Since announcing my candidacy to represent Precinct 9 on Greenfield City Council, I’ve met many neighbors to learn about the issues they care most about. I hear a resounding call to lower property taxes and bring back Greenfield’s once thriving downtown. Folks want housing they can afford, solutions for our homeless population, funding for our schools and senior center, more local opportunities for our students and stronger connections to their neighbors and community.
I envision a future where Greenfield is home to a thriving downtown, and where residents can afford a comfortable and secure life. I believe smart development that maintains our city’s character, while also expanding the tax base through additional housing and promoting Greenfield as a positive place to bring businesses, is key to achieving this vision. Like many in Greenfield, I have worked in public education, and I will advocate for the necessary funding of our Greenfield public schools. We must ensure our kids are equipped for the vibrant future we hope to create, and that our city is ready to support and welcome them as they grow.
A cornerstone of a strong city is a strong community, and I have invested in fostering community relationships since arriving in Greenfield. I founded the Greenfield Trash Pick Up Club, a citizen sanitation initiative that has contributed to the beautification of public park spaces. I’m a team lead in Franklin County for signature collection for the Rent Stabilization Campaign, which aims to directly impact the affordability of housing. Additionally, drawing from my experience as a DCR State Park Interpretive Ranger, I brought Mass Audubon’s Rescue Raptor’s campaign to Greenfield to protect wildlife from rodent poisons. I rallied community support for the Trans and Gender Non-Conforming Sanctuary City Resolution, and am currently collaborating with others on a Precinct 9 neighbors network. I support single-payer health care and the Make Polluters Pay resolution. I’m committed to working together as a community in a healthy and collaborative environment that honors different perspectives from my own.
It’s on this note of inclusive community that I’d like to share what happened at an event on Sunday, Sept. 14. I was hosting a Rent Stabilization Campaign kickoff event when one volunteer mentioned that School Committee candidates were speaking next door at Smitty’s Pub. I walked in with a friend, a Greenfield native, to hear what they had to say. I listened as the School Committee candidates spoke, and then heard Derek Helie, the current Precinct 9 councilor, announce his write-in campaign to seek re-election despite previously supporting my bid for the position.
As Helie spoke, a member of the crowd saw my friend — visibly queer and wearing a mask and shouted that they were filming the gathering. A wave of panic seemed to sweep through the room. My friend was confronted and told to leave, while someone else pointed to me, and said, “There’s Max!” Though my friend de-escalated the situation somewhat by showing their phone to the crowd, tension remained high, and Councilor Helie suggested I should have a chance to speak. I accepted and gave a summary of my platform and perspective, and though afterwards people shook my hand and expressed appreciation, I was also told to leave this public space by someone in the crowd.
Reflecting on the atmosphere in Smitty’s, the alarm I saw on those faces was all too familiar to me. It appeared that folks felt like their safe space had been invaded by people who didn’t understand them, and a sense of distrust and anger was palpable. At a time when political tensions are running high, and as a trans person from a conservative working-class family in Texas, I know how it feels to be intimidated and excluded. While it is no longer an option for me to live in the place I called home, Greenfield has welcomed me to settle and grow here. It was disheartening to see the same polarization dividing my home state provoking conflict and stifling community relationships in Greenfield. Regardless of political affiliation, I hold empathy for the discomfort, even fear, that can be felt during times of change.
As a city councilor, I will invest in the conversations and human connections that allow us to meet one another as neighbors. We cannot allow fear to prevent us from being in community and building the thriving Greenfield we all want and deserve. Please visit my website https://maxforgreenfieldp9.com/ to learn more, sign up for my newsletter, and reach out at any time, and remember to vote on Tuesday, Nov. 4!
Max Webbe is a candidate for Precinct 9 city councilor in Greenfield.