Last Wednesday, April 19, I came home after the City Council meeting the John Zon [Community Center] and did a little homework. As [School Committee Chairwoman] Amy Proietti had said early on, Medicaid monies that were owed and belonged to the Greenfield schools, instead went into the general funds (not for the first time). Mayor RoxannWedegartner indicated that her office gave this money to the schools. However, if it wasn’t hers in the first place, how does that compute? Was she being obtuse? How can you give something to someone when it already belongs to them?
Also, I looked at the mayor’s budget for [fiscal year 2024] which is available at the city website, and on pages 60 and 61, Public Safety and Education are listed. The Police Department with 30-plus employees will receive a 11.65% increase; Fire, with 13-plus employed, 11.05%. For all of the Education departments, not just the 190-plus teachers, 2.57%. Frankly, the difference between both the percentages and the number of employees being supported doesn’t seem very equal. After the mayor finished speaking and taking questions, a number of townspeople who had signed up, spoke. All of the first group (I had to leave at the 8:30 p.m. break) were well prepared with notes, and very articulate. Although speaking about the same subject, they were not repetitive. I learned as I left that the mayor had not stayed to listen to their comments. I think this was both rude and disrespectful and shows how little the mayor cares about listening to what her city is telling her.
Diana Roberts
Greenfield