Easthampton mayor to lead state Dept. of Conservation and Recreation

Yahoo

14-07-2025

EASTHAMPTON — Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle will change hats, leaving office to take the lead at the state Department of Conservation and Recreation in the coming weeks.
That leaves a vacant mayoral seat and a new executive needed to fill it.
Gov. Maura Healey announced LaChapelle's new role as the DCR commissioner on Wednesday. She is set to take over for former Commissioner Brian Arrigo, starting on July 21. It opens the city to four-and-a-half months of new leadership.
In Easthampton, the city charter requires a vote among city councilors to determine which of them will be the interim mayor until the November municipal election, said Maddie Palmer, assistant city clerk. A date has not yet been set for a vote on the acting mayor position, Palmer said.
LaChapelle has served as mayor of the city since 2018.
The DCR manages state parks and oversees close to half a million acres of Massachusetts' natural, cultural and recreational resources.
LaChapelle could not be immediately reached Thursday about the new role and what she brings to it, or how she hopes to round off her time as mayor.
'The hardworking staff at DCR are the caretakers for our state, and I'm looking forward to joining the team,' said LaChapelle in a statement. 'Our forests, lakes and beaches are at the heart of Massachusetts. I've had a front row seat in Easthampton, surrounded by so many of these properties. I'm ready to get to work preserving our public lands for generations to come.'
The governor's statement highlighted several of LaChapelle's conservation efforts for the city during her seven years as mayor.
LaChapelle 'leveraged record-level grant funding to promote new affordable housing, protected green spaces and strengthened infrastructure,' the statement said.
She also worked with the Kestrel Land Trust, an Amherst nonprofit organization that works on land and river conservation in the Connecticut River Valley, to build 90 units of affordable housing and to conserve the land along the Manhan River, the statement said. During that relationship, she also secured close to two dozen acres for the Mount Tom North Trailhead Park.
LaChapelle helped qualify Easthampton for environmental preparedness grants that are part of a state program to help cities and towns be prepared for climate change. She used that money to improve stormwater management, make flood preparations and upgrade the urban tree canopy in the city.
The soon-to-be commissioner also oversaw Easthampton's Green Infrastructure Plan, with goals for its rivers and other natural resources to be cleaner and restored. Through this plan, she helped the redesign of the New City neighborhood, which created a new park, added multi-use paths and improved the sewer system.
In 2021, she led the charge in offering city employees benefits if they transitioned to electric vehicles — the first mayor in the country to make that decision.
This was a part of the city's mission to change over its entire fleet to electric.
Last year, the city finished its Climate Action Plan, which set forward-looking goals for Easthampton to achieve a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, 75% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 and net-zero by 2050.
She also hired Easthampton's first sustainability coordinator to advance these initiatives.
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Read the original article on MassLive.