Marie Harpin*
Candidate For City Council - North Adams NORTH ADAMS - Marie Harpin is asking for a little patience. Good things are happening in the city, she said, but it all takes time.
The five-term City Council member is running for a sixth term because she likes being involved in the community. She said she wants to continue with the work the council has done in helping with economic development and plans to advocate for more housing.
Harpin, 69, was raised in the center of the city and remembers the old neighborhoods, stores and restaurants that once filled the downtown. But that was when 4,500 people working at Sprague Electric and they were plenty of customers at the lunch counters and shoe stores.
"We will ever get back to that again? No," she said. "Will we get back to part of it? Yes, I think we will."
She points to the recent developments in condominiums on Main and Holden streets and at the Eclipse Mill, and the housing planned for the former Notre Dame buildings and the Clark Biscuit building that will bring more foot traffic downtown.
And everytime someone buys a condo, that's money on the tax roll and that keeps taxes down, she said. The fact that people are buying condos means they see the city as a worthwhile place to invest in, she added.
She wholeheartedly approves of the city's involvement in Notre Dame and the Clark building, pointing to St. Joseph's Court, in the high school she once attended, as a good example of repurposing buildings.
"I would rather see it made into housing than be hit by the ball and taken," she said of Notre Dame. "Those are beautiful buildings ... they'll make wonderful apartments."
At the same time, Harpin said, the city can only do so much - it's also up to the property and store owners. She gets annoyed when people ask her why the mayor has so many empty storefronts. "I tell them the mayor doesn't have any stores."
"We don't have any control over the stores on Main Street," she said, and if building owners can't find tenants or stores customers, "that's not the city's fault. Not the mayor's fault. Not the council's fault."
Harpin does think the city needs to loosen up some restrictions to help new businesses get started. She said the large retail development planned at the North Adams Plaza will bring jobs and customers,and help spark more business for Main Street.
"I think the unique stores are going to come," she said. "You're going to see stores wanting to come in. But you can't tie them up and make them come here. They have to want to come."
What the city can do is to continue to invest in its schools, playgrounds, athletic fields and other services, said Harpin. Those things don't happen overnight, they take planning and people, which is why she said residents need to be patient.
"Look how long it took us to get our library in shape," said Harpin. "It's here, it's here, but it's going to take time."
If re-elected, she's looking forward to work finally beginning on the Mohawk Theater.
"My vision is when we open that Mohawk Theater, I want James Taylor and his sons to be on that stage," she said.
She also hopes to pursue a project she wanted to start during this past term - an affordable housing program for first-time homebuyers. The houses would be built on now vacant lots on Bracewell Avenue and River Street but the properties are still tied up in Land Court.
"I want to see owner-occupied duplex homes that we put in down on Apremont Street through the CDC on those lots," she said. The idea would be to provide decent housing for young families who, in turn, would be more likely to keep up the properties because they own them.
As for current problems with absentee landlords, "we've got to look at every avenue tighten up."
She agreed with other councilors' comments that staffing in the city is low. "We're all being spread too thin," Harpin said. "But what are you goig to do? That's life in the fast lane."
Harpin is area director for Northern Berkshire Community Action and has served on a number of subcommittees and boards, including the Rent Control Board.
She thinks this election has been quiet because there are no mjor issues and because people are satisfied with what's going on and how it's being done.
"I love my city. North Adams is my home. When you care about something and you want make it better, you have to get involved," Harpin said. |
