City Councilor at Large Forum Transcript (2025-10-20)

Kelly Fahey Brown: Koni Denham has been an educator for the last 30 years, teaching English as a foreign language with the Peace Corps. Supporting the development of student advocates and organizers and preparing students for college success. For the last four years, Koni has served on the Easthampton City Council. In this role she has served on the Finance, Ordinance and Rules Committees. She is a fierce advocate for the working class, youth, seniors and veterans in the community. She remains committed to ensuring residents have their needs met and supporting employees in their commitment to deliver services to the community. She has lived in Easthampton for 12 years with her partner and two dogs.

Pat Brough: The next candidate is Kiam Jamrog-McQuaid. Kiam Jamrog-McQuaid is a lifelong Easthampton resident. Economic and public policy researcher and affordable housing advocate. Over the past four years, Kiam has served on the Easthampton Affordable and Fair Housing Partnership. A city advisory committee leading the development of recent zoning recommendations to expand housing options across the city. He also helped author the City Council Resolution in support of lifting the statewide ban on rent stabilization. Professionally, Kiam works as a research analyst at the UMass Donahue Institute. Conducting mixed methods research. Policy research and data analysis related to housing, workforce and economic development. He is running for City Council to expand on his years of local advocacy work and help build a community that's affordable, sustainable and resilient into the future.

Kelly Fahey Brown: Our next candidate is Nathan Markee. Nathan Markee has lived in Easthampton for the past six and a half years. He's the current chair of the Easthampton Democratic Committee. And sits on the Board of Directions for Easthampton Media, eMedia. For the past 30 years he has been involved in progressive causes and candidates. He is a self-employed artist and contractor. He's also a single father whose daughter is currently studying at Mount Holyoke College.

Pat Brough: Our next candidate is Karl Prahl. Karl is an Easthampton farmer and small business owner. Born in Iowa, Karl moved to New England to pursue organic agriculture after a short career as a teamster and a UPS manager. Karl gathered experience on the number of New England farms before settling in Western Mass in 2016. And began to operate Underline Farm using sustainable and regenerative methods. Today, Karl and his farm are a fixture at local farmers markets including the one here right in Easthampton. If elected, Karl will bring that same sustainable mindset with a blue-collar perspective to the city.

Kelly Fahey Brown: And our final candidate this evening is Johnathan. If you've ever visited the Youth Department of the Easthampton Public Library, there's a good chance you've already met our next candidate. For more than a decade, Johnathan has developed meaningful connections with community members from all walks of life. By organizing countless community events and connecting Easthampton's kids and families with reliable resources that meet their information needs. Johnathan built upon his commitment to public education as a twice-elected member of the Easthampton School Committee serving from 2018 through 2020. Giving him direct experience working within city government and in governing collaboratively as one member of an elected body. As a member of the school committee's finance subcommittee, and as a treasurer for both Easthampton Media and the Easthampton Democrats, he also offers considerable experience overseeing budgets of all sizes. Johnathan is always looking for new ways to give back to the city that raised him and he's excited for the opportunity to bring leadership rooted in vision, empathy, and reason to the council.

Pat Brough: And that is your candidate, those are your candidates. So I get the privilege to ask the first question here and probably the easiest one because I've seen all these questions and they have a lot here. So the first question we're going to start with Koni and then we'll work our way through. Koni, if elected what will your top priorities be and why?

Koni Denham: Thank you very much. I want to thank both of you for moderating. My top priorities within the context of what it is to be a city councillor, first and foremost my responsibility as a city councillor is to get the check on the mayor's office and to hold the mayor accountable to the city. For the last four years I have served on the finance committee and in that time I have held the mayor accountable by sending the school budget back to city council without recommendation in order to make sure that our teachers and schools programs were funded. I have advocated for city employee hours to be reinstated and I've advocated for flock cameras to be not installed and I've done that twice actually and in terms of my work on the ordinance committee part of what I have done is worked to address the short term rental ordinance that we have currently we're trying to manage the desire for the mayor to have a tax base with that and to be able to make sure that residents have their needs met. The second priority that I have is to make sure that residents priorities are met so those things that matter to you so some of those things have included climate resiliency, I serve on the bees committee I've worked with the commission on disability to address accessibility needs I've also worked on rent stabilization and a variety of other things including artist's needs.

Kiam Jamrog-McQuaid: Thank you for the question and thank you guys for moderating and thank all of you guys for coming out if elected I think that there are a number of priorities that the city should be focusing on I think the top priority is housing affordability we know already that over 4 in 10 renter households in Easthampton are paying more than a third of their income on housing and we know homeowners are struggling too with foreclosure petitions steadily increasing across the valley this was all true before the uncertain economic times we're facing and looming cuts to critical safety net programs we are now seeing tenants facing outrageous and sudden rent hikes of 30, 40 or even 50% and it should be a top priority for the city I also think it should be a priority to meet all the actions set forth in our climate action plan to ensure we are minimizing emissions and better preparing for the future we know is coming we know some of the biggest and most expensive challenges are going to be from the impacts of climate change from storm water and flooding to the damage to our roads caused by more repetitive freeze thaw events I also think expanding bike and pedestrian access should be a priority for the city for people who don't have cars and to decrease personal vehicle emissions we should be expanding on our existing resources like the Manhattan rail trail to increase connectivity and safety for pedestrians and cyclists thank you.

