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Council approves $309,670 for three police cruisers after separate vote
Summary
Northampton City Council split a capital order to separate three police cruisers and approved the cruisers 7–1–1 after debate over fleet costs and a call for an operational audit.
Northampton City Council on Jan. 22 approved funding to purchase three police cruisers, voting 7 yes, 1 abstention and 1 no after first dividing a larger capital order to consider the vehicles separately.
The split came when Councilor Dobbs moved to remove the Police Department line item for three cruisers from capital order 24.192; Council President Alex Jarrett said the motion would create 24.192a (everything but the cruisers) and 24.192b (the cruisers). Councilor Rachel Maiori seconded the division; the council approved the procedural split on a 5–4 roll call.
The separate motion to approve 24.192b — appropriating $309,670 for three cruisers — was made by Councilor Marissa Elkins and seconded by Councilor Eric Perry. Councilor Donna LaBarge and others supported the purchase as routine fleet maintenance and public-safety infrastructure. LaBarge told the council she had discussed the cruisers with Chief Cartlidge and said the department’s reported cost to maintain its fleet is about $126,566 per year, a figure she described as including fuel and repairs. "These cars are in use every day," LaBarge said.
Councilor Mitch Rothenberg said he would abstain, citing unanswered operational questions and urging a review of car usage and policies before similar future purchases. "Because the work feels like it hasn't been done, it's not possible for me to make an intelligent vote one way or the other tonight, and this will be an abstention for Ward 3," he said. Councilor Dobbs voted no.
Elkins and Perry framed the vote as sustaining the department’s essential operational capability rather than increasing police funding: "This is basically sustaining the fleet," Perry said, adding that cruisers serve as officers’ mobile workspace and are heavily used.
The division and subsequent votes produced these formal outcomes: the council approved 24.192a (the capital order minus the cruisers) 8–1; and it approved 24.192b (the three cruisers) 7 yes, 1 abstention, 1 no.
The council did not take additional operational audit steps as part of the vote; Rothenberg and others asked that staff consider such a review in the near term.
Votes at a glance: 24.192a: approved 8–1 (removes 3 cruisers). 24.192b (Police Department — 3 cruisers): approved 7 yes, 1 abstention, 1 no.
The council moved on to other capital orders after the votes.
