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Date: 1/25/2022
EASTHAMPTON – Mayor Nicole LaChapelle believes it is an “amazing time to be selected as mayor” and that the position comes at a time of “grave grave urgency” as she continues to move forward with her focus on inclusivity and equity in government.
Upon entering the new term, she reported her administration already knew the direction they were headed, and they didn’t face a lot of turnover or transitioning because of all the groundwork and plans they had already established in her prior terms as mayor. However, LaChapelle said that now is the time to start actualizing those plans, such as housing, downtown strategies, and exploring open space opportunities. She emphasized that three of her priorities on getting elected were “housing, housing and housing.”
LaChapelle stated, “Our Housing Production Plan really showed that there wasn’t one market segment that we didn’t need to fix and that we didn’t need more housing, with the exception of higher-end houses and how to make that happen in an equalizing way in Eastampton.” She said acquiring affordable housing and adding housing is a big challenge. This would include adding housing that starts at 60 percent of area median income to housing at 120 percent median income, which would create a range of choices of housing options in Easthampton.
LaChapelle said, “I feel wonderful about my administration and my department heads and how they built the backbone of Easthampton for going forward to the next generation. But now we need to make space, literal space for the next generation to make them a place to live.”
She said her administration continues to take on large projects, such as the almost completed construction of the new K-8 Mountain View School. She said things “are humming along” and are ahead of the timeline with middle-school students already attending. “The elementary wing is finishing up nicely, and we’re on track not only to finish the school on time, but we are on budget without stretching, which is fabulous.” LaChapelle added.
However, two of the challenges she said the city does continue to face are the “pandemic and racial reckoning.” She said these go along with the strongly stated demand for “equity in government and a community reimagining the police.”
She said the Mayor’s Pledge she signed in 2020 involved changing the “use of force” police policy and how data is used and distributed. She reported, “We are transitioning to a brand new data system for police that will allow much more transparency and also for the community to look at that data of what the police are doing and how they’re doing it – not necessarily to catch them, but to understand how those public dollars are used – understand how the public is served, who isn’t served, who’s over served.”
She added that this issue has raised “contentious” community conversation, and the Police Department supports the new policy. She commented, “Although it’s hard and contentious and really fraught with 400 plus years of slavery figuratively, literally and institutionally – it’s crushing, and it really pushed me and the municipal government to look with more intensity and looking for a clearer eye in what we have to do as public servants to really meet the challenge.”
She added that this has pushed her and the administration to examine this issue by understanding how it affects policies and systems. In an attempt to start the process, LaChapelle said her department heads and some community members participated in an “Undoing Racism” training workshop led through the Center for Survival. LaChapelle explained, “The workshop comes from a really strong historical point of view and walks folks through the undoing of racism based on the historical perspective, understanding that there’s not a series of real big, sweeping systemic changes that undo racism, but more a conscientious process and awareness, mindfulness around where racism is sticking to our systems.”
She said they will continue with the training and have larger groups participate. She also noted that the training “is a process” and plans to have more workshops in the summer, bearing in mind that COVID-19 is part of the planning process. She said if they can’t book the dates for the summer as anticipated, they will attend virtually.