*For a list of all the articles in this series and other political articles, please go here: https://cityuntangled.com/category/politics/.
This is a mini-post pointing people to my 2-minute public comment at the Northampton City Council meeting on September 4, 2025. The timestamp is 41:12 and the direct link is https://youtu.be/inXCQYR7uQk?t=2472. [Sept. 8: Northampton Open Media removed recess sections, so I had to update the link.] I briefly shared my negative experiences with Northampton Ward 3 City Councilor Quaverly Rothenberg and one of her followers. After scheduled public hearings, the City Council holds a public comment period for a maximum of 90 minutes where each person gets to speak for 2 minutes on any topic.
For context, I have had different issues with Northampton Ward 3 City Councilor Quaverly Rothenberg since November of 2024, including her sending an unsolicited email to lecture me after finding out my personal email address and insulting me on Facebook. The details are in my letter to the City Council on April 22, 2025, https://cityuntangled.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2025-04-22-city-council-email-about-ward-3-city-councilor-by-nc.pdf.
I numbered this post “Political Tension 04a” because I might write a more detailed 04b post. Below is the transcript of what I said.
Transcript of 2025-09-04 public comment
Hi, my name is Nathan Chung, a Northampton resident. I work in government. I am speaking here as a general member of the public. I am going to share some reasons on why I have been coming here so often. The details are on my personal blog at cityuntangled.com/politics with my email address at the bottom.
I have been in the Valley for almost ten years where I have observed a culture of entitlement, hypocrisy, and polarization. Words like progressivism, diversity, democracy, and free speech get thrown around until it gets inconvenient. If people from minority groups do not fit people’s caricature of diversity, some people turn to belittling them and suppressing their ideas.
In November and December, Councilor Rothenberg claimed that State guidance on free cash does not exist. I am holding the 2016 older guidance here. [PDF here. The newer 2025 guidance is available from the Free Cash link listed on the Best Practices page.] When I pointed that out, she found out my personal email address and then sent me an email lecturing me, and on Facebook, she insulted me, insinuating that I have no independent thought.
At the November 14th School Committee public comment, she described how she used a queen and her villages metaphor to help Tibetan monks understand Northampton politics. Tibet has mayors, appointed by the Chinese Community Party. Tibetans are politically savvy enough to form an exile government in India. I do not think they need a simplified metaphor. As a Korean-American, I am familiar with this type of talking down to Asians.
One of her supporters used profanity to describe me as a butt-kisser for the mayoral administration. She then wrote a newspaper column calling on others to respect diversity. The two statements do not seem to match.
구체적인 말과 행동이 화려한 이름표보다 더 큰 의미가 있습니다. Specific words and actions are much louder than any fancy labels.
And just because we speak a different language or we come from other different nations or our socioeconomic status is lower than you, it does not mean that we are less than you or our understanding is less than you. [Yes, there are grammatical errors.]
Thank you.
City Untangled 