Nathan Markee: I want to thank you all for coming out this evening I want to thank Patrick and Kelly for moderating and the rest of the candidates for showing up as well and thank you to Easthampton media for making a video of this my top priorities if elected would be number one collaborating with other city councilors perhaps some of them here being on city council is a collaborative effort and not one of us can go alone and have anything passed it's not necessarily a space for pet projects but it's a pool for ideas some of the priorities that I would put in place are protecting green spaces making it a more walkable city especially trying to alleviate some of the traffic on particularly Cottage Street and union street I know this is a state highway so there's not a lot of purview that the city council does have over that but mainly it's to protect green spaces and to protect our aquifer which is the lifeblood of this city I believe that if we work in Tandem with the mayor's office with the school committee and with a larger community that we can keep in direction which I believe that we are going in a positive direction of Easthampton thank you.

Karl Prahl: Good evening thank you everyone for coming my priorities are addressing the ever increasing cost of living here in Easthampton and to do that by expanding the municipal services that we offer we all feel the pressure of inflation and that pressure is not relenting we will discuss housing next but that is only part of the picture from insurance to electricity we are privatizing essentials and our community is struggling to keep up we need to take steps to control these costs and we control the cost by controlling the infrastructure and the means we need to start working towards municipal owned utilities so that we can keep the lights on and trash picked up these services will help create new streams of municipal revenue and will help keep those dollars recycled in the local community thank you.

Jonathan Schmidt: All right thank you to our moderators for the questions for all of you for being here looking forward to seeing all of you out in the commons afterwards if you know me I often have a hard time picking let's say favorites for things but this feels easy because everything comes back to our changing climate it is the existential crisis of our times and bleeds out into everything in one way or another as an elected member of city council I would look forward to taking a closer look at our climate action plan as mentioned but also taking a different look at this what are we doing to make ourselves more proactive in being sustainable but also looking at how we are prepared for the eventuality of new extreme weather events things that we have already seen here I think of the flooding that we saw with farms a couple years ago and so the city has a municipal vulnerability preparedness plan that is something that we need to spend a little bit more time with because it's going to ultimately affect everything that we do and short behind that since I think I've got a few more seconds I'll just say that as a librarian as a former member of the school committee education and public education are dear to my heart and preparing our kids for the world that they are going to inherit is critical to our success as a city Thank you.

Kelly Fahey Brown: Thank you so much for all your answers to our first question Our second question we will begin with Kiam for this question and then go through the order again What is your plan to ensure that residents without intergenerational wealth aren't priced out of town due to housing costs? Questions from the public included the 40B affordable housing threshold short term rentals mixed use zoning and renter protections Please include in your answer the references that are relevant to your plan.

Kiam Jamrog-McQuaid: Thank you for the question This is so important and is the reason why I do the work in the community that I have been doing for years As a housing advocate I have a lot of ideas for how we can make housing more affordable in Easthampton and to stick to my 90 seconds I picked a few that I am in support of So one, we can increase supply by improving our zoning and permitting process to make it easier to build the units we need Smart growth in Easthampton looks like encouraging infill and mixed use to best support additional housing where infrastructure can already support it Two, we can support efforts to cap rent increases to protect tenants and prevent displacement of our long standing community members And three,.

Nathan Markee: I am one of those people that don't have intergenerational wealth I come from a single parent household I am a blue collar person much like Karl over here I understand what it is like to get up every day work with their hands and not have much left over at the end of the day I know there is some legislation coming through the Massachusetts House Senate about rent stabilization I also know that there is a ballot measure being passed around and I encourage anybody who cares about rents to sign it for a potential ballot question for next year's election If you are a minimum wage worker you make approximately $15 an hour here in Massachusetts Added up 40 hours a week for four weeks it's about $2400 an hour Guidelines about rent 70% of what your income would be That means if you are a renter you should only be paying $720 for your rent that's almost impossible in this day and age And I know first hand my rent went up 50% this year alone and I am feeling it Thank you.

Karl Prahl: Thank you for the question We are in crisis We have homeless in Easthampton This is not a personal failing this is a collective failing And we can't let private equity and outside money come in and try to take advantage of us in our moment of crisis The correct answer is going to be a mixture of zoning,building new supply and protection for tenants and residents But we need action today Those facing evictions are not going to be helped by new housing coming online in two or four years Those facing price gouging opportunities like hurricane properties are not going to be helped by $3000 a month affordable housing like we have at Ferry Street Housing is not an investment It's not a piggy bank It is a human right and one we can deliver I will be looking into an eviction moratorium to protect our citizens from out of town money and investment capital until we can get beyond this crisis I will also be looking into the possibility for our own housing authority building new stock of low income housing alongside mixed income housing to bring property prices down This will create local jobs building and maintaining while increasing municipal revenues through rent It will also have the knock on effect of bringing everyone's property taxes down and making it easier for everyone Thank you.

