I first met Lora Wondolowski when she, as president of the Greenfield City Council, supported turning a vacant downtown parking lot into housing. We met to process our surprise that a ballot initiative had been snuck in at the last minute to block housing in favor of an abandoned parking lot, and to strategize; we had 60 days to defeat the ballot measure. 

I watched Lora go to work: she collaborated with other community leaders and housing advocates, they canvassed, wrote in the paper, went on online forums and explained that a housing study had just come out from the UMass Donahue Institute that said that Franklin County needs 4,000 more units of housing in order to thrive (we need housing for our workforce, for employers to come here, for young people to stay here). The Healey-Driscoll administration has declared housing to be the number one priority of the commonwealth.

Housing passed in Greenfield. It passed because of the coalition of leaders, the measured data driven argument for it, and the willingness of Lora and other leaders to go door to door and talk to neighbors.

Subsequently, I watched how Lora united the City Council, which has been historically a divisive cohort. She listens, she collaborates, and she has the support of every city councilor I have spoken to.

Lora has a history of community organizing: she’s worked for national organizations like the National Audubon Society and the League of Conservation Voters.  She’s also worked at the state level as the founding executive director of the MA League of Environmental Voters where she strategized to pass landmark legislation on Beacon Hill for Green Communities: the programs that got us affordable insulation and heating systems.

Lora also ran Leadership Pioneer Valley where she built the leadership skills and community connections for more than 370 leaders throughout the Valley. She believes that leadership is about building coalitions and forwarding policies that move the needle. She has proven that she can get legislation passed on Beacon Hill, that she cares about this district, that she will listen, and that she will collaborate. How else will we move forward?

As a downtown homeowner and former business owner, I want to see a thriving, bustling, radiant downtown Greenfield. We need a state rep. who will fight for funding for us on Beacon Hill. That person is Lora Wondolowski.

Amy McMahan lives in Greenfield.