1

KEVIN GUTTING

Northampton Mayor Clare Higgins stands in front of City Hall on Main Street Wednesday morning. Higgins was elected to a sixth two-year term Tuesday.

NORTHAMPTON - There's a good chance residents will see more of Mayor Clare Higgins over the next two years, and they'll also hear more about the city's accomplishments.

On the heels of winning her sixth term in office in the most competitive race of a decade-long run as mayor, Higgins said in an interview in her City Hall office Wednesday that she intends to do a better job reaching out to residents in small settings. And, in what became a recurring theme in this hard-fought reelection bid, she said she will listen more and seek to get the public more involved in the political process.

"There is so much flying at us at the local level between mandates and cuts that sometimes I know I can forget to just get out and take a breath of fresh air and hear what's going on," said Higgins.

The mayor beat challenger Michael Bardsley by 344 votes at Tuesday's election, with 51.1 percent of the 9,842 ballots cast for her.

And given Higgins and Bardsley's closely aligned political views, in some ways the race hinged on leadership style as much as anything. In that respect Higgins said she learned something from the many coffee hours she held throughout the campaign.

"One of the best things that happened on the campaign for me was ... meeting with voters, many of whom I didn't know, and having conversation with them and realizing that I need to do more of that," she said.

Watch more at GazetteNET's YouTube channel: Part 2

In a 20-minute interview, Higgins, showing a mix of relief and exhaustion, touched on a variety of issues that lie ahead for the city over the next two years. As expected, the possible expansion of the Glendale Road landfill is high on the list, right behind the budget.

While she acknowledged areas she'll work on, the mayor also remains resolute to continue to make decisions that she feels are in the city's best interest. At the same time, she vows to represent the entire city, including those who voted for change.

Still, she said, it may be hard to win over people who voted against her based on past decisions they've disagreed with, such as the Smith overlay district or the planned Hilton hotel downtown.

"Once I'm elected as mayor, I'm elected as mayor for everybody in the city, and so I'll continue to try understand what their needs and wants are and, to the extent that I can, try to work with them to meet those needs," she said.

Higgins was far from alone in being an incumbent facing tough competition and angry voters this year, as incumbents across the state waged fierce battles to keep their seats, including Easthampton Mayor Michael A. Tautznik, who won a seventh term Tuesday.

"Both Mike and I have been in office a long time," she said. "There's a real feeling of a need for change for some people, and I understand that. My position is - and I'm glad that more than 50 percent of the people agreed - that a steady hand is necessary in these tough times."

That said, the mayor said she'll take a close look at how the city can approach problems differently.

Landfill a thorny issue

Higgins said the results of a nonbinding advisory question Tuesday in which 64 percent of voters said that the city should not expand the regional landfill over the Barnes Aquifer will prove useful as discussions move forward.

She said more emphasis needs to be placed on laying out for residents the options available to deal with the city's trash - rather than framing the issue simply as expansion or closing. She said she hopes to lead an effort to better educate the public about the issue.

The mayor also called for a series of community meetings to explain the issue in a clear and understandable way.

"We need to figure out a way to have a bigger public conversations about the options study and quantify the cost and the benefits, environmental and monetary, to the community," she said.

She also would like to take another crack at how to get the City Council more involved in the discussion. Efforts this fall to change the zoning for heavy public use, which governs the landfill, proved unsuccessful. As a result, councilors continue to abide by a gag order to not discuss the issue until the Board of Public Works applies to expand and a public hearing process begins.

The city is also working on contingency plans, given that the landfill is scheduled to close sometimes in 2011, even if the BPW moves ahead with expansion. In the meantime, the city is close to acquiring a parcel of land below the DPW headquarters that it would use for a transfer station, recycling center and swap shop, Higgins said.

"We're bumping up against a time line, which means it may very well close," she said.

The budget, however, could prove to be a more immediate challenge, given the possibility of midyear cuts by Gov. Deval Patrick. Higgins said work is already under way on the fiscal 2011 budget, which doesn't begin until July 1, and officials are working on the assumption that the city will receive no additional state aid next year.

Higgins also expects to continue work on a variety of other projects in her next term. Those projects include acquiring land to develop much-needed soccer and other recreational fields; moving ahead with plans to renovate the James House into an adult learning center; and pushing for commuter rail, particularly in a north-south direction from Vermont to Connecticut. That route could include a station in Northampton. The city is also continuing to search for federal and state money for a new police station downtown.

The mayor also hopes many of the Best Practices recommendations are implemented during her next term, including efforts to get more information out to the community through the city's Web site and on community access television through NCTV.

As she said in a short victory speech Tuesday night, the mayor needs to "toot her own horn" more.

"I did hear from people that they didn't know a lot of things about what I've done as I did coffees around the city, so I do need to tell people what we're doing ... they need to see that their government is doing work on their behalf," she said.

While she expects to spend more time talking to residents, Higgins will continue to bend the ear of state and federal legislators so that they understand the struggles local communities face in funding the basic services citizens expect.

Chad Cain can be reached at ccain@gazettenet.com.