Jonathan Schmidt: So I would echo much of what has been said already This is very much one of the defining issues of this particular campaign It is a crisis and it is a need that people are struggling with right now and the city council will need to take action to address that I I do believe there is something to be said for rent stabilization I don't think that's going to solve the problem now but it will at least create a situation where people are not met with these extreme jumps in what they're paying I would love to see and I am heartened to hear from some of the folks who are organizing trying to push back against out-of-state landlords There is a great deal of interest from these people who would love to own the homes that they are living in and I believe that the future is dependent on resource sharing and coming together to live collaboratively and I would love to see more opportunities for co-housing for co-ops around housing in our city I would also like to take a look at what is possible for us to do within the context of the Easthampton Housing Authority It is an agency that to my understanding owns property here in Easthampton already and I am invested in seeing what ways we might be able to expand public housing in Easthampton so that we are not dependent on the generosity of these landlords Thank you.

Koni Denham: Really great comments I think this is something that is particularly of interest to me as someone who also grew up in poverty and I also want to emphasize that Easthampton is a working class community There are families who have lived here for generations and there are new families who moved here to live in an affordable community and that's quickly becoming something that isn't happening for them. I think it is important that we talk about action. Some of the things I have worked on in the last year or so certainly with the housing partnership proposals, zoning changes have facilitated those conversations on the ordinance committee provided support for affordable housing projects including the 350 Main Street also I've sponsored resolutions around rent stabilization on the rent study committee and as well I have helped residents to negotiate with landlords and I've sat in on those conversations if people have worked on those another major project that I worked on was the short term rental ordinance which is coming to a close but within that it's been important to be involved in conversations where you are able to address the needs of various stakeholders within that conversation to make sure that we are balancing both the needs of hosts for example as well as the needs of maintaining affordable long term housing.

Pat Brough: Thank you The next question will start with you Nathan. How do you plan to understand the majority perspectives of your constituents to best advocate as a councilor? How have you successfully worked with those who have differing opinions from you or priorities how will you handle tough questions and criticism leading up to and following difficult decisions you will make.

Nathan Markee: Okay I'm currently the chair of the Easthampton Democrats and it's sometimes a big umbrella but most of us do agree on basic things. That being said there are some nuances and I often take criticism from the public from other members etc on a daily. I believe in the arena of ideas I know that I don't necessarily always have the best ideas I know that I'm willing to change my opinion if confronted with information that is not that I've set a belief in. Let me read the question real quick. As far as criticism I'm not the type I'm going to own up to my mistakes I'm not going to play the blame game blame this councilor blame that councilor etc and get into the muck with them. I'm not going to write op-eds about folks that I disagree with and I'm certainly not going to resign from council if confronted with a hard choice. And that's kind of who I am. I like to level with folks be plain and simple about it and stick true to my values with an open mind. Thank you.

Karl Prahl: As an elected representative it is my role and duty to represent all of my constituents and as a large councilor that is the entirety of Easthampton I make it a point to listen where I can and be an empathetic ear but if elected I will be making decisions based on my conscience as it regards everyone. We must remember that every voice matters just because we are the majority does not mean we don't listen to the minority. As a councilor I will strive to listen to as many views and diverse opinions as I can sometimes that will mean siding with the majority sometimes that will mean siding with the minority. I'm a friendly guy but I'm not running to make friends I know there will be people that do not like my opinions and the votes I will cast. I do not care. I am here to do what is right not what is popular. Thank you.

Jonathan Schmidt: Okay so as someone who works every day out in the community of Easthampton in the library I meet folks from all walks of life folks who have lived their entire lives in Easthampton folks who are new to the city folks who have deep financial means and those with little. We serve everybody equally. It is one of the things I really appreciate about my work and it's a value that I will absolutely be bringing to the city council. I would also harken back to my time serving on the school committee. If you heard the years that were mentioned and put the pieces together I had the distinct privilege of serving during the beginning and the height of the pandemic which I believe prepared me for just about any criticism that I could possibly face. And one thing that really came out of that was learning how to stay true to my values to speak up for what I believed and then to ultimately cast a vote and live with the outcome that me and my colleagues reached together. We knew going into many of our decisions there was no way to make every single person happy and I was going to get emails from every single person no matter what the outcomes were in some of those meetings and that was something that was important to accept at the time and again really gave me the opportunity and the experience to be true to what I believed and to sleep well at night with that.

