As the late President Ronald Reagan might say, “Well, here we go again.”
One month after it appeared the Greenfield City Council had made a final decision to build a new library, the issue looks like it’s headed to the ballot box courtesy of a petition filed by former City Councilor Steven Ronhave, who believes the final decision should not lie in the hands of nine city councilors.
“I’m not doing this just to stop the library project,” Ronhave said. “I believe the people deserve the right to have their say on something this important.”
Ronhave has already filed the necessary 320-signature petition with the town clerk, and expects to file more by today’s 5 p.m. deadline.
“I’m expecting that we’ll have in the high 300s when we are done,” Ronhave said. “More than enough to put it on the ballot.”
Ronhave said he’s had the help of a core group of seven or eight residents in gathering the signatures, which he said was met with some resistance, especially by city officials, some of whom used social media to discourage people from signing.
“It was a very mixed reaction, but we saw a lot of support,” Ronhave said. “People are concerned about the cost of this.”
There is a certain amount of irony about this ending up in a referendum, given how hard library supporters and city officials have worked to keep it off.
In almost any other situation, a project like this would require a Proposition 2 ½ debt exclusion to fund. That’s not the case here. It turns out the new library and a new fire station are both able to fit into the town’s existing debt structure, which is the fiscal equivalent of Haley’s Comet in terms of its rarity.
Part of the reason the city was able to avoid a debt exclusion is a $9.4 million state library grant, which Mayor Bill Martin signed this week and which will have to be sent back to the commonwealth if this effort to overturn the council vote is successful.
It remains to be seen whether Ronhave’s effort will be successful, but one thing’s for certain — if this does go to the ballot, it will be the central focus of an election which is already chock full of drama and storylines.
“As long as people get to have their say,” Ronhave said. “That’s all this is about.”
It looks like the Greenfield School Committee will remain a six-member body for at least another month.
The committee last week was unable to come to agreement on an appointment to serve an unexpired term, despite having four applicants for the position.
Another vote will be taken in May, but the fact that these guys couldn’t agree on a relatively simple appointment is telling — and may be indicative of a widening ideological split among the membership.
It’s also somewhat baffling that not one member questioned Mayor Bill Martin’s decision to unilaterally cut the budget request for next year by $1.35 million, after he spent months helping craft that spending plan as a member of the school budget subcommittee.
It’s not exactly a new experience, as Martin’s done this each of the last three years. But you have to ask yourself why the committee bothers going through with a months-long budget process, knowing the mayor is just going to plug in his own number at the end?
Maybe Martin’s successor will be able to better answer that question, but it won’t happen in time to help the budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
I’m typically not a big fan of strikes, but I’m loving this walkout by Stop and Shop’s union workers, who hit the picket lines a week ago in response to what they say is a sub-standard contract proposal for management.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Stop & Shop Greenfield’s Union Spokeswoman Taunette Greene said. “A lot of people here have been waiting for quite a while to walk out.”
And they could not have picked a better strategic time, a week before what is arguably one of the biggest food shopping holidays of the year. The resolve of the workers seems as strong as it is inspiring, and it’s great to see them sling a rock in the direction of this particular corporate Goliath — which clearly seems to care more about profits than the people who help generate them.
One more reason I’ll happily continue shopping at Fosters, but not before driving by and giving a honk of support to some good people fighting for their rights in the toughest way imaginable.