaborate on how to best protect public services. Since the override was announced, Brown noted that city employees have been making direct contract sacrifices to minimize the deficit, including reductions in hours, uniform allowances, delayed budget increases and other concessions.
“We wanted to speak together, something we have never done before, because we want you to hear from us that this is real,” Brown said. “We all love Easthampton. We chose this community to work in, not just any community, and we want to do everything we can to cut, trim and collaboratively bear the brunt of these unprecedented cuts.”
For Easthampton Schools, which stand to lose more than 40 employees if the override fails, Brown said out-of-district placements could increase as a result of cuts to special education, librarians, athletics and other extracurriculars.
Beaulieu and Greany both noted that impacts on public safety — including the loss of three firefighters and two police officers — would lead to decreased emergency response times, reduced public safety programming and lower involvement in community outreach events.
“We understand that this is a difficult decision,” Beaulieu said. “We understand people are frustrated, and we understand that asking residents to support an override is not something that anyone takes lightly.”
Tenants voice
Meanwhile, the Easthampton Tenants Union, a separate association which represents renters across the city, also voted to support the override after weighing the potential impact to renters if deep cuts to public services occur against the potential for another increased cost.
“If the override failed it would be some sharp austerity for services that we all rely on, from the schools to the public health department,” said Easthampton Tenants Union member Ben Taylor in an interview.
Taylor said tenant union members also considered that if the override passes, landlords would have to cope with a property tax increase and may raise tenants’ rents to manage. However, with some local renters already dealing with $100 to $300 monthly rent hikes — equaling an annual increase of $1,200 and $3,600 — Taylor said many tenants are already facing a much larger cost burden than what a successful override would cause.
“We in the tenants union have been experiencing rent hikes greatly exceeding what the average property owner would see in this override,” Taylor said.
Some of the services Taylor mentioned that “vulnerable” members of the community use are the Council on Aging (COA) and public health benefits. If the override fails, the COA would have to close on Fridays, reduce bus rides and lose other services, and the Health Department budget would be slashed by 40%, according to officials.
The override debate has also driven the tenants union to continue pushing to establish statewide rent control measures, recently calling on Mayor Salem Derby to back municipal tenant protections.
“The harm caused if the override fails is substantial,” Taylor said.
