SOS Questionnaire

I asked for endorsement from Support Our Schools and Services, via answering the questionnaire below and interviewing with five of their members. So far, no one from the ward 3 race has been endorsed. 

1. How do you understand your role as a City Councilor representative in view of assaults on public life?

A city councilor has some, but not a lot, of hard power to make municipal change; this power is mainly focused on the ability to make budget cuts, propose and pass financial orders, propose and pass ordinances, and appoint members to volunteer boards. Their role is to use that hard power, as well as any soft power of talking to the mayor, department heads, state representatives, and other people with power, to improve life in Northampton. They should protect the good that exists, fight for positive change, and, when needed, strategically prioritize to prevent the most harm.

I also see the role of a ward city councilor as one of information gathering, synthesizing, and dissemination. A city councilor should gather information from residents of their ward, particularly about needs, concerns, and fears they have. These won't be universal, so a councilor needs to synthesize what they hear into something actionable that does the most good possible. They should prioritize those with expertise and those directly impacted, which means at times they will be advocating for a minority opinion, but they should strive to address all concerns, and not discount perspectives merely because of tone.  A city councilor should be clear in what they want as an outcome, and flexible in how to achieve that outcome. They should be as transparent as possible, and make the rest of government as transparent as possible. They should disseminate information from the rest of municipal government to their people, and from their people to the rest of municipal government. 

2. How do you envision your relationship with state legislators/legislature?

I envision providing updates and outreach to state legislators, letting them know concerns of constituents that they could address and finding out what is going on at the state level that would impact our city. I don't know how much collaboration can be done at that level, but am especially interested in getting their help moving home rule petitions through the state house. I have already had a chance to speak to Rep. Sabadosa about what she wants to see in the relationship between city councilors and herself, and she has expressed similar wishes of regularly checking in about current and upcoming issues, providing a clear flow of information, and doing direct advocacy when needed.

3. How will you support the right of workers to organize?

I want to create legal protections for workers to organize, as well as voluntary recognition of unions by the city, as much as we can at the municipal level. I'd love to change state law to allow all unions the legal right to strike. I would work for easy access to information about pay and benefits for workers, to increase transparency on what is already being published. I'd also like to meet with workers and unions to hear what support they need from city council.

4. What do you view as the two (2) biggest challenges in Northampton and what are three (3) specific things you would do to remedy them?

The two biggest challenges in Northampton are historically underfunded infrastructure (including schools) and transparency of government. These are issues at the state and national levels as well, but specific ways to remedy them at the municipal level are: cease position cuts to schools; offer financial, training, and other incentives for unfilled municipal positions; apply for state or national grants to bolster our infrastructure; publicly show and track cut positions and vacant positions in municipal departments; host additional open listening/town hall meetings on the budget; allow city council to listen in to department head discussions on the budget.

5. How do you understand issues of social/economic/racial justice present in Northampton schools and throughout our community, and what steps would you take to make our community and schools reflect our commitment to social justice?

I think it's very easy to say one is for social justice, and very easy to rest on the laurels of making a little progress. Justice is a lens to view problems through, and one cannot separate social from economics from racial. For example, there is likely going to be talk in the coming years about closing schools, and Bridge Street School will likely be recommended as the one to close. Objectively, it is in the poorest shape. However, this comes from many, many years of being underfunded. This is a school that has a high proportion of students of color, immigrant students, disabled students, and poor students. Shutting this school would have disproportionate impact on them and their families. I would bring that focus and that lens to discussions and decisions, as economics do not happen in a bubble. 

