Jillian Duclos has announced she is running for Mayor of Northampton.
Reminder Publishing photo by Trent Levakis
NORTHAMPTON — Former Downtown Northampton Association Executive Director Jillian Duclos has announced her bid for mayor of Northampton and said she hopes her campaign will unite Northampton voters and establish an improved level of communication across the city.
With experience at the DNA, and previously working on and running campaigns, Duclos brings a wide range of experience in running for mayor. Duclos, a mother of a 4-year-old, has interned for U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Cambridge) and also has work experience in both the private and nonprofit sectors.
“I just feel like all these different experiences I’ve had over time really helped me get to a place where I’ve seen things from all different perspectives, and the work that I’ve done has really helped me understand that building a community and working together is really the best way to move forward when solving problems,” Duclos said.
As her campaign is underway, Duclos said it is key for her to meet and listen to constituents closely. She shared that improving the city’s overall effectiveness of communication is a key step in working together to tackle the issues at the front of mind for so many Northampton residents.
Duclos said her focus in communicating is driving the conversation from the ground up. She added, it’s clear the love people have for Northampton even if there are differences in ideas on what is best for all.
“It’s really helping people understand that we should not be a community divided and we’re stronger together. It’s not this team versus that team, or that person cares about this project,” Duclos said. “How do we find that common ground so we can start solving the problems. I feel like right now, there’s a bit of a communication breakdown about how we get there. We care so much that we haven’t been able to figure out how to get past those pieces of it, to be able to come together and talk rationally and clearly about how we can get there.”
Duclos credited a fuller understanding of the wide ranging parts that make up the city after having finally worked with the DNA. Duclos said the time spent was a connector of some sort of her previous work and new work, giving her the realization of her approach to running for mayor.
“I always did work in that way of getting to know folks who kind of helped build this community and who were investing in it, understanding why they love Northampton so much,” Duclos said. “We need to figure out how to band together, how to work together more collaboratively and not waste resources, because when we’re all trying to do the same thing, we’re spending resources in ways that are inefficient. I’m a work smarter not harder person.”
A big focus of her campaign for mayor is giving the people more of a voice that will not only be collaborative to the city’s goals, but also help bring people together on what is possible when working together.
“This is a collaborative effort. It’s not really about me, it’s not really just about the [position of] mayor. I think we have a lot of folks that are coming out who are going to run for different offices. These are people who want to help people,” Duclos said. “Where do we all fit into building towards meeting the moment right now.”
Duclos emphasized the importance of communication right now, as she feels many are losing sight of what municipal government’s role is in their lives.
“I think we’ve lost sight a little bit of what the role of municipal government is. I think we’re here to build a strong foundation for the people who live here so that they can get up and do the things they need to do to thrive,” Duclos said. “I think we have a lot of really smart, intuitive, hardworking people who live here, who just need that foundation so that they can go out and solve the bigger problems.”
She continued, “We can’t do it all [alone], so how can we build those coalitions and partnerships so all of it is happening at once, but it doesn’t fall on the responsibility of one entity. That’s what I feel like is happening now. We have really great values and things that we care about. I think we care about our legacy, what we’re going to leave for the next generation. I think we’re really good at being mindful of that, but what I think we’re also doing in being so mindful of that is forgetting about the today.”
As her campaign continues, Duclos said she will prioritize the foundations of municipal governments including the schools, sidewalks and roads.
“Our job as leaders is to get to ‘yes.’ If this is what our community is asking of us and if this aligns with our values and this is what we truly care about, our actions need to follow our words,” Duclos said. “We won’t always [get to ‘yes’], but then we’ll pivot and we’ll try something else. But I think that’s the role of leadership. It’s not to always close the door and say sorry we can’t do it.”
The other two current candidates in the race for mayor against Duclos are incumbent Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra and former Northampton Police officer David Dombroski.
