HOLYOKE — Although the latest chapter has closed in the career of Clare Higgins, the story of her legacy is far from over.
More than 400 guests, among them some of the Pioneer Valley’s biggest political luminaries, attended a celebration of the career of Higgins, who served as a six-term mayor of Northampton from 2000 to 2011 followed by a role as executive director of Community Action Pioneer Valley until her retirement this summer.
The event took place at The Log Cabin in Holyoke on Thursday, with attendees lined up to greet Higgins, seated in an armchair in the entry hall, before the main presentation took place.
“The career that I’ve had has been a gift,” Higgins told those gathered in a speech later on in the evening. “It’s been a gift from the community to allow me to do all this over these many, many years and to have the support of all these people in this room.”
The celebration of Higgins’ career, with radio hosts Kelsey Flynn and Christopher “Monte” Belmonte serving as emcees, was presented in a storybook format, with a tongue-in-cheek reading of chapters focused on different stages of Higgins’ career, followed by testimony from several state and local officials who worked with her throughout the time.
The presentation began with an overview of Higgins’ work in early childhood education, working as a day care teacher at Vernon Street School for many years.
Barbara Black, the former director of Vernon Street School, recalled Higgins’ efforts to improve conditions for day care teachers, becoming a staff representative for a day care and human services union.
“Child care workers were, and still are, notoriously underpaid, undervalued and there’s a lot of turnover,” Black said. “Clare particularly got very active in doing advocacy. … She worked on improving conditions for child care workers so that there could be continuity and that kids could have relationships that were lasting, and not having the teacher leave every three months.”
Higgins’ work in advocating for child care workers, as well as seeing the struggles many parents were having to navigate, led her to pursue a greater role in government. She joined the Northampton City Council in 1993 before being elected mayor in 2000. Her tenure as mayor included establishing a high bond rating for the city, closure of the Northampton landfill and creating more affordable housing.
Higgins’ work as mayor attracted attention from across the state, as she took an active role and served as head of the Massachusetts Mayors’ Association. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, whose time as mayor of the city of Salem overlapped with Higgins’ time in Northampton and her leadership of the MMA, was also in attendance in Thursday.
“She became the head of the entire mayor’s association under one condition. Most of the meetings were in Boston, and she said, ‘There’s no ****ing way I’m doing this without a parking spot,'” recalled Driscoll, a comment that drew laughter from the crowd. “So good old [then-Boston] Mayor Tom Menino found the parking spot.”
Driscoll also noted that she and Higgins were two of 12 woman mayors during that time period, and that Higgins took special care to personally connect with each one.
“The person in the room who everybody wanted to listen to was Clare, whether it was an issue we were all tackling together or something unique to our community,” Driscoll said.
Also making guest appearances via recorded speeches were Gov. Maura Healey, former Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, and many other colleagues and friends from her time as a politician or from her work with Community Action.
Also speaking in person at the event was Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan, who said Higgins had made an impact for countless families across the region.
“Some of the people she helped are here tonight, but the thousands and thousands of people Clare helped along the way are here in spirit,” Sullivan said. “When there was a problem to be solved, a system to be changed, an injustice to be called out, Clare’s true grit emerged. She asked tough questions, never wanted the quick fix and worked until the job was complete.”
Sullivan also said Higgins had proved to be an inspiration in his own career as a district attorney.
“She inspired me to be a kinder and more thoughtful person, a leader that listens. But more important in my role as a district attorney, she urged me to look at the root causes of criminal behavior,” he said. “To look beyond what a person may have done to bring them into the justice system, but rather to look at the circumstances that may have impacted that person’s life.”
Though Higgins’ career as mayor came to an end in 2011, she continued to work toward improving the lives of people by accepting a job as executive director for Community Action Pioneer Valley, the nonprofit anti-poverty agency located in Greenfield that serves individuals throughout Hampshire and Franklin counties, and some in Hampden County.
In her speech on Thursday, Higgins discussed the importance of improving the livelihoods of local residents, helping them overcome poverty and address wealth inequality. She also warned about current actions at the federal level, saying they were “pulling the plugs and disconnecting everything.”
“The people we help are full and active and vibrant members of the community. They just don’t make enough money,” Higgins said. “The strength of the business community is based on the strength of the local economy. Strength of the local economy is based on wage earners and others who are able to participate.”
Lev BenEzra, the successor to Higgins as executive director, also warned about the current risk of losing federal funding.
“There is a dangerous move to further criminalize poverty, to slash support systems and scapegoat our immigrant neighbors, but that is not who we are,” BenEzra said. “We are choosing a different path, a path that is rooted in equity, in dignity and in community in this time of fear and divisiveness.”
But even if such funding dries up, people depending on such services will still have a lifeline. Community Action Pioneer Valley announced it was launching the Clare Higgins Fund for Community Resilience, with the first $35,000 raised already having matching pledges from several donors.
“When those dollars disappear, it’s the working mother depending on the food pantry, the elderly couple choosing between medication and heat, the parents who need child care in order to get to work, the young person whose dreams need support,” said Jess Thompson, the associate director of community engagement at Community Action Pioneer Valley. “The fund is our promise that when federal support waivers, this community will not let its neighbors fall through the cracks.”