NORTHAMPTON — As election season ramps up, a local host committee has planned a unique community event where the public is invited to come meet Northampton mayoral, City Council and School Committee candidates who are coming together in commitment to public schools, public services, the environment and social justice.
On Wednesday, Oct. 8, the public is invited to Roberto’s Restaurant at 7 p.m. for an evening of community connection, speakers, dessert, appetizers, drinks and fun featuring a bulk of candidates appearing on this November’s ballot.
Rose Bookbinder, member of the host committee and a longtime local advocate, told Reminder Publishing this event was born from grassroots efforts of the community coming together to advocate for proper school funding and progressive values in general. Bookbinder is the president of the Hampshire-Franklin Labor Assembly and has spent much of her career as an organizer and advocate for union and immigrant rights.
“I am personally excited about these candidates and their visions for a progressive Northampton,” said Bookbinder. “This vision includes fully funding out public schools, supporting workers and unions, protecting our public services and environment and lifting up art and culture.”
Candidates to be featured at this event will include mayoral candidate Jillian Duclos, City Council candidates Michele Ronco, Al Simon, Jeremy Dubs (Ward 4 incumbent), Vincent “Luke” Rotello, Rachel Maiore (Ward 7 incumbent), Meg Robbins and Deb Henson, and School Committee candidates Alena Bartoli, Anat Weisenfreund (Ward 2 incumbent), Renika Montgomery-Tamakloe, Amy Martyn, Cindy Mahoney, Valerie Reiss, Emily Serafy-Cox (Ward 3 committee member running for at-large position) and Tiffany Jewell.
“The candidates attending are the folks that the host committee believes will be able to live out the values of the work around funding our schools, municipal unions, investing in art and culture and all of these things that are important,” said Bookbinder.
Bookbinder also noted that these efforts aim to establish a community vision of abundance and investment in these institutions as a mechanism for bringing in more resources, rather than what she says the current mayoral administration has done in defending and justifying the underfunding of critical parts of the community.
“I find it incredibly important to have a strong union contract for educators because it means that they feel respected, they have the supports they need, and quite often they’ve advocating for contractual language that will benefit student learning and student growth,” said Bookbinder. “Support Our Schools [and Services Political Action Committee] has been galvanizing around the underfunding of the public schools in Northampton and advocating for funds to be used to create level services.”
She continued, “Over the last many years there’s been a reduction in those services so this group of concerned community, parents, unions, coalesced around pushing for increased funding and now that’s grown into now advocating for a change in leadership to reflect those progressive values.”
Bookbinder added, with the ongoing efforts, it made sense to host a candidate’s event featuring those with the same priorities for the schools.
“It’s a slate of candidates that we feel really live up to these progressive values and prioritize funding our schools, our public services, and our public institution. Really investing in those especially given the moment, given the attack of our public institutions at the federal level,” said Bookbinder. “We want this movement to grow, we want people to feel like there’s joy in it and that being together and working together brings us hope, especially again in this kind of daunting fall into fascism that we’re experiencing on the federal level. It really is critical that on the local level we’re pushing our elected leaders to stay progressive and to fight for these public institutions.”
The event will feature a DJ, food and drink options, and a speaking portion for some of the candidates to talk about their mission. For more information on the event, visit tinyurl.com/5bkkcz48.
“People can get to know each other, chat with candidates, and build towards a really hefty door knocking, phone banking campaign,” said Bookbinder. “We invite folks to come and join us and hear from the candidates themselves. Our collective action and solidarity together is what will get us through these hard moments, and we hope people will come out and enjoy each other’s company and believe in a future where our public institutions are fully funded and our progressive values are centered.”
