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Date: 8/3/2021
NORTHAMPTON – After announcing his campaign for mayor in June, Marc Warner sat down with Reminder Publishing to discuss his campaign and his goals.
Warner said he initially decided to run for mayor because he thought he was the best fit and has the most experience to take over as mayor in a city where the mayor’s office plays a huge role in government.
“I have lived in Northampton for 15 years and I have been involved in four city committees. As I looked at the mayoral candidates who already announced they were planning to run, I realized they did not seem to be taking the job as seriously as needed. The city is a $120 million a year operation and the mayor is the person who really runs the show,” he said. “The people running did not seem to have the professional experience to take on a role of that scale.”
With his experience owning a business for 29 years along with a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a master’s degree in public policy, Warner said he is the right fit for the job.
“From that experience I have gotten to understand the process of organization, collective bargaining, determining if an agency policy makes sense, understanding the implications of equity and making sure the solutions to any problem are behaviorally sound,” he said.
While he is a Democrat, Warner said “basic good governance” is more important to him than following a political agenda.
“I am a very strong and committed Democrat, and I am committed to the core Democratic principles, but I feel very strongly that party affiliation and political ideology are less important to me than our integrity and basic good governance. I think this is something that has gotten lost in some areas of city politics,” he said.
With the redesign of Main Street currently in the design process, Warner said he wants to maintain downtown Northampton as a destination people like to travel to.
“The city is looking at rebuilding Main Street and there is a group of individuals and business owners who are pushing for a pedestrian, bicycle and transit-oriented downtown, one that would limit the use of cars and parking. They view it as environmentally positive but it calls on people to come downtown by means other than car, but I know that people will not do that and they will go elsewhere,” he said.
Warner said working with businesses in downtown Northampton is important because of their economic value and value to the quality of life in the city.
“Working with the downtown businesses is important, they contribute to our economy, the jobs in Northampton, the property budget and the meals and restaurant tax. It also adds to the quality of life of the downtown, so I think it is important for the city to make sure they thrive,” he said.
One area Warner said he wants to improve in the city if elected is building a better relationship with the Police Department.
“I think the city needs to mend its fences with the Police Department; last year the City Council cut 10 percent of the police budget and it has led to a counterproductive loss of newly trained officers and the department is at a breaking point. I think to some extent they have chosen to not interact with the downtown as much as the public would expect, and I do not think they have the resources to do so,” he said.
If elected, Warner also said he wants the city budget to focus more on running the city’s programs in a more efficient and cost-effective way.
“We had a 29 percent increase in our city budget in the last nine years and this is not sustainable. It is double the rate of inflation and so it is imperative the city does its programs efficiently and cost effectively. The key thing here is to recognize the more we succeed at that, the more money we have programs that need it the most,” he said.
Since beginning his campaign, Warner said speaking to residents across the city has been a meaningful experience for him.
“I look in general for what I can do to make my life more challenging, more meaningful, more satisfying and more fun. I think being mayor would be consistent with that and I think running for mayor is consistent with that too, it has really been a lot of fun,” he said.
A fun fact Warner shared about himself is that he built a boat and named it after his wife.
“I built a 14-foot wooden boat, the ‘Bonnie 1’ that I named after my wife. It is a beautiful boat, but the thing weighs a ton. Our next boat was an inflatable rubber dinghy that is far easier to carry around. That one’s the ‘Bonnie 2,’” he said.
Residents can learn more about Warner and his campaign events online at www.warnerformayor.com.