EASTHAMPTON — Saying that the city operates best with fresh leaders who bring new ideas, Mayor Nicole LaChapelle announced Tuesday that she will step aside when her term ends in 2025.

“I decided in 2018 when I took office that I was going to be mayor for eight years,” LaChapelle in an interview on Wednesday, a day after making the announcement at an Easthampton Democratic Committee meeting. “I wanted to pursue open local government, work on infrastructure, economic development and housing.”

LaChapelle is in the middle of her third term, having been elected in 2017, 2019 and 2021, the last time for a four-year term. She is the city’s third mayor, following former mayors Michael Tautznik and Karen Cadieux.

“This idea that you’re going to stay in office for 20 years, I don’t see it really benefiting small cities like Easthampton, and I think fresh ideas are important, city priorities change, and I think there should be fresh leadership to bring in those new changes.”

LaChapelle has had the support of several of the Democratic Party’s heavy hitters, including U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, and Gov. Maura Healey.

“I’m a big fan of Nicole LaChapelle,” Neal said. “The mayor’s job is not just to lead the city, but also to make sure the streets are paved, the schools are functioning, and the fire and police departments are functioning.”

“She brought to the task a kind of ‘let’s weigh the issues and let’s proceed from here’ attitude, and I think today… having somebody who actually embraced reflection and thoughtfulness rather than raw emotion was really important,” said Neal.

In a statement Wednesday, Healey said she’s “grateful for Mayor LaChapelle’s partnership and for the important work she has done for the people of Easthampton, particularly with revitalizing the downtown and spurring economic development in the city. I look forward to our continued work together over the next two years.”

LaChapelle’s term ends on Dec. 31, 2025, and she will have served eight years by that time.

“Being mayor, it’s your life’s job to do the job correctly. … It’s 24/7,” LaChapelle said. “I wanted to make that clear so folks who might be interested in running can really think about it and honestly prepare.”

Highlights of her tenure

LaChapelle said she is “really proud of what [the city] got done” during her tenure so far, and cites infrastructure improvements as an accomplishment she is most proud of.

“I feel like I’m wrapping up. The housing units are coming; we’ve had millions of dollars in infrastructure improvements; the school has been built; the arts and mill district is thriving; we’re seeing new businesses starting,” she said.

Since she was elected, the city has seen extensive construction on Ferry Street, Union Street, and Holyoke Street, including paving, curbing, traffic pattern changes, bike lanes, underground utility replacements, and other improvements totaling millions of dollars.

In terms of housing, the One Ferry Street project to revive the old factory site and create housing units is still underway, with part of the complex, 3 Ferry St., already open and leased to commercial and residential tenants.

In April, the city selected as its favorite a $30.4 million pitch by a Needham developer to reuse the Center, Pepin and Maple elementary schools. Under the proposal, the three former schools would be transformed into 61 units of mixed-income housing, with the majority designated as affordable housing.

And another housing-related project, the Tasty Top development on Northampton Street, currently under consideration, calls for 188 apartments — 54 of which would be affordable — along with a gymnastics center, two restaurants, three mixed-use retail/office buildings, and two mixed-use warehouse buildings.

As for other infrastructure improvements, LaChapelle points to the New City Neighborhood project, which recently received over $1 million in federal funding to create bid-ready plans and cost estimates for future grant applications. That project will include improvements to water, sewer and drainage systems; sidewalk and roadway surfaces; street trees; and green infrastructure opportunities.

And getting the construction of Mountain View Elementary School done “on time and on budget was massive,” LaChapelle said.

She said she is also “proud to be a part of helping arts and culture… Seeing them thrive, seeing businesses popping up everywhere in Easthampton and even expanding during COVID, that’s exciting for me.”

“I think the city is in a good place now, and I think a lot of that is because of her,” said City Clerk Barbara LaBombard, who has worked with all of Easthampton’s mayors. “It’ll obviously be a big change for everyone and we’ll be sad to see her go.”

‘Mistakes’

“I’ve made so many mistakes,” said LaChapelle. “I would do a lot of things differently.”

She said in her early years as mayor, between 2018 and 2019, she “jumped right in with projects” without fully communicating the overall plan. “The city council and even employees had a hard time jumping on board with me.”

“She made a lot of changes, and it was a little tough to begin, I’ll be honest,” said LaBombard.

LaChapelle added that she also would have dealt with the Care Act, FEMA, and ARPA funding differently to bring in more staff during the pandemic.

LaChapelle said she also regrets the comments she made in April 2022 to a student in a high school civics class preparing for the national “We the People” competition. The School Committee called the remarks “racist and unacceptable,” according to a previous Gazette report.

“What I’ve learned… and it’s work that will go on for the rest of my life is that it doesn’t matter what I thought, it doesn’t matter my intent. It’s how it was taken and the harm done by my words,” said LaChapelle, reflecting on the incident. “Racism and harassment around race and ethnicity is not for a white woman or man to define.”

“I’m very grateful for the student and their family, who really was open to talking, to explain that to me in their view, and learn from that,” she said.

Next steps

LaChapelle said her goals for her next two years as mayor are twofold.

First, she said, “The outward thing is housing, housing, housing, and making sure that the housing projects that we have in the pipeline now are at least shovel ready, but they’re also at the point where the development structure can’t move backwards.”

Second, she said the city is finishing up its analysis on spending in City Hall, and how that spending aligns with community goals, particularly equity and closing income gaps.

“We’re halfway through a fiscal analysis of every dollar that has been spent in my administration, and how it goes to values held by the city, and also inequity,” she said. “Right now, it’s pretty important when you look at who can or can’t live in Easthampton, what jobs are in Easthampton, what we do for those parents who never really came back after COVID.”

“Really it’s housing and flattening barriers that used to be in front of people that kept them from being able to stay in Easthampton.”

As for her own next steps when her term ends, LaChapelle said she’s excited to be a “good grandmother” to her daughter’s child, who was just born this summer.

“There’s so much work to do in a pretty hectic environment now… that my focus until December 31st of 2025 is to be the best mayor I can possibly be.”

Maddie Fabian can be reached at mfabian@gazettenet.com or on Twitter @MaddieFabian.]]>