I’m glad to see the ongoing discussion about capital spending in Greenfield. Before we agree to pay the big, long-term bill for a patchwork of projects designed in isolation from each other to satisfy random state funding cycles, how about some single-minded planning for all these projects — police, fire, library, parking garage, community center? A proper, integrated plan will give us a better chance to spend our money on buildings which will serve us and coming generations in a visually pleasing, historically appropriate, energy efficient, downtown-friendly way. With such a plan in place, we can then seek state support project by project, as money becomes available, in fiscally responsible steps.
And while we’re at it, how about envisioning a community center with programs for everyone? As an aging member of this town, I have no interest in contributing my tax dollars to one more institution dedicated to the false proposition that most old people prefer to be socially and physically segregated from the rest of the community. I have no doubt, as I read in these pages, that some older folks fear mingling with the young, but this fear needs to be addressed in a socially responsible way. Soothing that fear with a multimillion-dollar monument to isolation isn’t the answer. Precinct 8 Councilor Ashli Stempel showed wisdom beyond her years in suggesting that the town rethink this use of public funds.
Wendy Sibbison
Greenfield