Trust and respect. They are two of the elements that make democracy run. And it is getting more and more difficult to see where they fit into the governing of Greenfield right now.
As everyone is aware by now, Mayor Roxann Wedegartner has reinstated Police Chief Robert Haigh Jr. The announcement was made public while she was in an executive session with the City Council explaining that she was doing the reinstatement. As the mayor said, she has every right to do so according to the ciy charter. And she does. That the announcement happened at the same time as the executive session confirmed that there was really to be no discussion of any importance between the mayor and the council about this issue. Trust? Respect?
The mayor implied in her public statements that everything would now go back to normal, albeit with a reduced budget. As a result of the still to be fully resolved Buchanan case, we now know a whole lot more about what “normal” for our department under Chief Haigh has been. We learned that not only have there been racist policies in our Police Department, but discipline has been inconsistent and often based on who a person is, not what the infraction was or its severity. We have learned of officers inebriated while on duty, officers using their position to intimidate citizens about personal issues, of seized drugs and cash being held for weeks before they were turned in to the department, and more. And we have learned that the chief’s responses to these problems have been based on who the chief was disciplining, not the type or severity of the problem. All of these issues have been verified by an independent reviewer who testified under oath. I, for one, do not think that this is a “normal” that we, as a community, should be applauding.
Neither the newspaper report, nor the official statement by the mayor, said anything about how the reinstatement of Haigh will relate to the possible public safety task force nor the audit of the Police Department that were being negotiated among Acting Chief Gordon, the City Council, the mayor and members of the public. From the look of these reports, the task force and audit are being dismissed. Trust? Respect?
And speaking of trust and respect, I am an abutter of the Lunt property and a member of Lunt Neighborhood Action. One of our members had a meeting with the mayor in July. After much discussion, it was agreed that the mayor would submit a request for $20,000 to pay for an independent licensed site professional (LSP) to review the plans for the clean-up, assist the Greenfield Health Department in this matter, and make sure that things were done properly.
The mayor was supposed to bring this request for an independent LSP, who would be watching out for the interests of the community and the city to the September Council meeting. We have recently learned that this will not be the case. We have no further explanation. Trust? Respect?
Residents of Greenfield have done their due diligence. They have done the research on both the police and Lunt issues. They have made presentations to the City Council. They have talked with the mayor about their concerns and have offered ways to resolve the impasses presented to them. They worked on the plan for a public safety task force. They requested the independent LSP. They did so with respect for the offices of the mayor and the City Council, people who were elected by us; people who are supposed to be “public servants,” who are supposed to work on behalf of the health and welfare of the residents of the community they serve. The City Council has done its best within the limits of the city charter to respond to the concerns that residents have voiced. The mayor seems intent on ignoring the good faith efforts that we have made. Trust and respect? So far, it is a bit difficult to find.
Susan Worgaftik is a resident of Greenfield.