I’m still trying to decide if what happened at last week’s Greenfield Town Council meeting was among the best or worst things I’ve seen in my time covering local government.
If you are among those who have been waiting for 20-plus years for the town to build a new senior center, you’d likely take the latter view, especially since Greenfield has never been closer to getting out of the Weldon than it is now. Those same people are also probably feeling a little bit betrayed by councilors who’ve talked at length about the need to build that center, only to vote against it when the time came.
But that’s where the recriminations should end, because the council’s decision against funding this project, and more than half of the mayor’s capital budget, may actually be one of the best moves it has ever made.
For years, Greenfield residents have seen their taxes rise while services have either leveled off or been cut. Coincidentally, ever since Greenfield switched to a city form of government, mayors have gotten just about everything they’ve ever wanted from the Town Council. I know there have been some appointments shot down, but when it comes to spending money, this has been a rubber-stamp operation almost from the start, a streak that ended when the council took the Ginsu knife to Mayor Bill Martin’s requests to the tune of more than 50 percent.
It was a move unprecedented in the mayoral era and a potential game-changer, assuming the council exercises the same level of diligence with the operating budget. It’s a move drawing a certain amount of criticism, largely from those who continue to ignore the fact that this town’s spending, if not already out of control, is pretty close to it, leaving the people’s elected representatives to be the ones to act.
I personally love seeing this, because I’ve been pushing for years for the council to use its system of checks and balances to be more of an equal player in the budget process. That’s how government is supposed to work. Unfortunately, this time, the senior center got caught in the switches. Though upsetting for some, this does not change the fact that there are legitimate questions about what the town is actually going to get for its $5.25 million.
As Precinct 8 Councilor Ashli Stempel pointed out, to truly assess the plan requires separating the seniors from the actual proposal, something that is easier said than done when you have old ladies in walkers sliding up to the microphone during public forum. But if you manage to take the emotion out of it, you might consider a few of these issues. The one that got me was who decides whether the building gets used during off hours. Based on what I heard at the meeting, it’s the senior center management, not the town, that makes that call. This seems nonsensical given the need for usable space and the amount of money on the table.
Then there’s the matter of tearing up downtown green space to build a single-level, single-use structure, a plan directly at odds with the mandate of a sustainable master plan everyone seems to agree is the town’s blueprint for the next 10 years. And, come to think of it, why doesn’t the town have a comprehensive multi-use strategy for existing town buildings, something, I believe, that should be in place long before a single shovel goes into the ground.
The big killer, though, is the cost, which is too high, even for a building and a constituency as important as this one.
Imagine if Martin proposed a $5.25 million stand-alone youth center to serve 600 kids, the current approximate number that uses the senior center. He’d get laughed out of the building — but no one’s laughing when you are talking about seniors, especially a mayor who won his last campaign, in large part, on the promise to build that facility.
The good news for center supporters is that the door has not been completely shut on the project. The day after Wednesday’s vote, council Vice President Isaac Mass filed a motion to reconsider the matter at the April meeting, a move some might view as the king of all political grandstands. I’m not sure I’m willing to go that far, but it’s hard to ignore the obvious political upside for Isaac, who gets to go from being the alpha budget hawk this month to the potential senior center savior the next.
As for the cuts themselves, they aren’t going to reduce anyone’s taxes next year, but they do send the message that the budget free ride is over, assuming the council follows through. And if it does, it will be a positive thing for all Greenfield taxpayers, even the ones still grousing about the apparent demise of a senior center I’m certain will eventually get built.
Chris Collins, who worked in local radio in a number of capacities, has observed political life in Franklin County for years. He also is a former staff reporter for The Recorder and a Greenfield native.