As a city councilor for 27 years and reaching the end of my term on the council, I am very concerned with who might replace me. Hoping for someone that shared my values of caring for the citizens of Easthampton while watching over tax dollars and community issues, I am very happy that my former colleague and friend, Tamara Smith has stepped up to run for my seat.

Yes, Tamara is experienced, having already served on the council. She will not need that usual six months to learn the ropes so to speak. Her experience is valuable and will be an asset for the council. She is not timid when it comes to speaking her mind and looking out for Easthampton residents.

But more importantly she has an incredible resume. With a Ph.D. in sociology which can be defined as the study of the human behavior within society and the consequences of those behaviors, as well as the study of community interaction, societal differences and simply put, how we all interact with each other. What a perfect fit! She is a full professor at Westfield State University and her educational experience will be an asset as we examine education in Easthampton.

Her focus she has told me, will be on gerontology or how we as a city can help our seniors. Given we have a growing senior population which now includes myself, her work will help so very much when we decide to build a new senior center.

Above all else, I have written about how much we must try to get more women to run for city council. We now have eight men and frankly that’s just not a fair representation of the population of Easthampton. We need to defeat patriarchy and her victory will at least dent that problem.

I have represented Precinct 5 for 27 years and I hope the voters trust my judgment when I ask them to please vote for Tamar Smith to replace me. She will be an incredible asset to city government.

Dan Rist, city councilor

Easthampton