On Tuesday, Sept. 16, Northampton residents will cast ballots that will narrow the field of City Council and mayoral candidates before the general election on Nov. 4.
There are currently three candidates running for City Council in Ward 5 to replace council President Alex Jarrett, who isn’t running for re-election: Vincent “Luke” Rotello IV, David Murphy, and Aline Davis. One of them will be eliminated in the upcoming preliminary election. Early voting has already begun, and scheduled voting hours can be found on the city’s website.
The Shoestring asked each candidate a set of five questions in preparation for these profiles, which are listed in the same order as they’ll appear on the ballot.
Vincent Rotello IV
At age 24, Vincent “Luke” Rotello said he has an unorthodox background for City Council candidates. With experiences in labor organizing, Rotello said he is running to be a voice for the working people.
Rotello grew up in Amherst and, after spending his college years away, moved back to the Connecticut River Valley.
“The Valley is home to me in a very fundamental way. It’s kind of hard to imagine living anywhere else long term,” he said.
Since moving back, he has picked up various jobs across the service industry, working in cafes, grocery stores, and biochemistry labs. He said he has also been active politically, organizing unions and helping others to do so, and co-chairing the local chapter of the Communist Party USA.
Although an outsider to the City Council, Rotello said he has been participating and diligently observing Northampton’s municipal government in the past two years. He hopes to change the ways “working-class people have been boxed out and where we really haven’t had a voice.”
One of the most major crises for Northampton residents, according to Rotello, is affordability.
“Overnight, people’s rents will be jacked up to twice what they were,” he said. “It’s wildly dysregulated … and people are getting pushed out.”
Rotello believes that the affordability issues reflect a larger erosion in the city’s democratic processes.
“We have a mayoral administration that seems pretty disinterested in meeting with people at all, ” Rotello said, emphasizing his commitment to clear communication and responsiveness to his potential constituents’ concerns.
Rotello also hopes to defend social services, including education. Referring to what he described as the city’s “systematic underfunding” of Northampton Public Schools, he said the city is failing to meet its social obligations and recurring basic needs of residents. Instead, he said the city has prioritized funding capital improvement projects or stabilization funds — the “wants” before the “needs.”
Additionally, Rotello wants to change what he sees as the city’s “inefficient and austere” approach to municipal finance. He suggests that the city should lean more into its high bond rating for financing capital projects, and dedicate its recurring cash revenues for social needs like education.
Rotello has been endorsed by the political action committee associated with Support Our Schools, a grassroots group advocating for increasing funding for the city’s public schools. Rotello said he is unique in bringing working-class politics to this race, especially with “an opponent who is a major realtor and has vested interests that are in absolute contradiction with those of the vast majority in our ward and in our city.”
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David Murphy
David Murphy is a veteran in Northampton local government. He said he has sat on a city committee, of one kind or another, consistently since 1978. He also served as a city councilor for over a decade until losing the bid to current Ward 5 Councilor Alex Jarrett six years ago. Now, Murphy hopes to make a return to local government.
Outside of his committee obligations, Murphy had a long career in real estate as a broker and appraiser. He currently runs the real estate company, The Murphys Realtors, a third-generation family business based in Northampton.
“I’ve been here forever. I grew up in Northampton, so did my dad, my grandparents, and so did their parents,” he said.
Murphy considers housing and the cost of living the biggest issues facing Northampton residents. In order to make living in the city more affordable, Murphy said the City Council mainly holds power over two things: zoning to allow for more housing development and controlling the increase in tax levy.
How much the city taxes its residents is connected to how the City Council approaches the budget, Murphy said. And he wants the city to “not add more things to the budget.” He thinks that certain expenses the city is paying for should be the state’s responsibility, and that the city should focus on adequately funding basic services like road maintenance, water, schools, and public safety.
Murphy explained this budget approach with the example of special education.
“You have the average cost per child, but then if the child has special needs, you add other services on top of that and it gets really expensive,” he said. “I think the state should pick up special-ed expenses for the cities.”
Murphy said what sets him apart from others running is his extensive knowledge in city government, especially in municipal finance and housing. He is currently serving as the chair of the city’s Board of Assessors, which assists in determining property values in the city for tax purposes.
“As an assessor, I sign the state paperwork to set the tax rate for the city. Nobody on the City Council does that,” he said, adding that he can “hit the ground running.”
During Murphy’s most recent stint on City Council, he was one of two councilors to oppose an ordinance restricting police video surveillance downtown, and in a 2020 op-ed in the Daily Hampshire Gazette, he criticized the council’s decision to cut police funding following racial justice protests.
Not affiliated with either major political party (he has donated to Republicans on the state and federal level and Democrats locally), Murphy said the agendas of these parties are not what’s best for the people.
“I’m here running for office in my hometown and my only interest is running Northampton honestly and efficiently,” he said.
Aline Davis
A former elementary school teacher in Longmeadow, Aline Davis comes to the Ward 5 race after two terms on the School Committee and with a goal of open, timely communication.
After receiving a degree in teaching at Smith College, Aline worked as an educator for 27 years until her recent retirement. That background led to her first foray into city politics when she was elected to the Northampton School Committee in 2021.
She wore many hats during her two terms on the school board, she said, including serving on the capital projects review committee, negotiation committee for the unions, and as a legislative liaison. These experiences, she said, allowed her to learn to “scrutinize the budget, ask questions, and make hard decisions.”
Davis has received the endorsement of current Ward 5 Councilor Alex Jarrett.
Davis said she hopes to focus on housing at all levels, from supporting unhoused people’s needs to having affordable starter homes for people with middle income.
“There’s a lot of concern from senior citizens about how expensive it is for them to stay in the home that they’ve been in,” Davis said. She said she supports the “thoughtful addition of housing in existing neighborhoods” that respect the natural and rural settings of the town and that communicate with involved neighbors in the process.
Road safety and infill development are also common concerns of her constituents in Ward 5, Davis said. Infill projects describe housing development on previously vacant spaces, which has drawn controversy in Northampton in the past.
“A lot of people in Florence, where Ward 5 is, are concerned about infill,” she said. They’re “not always against the buildings,” she added, “but how it’s done, how they’ve been approached by — or not approached by — developers.”
For Davis, good communication with her constituents is paramount.
“I think one of the very first jobs of the city councilor is to be listening to their constituents, and help bring accurate information and support in a timely manner,” Davis said.
In terms of the city budget, Davis said she is keeping an open mind, especially given the potential funding cuts at the federal level.
“I think being conservative is important to figure out what to do next,” she said of her approach to budgeting. “I’m worried about senior citizens and veterans and all kinds of things that might get cut.”
Describing herself as “in the progressive Democrat camp,” Davis thinks her positivity and openness makes her a good candidate for City Council, where she can both celebrate “the wonderful things happening in Northampton Public Schools” and acknowledge the challenges.
Update: This article has been updated to correct the party that Vincent “Luke” Rotello IV co-chairs. It is the Communist Party USA.