Al Simon for Ward 2 Northampton | Official Website

Meet AL Simon

Al Simon lives in Village Hill, in Ward 2 of Northampton, with his wife, Dr. Nilanjana (Buju) Dasgupta, and their two cats, Persis and Adore. They moved to Northampton from Windsor CT in 2019. They have two grown children, a son-in-law, and a wonderful grandson.

Why I'm Running

After a long career in public service in Windsor CT (18 years on the Town Council), and over 30 years professionally employed in the car business, I thought I had retired. But, when Mayor Sciarra proposed a budget in May 2024 that would require (and lead to) cutting public school services and requiring 22 job losses, I had to speak up. Our mayor believes there is not enough money for everything she wants to do, and so she cut public school services rather than change her plans and spending priorities. That’s just wrong. Children should never be the first to pay the price.

Experience That Matters

MUNCIPAL GOVERNMENT EXPERIENCE

During his 30 years in Windsor CT, Al started off as a committed community volunteer working to improve public school funding for children in Windsor. This journey led him to run for local office and become an elected Town Councilor in Windsor, CT. Elected officials worked without compensation. He served for 18 years on the Windsor Town Council from 1999-2017 and was the Deputy Mayor from 2007-2013. The population of Windsor CT is about the same as that of Northampton MA. The size of Windsor’s municipal budget is also very similar to that of Northampton.

Most significantly, he was the Town Council’s Finance Committee chairperson from 2001-2013, during which he acquired deep expertise in the financial management of municipal government, overseeing the Town Manager, Finance Director and their staff.

Issues

Everyone knows we have to pay our bills before we put money in the bank. Needs come before wants. But the City of Northampton has been too focused on “wants” at the expense of “needs”. It has been putting too much in the bank, at the cost of cuts to public education. The result is that the needs of the city have been sacrificed for far too long. Our schools are underfunded, roads and sidewalks are in disrepair, residents are overcharged for water; property revaluation has been bungled.

"Al has always been committed to the community he is in. He’s committed to citizen involvement, to naming and calling out injustice and to encouraging regular people to run for office. He challenges the status quo. If he sees something unjust or unfair, he will speak out and do something about it."

Darleen Klase, Windsor CT Deputy Mayor and former VP of Windsor Board of Education

"Having Al on the Northampton City Council, especially when we are talking about public education, is a wealth of resources for Northampton. Public schools should provide opportunity to every child no matter who their parents are or the zip code they live in."

Maryam Khan, CT State Representative, public school teacher and for VP of Windsor Board of Education

"Al has a broad sense of the problems in Northampton, beyond education He also understands how those many issues are interconnected through the city’s budget. There’s a terrible lack of transparency from our government in Northampton right now. It’s important to have city councilors who will do the work and to hold the mayor’s office accountable. I have no doubt Al Simon will be that type of city councilor.John DiBartolo Jr., Northampton resident"

John DiBartolo Jr., Northampton resident

"Al got involved in the effort to fund our schools, and based on his experience told us we can do things differently here. He identified the “mountains of cash” the city has on hand. We need new thinking in Northampton to solve problems and provide the services people want and need."

Meg Robbins, Northampton resident and At Large candidate for City Council.

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AL Simon for Ward 2