Koni Denham: Thank you this is a great question I want to acknowledge that I live in the majority perspective. I recognize when I'm in the majority but I also recognize when I'm not based on my various identities etc. My responsibility as a city councillor is to find common ground in a city of 16,000 residents and to make sure people's needs are met and individuals felt heard in a process. I think a really good example of whether or not I am in the majority or the minority of how I feel about something is the work that I did on the short term rental ordinance. I don't personally agree with short term rentals I would much rather see those rentals go to long term rental options for individuals but I am responsible for negotiating an ordinance that is fair to residents who are concerned about that and who would like to see that within the community. So I have to balance my own interest and goals with those where I recognize that others in the community have different end goals. So within the context of that I have to bring together a variety of different stakeholders. I have to listen to those concerns and I have to develop an ordinance that is responsive to those various needs. And so I often make myself within that I work to make myself available within the community to hear everybody's perspective.

Kiam Jamrog-McQuaid: Thank you this is a really good question and I think it gets to the ultimate role of city councilors in the community. And I think beyond just placing votes on issues that we care about the really critical role of city councilors is to be the bridge between the city and the residents so when I'm thinking about an issue I sort of want to be out in the community being a sponge for concerns and priorities of different community members and take that both to heart but also to see how I can help solve these people's problems so I will continue to make myself available and responsive to emails, requests for meetings and if I can't help I will do my best with the resources and people in the community to answer their questions and solve their problems as a housing advocate in the community I work with people coming from many different perspectives and with different priorities on many issues and a lot of people who don't agree with the way I see the world I think most people involved at the local level though are there because they want the best for the community recognizing that shared goal can be useful in forming a good working relationship with people you may not agree with and helping not to take criticism personally I'll also echo that I will stand on my convictions and vote for what I feel is right but it's I'm committed to hearing the community and taking all voices into account Thank you.

Kelly Fahey Brown: Thank you for your answers Our fourth question we will start with Karl What specific infrastructure changes would you prioritize in the city's capital plan to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists?

Karl Prahl: Thank you for the question The entire city should be walkable and those walkways should be insulated from the roads whether with trees or something it was a real travesty when all of the trees on Union Street got chopped down and then you try to walk along downtown during the summer and your shoes melt It's not a solution The entire city should be walkable There's only so much space and that means we need to start narrowing roads to get people to drive slower We need public transit to get less people on the roads and feel the need to We need public transit so less people feel the need to drive and between a walkable city bike paths,and mass transit we might be able to address congestion without building more lanes and making room for more cars leaving room for pedestrians of all stripes Thank you.

Jonathan Schmidt: The city has so many infrastructure needs as so many aging New England cities do So again,how hard time picking favorites is a little hard to kind of focus on just the safety of pedestrians but that is a critical part of this because ultimately that is how people are making use of our city and supporting our businesses and our organizations agreed that we absolutely need less cars on the road and that is inherently going to make things safer for pedestrians and I think as we strive to bring these new housing projects online and create sort of a denser downtown area it will open up new opportunities for public transit that will ultimately have a ripple effect for pedestrians and pedestrians I if I had to pinpoint one thing just as a fellow citizen Cottage Street is the one street that I avoid driving on if at all costs and at all costs and I would love you know,to take a closer look at what we can do to make that a safer place to drive be it the introduction of additional speed tables or changing traffic patterns I know there is going to need to be some conversations about what the city council can actually do in those regards but if I were to prioritize one place that's where it would be.

Koni Denham: Another good question as a resident I am concerned about pedestrian safety roads,lighting,bike lanes designated safe routes for schools as well as to get to the bike path one of the things that I worked on was a shrubbery ordinance in order to support pedestrians in sight lines so they were visible from intersections and around corners etc so when they pull out one of the things we also worked on recently was to address speed within the city but as a city councilor I also recognize that sadly the mayor and DPW they are responsible for a lot of those capital plans with the finance team etc so part of what my role is as a city councilor is to put myself in those conversations to advocate for the changes that residents want to see in order to make sure that pedestrians are safe but some of the other things that I've tried to work on is a more public transportation within the city and I think that's going to be a major priority particularly as we have some of these affordable housing and market rate housing options that are becoming available I think that we really need to work to decongest the congestion in downtown and I think that those are just real priorities that we need to be thinking about as we get more housing.

Kiam Jamrog-McQuaid: Thank you so I think with infrastructure the number one consideration that we need to be making is how do we protect and preserve what we currently have so I think when we're looking at infrastructure specifically pedestrian infrastructure let's look at our current sidewalks and how can we make sure that they're all accessible and traversable on all forms of all modes of transportation whether you're in a wheelchair mobility scooter or just not able to walk as well as a fully able bodied person so that is the first good first step as I mentioned I also think improving bike and pedestrian safety should be a priority for the city for a number of reasons including climate inequity I support projects like the shared multi-use path or the park street side path that better connect the plains to the schools creating safer routes and expanding our bike and pedestrian network to cover more residents across Easthampton as a resident of precinct 5 I know that our connection is not nearly as good as when I used to live in New City and I would love to see that change Thank you.

