GREENFIELD — Although he had previously decided against seeking reelection to his Precinct 9 seat, City Councilor Derek Helie has had a change of heart and has launched a write-in campaign for a four-year seat in the Nov. 4 biennial city election.
Helie, who announced his run at a campaign event for Greenfield School Committee candidates held at Smitty’s Pub last month, explained he received numerous calls from constituents requesting that he run again. He said he ultimately decided to launch a write-in campaign because he believes City Council is in need of greater ideological diversity.
“A lot of constituents and citizens of Greenfield reached out to me wondering why I wasn’t running again. They really were concerned; they wanted a different voice on the council to represent a whole community that might be underrepresented,” Helie said. “With budget concerns, income sources and tax issues, it’s going to be a tough four years. I just think the city would benefit from having me there to represent the whole city, rather than a select group of people.”
Helie, who has served on City Council since he was first elected as a write-in candidate in 2021, works as a senior project manager at One Development & Construction LLC. He currently serves as chair of the Economic Development Committee, where he advocated for downtown business initiatives, including the creation of a Parking Benefit District.
Describing himself as having a more fiscally conservative view on municipal spending, Helie said he hopes to, if reelected, advocate for practices that will grow the city’s stabilization accounts, rather than deplete them. He said he hopes to bring long-term strategizing into the city’s planning process.
As the city transitions to using more green energy under the state’s Stretch Code requirements, Helie added that he hopes the council will consider the negative consequences that local clean energy building codes might have on the costs of development in Greenfield.
“There’s other communities that haven’t even adopted the latest Stretch Code that you’re seeing a lot more development in, because they’re not really worried about the financial burdens of meeting that green energy code,” he said. “As we’re pushing harder and harder to become a greener community, what’s the effect it’s going to have on the cost of developing housing? Which is a major issue in Greenfield.”
Discussing the city’s goals to build more housing, Helie said he believes the city should work to produce zoning ordinances that promote the growth of accessible housing, as it will, in his view, support the city’s aging population while potentially making room for younger families to move into single-family homes.
“I think our biggest housing issue is we have so many people in Greenfield who are elderly, who still live in a four-bedroom home, three-bedroom home, and they can’t find anywhere accessible to move to, so they’re just staying at their home and modifying their home — those are great homes for young families,” Helie said. “If you provide more accessible housing for the elderly, they will move out of their old houses. They will sell them and you’ll get younger families moving into those neighborhoods.”
Precinct 9 candidate Max Webbe, who attended the campaign event at Smitty’s Pub where Helie announced his run, said he was surprised by the councilor’s decision to launch a write-in campaign for reelection.
Webbe moved to Greenfield from Houston, Texas, roughly five years ago, leaving behind his job as a music therapist to work a number of roles in nature as a gardener, landscaper, Department of Conservation and Recreation park ranger, and Atlas Farm store clerk. He has named housing production and conservation as key priorities in his run for Precinct 9.
Webbe said he spoke to Helie at length about his run for City Council and explained that the councilor offered him advice on serving, as well as his support.
“It was definitely a shock. When I first pulled my papers and got my signatures certified and realized I was running uncontested, I made a point to meet with [Helie]. I sat as his home with him for an hour and half talking to him. He signed my papers,” Webbe said. “He has offered his support, he’s offered his knowledge, he’s offered anything that he can to help me in the position that I’m running for.”
Describing Helie as a kind person for whom he has no “ill will,” Webbe said he and Helie spoke amicably and respectfully on the phone after the councilor announced his run for reelection and came to “a good place” in their conversation.
Webbe noted that despite their mutual respect, the two have different opinions on a few key issues, such as the city’s support of legislation that would implement single-payer health care and a “Climate Change Superfund,” both of which Webbe supports and Helie voted against at City Council.
“[Helie] is a well-known figure and the reason people asked him to run again is because he has the community’s back and he listens to them,” Webbe said, “but I think that there are some concrete differences in the way.”