NORTHAMPTON — Next Tuesday will mark the second election this fall related to the city council’s Ward 7 seat.
In a preliminary election in September, Rachel Maiore and Pennington “Penny” Geis won spots on the ballot by placing first and second, respectively, beating out Hanuman Goleman. Maiore and Geis are now running against each other again to represent Ward 7, which covers Leeds.
Geis, a Leeds resident, is a retired executive director of the Hampshire Council of Governments. She has several grandchildren that are in or have gone through Northampton public schools and said young people motivated her to run for council.
“I’m doing it because I care about the next generation,” she said. “I care about the world for the generations coming up.”
“What prompted me was that people asked me to run last September,” she added, “just people in the neighborhood that care.”
Leeds, she said, is a tight-knit community and “so welcoming to me when I moved there.”
Before coming to the Valley, Geis, 77, worked as the county commissioner in Saline County, Kansas. Currently, she is on the Leeds Civic Association board, the United Way of Hampshire County’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program board, and part of the Northampton High-speed Community Network Coalition, a group that is pushing for the creation of a municipal broadband network. Advantages of starting the network, she said, include more privacy, the guarantee of net neutrality and better service. The Northampton City Council earlier approved funding for a feasibility study on starting a municipal broadband network.
“You would have a much faster upload and download speed,” she said.
Geis sees issues with housing in the city. “We need more rental properties in this town, both for seniors and young people,” she said.
As a solution, she pointed to the possibility of making zoning changes to allow tiny houses in backyards.
“I just think there’s so much flexibility in that model,” she said.
Geis said she has long been concerned about climate change and supports municipal energy aggregation — when municipalities buy electricity from a supplier for residents and businesses, allowing the city greater choice over the source of energy. Geis also wants to see the city build more green energy infrastructure in town. “I would hope we put in some battery storage,” she said.
Earlier this year, Geis did a ride-along with a police officer. “One of my goals was to learn what problems are that I don’t see,” she said. “The officer was very clear shelter is a big problem. Probably the biggest problem in Northampton is drugs … addiction,” she said adding that most overdose calls are from people in private homes.
She said she sees police officers as the first line of defense. “Police officers are like social workers. They might have a gun but they are out there trying to protect people’s lives not just from guns but from drugs.”
Rachel Maiore
Maiore, is the director of the Pioneer Valley Women’s March and a mediation trainer for MoveOn, a progressive advocacy group.
“I think we need new voices on the council,” she said. “I feel like I’ve been this community organizer and connector for years and I feel like it’s time for me to take that dedication and creative energy and bring it to City Council and represent the ward that I love.”
Maiore attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst and decided to move back to Leeds with her husband 13 years ago. “I kept thinking what a great place to raise kids,” she said.
Currently, Maiore, 50, is a member of the Human Rights Commission, and she was an organizer for Jobs With Justice helping campaign for raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour and paid family leave.
“What I see moving forward,” she said, “is I really want us to proactively build a resilient city. Both in the sense of meeting the challenge of the climate crisis, but also in lieu of the dwindling state funding we need to think of ways to bolster our local economy.”
Maiore would like to see some benchmark targets in Northampton’s commitment to making 100 percent of its energy renewable by 2050. “We need more specific metrics and goals so that we know we’re meeting our goal,” Maoire said. “We really need to be thinking about the impact of climate at every level in every department of our city.”
City meetings need to be more accessible, Maiore said. “That’s a big priority for me and partly why I’m personally running,” she said.
Childcare at public meetings, for example, would allow parents to attend, she said. “We need to look at meeting times, even the culture of city government … These need to be explored to make sure everyone feels welcome.”
“I think it’s part of a healthy democracy to have more folks at the table,” Maiore added.
If elected, Maiore wants to hold office hours and listening sessions to connect with residents to “be available for folks, make it easier for folks to demystify city government,” she said.
Greta Jochem can be reached at gjochem@gazettenet.com.