NORTHAMPTON — A sleepy campaign for Ward 3’s city council seat is now competitive after a longtime resident recently announced a write-in campaign for the position heading into next Tuesday’s municipal election.

The race to replace outgoing councilor Jim Nash, the City Council president who is not seeking reelection, will feature one candidate on the ballot, Quaverly Rothenberg, and Claudia Lefko, who announced in mid-October her intentions to run as a write-in.

Quaverly Rothenberg

Rothenburg said her desire to serve on the city council comes from her childhood growing up near Berkeley, Calif., where she developed an interest in politics and civil rights.

Trained as a classical cellist for most of her youth and young adulthood, she moved to Northampton 10 years ago and now works as a court stenographer, developing her own form of shorthand for observing court proceedings.

“I was able to quickly enter that scene, so that I could just observe court proceedings, civil and criminal, and learn about civics while still leveraging my training as a musician so I can make a living,” she said.

Rothenburg also joined the Ward 3 Neighborhood Association, where she apprenticed under Nash. Ward 3 initially had one other written candidate, JoElla Tarbutton-Springfield, who later dropped out and declared support for Rothenburg.

“I do a lot of work in public housing, with diplomatic-type work and helping residents,” Rothenburg said.

“So since my competitor (Tarbutton-Springfield) was really focused on public housing, she felt comfortable passing the baton on to me.”

When asked about the Picture Main Street project — the city’s controversial multimillion project to redesign Main Street — Rothenburg acknowledged that there were “frustrations” around the project, and that she would work with residents to bring their concerns to the mayor’s office.

“We have to understand the parameters of what we’re working with and, within those parameters, do as much as we can, to benefit from as many of these different perspectives and voices as we can,” she said.

Claudia Lefko

Lefko, who has lived in Northampton since 1977 and remains active within her community, has former experience in city government, having been thrice elected to the School Committee. Her advocacy work has taken her to Iraq, where she partnered with pediatric oncologists with the Iraqi Children’s Art Exchange project.

Lefko said she was inspired to run to encourage more civic participation in municipal politics, saying that the mayor’s office has become less accessible to residents since the change to the city’s charter and the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a sense of disinterest among voters, particularly younger ones.

“There’s just this sense of disengagement,” she said. “And because I care very much about what’s happening in Ward 3, I felt driven to put my name on the ballot.”

Lefko’s platform includes creating more public participation in city government, a greater holistic approach to housing development, and a refocus on residential areas of Northampton as opposed to Main Street. Lefko also voiced her opposition to the city’s ongoing Picture Main Street project, saying that ARPA funds used to hire consultants for the project could have been better spent elsewhere.

“Part of my issue around Main Street is that it is already very congested, and the redesign doesn’t really help that,” she said. “I think the people who have represented Ward 3 have focused on the city and being involved with citywide issues, and they’ve kind of left us in the lurch.”

Municipal elections are scheduled to take place on Nov. 7 in Northampton. A candidates forum featuring city council and school committee at-large candidates is set to take place on Wednesday at JFK Middle School at 7 p.m.

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