Easthampton City Councilor JT Tirrell poses with his campaign sign at Nashawannuck Pond, the site of the announcement for his bid for mayor back in May. A kickoff party for the campaign was hosted on June 26.
Photo credit: Caron Communications
EASTHAMPTON — A kickoff event for the campaign of mayoral candidate JT Tirrell was hosted on Thursday, June 26 at the Keystone Building’s Boylston Room, where the current city councilor was excited to share with the public his plans as he eyes a level up in municipal government.
Reminder Publishing spoke with Tirrell leading up to his kickoff event about his campaign and vision for the city of Easthampton.
Tirrell is a lifelong resident of Easthampton and has laid down community ties in various city groups over the last 15 years. Currently in his role as an at-large city councilor, Tirrell has also gotten involved with other city groups such as his long-standing service as President of Easthampton Little League and Equipment Manager at Williston Northampton School, as well as his experience on the Parks and Recreation Commission.
“I was on the Park and Rec Commission and I was able to accomplish a little bit there. I’m on City Council currently and I can accomplish certain things there. I feel as though in the position of mayor that I can accomplish more for the city,” Tirrell said.
As of press time, Tirrell is one of three candidates who have announced a run for mayor this fall along with resident Robert Laferriere and current executive assistant to the mayor Lindsi Sekula. Current Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle has been in office since 2018, but announced in 2023 that she would not be seeking reelection for a fourth term.
Tirrell’s campaign has been focused on building a robust internal infrastructure through establishing a dedicated team of volunteers. They have also launched jtforeasthamptom.com, where interested residents can go to learn more about his campaign or how they can get involved and support.
Tirrell said he wants to engage with every resident of Easthampton and added his website serves as a hub for his vision, offering residents with a clear view of his platform and opportunities to get up off the sidelines. He added he wants to be an open communicator and be as transparent as possible for constituents, as there is too much divide in general with politics and it is causing people to remove themselves from the ecosystems needed for a healthy democracy.
“People these days — I’m finding — aren’t as willing to have a conversation as they used to be and I think that needs to come out more. I think a lot can be had by a conversation. You’re not going to change my mind necessarily on one thing or another, but you might change my perspective. I might understand you better as a person and you better for your opinions and your views by having that discussion. Discussions are easy,” said Tirrell. “Instead of looking for common ground these days, people are looking for a reason to disagree with somebody. We have to change that thinking. I don’t think it’s going to get done on the national level, so we need to do it on the city level and in local government.”
He added national politics have its place, but that it is important for the people of Easthampton to separate the noise and focus on what the community needs directly.
“It’s the day-to-day living. The people driving down the street complaining about a pothole or complaining they can’t see a stop sign because trees are overgrown in front of it, or somebody almost got hit in the crosswalk. It’s that stuff that people care about on a daily basis,” said Tirrell. “Yeah, there’s hot button topics on the national level, but those don’t affect us every day in the way all those other things can and that’s what people care about and want taken care of.”
Tirrell said some of the top priorities for his campaign are infrastructure, the city’s water system, the growing senior population and their needs, and veterans’ services. The artesian well system the city utilizes, Tirrell said, requires necessary attention and like many other issues in the city, a proactive approach.
“We have some of the best, if not the best water in the entire country, and if we don’t maintain and upkeep the system that provides that water to us and that for some reason gets tainted or something happens to the aquifer, we are never getting that back. A lot of people, I think, take that for granted. It’s not a sexy topic to talk about, but it’s crucial,” Tirrell said, citing other city projects that identified aged pipes within city infrastructure. “We’re very lucky and we need to maintain that. If that system gets to a point of disarray where the water is affected, that’s affected forever. We can’t get that back.”
For the aging senior population in town, Tirrell said this was another city topic that called for a proactive approach. If elected, Tirrell said he would put together a senior ad hoc committee that would be tasked with identifying a location for a new senior center.
“Our senior population is growing year to year and is only going to get larger,” said Tirrell. “Right now, unfortunately, our seniors are put in the old post office down the street. I say they’ve been pigeonholed into the old post office because I don’t think they belong there, I think they deserve a new facility.”
Tirrell reiterated that this issue being another priority for his plans if elected as mayor comes from wanting to bring a proactive approach to solving the city’s issues.
“I think we need to look forward and see the increase in population and be prepared to serve that population. We’re going to need to reevaluate what we’re doing for the current population and see what more we can do and where we’re lacking. And certainly, a physical facility is one of those things, but even on a smaller scale what is needed and what’s maybe not needed,” said Tirrell. “We need to prep for it instead of having a knee jerk reaction when it happens. If we plan properly, we can provide properly. If we wait too long and it becomes too late then it’s going to be a knee jerk reaction, and they might not get all that they need because we didn’t plan.”
Tirrell added he hopes to find new ways to attract more small businesses to the city’s downtown. He also will be prioritizing continued advocacy and support for veterans and their needs as he noted he felt they were underserved. Both his grandfathers and father served the country.
“There is nothing specifically that they aren’t being afforded, I just think that that population, it’s very wide ranging in what they need,” said Tirrell, who added various generations of veterans require various different needs, which he will be focused on. “Similar to the seniors, I want to really take a look at what we’re providing them compared to what is needed because I’m sure more is needed, so how can we streamline things and make things better and more accessible.”
Tirrell shared that he gets more excited with each day as his campaign kicks off and he gears up for the next four months of meeting Easthampton residents and listening to them about what they want from their next mayor.
“I would feel honored to have that trust put into me,” said Tirrell, on if he were to be elected. “I feel honored to be in the position I’m in currently. I just want to do what’s best for the citizens of the city and what’s best for the city as a whole. It’s simple. I’m not an overly complicated person. I’m not a man of a lot of words a lot of times. Common sense, simplicity. Some things don’t need to be overthought or made too complicated.”
He added that he hopes this upcoming campaign and election season brings more turnout and participation from the Easthampton community. Tirrell said it will still be impossible to make everybody happy at all times, but he will focus on making sure the public has a voice at the decision making table.
“A lot of people complain, which is fine, if you vote. Then you have a right to complain. Make your voice heard because it does matter especially in a small city like this,” Tirrell said. “I will make decisions not because of a party, not because of an affiliation, not because of anything. A lot of people just want to have a discussion. They want to be heard. Of course, people want solutions, who doesn’t. But a lot of times, people just want to be heard and I want to be accessible.”
Tirrell concluded by reiterating his love for the city and said he hopes his “No Labels — Just Leadership” slogan for his mayoral campaign can reach through to the voters of Easthampton.
“It’s been step by step. Each thing has led to the next. But the mayor is the last step. I’m not a quote, unquote politician. I want to do this because it’s Easthampton and because I want what’s best for the residents of Easthampton and what’s best for the city as a whole,” he shared. “I don’t want to get embroiled in Republican, Democrat, this, that and the other thing. I want to focus on day-to-day issues that affect people in the city every day.
