If historians ever write a book about Greenfield’s development debate, the most recent chapter would likely be titled “The Education of Rudy Renaud.”
Greenfield’s erstwhile City Council president has been taking some heat recently for the apparently unpardonable sin of trying to broker a compromise to relax certain development regulations in exchange for the votes necessary to move forward on building a new library.
“I never knew what it was like to be on the other side of the big box debate because it hasn’t really come up during my tenure, but geez,” Renaud told the Recorder’s Josh Solomon recently. “Now I know why people got so hurt and are still holding resentments from the debate over large scale commercial development.”
To quote Bruce Willis from the movie “Die Hard,” “welcome to the party, pal.”
The vitriolitic reaction should surprise no one. This is how the game is played these days. But I also think people were pretty shocked by this deal, which seemed to pop up out of nowhere. No one was more surprised than self-professed sprawlbuster Albert Norman, who seems about as bent as I’ve ever seen him. Norman called the compromise an attempt by At-Large City Councilor Isaac Mass to take the library project “hostage” by proposing to swap his vote for alterations to the French King Highway overlay and, by extension, the city’s major development review ordinance.
The sprawlbuster might want to consider rethinking his choice of idiom, because there are many in Greenfield who believe it’s Norman who has held this community’s economic development agenda hostage by opposing and helping either block or reduce the size of pretty much every large scale commercial project of this generation — all without ever putting his name on a ballot.
It’s also somewhat amazing that Norman expected to somehow be consulted when such ideas were bandied about by elected officials who are actually responsible for helping lead the community. What’s even more laughable is the attempt by Al’s Pals to demonize Renaud, who is not only an ally, but arguably the most liberal council president in the city’s history.
And it’s not like Rudy tried to broker this deal because she agrees with it. She’s clearly trying to achieve a greater good by getting the library over the nine-vote threshold it needs to pass, and sometimes in politics to get something, you have to give something up. That’s how the process is supposed to work and does pretty much everywhere else, except maybe Washington, D.C., where compromise may as well be a four-letter word.
Ultimately, the decision to change the zoning lies with the full council, which was supposed to start the clock on the process last night at a special meeting. I’m told a deal has been finalized, but I personally don’t see it passing, given the council’s split ideology.
Whether is passes or not, the experience has clearly been an eye-opener for Renaud, who seems undeterred by the political winds that have been blowing a lot of dirt her way.
“I believe we are trying to do something that is right and good and will not be swayed by meanness.” Renaud said. “Like a good friend just said, ‘sometimes you just gotta pull the trigger and chaos always precedes order.’”
Except that the chaos in Greenfield never seems to end, especially when it comes to this particular issue.
The two worst kept secrets in Greenfield politics were revealed this past week with the entrance of Roxann Wedegartner and Brickett Allis into the 2019 race to become the city’s third mayor.
Allis has yet to make a formal announcement, but is expected to by the end of the month. He informally announced his plans on the Recorder’s front page Tuesday in an article that also detailed Allis’s close relationship with Mark Smith, who also happens to be chief of staff to the man Brickett hopes to replace, current Mayor Bill Martin.
The Smith connection is a bit of an eyebrow-raiser considering that Allis has been one of Martin’s biggest tormentors, and was the co-author of a council resolution of “no confidence” the mayor, with a call for him to resign in the wake of the non-reappointment of then city Finance Director Elizabeth Braccia.
Having Smith on his team certainly will help Allis, but I’ve got to wonder how Martin is going to feel about having his top guy running point for a mayoral campaign involving one of his chief political rivals and most vocal critics.
Then there is Wedegartner, who formally announced in a small gathering held last Thursday outside the John Zon Community Center.
As campaign kickoffs go, it was one of the most top-heavy I’ve ever seen in terms of potential policy initiatives. Most times, campaign kickoffs are about using flowery rhetoric to set a tone. Not this time. Wedegartner clearly has done some thinking about how she’d like to govern, on everything from fostering improved economic development to construction of a new skateboard park, which she says will be a key focus of hers if elected.
Those who grade campaigns based solely on flash and style points will likely be disappointed by Wedegartner’s candidacy. She’s not a back-slapper-type politician, but then neither was Martin or Chris Forgey. She’s a policy wonk whose not going to be afraid to call someone out when things get testy, which is one of the things I admired most about her during her time as planning board chairwoman, and on the school committee before that.
I believe Wedegartner will be a strong candidate, but can she win? I think it depends, frankly, on who else enters the race. Though she is politically liberal and a Democrat, Roxann is still likely to have a bullseye on her back from some hard-left progressives for her decision to vote in favor of rezoning part of the French King Highway to accommodate a big-box store — the appeal of which, somewhat ironically, is expected to get its long awaited day in court next month.
Wedegartner’s strongest support will likely come from old guard Democrats and middle-of-the-road voters, and even some conservatives, which may also be the same demographic pedigree of potential Allis supporters.
The possibility that those two might split that vote could provide an advantage to whichever progressive candidates decides to enter the race. The name that keeps popping up is Precinct 6 Councilor Sheila Gilmour, who is said to be courting the support of the “Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution” group, which is an offshoot of the Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign.
I’m not sure if Gilmour has the requisite experience of Allis or Wedegartner, but as we’ve seen lately in today’s politics, ideology can sometimes be a bigger selling point than how much time you’ve spent on the governmental turf.
Could it be enough to win this time? The process of finding out is certainly going to be interesting.