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Date: 11/4/2020
EASTHAMPTON – During the Oct. 28 special City Council meeting, the council elected Erica Flood to fill the vacant at-large seat of former Councilor William Lynch.
She was elected through ranked-choice voting by the city council, beating four other candidates – Kae Collins, Gwynne Morrissey, Paul St Pierre, and Jared Hinkle.
Flood ran against Councilor Homar Gomez for Precinct 2 last year. In her letter of nomination, she said that although she lost, she believes her campaign was successful because she won the support from many people in the city, including Gomez.
Flood expressed that she and Gomez have worked together on many projects since then and have built a good relationship.
In her letter, she shared some personal stories because she thought it was important for the council to understand her commitment and desire to be involved in the community.
“I was born and raised primarily here in the city; I lived in many neighborhoods growing up because I was the oldest child of a single mother who had a hard time making ends meets on her own in the late 80s,” Flood wrote.
She went on to write that when she was in the fifth grade her mother passed away from complications related to the AIDS virus which resulted in her moving to Southampton to live with her maternal grandparents.
After seven years and three different colleges, she received her Bachelor of Arts in liberal arts from Prescott College in Arizona in 2005.
“My educational background is primarily in environmental sciences, ecology, education, and photography. My alma mater has a strong commitment to social justice and equality, the lessons and experience I gained while there have carried me through the past 15 years and continue to drive my desire to contribute to my community in a meaningful way,” said Flood.
During public speak, one resident spoke in support of Flood. She said Flood is a real champion for her working-class neighborhood and people dealing with opioid and substance abuse issues.
Shortly after the public speak portion, each candidate had five minutes to speak. Flood explained that after college she came back to Easthampton and businesses like Tubed Products had closed and the arts were revitalizing the community. Because she had gone to college to be an artist she was excited that somehow what she pursued made it into her hometown.
She spoke to her sister being her hero and said her sister is coming up on 10 months clean from heroin, addressing a comment she made about Parsons Village years back.
She explained that her point was misconstrued and her main concern was about affordability and a path to homeownership.
“I am dedicated to a path to homeownership. Low-income families and struggling and vulnerable communities need help and they have needed help for a long time,” Flood said.
After the candidates spoke, each councilor had the opportunity to ask each of them one question.
Councilor Thomas Peake asked her what is one thing that she believed the city should do to improve the issue of lack of affordable housing in Easthampton.
“When I began my campaign, I met with a number of people and there is actually a fix that I feel could help us all. Easthampton just does not have enough developable property left and in some of our properties we have them zoned as industrial, and perhaps it will never be industrial properties. So one of the proposals that I was met with, is incorporating the senior housing overlay and if we look to Hadley with the same mechanism, I feel we could address this,” she said.
She went on to say that there are Easthampton properties in the viscinity of the Big Y in Southampton that are considered industrial but it could be forever until industrial properties are built.
Flood said she would like to look at alternative zoning, in terms of senior housing overlay to address the issue because many seniors are living in what is too much house.
“Their families have left, they have four or five bedrooms and they need one or maybe two. If we could get them into something that does not need maintenance on their part, that is safe, that is affordable, then we can free up housing for younger families,” said Flood.
After Flood was announced to have been elected, she expressed that she is very grateful to have won the opportunity to be on the city council, and she welcomes conversations from everyone who may want to speak to her.