NORTHAMPTON0 — Housing, climate change and the Picture Main Street project were just some of the issues discussed by municipal candidates during a forum held at Northampton High School on Monday.
Following a forum session with school committee and mayoral candidates answering questions mainly pertaining to the school district, the second half of the session organized by members of the Northampton Student Union featured the four candidates running for the City Council’s two at-large seats: Deb Henson, Benjamin Spencer, Garrick Perry and Meg Robbins.
They, along with mayoral candidates Gina-Louise Sciarra and Jillian Duclos, fielded questions from students on some of the most prominent issues on the minds of voters heading into the municipal election on Nov. 4. Most of the questions asked were given to candidates in advance of the forum to give them time to prepare answers, with each person getting one minute to answer.
Housing
The first question posed to the candidates was on the issue of housing, noting the difficulty of building in Northampton due to high material costs. Robbins, a critic of the incumbent administration and a candidate backed by the Support Our Schools (SOS) group, said the city’s policies toward housing has led to a worsening of gentrification in the city.
“I know how hard it is for many of you to stay in Paradise City, or for you to consider growing and raising your own families here,” Robbins said. “Our city is deeply embedded in trickle-down housing economics. It’s not working.”
Henson, who like Robbins is backed by SOS, agreed that current housing policy favored the wealthy.
“I understand that development of housing is important, but I feel like we are skewed toward high-end housing that are leaving a lot of people behind,” Henson said. “I would ensure that builders offer affordable and ADA housing, not just a free pass to build upscale units.”
Spencer, who has voiced more support for the mayor’s policies in the past, said that the way to bring down housing costs was to increase the supply of housing.
“There just needs to be more options for people in the city for places to live,” Spencer said. “I would be very much in support of continuing to look at our zoning to allow more flexibility.”
Sciarra noted that the projects that have stalled in the city were in the building of market-rate housing, while affordable housing projects like the Prospect Place development by Valley CDC continued to move forward.
“I am committed to supporting as much affordable housing as our partners can create,” Sciarra said. “I co-sponsored the council resolution supporting the ability to implement rent stabilization.”
Climate change
Candidates also addressed climate change questions, with students noting the issue is a looming crisis that would mostly affect young people. Duclos said that the key to addressing issues of climate sustainability is tied to lowering the cost of living in Northampton.
“Just because we create bike lanes or take away parking spots does not mean that people do not need to use their cars,” Duclos said. “We need to create economic opportunities here so that people actually get the job they need to pay their rent here, and give up their cars and be able to bike or walk to work.”
Sciarra said working toward decarbonization goals was one of things she was “most passionate about” in city politics, citing the creation of the Climate Action and Project Administration (CAPA) department under her administration.
“Much of our decision-making factors in climate and carbon impacts, and we have already reduced energy use in our school and city buildings,” Sciarra said. “This is something I could talk about all day. I wish I could go on.”
Perry, the lone incumbent at-large councilor running in the election, said he supports the city’s ongoing initiatives, but also suggested new ordinances for how to further practice sustainability.
“I’ve also begun looking at our lighting ordinances,” Perry said. “They not only help to reduce energy, but it supports our wildlife and our mental health, which I think is important.”
Robbins expressed support for exploring the possibility of geothermal projects within the city, following the example of Smith College’s ongoing project to power much of its campus using geothermal energy.
“That’s the direction we need to go in at a time when the federal government is pulling back on funding almost everything,” Robbins said. “We’re not going to be able to look to the state for the kind of help we thought we were going to get, so we need to think critically about what we can do on the local level.”
Picture Main Street
As always, the Picture Main Street project continued to be an issue prominent among city candidates. The project, currently scheduled to begin next year, would see a dramatic remaking of the city’s Main Street, narrowing the the traffic lanes on each side while adding a separate bike path and widening sidewalk space.
Henson, who came to the forum with a large display board detailing what the final result may look like, argued in favor of a trial run before the project got started, noting trial runs for similar projects in Pittsfield and Boston.
“When they did their trial run, they discovered some problems and had to go back to the drafting board,” Henson said. “There have been some serious safety issues that have been brought up.”
Duclos also said she favored a trial run for the project.
“I think a lot of people are not sure about why we’re doing this project, and I think there are some really big questions around this,” Duclos said. “Where is the snow going to go? What are delivery trucks going to do when they deliver to our downtown businesses?”
Spencer, on the other hand, strongly defended Picture Main Street.
“Picture Main Street is a much needed and long overdue improvement to a dangerous stretch of road in our downtown,” Spencer said. “The redesign is a result of years of community engagement, thoughtful planning and forward thinking that will create a safer, more successful and more equitable downtown.”
Perry also spoke in support of the project, having long endorsed it during his time on the city council. He also said there was “a lot of misinformation” circulating about the project.
“Not only is this project a rare chance to envision our city for future generations, but something that has been discussed in working with multiple administrations and has had significant input from our community for over a decade,” Perry said. “This project will help us maintain our status as a destination location in New England.”
L3Harris
Students also asked about concerns raised by members of the public regarding L3Harris, a defense contractor with a facility in Northampton. The location has been the site of numerous protests in the city, particularly since the outbreak of the war in Gaza in 2023.
Though Sciarra stated there was no legal way to prevent L3Harris from operating in the city, Henson said she still had several concerns, particularly over tax breaks the facility had received in years past from the city.
“That doesn’t seem like a way to encourage them to leave,” Henson said. “There are many options that we can probably discuss.”
Perry said that while he supported the exercise of free speech by the activists, he also noted that L3Harris workers also made up part of the community.
“They eat, drink and enjoy what our city has to offer,” Perry said. “While we have little tools to force them to leave, we can at least try to have conversations between L3Harris and their workers.”
Robbins, who said she came from a Quaker family, noted she had a long record of of opposing the facility, back when the Northampton facility went under the name Kollmorgen before its acquisition by L3Harris.
“I don’t think that there’s any data out there that tells us how many people [at L3Harris] contribute to our local economy,” Robbins said. “We can ask for 13 years of tax abatements back for our schools, that would be a start.”
Spencer noted how Kollmorgen had been one of the largest employers and taxpayers in the city, but also expressed frustrations how the facility’s location, near the Village Hill neighborhood, should have some additional housing built, something Spencer said he tried to advocate for in the past.
“I was told I was too late to the conversation. It was frustrating,” Spencer said. “I felt unheard. I imagine this is how people who are raising concerns now must feel.”