I’m not running for mayor.
My wife would kill me.
If I did run for mayor, this would be my platform:
COURT SQUARE: The street between Town Hall and the Town Common would be permanently closed to vehicle traffic. Retractable barricades will be installed that can be moved in case of emergency and for plowing/clean up. Farmers Market style booths will be all year-round.
SUMMER SUNDAYS: Every Sunday from Memorial Day to Labor Day all of Main Street from Bank Row to Conway Street will be closed to vehicle traffic from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Food trucks, kiosk vendors, traditional stores will all be open. Funding to finance removable awnings for inclement weather will be raised. Bands and other entertainment will be engaged.
SIDEWALKS: Sidewalk rules will be enforced. If you have bushes overgrowing onto the sidewalk, you’ll get a letter and 72 hours to clear the path. After that, the town DPW will clear the path and you will be billed for their time at their actual cost (including benefits).
SIGNS: A full inventory of all signs on town property will be generated. Responsible parties for all signs will have 60 days to appeal their removal, after that they will be removed and discarded. This sign cleanup will occur annually on or before June 1. Greenfield will use all resources available to take down and keep down any billboard signs — including those grandfathered under current law.
RIVERS: Rivers will be prioritized. This includes directing discretionary spending such as Community Development Block Grants toward making our waterways more accessible and prominent. Greenfield will support non-invasive sporting on the river, including removal of existing dams for easier navigation.
CITY PARKS: Each park owned by the town will have a Saturday devoted to it. The town will find ways to incentivize citizens to attend these Saturday events. The Parks Department will get substantially increased funding.
OVERTIME: Funding for OT in all departments will be slashed. Correct hiring to negate the need for overtime will be supported, and non-critical tasks will be postponed. Departments that continue to struggle with overtime costs (reviewed weekly) will need to attend public meetings and justify the additional costs to constituents.
TAXES: Greenfield should set a split tax rate and any business of any size that is not legally headquartered inside Massachusetts will be assessed at a higher rate.
GPS: Greenfield should renegotiate contracts with the Teachers Association. The goal is not to reduce teaching costs, rather to smooth out year-to-year inconsistencies. All starting teachers will earn a substantially higher starting salary. Cost of living increases should be abandoned. Step increases will be smoothed, reducing the # of steps and increasing the top salary. Top salary earners will have increased responsibility commensurate with their pay. Greenfield should negotiate away the massive one-time retirement payouts, replacing them with monthly payments spread over the course of a year. All “paid time off” should be settled at the end of each school year and reset for the following year. School funding should prioritize experiential learning, including required field trips to local museums and attendance at local town meetings.
FCTS: Greenfield should partner with the tech school instead of trying to keep students away. Every eighth-grade student will visit Franklin County Technical School, and paperwork will be sent home with every parent. Guidance counselors should be trained to support tech education for students that have those interests and career goals.
CHARTER SCHOOLS: Charter schools, in order to continue to be supported by our community must work to server our whole community. They should not exist in isolation. Mandatory monthly cross-training events between all local schools should be supported. Public parks used by charter schools will be made more visible and accessible to the remainder of the community.
COMMITTEE AND SUBCOMMITTEE MEETINGS: Committee meeting should always have refreshments funded by the town. Coffee, tea, fruit, veggies… healthy local choices to incentivize the public to attend. Meetings need to be promoted more. Door prizes? Whatever it takes to get people to start showing up.
This is just a start…But I’m not running for mayor.
Chris Joseph is a resident of Greenfield.