EASTHAMPTON — City Council President Peg Conniff has announced that she will not run for reelection following a six-year tenure on the council.
Conniff said she had long anticipated that she would retire at around this time.
“When I started this whole process, six years always felt right,” she said. “It just felt like the right amount of time for me, and I knew it would kind of bridge me into my retirement from my full-time job.”
Conniff was elected to the City Council in late 2015 and began her term early in the following year. She is currently finishing out her third term.
When asked what issues the next City Council will have to work on, Conniff said that she favors creating business opportunities in the city that promote equity.
“In front of everyone’s mind is looking into police and safety issues,” Conniff added, “though from my perspective, I don’t consider that the highest priority for the next City Council.
“I think there are ways to improve that situation as it is across the country, but for Easthampton … What I do consider a priority is to make it more of a business-friendly environment, especially to create more equity for other minorities, BIPOC individuals to start their own businesses here,” Conniff said.
Elsewhere in city government, the Mayor’s Pledge Work Group to reimagine policing in Easthampton has completed a second public comment period to supplement its initial comment phase, which received low engagement and, according to Mayor Nicole LaChapelle, showed distrust between members of the public and municipal efforts to reform policing.
Conniff said she is not aware of any other councilors who have declared that they will not run for reelection, or newcomers who have informally announced they will be running. Interested candidates cannot pull nomination papers until July 1. Candidates must return these papers with enough signatures by Sept. 19.
Easthampton’s municipal election will take place on Nov. 7.
Jacquelyn Voghel can be reached at jvoghel@gazettenet.com.