GREENFIELD — Getting involved in politics had never been on Kelly Dixon’s bucket list, but when someone suggested she run for Town Council in Precinct 8, Dixon realized it would be great way to give back to the community where she grew up.
Dixon, 41, is a Greenfield native who has lived across the country, but moved home three years ago to be closer to her father. A surgical oncology nurse at Baystate Medical Center, she said the skills she’s developed during her career are all transferable to the council.
Her campaign tagline is “A Nurse for Greenfield.”
“I’m passionate and I think my background in nursing and having grown up here really gives me strength to go into something I never in a million years would’ve seen myself doing, but I do love the idea of serving the community and giving back to the community in whatever way I can,” she said. “I think being a nurse helps to assess the situation, as a nurse you have to triage, you have to assess, you have to administer and do treatments, you have to evaluate those treatments. There’s a lot that goes into it.”
Greenfield’s youth is Dixon’s primary focus, but she also hopes to help the downtown thrive without increasing taxes and give public safety officials the resources they need to keep the town safe.
“I think the heart of Greenfield is really the youth, and developing them and giving them the tools to grow into who they’re meant to be,” she said, adding that she wants to think outside the box to come up with ways to create programs and safe environments where children can grow and learn.
“I would love to see the downtown to flourish more, I would love for people to feel like how I felt as a kid, that this was a safe place where you could come and eat and work and go shopping,” she said.
Dixon said Greenfield’s library holds a special place in her heart, as she used to go there every weekend with her mother. She said she would be on board with the plan to build a new library on Main Street as long as the current building is preserved, but wants to learn more about the construction grant the town is set to receive from the state Board of Library Commissioners and what the cost would be to the taxpayers.
When it comes to the idea of making Greenfield a “safe city” for undocumented immigrants, she said the intention behind the Safe City Ordinance that previously came before Town Council was good, but said the ordinance itself was confusing and unintentionally took away residents’ constitutional rights.
“I think we should let the federal government handle immigration status and keep politics local and focus on the local issues,” she said. “I feel like Greenfield is a safe city already, and I feel like it’s an agenda almost, the progressive side is really focusing on safe city and really wanting to make that comeback, but it feels really like smoke and mirrors, they’re really trying to take that situation and focus it on that and I don’t feel like it’s an issue and I don’t feel like it’s an issue that Precinct 8 constituents are concerned about.”