Further, one major way of disenfranchising a group is by leaving them out of conversations. This can be an active exclusion, but this can also be a passive accident. It is critical to reach people who are not in the room, to make active efforts to find out who is being missed, and to get them to a place to be able to contribute. For a non-school example, I have been trying to do outreach at Salvo house about fixing a problem of severely disruptive noise in common halls. City administration says there needs to be formal reports that they can track; the only way to currently report is by going to the police, which is not safe for many, and residents fear they will be retaliated against by others if they make such reports. From the city's perspective, there isn't a problem, because there aren't many reports. So, how do we do better? Can we anonymize reports? Can we have users submit them to the DCC instead? Can there be virtual, phone, mail, and in-person options to report? Can reports be in other languages? And once it's easy to report, how to we make sure reports aren't retaliatory or discriminatory? How do we keep the system from being weaponized? What is the plan once the problems are evident? It's not easy, and it requires regular checks and multiple perspectives.

6. What is your overall vision for the Northampton Public Schools?

Ideally, I would like a school environment where positions are fully staffed, and teachers are not at yearly risk of losing their jobs. I would like all students who need IEPs to be given full support, and I want proactive teachers and staff checking on student needs. I'd love low student-teacher ratios, and a robust substitute system where teachers can take sick time without worry. When problems occur, I want the people in power to compassionately and actively listen, to be transparent in their decision-making, and to address negative consequences that arise from solutions. And I want Bridge Street School to get the repairs it needs. 

7. We’ve been told that there are not enough financial resources in Northampton to provide for all the needs of our public schools and students. What steps would you take to meet the needs of the schools as defined by the experts on the School Committee to achieve your vision?

Short term, I'd first work to shift capital improvements to come after the budget, prioritize capital improvements to postpone low impact ones, and draw a higher proportion of unspent prior year funds towards the budget. I'd be open to an audit of departments, similar to the one done on the schools this year, to check for redundancies and ways to save. I'd continue pressing on the state to fund public schools at the cost of private ones, rather than the school choice vouchers doing the opposite. Long term, I'd work to grow the city's revenue, improve other infrastructure like roads and sidewalks, and make Northampton an appealing place to live (and pay taxes) in other ways. 

8. How do you plan to balance the various needs of the city?

I plan to do active outreach to my ward to hear about needs that exist. I want to talk to municipal leaders in other places who have faced similar challenges, to find out what worked and what didn't. I will work to find an option that meets as many needs as I can, and when I have to prioritize, I will do it through a lens of economic justice. When choices have consequences, I will do my best to mitigate harms caused by those choices. For example, if the organic groundskeeping needs to be cut in order to not lose a teacher position, I would be transparent with students and parents about what the choice was, and work to find other ways to keep the school grounds beautified and fit for use.

9. What would a People’s Budget look like in Northampton, and what would you do to implement it?

Honestly, I'm not sure what this would look like. I would want to talk to more people about this to get a better sense of what to aim for and how to do better in the meantime. Practically, I don't think any big change to budgeting can happen without buy-in from the mayor, as that is currently the position that makes the budget and has power over charter changes. Short term, I'd love to push for spending a higher proportion of revenue and free cash on the budget rather than capital improvements. I want the budget to be more collaborative, and to have ways of tracking feedback and following up. I'd like to get residents involved earlier in the process, so there is more time for change to be made, rather than being in last-minute crisis mode. 

10. Why do you want our endorsement?

Through talking with your members and with current municipal leaders, I have come to the conclusion that schools cannot afford more cut positions nor more unmet IEPs. I want to work towards schools that meet the needs of all students, particularly those who have been historically disenfranchised. I can't promise I'll succeed, but I will fight for schools and for workers, independent of your endorsement. I am seeking endorsement because I stand with your goals, and would appreciate your help in doing outreach to constituents. As someone running that is neither an incumbent nor a former reporter, I appreciate all the help I can get in being recognized. 

I recognize that the incumbent for the position I'm running for, Quaverly Rothenberg, has been an important member of SOS. I share a number of her ideals and stances, including improving municipal funding to schools and other departments. Over the past two years, I have seen many of her tactics set improvements back and alienate allies, which is part of my motivation for running. I would like to request that SOS be willing to endorse multiple candidates for a single position, rather than this being a zero-sum nomination.