Nathan Markee: I'm a walker I tend to walk throughout the city I walk down Cottage Street I walk down Union Street I walk down Main Street and some of the side streets along there I happen to live closer to the center per se of the city so I have that ability I understand that some people they might live out in the plains or precinct 1 That being said I know a couple weeks ago there was an accident in front of the Brass Cat involving a couple people because a couple people were hit and I think that in addition to the lights that have already been placed up and I am guilty of sometimes not pushing the button for the lights and just waiting for traffic to stop I think the speed tables could be added in certain sections of our city especially a lot of a lot of the talk is around Cottage Street being congested and it would be really nice to see I think one of the candidates at the Mayor's Forum mentioned about expanding the cultural district around Union Street I'd like to really see that Main Street Union Street and Cottage Street were better connected and speed tables etc but yeah, that's about it Thank you Alright thank you Jonathan you're going to start the next questions As city leaders how will you prioritize youth engagement in recreation and future budgets and planning and should the city invest in a new youth drop-in or recreation center Great question I appreciate that I get to talk to this one first because as someone who is actively engaging youth and giving them opportunities for recreation this is an extremely important topic to me I think that it's no surprise to anybody that just building a new rec center is going to be a tough pill for the city to swallow especially as we look at other important building projects that we potentially have coming up before us depending on how the community decides to move forward with the senior center and that sort of thing and so I would look a little bit to what are we already doing in Easthampton and are there ways to bring folks together within the context of those projects to expand offerings and to perhaps fill some of the gaps that we don't have especially if we do end up losing access to one of the gyms that has been a long term place for youth recreation in town and so I would be inclined to recuse myself from those most related to the library but I would absolutely be an advocate for the library and what they're doing with the library annex there's a lot of money that's going to need to be raised for that to reach its next phase and I believe that when that happens there will continue to be as we have already seen new opportunities for computer community programming especially programming for kids I think that's one way to do it without having to start something brand new.

Koni Denham: Great question this is actually a long time priority of mine just given my background youth engagement Easthampton does a very good job of providing organized sports for our youth but this doesn't necessarily meet the needs of all students and so one of the things more recently that I supported was the development of a skate park specifically the hope is that can address some of the needs of our neurodivergent youth who look for community but aren't necessarily able to do that through organized sport regarding a youth center I know that our seniors in town have wholeheartedly supported the construction of three new schools and they've taken on significant tax burden in order to be able to pay for those and I recognize that they are in need of a new senior center I also recognize that our parks employees are currently without a building and are also in need of a new space to work right? And so I think there's some competing priorities with a teen rec center but what I will say is I am open to figuring out ways of combining a youth and senior center because I believe that we need to create more intergenerational engagement and I think there's some real opportunity there to be able to develop a youth center and a senior center together where we're actually bringing members from different generations to engage in community building as well as just opportunities for them to get to know each other.

Kiam Jamrog-McQuaid: Great question so I'll just say this I think supporting and investing in our youth is one of the smartest investments we can make for our future and this needs to go beyond just what happens inside the classroom research shows that every dollar spent on a child's future pays itself back and we need to take that into account when we're thinking about investing city resources youth and young adults in our community should be supported in finding their interests and passions whether that is traditional recreational sports volunteer work,visual performing arts or even martial arts this is how we raise more well-rounded curious and involved members of our society I think the city playing a more active role in making these connections and providing these resources would be a great way to better engage the youth in our community I think the ideas of expanding the idea of a senior center to be more of a broader community center as Dan mentioned would be a great way to encourage intergenerational collaboration and connections I also think that as like we're seeing right now our community is changing in age we have a growing aging population that might not always be true so I think when we're building a senior center if that's what the city decides to do we should make sure it's flexible and can meet the community's needs over time thank you.

Nathan Markee: Great Thank you so much for the folks who are in charge and all of you we would love to hear from them thank you I'm gonna turn it over to the Dr. Jeffrey who shared some of of your experiences and my daughter being of college age. I think that it's important to keep the youth and the seniors connected. They tend to have a lot of overlap, sometimes often they're both not working the 9-5 like a lot of folks my age are and yeah I'd like to see more of that and I think the senior center should definitely be revisited with perhaps a youth wing going on as well.

Karl Prahl: So I'm going to echo what a lot of other people have said before me, but we do need more free and expensive ways to recreate in our community and these should be available year round. These should not be limited to only youth, but the entire community. A rec center sounds amazing and promote great things in our community. Health, sport, community connection, camaraderie, yes please, but not just for the kids, for everybody. And I think that it's important to keep that in mind as well. And you know, yes for the kids as well. We know that after school programs do more to encourage lawful behavior than any number of police and we know that a stimulating environment does more to promote healthy living and keep people off drugs and alcohol than any kind of mental health program. So yes, we need recreation centers, we need more parks, more public places for people to gather of all ages. Thank you.

