I’m sure there are a few Greenfield residents who are looking forward to the upcoming election with the same anticipation usually reserved for root canal surgery.
But even if you aren’t thrilled with the prospect of heading back to the polls one year removed from Trump-Clinton; no one can argue that this year’s election has a few potentially interesting story lines, especially when it comes to the race for At Large Town Council seats.
There are two seats and currently five candidates: Incumbent Penny Ricketts, Precinct 8 Councilor Ashli Stempel, Precinct 6 Councilor Maria Burge, former Councilor Joe Gochinski and former Precinct 8 candidate Andrew Killeen.
That field will be trimmed to four after the September primary, assuming no one drops out before then. And while anything can happen, my gut tells me this is really a race for second place. The only one close to a “lock” appears to be Ricketts, who was the top vote-getter the last time her name appeared on a Greenfield ballot.
With all due respect to her opponents, it does look like her race to lose. Ricketts’ profile has only grown since the last election, despite the present leadership’s efforts to trim her wings by removing her as Economic Development Committee chairwoman after she voted against Brickett Allis for council president.
I know the official reason for the removal was because the leadership wanted to “give others” a chance to serve in leadership posts, but, at the time, it certainly seemed like an act of political retribution.
Nonetheless, Ricketts remains the most visible and high-profile member of a council that has a number of potential rising stars, among them Stempel, who is choosing, ostensibly for geographic reasons, to leave behind precinct work to run at large.
In terms of profile building, this has been a good year for Ashli, who not only vaulted into the leadership as chairwoman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, but had no compunction about standing up to the leadership’s ultimately successful effort to cut the operating budget by 1 percent across the board.
That debate marked the first time Stempel and Mass really butted heads on an issue, and I remembered thinking at the time that we just might be viewing the first round in a potential mayoral matchup, or, at the very least, the beginning of a rivalry that could define the next generation of Greenfield politics.
Stempel is likely to have a good base of support among progressives and millenials — a voting block that is something of a wild card demographically. If there is anyone capable of courting those voters, it is Stempel, who will need that support to emerge from this pack, which also includes a familiar face from her political past.
Andrew Killeen narrowly lost to Stempel the last time around in the Precinct 8 race, and I wrote at the time how fortunate the voters of that precinct were to have two such high-quality candidates. It was actually a shame one of them had to lose, and it’s entirely possible we will face that same scenario this year, unless Ricketts has a whole lot less support than it appears.
A local businessman, Killeen recently grabbed some headlines when he advocated that a nonbinding “Safe City” question be placed on the November ballot, all the while making it clear that he did not support the idea. He’s already been taking some heat on this page’s letters to the editor for his position, but I’m quite certain that there are more than a few voters in this town who share his view. Whether there are enough of them to put him in one of those seats very much remains an open question.
Also on the ballot is Maria Burge, who, like Stempel, is leaving the precinct wars behind to run at large. Burge has been relatively quiet during her brief time in office, but has not been afraid to pick her spots when it came to debating certain issues. She was one of the seven votes in favor of the aforementioned across-the-board budget cut, and has spoken passionately about the need to resurrect the Greenfield Youth Commission.
As a former law enforcment officer and long-time resident, Burge has a pretty good following, particularly among older residents, which is always a coveted demographic at election time. And while Burge may seem like a long-shot in this field, no one should dare look past her, because she may have more support than some might think.
Perhaps the most intriguing candidate, at least in my view, is Gochinski, who served on the previous 27-member council and has been largely absent from the arena since he lost the Democratic county Register of Deeds primary to Scott Cote a few years back. His decision to run again is somewhat surprising, but not unwelcome, as he brings a wealth of political experience and government knowledge to the debate. If voters are looking for a veteran hand to join a council long on ambition but short on experience, Gochinski might just be their guy.
So there you have it. Five candidates with very different pedigrees, and lots of potential intrigue. Can Ricketts pick up all the marbles again this time? Will Stempel make it 2-and-0 over Killeen or will this be his breakthrough year? Can Burge emerge, or will the man they call “Joe-Go” end up being the “comeback kid” of 2017?
We’ll get the answers to those questions pretty soon, and it’s possible the results may wind up surprising not only the voters, but the candidates themselves.
Chris Collins is the Franklin County News Bureau Chief for WHAI, WPVQ and WHMP Radio. He is a former staff reporter for The Recorder.