Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 7/13/2021
NORTHAMPTON – After one term as Northampton’s Ward 1 City Councilor, Michael Quinlan announced that he will be running for city councilor at-large.
After seeing support outside of his own ward when he ran for councilor in 2019 and with both at-large seats up for grabs in this year’s election, Quinlan said this year was the perfect opportunity to run.
“I have lived in Northampton almost my whole life and when I was running last time it seemed like I had a lot of support across the whole city even though I was just in one of the wards. That gave me the courage to reach out to people across the whole city,” he said. “With the two current councilors at-large vacating the seats, it seemed like a good opportunity to dive in.”
If elected, Quinlan said he wants to keep the new Department of Community Care as a priority for the city.
“The Department of Community Care is something I support and believe will help our community. I am very hopeful to be elected again in order to keep working on it and make it a priority for the city,” he said.
Along with the Department of Community Care, Quinlan said he wants to continue to support the Police Department and believes the city has the ability to fund both.
“It has been remarkable to me how many people have reached out to say they feel the Department of Community Care is good, but our Police Department is also very good and needs to be supported and properly funded. Northampton can afford to do both,” he said.
As a member of the Policing Review Commission, Quinlan said he was able to educate himself on the needs of the community.
“We have been engaged in a pretty intense and wide-ranging conversation about the health and safety of the community. I was glad to be a part of the Policing Review Commission, I learned so much through many hours of work there and I was so impressed by the dedication of the other members of the commission,” he said. “I hope to be able to bring my efforts to continue the conversation and make the right choices for the city.”
One issue Quinlan said he would like to address as a councilor at-large is to provide clearer information to residents about how the city operates.
“There can be a communication gap between how the city operates and what the residents understand about that, so I would like to bring some more clarity so people can understand it and access that information a little more easily,” he said.
A fun fact Quinlan shared about himself is that as the wine buyer for Table and Vine in West Springfield he has traveled all around the world.
“I have traveled to almost every major wine producing region of the world for my work. I have had the chance to travel the globe and meet people. I think the most rewarding times are when you meet farmers, whose livelihood and passions are tied to agriculture. I think that is neat and ties to our area as well because we have so many dedicated farmers in our area,” he said.
To kick off his campaign, Quinlan said he will be hosting a rally at the Northampton Country Club on July 22 at 6 p.m. that will be free and open to the public.