As-Yet-Unpublished DHG Endorsements Letter
A list of endorsed races across Northampton that may or may not make it into the paper
I wrote a piece for the Daily Hampshire Gazette about who in the Northampton races have earned my endorsement, including in other wards. Because I’m not sure if they’ll have time to run it (they have over a hundred political letters in queue!), I’m including the uncut version as the majority of this email. In other news, I’ve applied for the Northampton Housing Authority board; this is the board that oversees public housing, holding the people who work there accountable and doing outreach with residents. I’m hopeful to be appointed before the changeover in January, and I’ll keep you posted.
Guest Column: Endorsements From the Ward 3 Also-Ran
There’s power in losing. I ran for the Ward 3 city council seat and earned 22% of the vote, not making it past the preliminary. I ran without endorsement by the de facto in-power group or Support Our Schools (SOS). Since my run, I’ve been asked for endorsements and recommendations of who to vote for, as someone actually independent of those slates. Here, then, is who I endorse and support.
Mayoral
This race is the most ambiguous to me. Gina-Louise Sciarra has done a lot of good in her time, supporting downtown growth and pushing forward with the Department of Community Care. She’s also let the DPW lapse, held school employees to a no-one-time-funds-for-salaries that doesn’t apply to other departments, and done far less community outreach than her predecessor. Jillian Duclos has done active outreach and adjusted her platform over time to reflect what she’s heard. She also had a disastrous run leading the Downtown Northampton Association, and has much less municipal government experience. Ultimately, I am voting for Duclos, as I think she can grow into the role and is open to rebalancing the mayor’s power, but I’m not against Sciarra. I’m glad they both made it past the preliminaries.
At-Large City Council
I initially voted for Will O’Dwyer and Yakov Konrod, two people with clear visions that I would have loved to collaborate with. That said, I am happy to endorse Meg Robbins and Garrick Perry for those two seats instead. Robbins has been fighting hard for schools and city services for years, and I trust her to speak blunt truths when needed. Perry holds valuable perspectives on downtown and experience finding hard compromises, and I trust him to change his mind when presented with evidence.
Other Wards City Council
I fully endorse Rachel Maiore for Ward 7, Luke Rotello for Ward 5, Jeremy Dubs for Ward 4, and Al Simon for Ward 2. Maiore is the kind of councilor I aspired to be: actively reaching out and listening to residents, fully considering consequences of action and inaction, and clearly outlining why she makes her choices. Rotello has done more activism and outreach to unions and workers than I have wordcount to list, and is one of the few to name specific, actionable ways to improve affordable housing in the city. Dubs is running unopposed as he works on legislation making his ward and the city more accessible, more equitable, and more of what it should be; he doesn’t need my endorsement, but he’s more than earned it. Simon understands how to make a city budget reflect our needs and our morals, and the need to put our bond rating to use rather than letting it sit idle.
School Comittee
The school committee’s priority must be the schools’ needs, including both students and workers. I reject anyone running who says that they would put the city budget or other city needs first; that is not the job you are signing up to do. You advocate for the schools, full stop. I plan to enthusiastically vote for Emily Serafy-Cox and Tiffany Jewel for at-large, and for Renika Montgomery-Tamakaloe for Ward 3. Serafy-Cox has provided exemplary school advocacy for my ward for years. Jewell literally wrote the book on anti-racism in schools, and her ethical dedication to a waste-free campaign is icing on her highly-qualified cake. Tamakaloe is likewise going to be a stellar member, already experienced on the reparations committee and rightfully running unopposed. I also endorse Anat Weisenfreund for Ward 2, as her thoughtfulness and thoroughness on school committee so far have led in the right direction.
Ward 3 City Council
You may notice a glaring omission: where’s Ward 3? I ran for that seat because I thought neither of my opponents, Quaverly Rothenberg and Laurie Loisel, would be good for my ward nor Northampton as a whole. So far, they haven’t changed my mind.
Rothenberg purportedly wants change, but has alienated every other sitting member of council, including allies Maiore and Dubs; a majority of SOS, a coalition she helped form; and constituents like JoElla “Jada” Tarbutton-Springfield, a public housing resident who dropped from the 2023 Ward 3 race to support Rothenberg, then received no advocacy in return. In her tenure, Rothenberg earned censure for behavior unbecoming of a city councilor, missed enough meetings to be removed from the Committee on City Services, and doubled down on being unwilling to compromise or collaborate with anyone not fully aligned with her in the Sept 19th city council meeting. Her stated goals are laudable, but she hasn’t been able to achieve them, placing all blame on others and all credit on herself. These are the kind of tactics that set progress backwards.
On the other side, Loisel runs a campaign hinging on not being Rothenberg. She has the backing of some major political players in town, and seems perfectly happy to toe that party line. Loisel’s tagline is "principled action,” but when asked directly, she couldn’t name a time in the past four years she would have disagreed with Mayor Sciarra’s choices, or how her policies would differ from that de facto slate. Many say she’s collaborative and listens, but she actively antagonized school activists and unions in her July 23rd editorial. I can’t trust that she’ll take action when needed nor listen as promised. I hope I’m proven wrong, but at this time, I do not endorse either candidate running for Ward 3 city council.
And Another Thing!
Finally, I want to reject and refute everyone who has compared anyone still in any Northampton race to MAGA, Trump, Musk, or Netanyahu. Such comparisons do nothing but water down the crimes and cruelties that have come from those fascists. I have heard both sides of our local fence make these comparisons, and they need to stop; Northampton is better than that. Vote early, vote yearly, and I’ll see you at the next council meeting.