Municipal government is not easy. When you make budgetary choices, they have real impact on the people you will see in the grocery store. I spent six terms on the Greenfield City Council, and I have never seen a year as difficult as this one. I served on the Massachusetts Local Government Advisory Commission, and I know that cities and towns across the commonwealth are hurting. While I think our partners at the state level could be making better decisions, I think that here in Greenfield our mayor has put together a budget that though it has cuts, works to maintain essential services.
The mayor’s budget does not pit departments against each other; there has been some modest pain all over. While a quick look at the budget shows different percentages for different departments, in many cases it is because she has identified other revenue to meet the needs of those departments. No one is going to be happy with this budget. It has nips here and tucks there, but it ensures that all the most important functions of our city government will be funded. And she has done this without coming to the property owners who already have some of the highest taxes in the state to ask for an override. That comes from wisdom. Municipalities across the state, even here in Franklin County, are rejecting overrides and regional school budgets. It is that kind of year where the taxpayers are also hurting.
As a former councilor I know that the City Council will be tempted to adjust this delicately balanced budget. That would be a mistake. The mayor has made cuts to police, fire, dispatch, recreation and many other line items already. The mayor working with the city council and our unions have worked to make changes to health insurance for all our employees. The only department that the council can add to is the schools, but to do that they will have to take money from departments that the mayor has already put on the chopping block.
I am a product of Greenfield public schools. My youngest child, a GHS senior, is the last of three all to graduate from Greenfield public schools. My wife is an educator at the Greenfield public schools. I count on the Greenfield public schools to produce a workforce that I can employ in my Greenfield business. I believe in education and I have weighed in at School Committee to make sure that we were focused on our children rather than interpersonal squabbles.
I have met with most of our School Committee members on a one-on-one basis and I know that they have the right intentions; and I know they are capable of making some very hard choices. As a former trustee of Greenfield Community College, I know first-hand that the truth is that because of demographic changes colleges across the country are closing. Those demographics don’t just affect higher education but start at the pre-K level. As hard as this year is, harder times are coming. Putting off difficult decisions now will only make the choices we need to make in the future harder.
I urge the City Council to not pit one department against another. In a community like ours every department depends on the other. The hardest thing to do in municipal government is to do nothing. It is difficult to listen to everyone’s concerns, have genuine empathy and not act. However, I am asking the City Council to be brave enough to do just that. I am asking that they recognize the sacrifices that our entire community is making with this budget, and I am asking that they pass the mayor’s budget without amendment.
Isaac Mass is a local attorney and co-owner of the Greenfield Garden Cinema.