The other night, I hopped onto the hybrid meeting the Northampton City Council’s Finance Committee hosted, the second of two listening sessions, held for the second year in a row. I was enormously moved by the range of concerns and priorities expressed by our city’s residents: everything from climate, to sidewalks, to schools, a thriving Main Street, peaceful protest during more militaristic times, and a way to serve our most-in-need residents (unhoused, food insecure) with an evolving sense of how needs may be shifting for those people and in relation to the rest of the city’s needs.

People gave heartfelt pleas for all these issues, while some also testified to the struggles our students and school staff are facing this year. We learned (for some people, a refresher) how the city’s reserves are divided, and why the administration feels this is essential to do.

It was moving to hear the range of perspectives, and to hear some questions posed that are uncomfortable: Are there new ways to talk about budgets as a community, when stakeholders do not all share a belief about the ways to mitigate risk, or what the risks are?

How can we collectively put morals into our discussion of budgets? How do we stay nimble as a community trying to do large projects that take a long time when the needs in our community and the external pressures are changing faster than the processes we’ve set in motion?

If we erred, especially because needs and resources change, how might we address this without so much finger-pointing but with a collaborative spirit that acknowledges our shared purpose is greater than being right or wrong?

Because the other thing that has surfaced at nearly every public forum where schools are mentioned is intense conflict and anger, whether under the surface or not. Councilor Rachel Maiore was very clear that the structure of the listening session, which was altered from a formal council meeting, provided room for interacting differently, and I believe she was trying to encourage another bridge from “us” and “them” to our shared belief that our city can do better for more of its residents.

This is, I believe, our shared goal. I’d love to see us work toward this by changing our definitions of experts to include those with lived experiences and outside the box ways to re-envision a way forward. We are facing new headwinds as cities and states and a country; we are going to need to take to heart the advice to link hands and not let go, including as we navigate both our conflicts and our visions.

Sarah Buttenwieser lives in Northampton.