Northampton council votes 7-1, with 1 recusal, to censure Ward 3 councilor over Feb. 18 dispatch call

The Northampton City Council voted 7-1, with Councilor Quaverly Rothenberg recused, on March 12 to adopt Resolution 25.223 censuring Rothenberg for her conduct during a Feb. 18, 2025, call to the city's non‑emergency public safety dispatch, the council said. Sponsors of the resolution were Councilors Marissa Elkins, Alex Jarrett and Stanley Moulton.

The resolution says the Feb. 18 call, placed at about 11:19 p.m., ran about 17 minutes and 29 seconds and “misappropriated valuable time of dispatch employees during an ongoing winter storm response,” alleged that Donna LaScalia, director of the Northampton Department of Public Works (DPW), had resigned without notice, and attempted to use the speaker's council position to obtain information or action the dispatchers were not authorized to provide. The resolution text also quotes the call as including the statements “city councilors outrank the mayor” and “everybody in this city works for the city council.” Those passages were read into the record by Councilor Marissa Elkins during the special meeting.

Sponsors and other councilors stressed that a censure is an expression of disapproval and does not change a councilor’s official rights. “A censure is just an expression of disapproval,” Councilor Elkins said during the meeting.

Council President Alex Jarrett, noting the role of councilors as advocates, said it is appropriate for councilors to call public safety dispatch to convey constituent concerns but reiterated that councilors have no executive authority. “It’s absolutely appropriate to call public safety dispatch and relay information from constituents,” Jarrett said.

Several councilors described harm they said resulted from the call. Councilor Stanley Moulton said the incident undermined department morale and was “egregious conduct” that the council could not tolerate. Councilor Garrett Perry said the call showed a pattern of seeking privileges beyond a councilor’s authority and praised dispatch staff for their handling of the call. Councilor Dabbs cast the lone no vote, saying she could not support a public censure and that she was troubled by the process; Dobbs also said she did not want the council to “publicly shame” a colleague.

Parts of the Feb. 18 call were played at the meeting. In the recording, a dispatcher identifies the line: “Public safety, this is Patrick August. This line is recorded.” The resolution directs that its adoption be delivered to the mayor, DPW director Donna LaScalia and the public safety dispatch director named in the resolution.

The council first voted to suspend the rules to allow two readings and a same-day vote; that motion passed 7-1 with Rothenberg recused. The motion to approve Resolution 25.223 then passed on roll call 7-1 with one recusal. The resolution cites sections of the Northampton City Charter (section 2.3(b) and section 3.2 as read into the record) and a state law reference as read in the resolution, identified there as “Massachusetts general laws chapter 268A section 23 b 2, little 3.”

The resolution states the council’s expectation that the mayor may take steps she “deems necessary to protect city employees” and also affirms that the council expects any mayoral actions to respect the council’s chartered legislative authorities.

The council adjourned after the vote. Rothenberg was recused from the meeting; she did not participate in the March 12 deliberations or vote.

Votes at a glance

- Motion to suspend rules for same‑day vote (mover: Councilor Perry; second: Councilor Moulton): Passed, 7 yes, 1 no, 1 recused. - Resolution 25.223 — censure of Councilor Quaverly Rothenberg (mover: Councilor LaBarge; second: Councilor Moulton): Passed, 7 yes, 1 no, 1 recused.

What happened next

The adopted resolution will be delivered to the mayor, the DPW director and the public safety dispatch director, and the council recommended the mayor consider actions she deems necessary to protect city employees from similar conduct while maintaining the council’s chartered powers.