Kelly Fahey Brown: Thank you. Our next question will start with Koni. How do you feel about adopting Mass General Law 329 Chapter 44 Section 32, which would allow the city council by a two-thirds vote and following a majority vote of the school committee to increase the total amount appropriated in support of the school department?

Koni Denham: Thank you for this question. I'm going to tread somewhat lightly on this one. Because this is actually an item on our agenda currently. So I just want to acknowledge that. As this relates, you know there is no question that education is underfunded. Right? I've been an advocate for public education for the last 30 years. Both in terms of supporting K through 12 as well as higher education. And you know we are a community. That is built on a foundation of equity. And other city departments don't have the same ability to increase their budgets in the way that this would offer. Right? And the services that they provide are equally important. And as was described in at the, as stated at the meeting there is a potential for other budgets to be cut. Right? And so that is a concern to me. So at the last meeting we tabled that, this particular discussion until November 19th if people are interested. And so this is a matter that I will give some more consideration to. But I also in the next couple of weeks want to make sure that the new mayor, whoever that is, will have the opportunity to weigh in on that matter. And give a firm answer to their position on the item and as that would impact city councils moving forward.

Kiam Jamrog-McQuaid: Thank you for the question. So I've been a strong supporter of this measure. And have spoken as a resident and support multiple times during public speak when it has come before council. I believe that our public schools are our most valuable public resource. And that providing a high quality public education. To everyone in the community is the best investment we can make in our future. And our society more broadly. I think this reform helps to spread the school budgeting power more democratically across the elected bodies in the city. And would lead to a healthier budget negotiation overall. City councils should have more tools than just budget brinksmanship when we are talking about critical investments in our children and in our future. Thank you.

Nathan Markee: So I was at the last city council meeting. And I spoke about this as well. I spoke about, I believe that the city council made the right choice in pushing this off. I believe they should even push it off to January until a new city council is fully elected and let the voters weigh in. Because it's, a lot of us may give different answers. I heard what Chief Norris had to say about potential, the potential additions to the school budget affecting his department. Amongst others. I also. Listened to Councilor Denim. And she had some good points raised as well. At the end of the day, I would probably be voting in favor of this. I feel confident because the school committee is an elected body unlike other departments throughout the city. They are chosen by the voters. They are accountable to the voters. And I feel confident with a two-thirds vote out of the school committee which the mayor is also part of so they can weigh in too. And a two-thirds vote out of city council, I believe that this would be a good thing for Easthampton. Though it would definitely be a change in the government structure. Thank you.

Karl Prahl: So I too was at the last council meeting. Seems to be a trend. And I think Jason has been reading my notes here as well. But I'm going to echo what Councilor Peay commented in regards to this. And by quoting him. I'm going to probably misremember what he said. So take that with a grain of salt. But this cannot be the last step. This is the first step in expanding the supermajority in every department of the budget. We cannot just select a school for this. And if this is, you know, this is the action we want to take, it should be the first step in allowing other budgets, other departments to also have their budgets voted up. As, you know, need to echo Chief Norse's concern. That this will just pit departments against one another. And each of us can have our opinions of what departments are a priority. And sitting in the school auditorium there might be a common consensus. However, we need to remember that we can't route Peter to pay Paul. We need to make sure that if we are cutting from one budget it is, you know, something that we really can cut while expanding the budget for the school. So. Brandown, do I think the schools need more funding? Yes. Will I vote to support this? Yes. But when that vote is actually brought to the city council for a two-thirds majority, I will be really interested if the proposal includes where those cuts should come from. Thank you.

Jonathan Schmidt: You may have also heard me speak in favor of this measure at the previous city council meeting. And I think for those of you who have been attending city council throughout, I think you've heard a desire from the body to have a little bit more say in the budgeting process for the city. It's no secret that this is an executive heavy city in terms of the way that the budgeting is done. And I think that as was noted, this is an important first step. It's something that is available to us now with an easy adoption from the MGL. Whereas making further changes will require revisiting the city's charter, as I understand it. And it's going to be a much lengthier process. That being said, you know, I think back to my time on the school committee in those finance meetings having assessed, you know, all year long, you know, how the department was doing. How the department had been spending what had been allotted. And knowing that we had trimmed as much out of it as we feasibly could without beginning to affect people's livelihoods. And this was difficult for us to know that we were going to propose, present a budget or ask for an amount of money that was not going to be met. And I think that there are some really important guardrails in place here. As was mentioned, two-thirds of school committee members. Two-thirds of city council. So it's not something that people are going to do lightly. It is not something that people take lightly. And it will, you know, require hard important conversations about where that money is coming from if we do decide to give more money to the schools. Thank you all. I think we have time for probably one more question. Yeah, I think we can, we're going to do one more question and then we have our wrap up at the end of that. So with that being said, Kaim, we're going to start with you first. Thank you for this one. What specific measurable cuts or revenue enhancements would you support to balance the city's budget without over-relying on the residents' tax base? How do you intend to balance the needs of the residents with the needs of how to run the city?

