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Date: 6/30/2021
EASTHAMPTON – Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle recently announced that she is running for another term as mayor in the upcoming municipal election.
LaChapelle, who has been Easthampton’s mayor since 2017, told Reminder Publishing that she ran for office because she wanted to promote certain objectives and goals surrounding transparency in government.
“I just looked at the four-year term coming up and I felt I had more work to do as mayor,” said LaChapelle. “I felt confident that I would be a good leader as we head out of the pandemic and go back to those primary goals.”
Energy efficiency and healthy buildings are two of the first priorities LaChapelle wants to tackle if reelected for a four-year term, especially since the city’s buildings are old and utility costs are steadily rising, she noted.
She also wants to develop specific plans for how to use American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money, and how the city can use that money for investing rather than just funding. Other citywide initiatives LaChapelle wants to tackle include climate justice, environmental issues around the city and status of roadways.
“The big thing about ARPA, certainly the work that’s been done is fabulous, but I want to use those ARPA funds in a way that creates good local jobs as well,” said LaChapelle.
According to the mayor, there is a lot of opportunity for structural change in municipal government, especially surrounding certain initiatives like Reimagining the Police, the Housing Production Plan, the Local Rapid Recovery Program and more.
“It’s very exciting and daunting, but it would be a complete honor to be mayor for the next four years and follow up and deliver those things for the city,” said LaChapelle.
The other big project within the city is the eventual inception of the Mountain View School that plans to have kindergarten through eighth graders attend. According to LaChapelle, the project is right on time, and they are looking at a “substantially completed” building by November 2021. The best-case scenario is middle school students will be allowed to move into the school after the holiday break. She said that everyone will be moved in by the end of 2022.
“The value add is also this feeling that it’s really going to be a community campus,” said LaChapelle. “It’s really just a logical meeting place for youth and for families that want to be in the middle of a beautiful campus. Coming out of the pandemic, it’s something we really all need; these really great common spaces.”
LaChapelle has also overseen other projects like the development of the new River Valley Co-op that opens July 1, as well as the full-scale redevelopment of One Ferry St. The city has also received “a record amount” of grants and investments in the city’s roads, open space, housing, business community and transportation during her tenure so far.
The mayor will be hosting a “Campaign Kickoff” on July 1 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at The Boylston Rooms.
Interested people can sign her nomination papers and “jumpstart the summer.”