GREENFIELD — City Council held its first reading of the proposed $70.02 million fiscal year 2027 budget Wednesday night and heard from community members who expressed their concerns over proposed cuts to emergency services, including a Greenfield business owner who credits his life to the help of first responders.
Among the speakers was Jorge Naranjo, who last month was allegedly stabbed by his son in his restaurant, Roberto’s Pizzeria on Federal Street. Naranjo said that without the quick actions of police officers, dispatchers and EMS personnel, he would not have survived.
“Thanks to them, I’m able to be here with you today,” Naranjo told councilors. “Last month, I was in my shop and I was stabbed. I was laying, and I called 911, and thank you for them. In less than 1 minute, the officers were there, and after that the ambulance came.”
On April 15, at 6:46 p.m., Naranjo called 911 and was found by police with a significant stab wound to his abdomen and another stab wound to his right arm. He was treated at the scene by medical professionals before being transported to Baystate Franklin Medical Center for further treatment. He was eventually airlifted to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield due to the seriousness of his injuries.
His son, Carlos A. Naranjo, 32, was arrested for the attack and was sent to Bridgewater State Hospital for mental health evaluation. He has pleaded not guilty.
Jorge Naranjo urged city councilors to carefully consider all the potential impacts when reviewing the FY27 budget.
“I was losing so much blood. I was fainting. I was dying. Without a quick response, I would not be here,” Naranjo said. “Please consider the police budget, not just for me, but for the safety of the whole entire city.”
Of the mayor’s proposed $70.02 million budget, $8.78 million is dedicated to public safety, including police, fire, dispatch and other departments. The public safety budget is 3% more than FY26 and represents 12.5% of the total FY27 budget.
Despite the increase in costs, however, the proposed budget includes the reduction of eight to 12 staff members across the police, fire, dispatch, information technology, energy, licensing, economic development, Council on Aging and recreation departments.
Although one community member spoke critically of the police funding and urged councilors to review the budget more in depth, the majority of public comments were in favor of the emergency services spending. Community members told councilors that proposed cuts to emergency services would have negative impacts on the city.
“Our men and our women and our folks that provide our public service to this city do a wonderful job. … I know they go to work and want to, at the end of the day, make a positive difference in somebody’s life,” said Public Safety Commission Chair Ed Jarvis, who is a former Greenfield firefighter and deputy chief. “Please don’t cut these budgets.”
Jarvis said that in the 24 hours prior to the meeting, the Fire Department responded to 12 ambulance calls, a gazebo fire at Greenfield Community College, a vehicle crash and more than 20 EMS calls. With the number of calls Greenfield’s emergency services departments receive, he said they need to maintain their current levels of staffing.
“We need to keep our budgets intact. We need to keep our men and women and all of our folks working and keep them funded,” Jarvis said.
Greenfield Dispatcher Yvonne Mumblo said being a dispatcher is a difficult job, and proposed cuts to the department would make operations even more difficult for the remaining staff. The proposed position being cut is the 10th dispatcher, who does not have a set work schedule, but shifts their hours throughout the week to cover vacations and sick time of the other nine dispatchers, allowing the department to cut down on overtime.
“We may potentially lose one of our dispatchers. This job brings me a lot of fulfillment and I have deep pride in the job that I do. Since I started here, we’ve had a hard time maintaining what we consider full staffing, more so because the job is not for everyone, and until they start the training process, they don’t know that,” Mumblo said. “The job is mentally and physically taxing. Multi-tasking is a must, as well as compassion. … Whether we have that 10th spot or not, all of our shifts must be filled with a minimum of two dispatchers on duty for each shift. Eliminating our team position would potentially increase costs due to overtime incurred when dispatchers are out.”
Greenfield Public Library Director Anna Bognolo, Greenfield Business Association Executive Director Hannah Rechtschaffen and Community Health Center of Franklin County’s Executive Director Allison van der Velden all added that having police officers stationed downtown has made a huge difference in the ability of businesses and organizations to conduct their business, and that cuts could reduce prevention and intervention services that support homeless individuals, elderly residents and other populations that need help beyond what businesses, the library and the health center can provide.
Wednesday night marked the council’s first reading of the FY27 budget, and councilors did not deliberate. They are expected to discuss and vote on the budget next month after the Ways and Means Committee completes its review and puts forth a recommendation on the budget.
