Northampton’s legislative leaders take oath of office

City Councilors Stanley Moulton, from left, Garrick Perry and Marissa Elkins are sworn in during an inauguration ceremony at the Northampton Senior Center on Tuesday.

City Councilors Stanley Moulton, from left, Garrick Perry and Marissa Elkins are sworn in during an inauguration ceremony at the Northampton Senior Center on Tuesday. STAFF PHOTO/ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

From left, city councilors Rachel Maiore, Marianne LaBarge and Deborah Pastrich-Klemer are sworn in during an inauguration ceremony held at the Northampton Senior Center on Tuesday.

From left, city councilors Rachel Maiore, Marianne LaBarge and Deborah Pastrich-Klemer are sworn in during an inauguration ceremony held at the Northampton Senior Center on Tuesday. STAFF PHOTO/ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

Northampton City Council members Quaverly Rothenburg, Jeremy Dubs and Alex Jarrett are sworn in during an inauguration ceremony held at the Northampton Senior Center on Tuesday.

Northampton City Council members Quaverly Rothenburg, Jeremy Dubs and Alex Jarrett are sworn in during an inauguration ceremony held at the Northampton Senior Center on Tuesday. STAFF PHOTO/ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

From left, Northampton School Committee members Gwen Agna, Aline Davis and Kerry LaBounty are sworn in Tuesday.

From left, Northampton School Committee members Gwen Agna, Aline Davis and Kerry LaBounty are sworn in Tuesday. STAFF PHOTO/ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

From left, Northampton School Committee members Emily Serafy-Cox and Margaret Miller are sworn in during an inauguration ceremony held at the Northampton Senior Center on Tuesday.

From left, Northampton School Committee members Emily Serafy-Cox and Margaret Miller are sworn in during an inauguration ceremony held at the Northampton Senior Center on Tuesday. STAFF PHOTO/ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

Staff Writer

Published: 01-02-2024 3:42 PM

Modified: 01-02-2024 8:19 PM


NORTHAMPTON — The city’s legislative leaders for the next two years are now officially in service, after a swearing-in ceremony Tuesday that featured new faces and experienced officials take the oath of office.

The inauguration ceremony held at the Senior Center included three new members joining both the City Council and the School Committee, where they will join six returning members on those respective boards.

Other elected officials sworn in Tuesday included trustees of Smith Vocational and Agricultural School and Forbes Library and a new member of the Community Preservation Committee.

The event was emceed by outgoing council President Jim Nash and outgoing council Vice President Karen Foster, who at the same event was sworn in as a new member of the School Committee. As school committee members were sworn in first, it created a unique situation where Foster, though briefly, served as both a member of the council and the School Committee, an occasion Nash jokingly referred to as a “unicorn event.”

The new councilors are Deborah Pastrich-Klemer in Ward 2, who replaces Foster; Quaverly Rothenburg in Ward 3, who replaces Nash; and Jeremy Dubs in Ward 4, who replaces Garrick Perry. Meanwhile, Perry took the oath of office as an at-large councilor. He was joined by five other returning members, including Stanley Moulton in Ward 1, Alex Jarrett in Ward 5, Marianne LaBarge in Ward 6, Rachel Maiore in Ward 7 and Marissa Elkins as an at-large member.

For the School Committee, the new members are Foster in Ward 2, Ann Hennessey in Ward 5 and Kerry LaBounty in Ward 7. They will be joined by returning members Gwen Agna and Aline Davis as at-large members, Holly Ghazey in Ward 1, Emily Serafy-Cox in Ward 3, Michael Stein in Ward 4 and Margaret Miller in Ward 6.

Speaking together before the inauguration, Nash and Foster wished the new councilors success on their terms and praised the peaceful transition of power from one council to another.

“At first glance, this event may appear perfunctory, with some expressions of patriotism and faith coupled with coffee, tea and danishes,” they said. “However, in this very room where the votes were cast, we are witnessing a peaceful revolution, because we as residents of Northampton have made that our democratic process.”

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Also sworn in on Tuesday were Michael Cahillane, Julie Spencer-Robinson and Rick Aquadro for the trustees of Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, all of whom return for another two years.

Others to be sworn in include Ruth Francis, Anne Teschner and Kathleen Wright as Forbes Library trustees; Mary Odgers for the elector of the Oliver Smith Will; and K. Christop Hellmank for the Community Preservation Committee. Another CPC member, Emily Coffin, was sworn in at an earlier date.

In attendance for the event were other noted members from the world of Northampton politics, including Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra, state Sen. Jo Comerford, state Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa and Northampton Superintendent Portia Bonner.

“I started this meeting as a city councilor,” Nash said at the conclusion of the inauguration. “Now I’m just Jim Nash of Montview Avenue.”

The new council is set to gather on Wednesday to elect a new president and vice president, as well as deal with any business left unfinished by the former council. The new city council will then gather again on Thursday for its first regular meeting of the year.

Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.