Our Northampton Story
Like so many, I fell in love with Northampton before I lived here. As a child, I visited with my family. As an adult, my wife and I made a tradition, years before we were married, of coming every year for First Night. Northampton has always felt like a magical place and a cultural haven, the kind of city where the coolest people could start a small business to share what made them excited, from Indian cooking to artisanal candy; from a basement overflowing with record crates to independent bookstores, used book stores, and comic book stores; and to the crown jewels of performing arts and concert spaces that brought both superstars and just-starting-out performers into the heart of the city.
When it was time to start a family, there was no question of where we wanted to raise our kids. We were incredibly lucky to find a place to rent—and later had our eyes opened to the insufficiency of MA tenant protections when it turned out the rental had lead paint and mold, which we found out while expecting our second child and sharing a bedroom with our first. We were then incredibly lucky to buy a crumbling historic house just in time for his birth (what can I say, we were desperate). I am passionate about making sure that anyone else who wants to live in Northampton can easily find safe and affordable housing, and finds themselves better protected than we were.
Like many of you, I have been appalled by the endless battles over school funding. The teachers and staff at my kid’s public school do heroic work every day to ensure that our children are safe, cared for, and learning. Despite this, they are all too often met with disregard and insufficient resources. City Hall’s recent rezoning of downtown and Florence Center was non-transparent and non-collaborative, and rolled back requirements around affordability, green space, setbacks, and more, creating favorable conditions for developers to build market-rate and luxury buildings. I have heard from local business owners who are concerned about the impact and costs of Picture Main Street and other capital projects, many of which have been set in motion without public oversight or feedback (but with millions paid to consultants), and whose attempts at open communication have been dismissed and shut down. I have spoken to friends who have tried to open businesses and found City Hall to be unhelpful, even hostile, to their needs; no wonder we have more than a dozen empty storefronts on Main Street alone. I see it every day because I live right down the street, and I would walk that walk every day if you elect me as your next mayor.
I believe deeply in the potential of Northampton and in the abilities of our people. There is magic here, and as mayor my priority would be to preserve what has served the city so well over the generations by supporting existing businesses, encouraging new ones, working to reopen and revitalize our iconic performing arts spaces, repairing the roads and sidewalks, fully funding the needs of our schools, Fire Department, Department of Public Works, and other vital services, and listening to the experts (not the consultants!) to make Northampton more accessible, exciting, and vibrant for all.