CITY OF EASTHAMPTON

OFFICE OF THE CITY COUNCIL

Easthampton Municipal Building
50 Payson Ave., Ste. 100
Easthampton, Massachusetts 01027-2260
James JP Kwiecinski
Councilor At-Large
413-575-6009

Telephone #: (413) 529-1460

Fax #: (413) 529-1417

May 22, 2015

Dear Mayor Cadieux:
Children are a top priority! Our citys long-standing support of the Easthampton Community Centers
summer food program must continue and I believe there is a legal way to continue that support.
We can either fund the center directly as we have in the past or contract for services, but the City Council
cannot do this alone. We must join hands with you to make this happen. I hope we can count on your support.
A search of court cases and Department of Revenue bulletins on the subject points the way, like a beacon of
light, for municipalities to be able serve the public good. While we may or may not be able to fund the Center
directly, we certainly can support the food program for our most vulnerable and at-risk children and contract to pay
the Center for providing the service.
This assumes, of course, that the decision to cut the funding was not a political decision to withhold funds
from the Community Center and its food program, which provides more than 63,000 meals to more than 300
children. These are children who during the school year are provided free or reduced-fee lunches by the federal
government.
When I questioned the reasoning for the cut, you wrote back that under the State Constitutions Anti-Aid
amendment, a city is prohibited to provide funds to private charitable, organizations, no matter how worthy. You
may or may not be aware that despite the Amendment, courts have allowed the Commonwealth to give money
directly to non-profits and for cities and towns to contract for services with non-profits.
It would seem to me that feeding hungry children and assuring they return to school in the fall better
nourished is more than just a worthy purpose, it is a public purpose- a public purpose at least as important as giving
students a chance to learn about history by visiting the U.S.S. Massachusetts battleship (Helmes v. the
Commonwealth, 406 Mass. 873. This Massachusetts Supreme Court decision interpreted the anti-aid amendment
allowing public monies to be given to a private, non-profit organization attempting to restore the battleship as a
memorial and museum.*
It would also seem to me that feeding hungry children is at least as important as preserving our historic
heritage whereby through the Community Preservation Act, our city as well as cities and towns across the
Commonwealth have given monies directly to private, non-profit organizations. Often, in exchange for the money
the city often gets a benefit in return, a deed restriction to preserve the historic architecture.
I would respectfully submit that by feeding hungry children the community gets at least two benefits in return,
better nourished children (a worthwhile public purpose by itself) AND children who are better able to hit the ground
running on the first day of school, and, therefore better able to take advantage of the $16,190,500 you have
requested from the community for their education. This $20,000 investment has a two-fold public purpose with
clear benefits to our most needy citizens and clear benefits for the community at large.
We must do whatever we can to assure our summer program continues. I would ask you to take whatever steps
are necessary to provide for these students in the current budget, whether that be a supplemental line item with direct
funding or a contract for services to be provided by the Community Center. Lets all stand together for a better
Easthampton.
Sincerely,
James JP Kwiecinski, City Councilor