Kiam Jamrog-McQuaid: This is a very important question, so I appreciate it. I'll also just say that while I don't have a lot of direct experience with municipal budgeting, I, in graduate school, I took a lot of classes about public finance and nonprofit finance management. So I do bring a little bit of that background to the table. I will say that I think the city budget should reflect our priorities while responsibly stewarding investments we've already made like our schools. When making any reductions or when trying to generate more revenue, we should ensure our priorities are being met to the best of our ability and protect the quality of services we provide. I don't think that we should be looking to privatization or austerity as the solution. I also plan to rely on our professional guidance of our city staff who are specifically trained and know much more about how our budget works and what the limits are. Thank you.

Nathan Markee: I, too, do not have a lot of experience in this area and I've been trying to really think about this question a lot. This is one of the tougher questions for me. And I think it's more of an all-encompassing thing. If we can somehow alleviate the traffic on the road, get more foot traffic, attract small businesses, and make it a more walkable community along with perhaps even the Council on Asian Vans. I know they have that for seniors. But to even expand that into other people that can't drive, primarily youth. I think by generating the economy through strategic planning around kind of a walkable city, environmental oasis and stuff, it would in general generate wealth. I know everybody doesn't want their taxes to be raised and I certainly don't want mine either. But yeah, this is something that I'm going to have to really think upon and get to learn about more in the future. Thank you.

Karl Prahl: Thank you for your question. I really think it's a matter of expanding services here in the city. Again, we privatize so many essentials in our life, whether that's Eversource with our electricity, Republic with our trash. We turn to private equity and all they do is pull dollars out of our community. If we start offering some of these services through the city, that's going to be people working in our community with good jobs. Those are going to then be city employees, hopefully a good pension. Hopefully we can expand the number of people inside of our health insurance so the trust isn't such an issue. And generally I think we need to look away from just property taxes and look at services as a way of generating revenue. If property taxes continue to go up, if property values continue to go up and salaries do not go up to meet them, if the COLA increases for social security don't go up to meet them, we're going to have a lot of people who simply cannot afford to stay in this community. So we need to lower what it costs to be here. And that means turning to other avenues of revenue. Thank you.

Jonathan Schmidt: This was a really tough question. I appreciate you bringing it to us. I would be inclined to agree that there's a lot to be said for pursuing public services and for minimizing the opportunities for private investments to extract wealth from our community. I... I believe that, you know, it's going to take some time digging into the budget each year and going through that with different department heads and representatives as a member of the city council and seeing their and hearing their description of what's important to them and why they need that money. And I would absolutely not be comfortable suggesting any cuts until we get to that point. Because again, those are people's livelihoods that we're impacting at that point. But that being said, you know, there are costs that we face as a community and the residential tax base has bore the brunt of that. And so I'd be curious to see if there are other ways to explore creative sales tax opportunities. You know, there's new potential for businesses coming into Easthampton. I've heard rumor of on-site cannabis consumption and so, you know, looking at some of these ways for us to potentially have a tax but without making that the responsibility of the people solely who are living here and spreading that out and working on all that together.

Koni Denham: I think to be perfectly transparent, I think that by law the city budget has to be balanced. Right? So I think there's that element that kind of comes into this. I'm not sure I completely understand the dichotomy between the needs of residents and the needs of employees. The needs of residents are met by the services that our employees provide. And so whether that's in our schools or DPW or the planning department, the health department, et cetera. Right? So I think that there is an important distinction that these two things are not at odds with each other. Right? So the services that employees provide go directly to our residents. Also, I want to stress that Easthampton is a working class community and many of our employees actually live in Easthampton. So if we were to cut their funding or cut salaries or anything like that, that's going to have an impact on their ability as well to live in this community. And so many of the services that are provided by or provided to our residents and ensure that they as working class members of the community, they need their roads plowed so they can get to work. They need mental health services so that they remain healthy. Right? And so these things shouldn't be at odds with one another. I do agree that I hope that we can get some more business into Easthampton so that, you know, to just generate some more revenue within the community but they shouldn't be at odds with one another.

Kelly Fahey Brown: Thank you. In closing, we have one final question for all our candidates. This one is going to start with Nathan. So Nathan, describe your broader city, describe your broader vision for the city and how you would work to achieve that if elected.

