GREENFIELD — Brickett Allis, currently the Precinct 3 city councilor and an elected official in town for 18 years, is intending on running for mayor this November. 

Allis, a Greenfield native who has served in municipal government since he was 19 years old, plans on making a formal announcement around the end of the month. At that time he will lay out his full campaign that will be set on correcting the path Greenfield has been taking in recent years and finding a more fiscally responsible way to control taxes. 

“The direction has gone in a way that I feel is off-track to where we should be,” Allis, 38, said Tuesday. “We need to get back to providing the things we’re supposed to be providing to the residents, and we need to get our house in order before we start doing things that government really doesn’t need to be doing.” 

Allis is the second person in the race to decide who will replace three-term William Martin, who has indicated he won’t seek re-election. Roxann Wedegartner, the longtime chairwoman of the Planning Board and former head of the Greenfield School Committee, last week announced her bid for the four-year job. 

While Wedegartner’s formal announcement came prior to Allis making his own plans widely public, it was Allis who filed first with the state’s Office of Campaign and Political Finance. 

In July, Allis submitted the necessary paperwork to begin collecting campaign contributions; Wedegartner filed her forms in January. Neither potential candidate has raised campaign money yet, aside from an administrative $40 Allis received from a bank when starting up his account. 

He said he wanted to have the ability to raise money in case he chose to do so. It wasn’t until recently that Allis was ready to announce his candidacy, after he said he finishing doing his due diligence regarding financial and personal matters. 

Allis tapped Wanda Muzyka-Pyfrom, the current Precinct 4 City Councilor, as the treasurer of his fundraising campaign. Pyfrom is typically allowed to act as the treasurer of a campaign as an elected official.

The Office of Campaign and Political Finance and the state’s Ethics Commission do not comment on specific cases. There is no particular rule with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance against a sitting elected official serving as a treasurer of a fundraising campaign. Generally, based on the Ethics Commission laws, conflict of interest laws do not prohibit an elected official as serving as treasurer of a political campaign, but it may restrict the types of actions an official may engage in. 

Mark Smith, the current mayor’s chief of staff, is listed as the chairman of the fundraising campaign. As long as he is not fundraising directly and not handling paperwork for Allis, as an employee of Greenfield, he and the campaign should remain in good standing with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance and the Ethics Commission. 

Smith said despite his relationship with Allis, he’s not treating Allis any differently than other councilors.

“I have the same working relationship with every councilor and I think it speaks for itself,” Smith said.

Allis said he selected Smith because they have become close friends and because he appreciates Smith is straightforward and honest. 

“Mark has a job to do in town and that job is not to do anything with my campaign,” Allis said. 

For Allis, whose term is up this year like five other of his fellow councilors including Pyfrom, the decision to run was made following hearing from his constituents and close supporters.

“They believe, and I believe, I have what it will take to make sure the town gets onto a better path than we’ve been on,” Allis said.

He said that while Greenfield is a wonderful city, he has seen it in the last decade or so take a wrong turn. 

Martin has been in the executive since 2009 and was the second mayor for Greenfield following Christine Forgey. 

Allis said based on his conversations with city employees, morale is “really suffering,” and he has plans he will lay out that will address this. 

Additionally, Allis pointed to rising taxes, from residential to commercial to industrial, saying Greenfield needs to “get ourselves on a real stable  financial footing.” 

Nomination papers won’t be available until late April. If more than two candidates run for mayor, as anticipated, there will be a primary election in September, followed by the general election in November. 

You can reach Joshua Solomon at:

jsolomon@recorder.com

413-772-0261, ext. 264