GREENFIELD — Matthew Kuzmeskus, write-in candidate for the Precinct 5 seat on the Town Council, said he hopes to step into the position with no preconceived notions or personal agenda.
Kuzmeskus, 30, left the Army in June with an honorable discharge and works at L-3 KEO in Northampton, where he does quality assurance and electrical testing. A Franklin County native, he moved to Greenfield three years ago and was inspired to run for council after conflicts surrounding the town’s new municipal internet provider came to light several months ago.
“How that was handled among the council and the mayor — nobody was really asking questions, they were just taking everything at face value,” Kuzmeskus said. “There were a lot of red flags that were thrown up, nobody really asked questions.”
He said his background in technology would be an asset to the council for future projects like Greenfield Community Energy and Technology, giving him the knowledge to ask those important questions.
If elected to the council, Kuzmeskus also hopes to reduce taxes, consolidate town offices in one location and better represent the constituents of Precinct 5.
“Actually showing up to meetings would be one — Councilor Wainstein didn’t do the best job at representing Precinct 5, (he) didn’t show up to meetings — I’ve heard from constituents that he didn’t really address any of their issues or respond back to them when they brought up issues,” Kuzmeskus said, adding he believes the two other candidates running for Precinct 5 are pushing their own agendas.
“Mr. Dolan is pushing the progressive left agenda, Mr. Odato has a personal issue with (council Vice President) Isaac Mass, and in the middle of this, nobody is really thinking about how decisions are affecting the taxpayers,” he said. “I want to go in with an open mind, I don’t want to push a certain agenda.”
Kuzmeskus also hopes to lower taxes in Greenfield through a combination of reduced spending and an effort to bring more manufacturing to town. He said there are skilled workers but a lack of trade jobs in Greenfield, and bringing back manufacturing would help expand the tax base. Kuzmeskus said Greenfield is perfectly positioned at the crossroads of Interstate 91 and Route 2, something that the town is not capitalizing on.
“We do have an underutilized industrial park that we could expand on, as well, that we haven’t. We’re focusing more on downtown and small businesses, but that’s not where the tax base is, we need to have incentives to bring those (manufacturers) in,” he said.
Kuzmeskus also wants to push for a consolidation of town offices in one central location off Main Street, saying the town offices scattered throughout downtown are taking up prime real estate and result in unnecessary costs to the town — including rent and the cost of maintaining IT servers for each location.
When it comes to the proposed new library, Kuzmeskus said he would only support the project if it did not involve the demolition of the fire station, as building a new public safety complex would raise taxes. He said he also did not support the previous “safe city” proposal that came before the council because of the clause that prohibited town employees from placing individuals in federal databases, but would be open to a future ordinance.
“When I’m on the council, if somebody wants to rewrite the proposal and we can discuss this, I would absolutely be open to passing a safe cities ordinance, but it would have to be worded differently than it previously was,” Kuzmeskus said.