Northampton council in line for a new look next term as election races come into focus

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

Staff Writer

Published: 08-10-2023 2:13 PM

NORTHAMPTON — The City Council will see as many as three to five new faces when the next term begins in January, as several incumbents aren’t running for reelection in this fall’s municipal elections.

The deadline to submit nomination papers to the City Clerk’s Office for the Nov. 7 election passed this week, and the final candidates for council, School Committee and other positions are in. There will not be a preliminary in September.

Most significant in the upcoming election will be a race to fill two councilor at-large seats.

Three candidates have taken out papers for the positions: Garrick Perry, the current Ward 4 councilor, former mayoral candidate Roy Martin and former city councilor David Murphy.

One of the seats is currently held by Jamila Gore, who announced several months ago that she would not run for another term.

The other is held by Marissa Elkins, who is running again for her position, although her name will not appear on the ballot.

Elkins’ campaign had filed nomination papers to the Board of Registrars, but failed to pick them up to submit to the City Clerk’s Office, according to City Clerk Pamela Powers.

“It’s a quirk in the city law,” Powers said. “The Board of Registrars can’t hand them in. It has to be the candidate who does so.”

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Despite the technicality, Elkins told the Gazette she still plans on running for the position.

“My campaign’s mix up about the date means I probably won’t be on the ballot, but I don’t intend to drop out of the race,” she said.

Northampton’s Ward 3, currently represented by council president Jim Nash, will also have a new councilor, as Nash announced he will step down from the position. Quaverly Rothenburg, a court stenographer and president of the Ward 3 Neighborhood Association, is the nominee for the position. JoElla Tarbutton-Springfield, who serves on the boards of the Northampton Housing Authority and the Northampton Survival Center, had filed to be a candidate for Ward 3, but withdrew her nomination before the deadline, according to Powers.

Council Vice President Karen Foster, who represents Ward 2, is also stepping down from her seat to run for her ward’s School Committee seat. Deborah Pastrich-Klemer, an activist who has organized several rallies in downtown Northampton, has pulled papers for the position.

Perry’s run for councilor at-large means his Ward 4 will also be filled by a newcomer. Jeremy Macomber-Dubs is listed as the sole nominee for the position. Macomber-Dubs is a disability activist and serves as the chair of the Northampton Disability Commission.

Current councilors Stanley Moulton in Ward 1, Marianne LaBarge in Ward 6, Alex Jarrett in Ward 5 and Rachel Maiore in Ward 7 are all running for reelection, and face no opposition for their candidacies.

For the School Committee, three people have announced their candidacy for the two at-large seats: incumbents Gwen Agna and Aline Davis and challenger Margaret Robbins, who currently serves Ward 1 on the committee.

The other contested race is in Ward 4, where incumbent Michael Stein is facing a challenge from Endamian Stewart.

Holly Ghazey, the current Ward 2 member, has pulled papers to seek Robbins’ Ward 1 seat.

Other wards with one candidate running include: Foster in Ward 2; incumbent Emily Serafy-Cox in Ward 3; newcomer Ann Hennessey in Ward 5, who has served on the committee in the past; incumbent Margaret D. Miller in Ward 6; and newcomer Kerry Labounty in Ward 7.

Other positions on the ballot include:

■ Two at-large seats on the Community Preservation Committee. Candidates include K. Christopher Hellman and Emily Coffin.

■Three seats on the Forbes trustees. Candidates include Kathleen Wight, Anne F. Teschner, Ruth Francis and Alexander George.

■Three seats on the trustees of Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School. Candidates include Michael T. Cahillane and J. Spencer-Robinson.

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

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