Easthampton Tenants Union Endorses Proposition 2½ Override
Source: Easthampton Tenants Union | May 13th, 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Easthampton, MA, May 13, 2026 – The Easthampton Tenants Union voted on May 7 to formally endorse the proposed Proposition 2½ override ahead of the upcoming city vote, citing concerns over potential cuts to public services that working-class residents and renters rely on every day.
While rising costs are a real concern for many residents, the union believes that the consequences of failing to fund essential city services would fall disproportionately on tenants, low-income households, seniors, and working families.
“Housing justice doesn’t stop at the walls of an apartment building,” said Natalia Ruiz, an ETU member. “Renters depend on functioning schools, libraries, public transportation, emergency response, and public infrastructure just like everyone else. A city that can’t maintain basic services becomes less livable for working people very quickly.”
This endorsement reflects a broader ETU commitment to protecting the social infrastructure that makes communities stable, healthy, and democratic.
“We understand that many people are financially stretched right now,” said Ilene Roizman, a member of the ETU Steering Committee. “But austerity isn’t a neutral policy. Cuts to public services tend to hit ordinary people first and hardest, while those who are wealthier are often insulated from the consequences. We want Easthampton to choose investment over managed decline.”
At the same time, there is concern that tenants are likely to bear a large part of the financial burden of the override through rent increases by unscrupulous landlords. So the union has reached out to Mayor Salem Derby to ask him to publicly endorse the rent control ballot initiative currently being organized across Massachusetts. The ETU awaits his response.
“If tenants are being asked to help with the cost of maintaining the city’s social infrastructure, then they deserve meaningful protection against unlimited rent increases,” said Roizman. “The city can’t keep asking working-class renters to absorb harsh economic shocks while offering no long-term stability in return.”
The union believes that the override debate and the rent control campaign are deeply connected, pointing to broader questions about who gets to remain in Easthampton as costs continue to rise.
“Affordable housing means more than just rent,” said Ruiz. “It also means living in a community with functioning schools, safe streets, accessible public spaces, and services people can actually rely on. Working-class people deserve both. Supporting public investment while opposing tenant protections would send the message that renters are expected to contribute to the city but are not guaranteed a place within it.”
The Easthampton Tenants Union is a tenant-led organization focused on housing justice, tenant organizing, political education, and building collective power for renters and working-class residents in Easthampton and across the region.
