NORTHAMPTON – A fifth candidate for the City Council seat vacated by Jesse Adams announced Wednesday after he collected the 100 required signatures hours before paperwork was due in City Hall.
Simon Thompson, 30, of 104 Spruce Hill Ave. in Florence, joins Blue DuVal, Marlene A. Morin, Ryan O’Donnell and Andrew Smith as declared candidates for the vacant at-large City Council seat.
Candidates were required to gather 100 signatures and submit them to the registrar of voters for validation by 5 p.m. Wednesday,
The registrar of voters has certified the signatures of O’Donnell, DuVal, and Smith. Morin’s and Thompson’s signatures are set to be examined for certification Thursday, City Clerk Wendy Mazza said.
After the signatures are certified, candidates are required to submit paperwork to the city clerk’s office by 5 p.m. Monday. If at least three candidates accomplish those steps, a preliminary election would be held July 7 to narrow the field to the top two vote-getters, who would continue on to the final election Aug. 4.
Thompson said he has lived in Northampton for two decades. He has a 5-year-old daughter and works as a bartender at Bishop’s Lounge.
“I want to make sure that young, working-class Northampton residents have a voice in city government,” he said Wednesday.
He said he collected his nomination signatures within four hours by talking with downtown business owners and their employees.
DuVal, 55, of 38 Sandy Hill Road in Florence, is a homemaker. She served two terms on the School Committee until she was defeated for reelection in November.
She is currently on the Edwards Church outreach committee and does other volunteer work, she said.
DuVal said she greatly enjoyed her work on the school board and took the opportunity to listen to others to find creative solutions and attended 25-hours of annual professional development workshops.
She said as a single mother of a 14-year-old daughter, she would provide a different perspective to the council, underscored by her view of the importance of listening to people from all walks of life when making decisions.
“When I was on the School Committee I was really concerned about equity and social justice, as far as opportunities for students,” she said. “I believe that in our city we have issues that everybody needs to have a voice about and be heard.”
Chris Lindahl can be reached at clindahl@gazettenet.com. Amanda Drane can be reached at adrane@gazettenet.com.