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Date: 1/9/2024
NORTHAMPTON — In a 5-3 vote, with one abstention, the Northampton City Council elected Ward 5 representative Alex Jarrett as the new council president for the upcoming two-year term during an organizational meeting on Jan. 3.
The two candidates that were nominated for president during this meeting were Jarrett and Ward 7 Councilor Rachel Maiore. Jarrett was nominated by At-Large Councilor Marissa Elkins and Maiore was nominated by Ward 3 Councilor Quaverly Rothenberg.
Maiore, who was also nominated for council president last term, was voted vice president of the council during the Jan. 3 meeting.
Jarrett, who started his tenure on council in 2020, officially replaces former City Councilor Jim Nash as the council president. Nash finished his final term on the council this past December after a little over a half a decade on council.
“I have … the skills and the experience and the discernment, the knowledge of process, and the knowledge of the subject matter,” Jarrett said, in his statement to the council during the meeting.
Outside of the council work, Jarrett is also the co-founder and current worker-owner of Pedal People Cooperative, a worker-owned, human-powered delivery and hauling service for the Northampton area.
He has also served on the city’s Energy and Sustainability Commission, Police Review Commission and chaired the council’s Legislative Matters committee over this past term.
During his statement to the council, Jarrett emphasized his ability to build relationships with the other councilors and his penchant for listening to all viewpoints from his constituents as positive attributes. He typically publishes a Ward 5 monthly newsletter as a major communication tool for illustrating what is going on in the city.
In an interview with Reminder Publishing during election season, Jarrett said he wants to continue his work in road safety, public safety, housing and zoning. As someone who served on the Police Review Commission, he also said he wants to support the newly-formed Division of Community Care in any way he can.
“I am running now to be of service for the city and the council and stepping forward because I believe the skills and the judgment and the experience I can offer is what the council needs for this term,” Jarrett said.
In her explanation for why she chose to elect Jarrett, Elkins described the Ward 5 representative as hardworking, scrupulous and conscientious while also commending his ability to handle conflict “gracefully.” She also added that he is the person councilors go to with any questions about rules.
“The work that I saw Councilor Nash do as president really made me see and understand that we all depend on the council president to be prepared in a way that I have a great deal of confidence that Councilor Jarrett is ready to do and will be great at,” Elkins said.
Prior to voting for the council president, a charter objection was raised by Rothenberg, the lone person to abstain from voting on the matter, so the council could have more time to think about the vote.
“We had the wonderful good fortune of not being bound by Open Meeting Law prior to being sworn in; there was plenty of discussion over a long period of time about who we would be voting for,” Rothenberg said. “It comes down to four to four and one swing vote. No matter how you cut it, that’s a very close race.”
The council took a brief recess to call City Solicitor Alan Seewald to see how they could proceed after this objection since this was a situation the council was unaccustomed too.
According to the charter, when a charter objection is raised, it is necessary to postpone the vote to either a regular or special council meeting. Seewald initially advised the council to postpone the vote until the regular council meeting the next day, but then called back to say that charter objections should not be used for the election of a council president.
Because of this, the council had to proceed with the vote.
“I don’t believe that elections are measures within the meaning of the charter objection section because it is an election, not an adoption of an order,” Seewald said.
Before the council officially voted for president, Rothenberg encouraged the council to swing Maiore’s way. She eventually objected to Seewald’s interpretation of the charter objection provisions and abstained from voting on council president to seek more legal advice on the matter. Despite abstaining, she still expressed support for Maiore as president.
“I really appreciate that Rachel has always been a voice of grace, a voice of conscience and a voice of courage, and that is what I’m looking for in the City Council president,” Rothenberg said.
A lifelong social justice activist, Maiore has worked as a community health organizer in Latin America and the United States. She has been a director of the Pioneer Valley Women’s March and a trainer for MoveOn.org’s Training and Support Corps.
She was also a regional organizer for Jobs With Justice, where she was instrumental in the successful campaign to raise the minimum wage to $15/hour in Massachusetts and to secure paid family leave. She chaired the Committee on Finance last term and currently resides on the city’s Energy and Sustainability Commission.
Maiore was elected vice president of the council after receiving six votes. Elkins, the other councilor nominated for vice president, received three.
“As I enter my fifth year on council, I can confidently declare that we have an excellent council before us and I’m excited to go on this 2-year journey with you,” Maiore said.
The council also voted to maintain a hybrid format for their meetings.