GREENFIELD — With just over a week until the Biennial Town Election, Suzanne Patnaude has announced her intention to run as a write-in candidate for the Precinct 9 Town Council seat.
Patnaude said she is running at the request of constituents and neighbors, giving voters an alternative to incumbent Daniel Leonovich, who was running unopposed.
A retired attorney, Patnaude moved to Greenfield three years ago from New Jersey.
She defended her decision to run as a write-in candidate after serving as a panelist during a candidates’ forum hosted by The Recorder, saying anyone who is upset about her decision is probably someone with an agenda.
“One of the candidates at the first night of the debate asked me to run as a write-in because the candidate in my precinct is running unopposed,” she said, adding she finally made the decision after hearing more support from others.
“I didn’t really decide to run until after the (forums) were finished. I was thinking about it while it was going on because I was approached. I thought I did a good job of staying neutral with the question, everybody got the same questions — they are issues that came before the council and will come before the council.”
Records show Patnaude took out nomination papers to run as a Precinct 9 candidate, but did not return them to the Town Clerk’s Office.
If elected, Patnaude would like to support:
— using a state grant to offset the cost of building a new library
— building a public safety complex to house the police and fire departments
— fully funding the town’s public schools
— expanding access to opioid addiction education, prevention and treatment programs.
“I’m also in favor of Greenfield having a marijuana dispensary and being able to use the tax revenue for both the general budget and to treat addiction,” Patnaude said.
She has a lengthy history of public service, serving the State of New Jersey as a deputy attorney general, hearing officer and deputy chief counsel for the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. She served on a local school board for seven years and was a candidate for the state legislature in 2001.
As a Western Mass. volunteer activist, Patnaude has served as the parliamentarian for the Massachusetts League of Women Voters, as a moderator for the Amherst League of Women Voters, and as co-chair of the Voter Services Committee of the Franklin County League of Women Voters. She serves on the Energy Advisory Committee for the Amherst League, as clerk of her condo association and as outreach chairwoman for the Friends of Greenfield Dance.