Easthampton election notebook: Who has pulled, returned nomination papers

EASTHAMPTON — With a city election on the horizon this November, three residents have pulled nomination papers for mayor, all but one city councilor are running for reelection, and most school committee members are trying for another term.

Additionally, two newcomers have taken out papers for at-large city councilor, while one resident has done that for the District 4 councilor position.

Among the mayoral field, incumbent Mayor Nicole LaChapelle has pulled papers to run for a third term.

So far, challenger Eric Berzins, who owns Fort Hill Brewery, is the only one of the three mayoral hopefuls to return papers with the 100 signatures needed to secure a place on the ballot.

On July 19, a third resident, Keith Routhier, took out nomination papers for mayor. Routhier said he intends to make a serious attempt to get on the ballot, but declined to speak further until he has collected more signatures.

Of the City Council incumbents, At-Large Councilors Owen Zaret and Erica Flood and District 2 Councilor Homar Gomez have returned papers. Koni Denham, a challenger for an at-large seat, is also officially on the ballot.

Eric Poulin has also pulled papers to run for an at-large seat.

Resident David Meunier taken out papers for the District 4 City Councilor seat, which is currently held by Salem Derby. Derby is also running for reelection.

Of the city councilors, only Chairwoman Peg Conniff is not running for reelection. Conniff’s exit from the council leaves an open at-large seat.

Earlier in the month, the School Committee field was largely empty, with just one incumbent and one newcomer pulling papers for the committee’s six seats. In addition to six members, the mayor also sits on the School Committee.

Since then, all but two School Committee members — Jonathan Schmidt and Marissa Cattere — have taken out nomination papers. A newcomer, Benjamin Hersey, is also running.

Potential candidates have until Sept. 14 to return nomination papers with the required number of signatures. Mayoral or at-large city councilor candidates must collect at least 100 signatures to appear on the ballot, while nominees for district city councilor must collect at least 50 signatures.

The city will hold its election Nov. 2.