The Support Our Schools coalition (SOS) is running a slate of candidates for City Council in Northampton’s upcoming elections on Nov. 4. SOS launched in 2024 to represent parents, teachers and community members concerned about local funding cuts to education. Now it has grown into a larger association of progressive and labor groups working to address education funding, the cost of housing and city infrastructure. SOS claims to seek out more democratic local governance. One of their candidates, Al Simon, is running for City Councilperson of Ward 2, which includes Smith College. The Sophian recently spoke with Simon regarding his platform.
Simon was born in a New England mill town to parents who had not been able to complete their high school education. He did not complete his college education until 2021, at age 61. However, Simon has substantive experience outside of traditional education, having spent 18 years as an elected town council member, 12 years Chair of the Town Finance Committee and six as Deputy Mayor in Windsor, Conn. Simon’s philosophy of public education is based on his experience growing up in the public school system. “One of the few things we had was public education, right? Some people in the community paid for me to learn,” he said. “They didn’t know who I was, I didn’t know who they were, and that’s the deal, that’s the social contract.”
Simon emphasized that he still values that social contract and believes it is now his obligation, along with the rest of the community, to support the education of youth. When he discovered that the City Council’s proposed school 2025 budget would cut 22 positions, he said that he was taken aback.
“I assumed that the city was broke, because why else would the city do that?” he said.
Photo: A graph cited by Simon showing the increase in Northampton’s cash reserves over time (2012-2024), identified as Undesignated Fund Cash Reserves/Stabilization Funds. The graph indicates that in 2024, the city had a total of $35,865,728 in its cash reserves.
Using his experience in municipal finance to conduct his own investigation of the city’s finances, Simon claims that Northampton was not and is not “broke.”
“I found more than a decade of uninterrupted, yearly budget surpluses in the multi-million dollar range,” he said “And all that money got put into cash reserves, which are now literally the eighth-highest in the entire state of Massachusetts.”
Simon believes that Northampton is motivated to “(focus) on the things that it want(s) to do tomorrow, coming at the expense of the things that it needs to do today.”
Simon cited the Picture Main Street initiative, which has been in the planning process since 2000, aims to re-organize downtown Northampton to become safer and more accessible, and has a $29 million price tag. It is set to start in 2026. While the state appropriated grants to the city at the project’s inception, Simon claimed that it is unclear how much money remains available to Northampton and how many additional costs taxpayers will have to take on. While Simon notes that improvements to city infrastructure and the safety of bikers, pedestrians and drivers are important, Simon argued that these future-based projects have put the current needs of the city in the backseat.
“The current administration would have you think that there’s nothing they can do … this is where my experience comes in,” he said. “I can see we do have the ability to help ourselves some, and if we can do it, we should do it … We’ve gotta get the first things done first.”
It was difficult to pull Simon away from another Ward 2 issue: rent. According to Simon, about 40% of Ward 2 residents are renters, compared to 33% of the national population who are renters in 2024, and 37% of Massachusetts residents in 2021. He’s been doorknocking and has met with some of these renters who are struggling to get by with the high costs of living.
Smith College is one of the largest landowners and landlords in Ward 2. Not only does Smith provide housing for its students, it also rents units to Northampton residents unassociated with Smith. Simon referred to the college as a “non-taxable unit living in the community, that is part of it but separate.”
Simon hasn’t introduced a plan on how to improve the landlord-tenant relationship between the city, its residents and the college. He hopes to work toward developing a more beneficial, “interdependent relationship” for all three groups.
According to Simon, the housing developments being proposed to Northampton are all “for high-end renters, high-end buyers.” He emphasized that the gentrifying effects that these developments would have on the community and its economy should not be overstated: as “high-end buyers” arrive, so will other “high-end” businesses that seek to engage with this tax bracket. He said that those who already live in the area, as well as other people who seek to move to Northampton, will find it more difficult to rent and buy. Simon, if elected, plans to advocate for Ward 2 renters and run alongside SOS candidates who are interested in pursuing rent stabilization for the City. Simon explained his vision to engage with and increase Northampton’s “common wealth.”
“I use that as two words: our ‘common’ ‘wealth’: the things we hold in common and provide to each other, which have been really chipped away at over time,” he said.
Within the SOS slate, Simon looks forward to showing the public that it is possible to change the decision-making process of the city government to be more democratic and reflective of the present needs of the people. Simon also reflected on systems of racial, class and gender oppression. He said, “I’ll tell you one of the principles I try to live by. Number one: I believe in human equality. Number two, I believe that every person has the right to a dignified life, free from fear or shame.”
This is one submission in a series of interviews with the candidates endorsed by the Support Our Schools PAC. Al Simon is running for Northampton city council representing Ward 2. The general election is on November 4. For more information about voting in Northampton, visit northamptonma.gov/755/Elections.
