GREENFIELD — By 4 p.m. on Tuesday, roughly 20% of the city’s registered voters had cast their ballots during the biennial election at Greenfield High School — a voter turnout rate that had already doubled the total percentage at the close of September’s preliminary election, but with four hours of voting still to go.
Outside the high school, organizers arrived in droves Tuesday morning, carrying signs and setting up tables in the parking lot.
“I’m excited to see all the energy here at the polls,” commented Precinct 4 City Councilor John Bottomley, noting the environment’s “positive energy.”
With six School Committee candidates vying for three seats with four-year terms, as well as ballot Question 1 to determine whether to authorize the city to sell the 53 Hope St. parking lot to a developer, City Clerk Kathy Scott said voter turnout saw a significant jump compared to September’s numbers.
“We had roughly 8.7% [voter turnout] at noon, which is fine. I always aim for higher,” Scott said Tuesday afternoon. “Ballot questions bring them in. It’s a known fact in the clerk world that if there’s a ballot question on your ballot, you’re going to get a higher percentage.”
There are six City Council candidates running unopposed this election, with the exception of Precinct 9, where Councilor Derek Helie is running a write-in campaign for reelection against ballot candidate Max Webbe.
Most of the voters leaving the polling location explained that they were particularly passionate about both the School Committee race and Question 1.
Although he preferred not to share his opinion on the School Committee race, voter Luke Remick said it was important for him to vote to rescind City Council’s July decision to declare the Hope Street parking lot as surplus and allow Mayor Ginny Desorgher to sell it to a developer.
“The School Committee race and the lot were probably the main concerns for me. I don’t feel like we need to sell that lot. I think there’s plenty of other places that can be renovated for housing, a lot of empty buildings. Why not use those? Why destroy something that’s valuable when we have other areas that are ready to be reconfigured and used again,” Remick said. “I just wanted to put my two cents in [on the race for School Committee], because I personally don’t have any children, but I know a lot of people who do. I listen to their gripes and make my best decision from that.”
Expressing frustration with the level of public discourse used to debate the Hope Street issue, voter Sean McHugh said he, too, wanted to vote in the contested School Committee race as well as vote “no” on Question 1.
McHugh said he voted in favor of the slate made up of Elizabeth DeNeeve, Jeffrey Diteman and Adrienne Craig-Williams, as he believed they were more “student-focused” rather than “budget-focused.” He added that he simply wanted to put to bed the Hope Street lot debate.
“I’m so excited to not have to think about this stupid parking lot ever again after today. … I voted for this City Council to make decisions, and if every time there’s one that someone doesn’t like, they throw out a referendum like this. It’s just such a waste of everyone’s time,” McHugh said. “Two parking lots that haven’t been in use for roughly five years now are not doing anyone any good. We have a perfectly good parking garage right next door, and it’s not like people have been circling the block for the last five years.”
Although the Hope Street lot has brought about significant debate, taking up lengthy portions of numerous City Council meetings and acting as the centerpiece of a League of Women Voters televised debate, At-Large City Councilor John Garrett — a pro-housing advocate — said he was glad to see the issue spark public discourse.
Garrett also spoke of Question 1’s ability to drive voter turnout, noting that as of last week, the city had received approximately 400 mail-in ballots.
“No matter what happens, we’re going to still be a community,” Garrett said. “Probably the best part of this has been the chance to have discussions with our neighbors. I’ve been on the common every Saturday, and it’s just amazing how many folks come up and just want to know what’s going on and are trying to figure out what’s best for the future. I do believe that’s what this is really about — people want the city to get better, we just disagree about how to do it.”
