The spouse of Northampton, Massachusetts’ Democratic mayor recently issued a heartfelt apology following a heated confrontation at a local supermarket.
Bill Scher, married to Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra, addressed the community during a Northampton School Committee meeting last Thursday, expressing remorse for his public outburst that stirred local residents.
“I became the weak link in our local democracy,” Scher confessed, after being introduced by his wife to deliver his apology. Scher, who is known for his work as a leftist political analyst and journalist, reflected on his actions.
“What did I achieve with my behavior? I convinced no one. My ability to hear and listen was compromised. I failed to bridge any divides,” he admitted.
Scher’s apology followed an incident where he was seen vocally confronting school committee member Michael Stein, who has been a vocal critic of Mayor Sciarra.
Stein has been notably critical of Sciarra’s approach to managing the school budget, a stance he has shared in opinion pieces for the Daily Hampshire Gazette.
Scher admitted that Stein’s disapproval of his wife’s time in office got under his skin, as he confronted Stein in a Stop & Shop on Wednesday.
The argument got so heated that a bystander had to intervene with a store employee, according to the Boston Globe.
Bill Scher, husband of Democrat mayor of Northampton, Massachusetts Gina-Louise Sciarra, issued a groveling apology at a school board meeting (pictured) this week after admitting to screaming at a local man in a grocery store
The argument reportedly saw Scher defend his wife, Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra (right, seen with Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey) in an argument with a local critic over her handling of a school budget
In his groveling apology to the school committee the day after his outburst, Scher said he sees his rant as a ‘cautionary tale for others to avoid.’
Scher works as a left-wing political commentator and is the politics editor of the Washington Monthly, and has also worked as a freelancer for Politico.
He is reportedly known for his staunch support for his wife’s political career, and has also authored the book ‘Wait, Don’t Move To Canada: A Stay-and-Fight Strategy To Win Back America.’
Scher said he approached Stein because he wanted to make him ‘adopt a different tact in his public advocacy’, but said his emotions got the best of him.
‘When he responded with points I didn’t agree with, I let my emotions get the better of me. I lost my temper, and I raised my voice,’ he said.
A 77-year-old woman who witnessed the argument told the Globe that she was in the Stop & Shop when she saw two men speaking, and one was ‘shouting at the other.’
‘I stayed my distance but spoke up and told the shouter that he was frightening me,’ she recounted in a Facebook post about the encounter.
‘The shouter told me that ‘he can do and say what he wants’ — that it was a free country… I was frightened enough to wonder if he was a danger.’
Scher is a national political commentator, and is reportedly known for his staunch support for his wife’s political career, as he admitted that criticisms of her led him to ‘lose his temper’
Scher admitted to exploding at school committee member Michael Stein (pictured), who has become an outspoken critic of Mayor Sciarra in the town
Scher (pictured with Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin) works as a left-wing political commentator and is the politics editor of the Washington Monthly, and has also worked as a freelancer for Politico
Scher’s tantrum sparked controversy in the town, with one former city councilor sharing a Facebook meme of herself as a talking toilet paper roll to criticize Scher as ‘unhinged.’
Gwen Agna, a former school principal who recently retired as vice chair of the School Committee, told the Boston Globe that the tensions around politics and Donald Trump have filtered into everyday life in the Massachusetts suburb.
‘People are very anxious right now, and anxiety can fuel some people not acting in the ways that they might normally,’ she said.
Local man Jose Adastra added on Facebook: ‘All that civility talk and you can’t stop yourself from yelling at a hardworking man at the grocery store…. Absolutely deplorable behavior and on top of it to think a pathetic apology like that would make up for it.’
Stein also took to Facebook to recall the encounter, writing that ‘Bill, a passionate defender of civility and civil discourse, menaced me in a hostile and unproductive manner.’
At the school meeting, Scher said he was embarrassed by his behavior, and didn’t want his ‘inappropriate behavior to be a bad example that others emulate.’
‘If there’s any saving grace to this episode, it is that my shame and regret will be a cautionary tale for others to avoid.’
Sciarra said in a statement that she was ‘sorry that this happened’ after her husband’s unfortunate local headline-grabbing antics.
‘I appreciate the public apology that my husband gave.’
