Quaverly Rothenberg – Vote for Schools Northampton

“Part of the attention to this issue came from me not being able to see the general ledger, even though I’m a city councilor, and even though the council oversees all of the spending. The charter was changed to say that five city councilors need to ask for information together in order to get it. If we had a better city council, then we could get the information.

We could also change the charter so that never happens to us again because it’s not normal. In other cities, any single counselor can subpoena any information or any person that they need to talk to. I mean, we’re supposed to be overseeing city government, right? We have a mayor who runs city operations and we have a school committee that runs school operations. And above both of them, we have a city council that needs to know what’s happening and needs to represent you and be your voice because, as has been said previously, we work for you, right? You are supposed to know what’s going on in your government. You are supposed to be able to say what you want us to be doing with your money, and you can’t do that unless you know what we’re doing.”

Ward 3 Neighborhood Association – Candidate Forum

October 21, 2025

League of Women Voters – Candidate Forum

August 26, 2025

“The children at our schools are not even having their civil rights being respected in terms of their right to access education. We have so severely reduced reading, math, and other interventions that really help kids who have disabilities be able to learn with their friends. We’ve just cut that out so that we had $2 million more dollars to add to our giant $30 million pile of money. And even this year with Coca-Cola still here and you’re paying fees because they were supposed to be gone, the enterprise funds saw an almost $3 million surplus. And the city looks like it’s poised to have over a $10 million surplus. Last year it had almost $12 million surplus.

So we see this fundamental disconnect between the community and its resources. And the reason this is allowed to persist is because there are too many city councilors who don’t come up to the table and say, “My constituents are not okay with this. My constituents have needs that are not being met. My constituents did not give you this money to just stock away somewhere. We need this money to be able to run our community and take care of our community and keep each other safe.”

Video Clip – Quaverly Rothenberg introduces herself at the Candidate Forum sponsored by the Northampton League of Women Voters.

Quaverly Rothenberg shares her family history of hard-working and brave people, with opportunities to travel the world as a young child. She found music was a language she loved and seeks to understand the language of civil service, including working as a court stenographer and being a public servant in Northampton.

Video Clip – Candidate Question: What do you hope to accomplish if elected?

Quaverly Rothenberg states that she hopes to help the community connect with resources. She notes that when she first arrived on city council, she experienced broken links on a chain that help connect the community to resources, the main one being representation from city councilors. She states that the residents of Northampton need help with schools, sidewalks, and small businesses. She feels it has become too expensive to live in Northampton and that local government must support making lives easier for its residents and prioritize their needs.

Video Clip – Candidate Question: Do you support a higher budget for school spending and how do you plan on accomplishing that?

Quaverly Rothenberg has learned that the school budget has not increased as much as the Gazette and the Mayor would have the public believe. She explains the fiscal cliff that occurred with a previous special education model that was expensive. She states that Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra has decided to right-size the schools by shrinking the budget, despite city surpluses.

Video Clip – Candidate Question: Would you commit to pursuing an annual Pilot Payment from Smith College?

Quaverly Rothenberg supports a Pilot Program with Smith. She states the city council and Mayor should be very clear with Smith College given civil rights violations occurring in schools due to lack of resources and funding. Quaverly Rothenberg states that if Smith College understood the level of struggle for students with disabilities gaining access to resources and staff, then she’s certain their college president would be willing to work with a mayor who asks boldly for a contribution to the city as part of a Pilot Program.

Video Clip – At the February 13, 2025 School Committee Meeting, Quaverly Rothenberg spoke at public comment about free cash and recurring revenue in the city.