Nathan Markee: Okay. So I did not prepare a statement specifically for this. I had a closing statement that I, I'll read Karl's. I had a closing statement that I had for a different organization that I was going to read but I'm not going to. My broader vision for Easthampton as a city councilor was, is to create a space where citizens are not fearful for warrantless searches, ICE, et cetera, knocking down our doors. I do not believe that there should be any sort of secret police within our communities. I also believe that I will argue tax policy. I can, I can do all of that but there are some firm things that I am not going to budge on and that they're part of my priorities and that's a lot of the social issues. Trans rights or human rights, LBGTQ people deserve to live happy, free, get married to the person of their choice, et cetera in this community. I also believe that black lives matter and in fact my daughter is mixed race. She's black and she's queer and raising her has given me a very different perspective on how the world views me versus her and it's been eye opening to say the least. I've always been somewhat progressive in my politics but it's definitely with the addition of raising her as a single father has opened my eyes to, especially amongst blue collar working class people I'm and I'm one of them has opened my eyes to the language that's sometimes used for marginalized communities. Thank you. Thank you for the question. I think we've talked.

Karl Prahl: About the broader vision for the city, affordable housing, a place where people can age in place. Hopefully we can take care of this healthcare nightmare. I'm not really sure how we do that on a city level but something we need to deal with. I see that as the broad vision and I suppose as a candidate for city council I recognize that there will always be people who know more than I do. My role as a city councillor is to listen to those authorities and then to take that information to the constituents and listen again. Not after taking this decision after listening that's when a decision has to be made and that decision then comes down to conscience. That decision is going to be what each representative feels is right. And so I've talked a lot about conscience and right and I just want to end with a few platitudes I don't like platitudes in politics but to let you know a little bit more about who I am. There are no ethical billionaires and all wars are a racket. I am no better than anybody else and neither are you. Housing is a human right, health care and nutritious food are human rights. No human being is a crime. Policy can be violent and free Palestine. Thank you.

Jonathan Schmidt: So thank you again to our moderators to all of my fellow candidates for contributing to all of you watching to those of you watching at home I want to thank you all for being here tonight as well. It's not been easy and so I've been thinking a lot during this campaign about growing up in Easthampton and in many ways I feel like the city has grown up alongside me but underneath it all I see the same community the same engaged community people who at their core care about each other and about what we're doing here. And so you know we need to take that care and compassion and do something with it. We are facing a situation now where people's needs in many cases are not being met. From housing to food we're seeing you know attacks on education and health care and as our federal government becomes less reliable we need state and local leaders to step up and to make sure their citizens needs are getting met that is priority number one. Within the context of that we need to make every decision with the future in mind. It is there's no longer an excuse to not take the climate into consideration when we are building when we are deciding where to build and you know we share this city not just with other humans but with other creatures and they deserve to be here and have a place to live as well. And so in terms of how to achieve that we've heard talk on the mayoral trail about a master plan it is well overdue in Easthampton to get that community input to come together to figure out what our needs are because they are different now than they have ever been and to come together and figure out a solution to solve them.

Koni Denham: Great, I want to thank our moderators again. I also want to thank the other candidates and for them to know how much I appreciate them and their willingness to step up in these challenging times to serve your community. That is not in any way lost on me. My vision for the community begins with me and how I choose to treat people and how I choose to show up for people. If I'm fortunate enough to be reelected then I would welcome the opportunity to serve alongside these amazing individuals and I want to be a good mentor to them and a good role model for them and for the rest of the community and anyone who looks to their city leaders. With them I am committed to a more equitable community where people can live affordably without fear knowing that they have a city government that supports them and can provide the necessary resources for them to be able to live a safe and accessible life. You know I recognize that within my role as a city leader I work with other city leaders and other professional staff within the city to solve our most challenging problems including climate,food and housing insecurity and I look forward to the opportunity to address those needs of within this community. And I appreciate all of you for being here and the support that you have shown each of us this evening. Thank you.

Kiam Jamrog-McQuaid: I want to echo and say thank you to the moderators and for the crowd in the room and to eMedia for being here and recording this forum. My vision for Easthampton and I am sure you've heard this in my videos or if you've talked to me before, my vision is for an Easthampton that's affordable, sustainable and resilient into the future. This has fueled my years of work in the community on the housing coalition, how I spend money in the community patronizing all the amazing local businesses. It informs how I show up on Tuesday and protest genocide. It shows up in how I showed up this past Saturday and protested authoritarianism, how I've helped spread awareness of ice in the community. I want to make it clear to everyone my neighbor and I'm here to fight for you and work for you. If elected, I want to expand on the work I've already done in the community and help make this city a place where people can stay and thrive for years to come. I know this is collaborative work and I commit to working alongside whoever is elected to help achieve a shared vision for our bright future. Thank you.

Pat Brough: Let's get a round of applause for everyone. Great job. Very well done. I think I as well would like to thank Easthampton Media, the school and Laura who has taken no credit but should get some because she organized this on a literally in a dime. So I will remind everyone to get out and vote on November 4th. You can let everyone know if you're here in the room, let everyone know that they'll be able to view these videos in the next day or so and share them with your friends and family and Laura is there anything else I'm missing? You have no They kept time all by themselves. There you go. Excellent. So thank you all. I think we're going to have a little bit of a meet and greet if anybody wants to stay for a little bit after but again, thank you and have a great night everyone.