The Special Joint Committee on Redistricting has unwisely recommended that Greenfield be split into two legislative districts in its latest maps on redistricting the state. Below is my response. If like me, you vehemently oppose this please let the Special Joint Committee know. You have until Monday, Oct. 18, at 5 pm to go to https://malegislature.gov/Redistricting/Contact and complete their email form for comment.
Greetings, Senator William N. Brownsberger, Representative Michael Moran and Honorable Members of the Redistricting Committee:
I attended your hearing on Tuesday, October 12, 2021 and want to thank all of you for the very hard work you had to do on redistricting our entire state. These are never easy tasks to be given and it appears that you worked tirelessly on it.
On September 16, 2021, as Mayor of the City of Greenfield, I sent a letter to your committee stating my opposition to being redistricted into the region represented by the Honorable Representative Susannah Whipps, whose district already includes Orange and Athol. Athol and Orange are lovely towns, but they are towns that share a community of interest with each other, not with Greenfield, and have a combined population greater than the City of Greenfield. Combining these two regions dilutes the voice of both and forces a representative to potentially short change one to satisfy the other. The Town of Athol agrees and has also made it very clear to the Committee that they, “do not wish to be lumped in with Greenfield.” Instead, I stated our preference would be to be in a district represented by Honorable Representative Natalie Blais. Even better, I offered that you could create a single Franklin County District that includes the City of Greenfield as its cornerstone, given that we are the largest municipality in Franklin County, and share many more interests with our Franklin County neighbors to the west and south.
I now have learned that your proposed solution is to split the largest municipality in Franklin County into two House districts represented by both Honorable Representative Whipps and Honorable Representative Blais. As Mayor of Greenfield, I vehemently oppose this configuration. Frankly, it makes no sense. I’d be very curious to know who out here thought it was a good idea, given that Greenfield has never been split between two House Representative Districts. Over the years, we have been quite lucky to have strong and effective legislative advocates in both the House and Senate chambers. As we consider the potential for future district placement we grow concerned that our voice and the priority we are currently given could be in jeopardy.
In no way does giving us two representatives make us stronger. On the contrary, it only divides us and makes us weaker. I strongly encourage you to rethink this plan in a way that does not split the largest municipality in Franklin County. The City is one of the few in Franklin County and Western Massachusetts to gain population in the latest census. Are we being punished for that growth? We are the community that provides multiple local and state services to all the residents of Franklin County.
Based on your hearing on Tuesday, October 12, 2021, it appears that you have done a great deal of thinking about how to create districts in the Eastern part of the State and in Springfield and Holyoke that are more racially diverse or at least maintain majority Hispanic or majority Black voters. I applaud your commitment to creating more equitable representation where it is needed. All the more reason why splitting the City of Greenfield into two districts makes no sense as we have the larger share of Hispanic, Black, and Asian populations in the County, followed closely by Montague, and no others in our area.
Your presentation today offered no rationale for splitting our city into two districts. I’m left to wonder now if it’s because our racial diversity is part of the makeup of our entire city and county, and you were unable to create a district that fit into one of your three categories: Majority Black, Majority Hispanic, or Majority Minority Opportunity, given the population numbers. You are by now surely aware that the vast majority of Franklin County and many, if not most, neighboring towns, including in Hampshire County, are made up of majority white populations. While I am happy that our Greenfield demographic continues to change to a more racially diverse population, it will be a long time before we can “compete” on a racial equity basis with Holyoke, Springfield, or the many, many cities and towns in the Eastern and Central parts of Massachusetts which you mentioned in your presentation on Tuesday.
What I can tell you is that Greenfield is a welcoming and progressive community. Here’s how we do diversity and inclusion when elections roll around. Our City Council President is a black woman who’s been reelected to Council for several terms; our Council currently and formerly has LGBTQ Councilors, one who also served as President; our Council has had Hispanic representation in recent years; our School Committee currently has a gay man seeking reelection. His chances of winning again are quite good.
Once again, I ask you and the esteemed members of your committee not to split this City, but rather to put us into a district with the Honorable Representative Natalie Blais or create a western Franklin County district that has Greenfield as its cornerstone. I have offered you one suggestion on how to create that district in my September 16 letter; there are undoubtedly others.
Roxann Wedegartner is the mayor of Greenfield. The letter is printed as she sent it to the Redistricting Committee.