Pete

The City Council committee chairs met last week (as they do every month) to set agendas for all of the Council’s September meetings. I’m watching the recording as time permits over the course of the day today https://youtu.be/omht6suZB7M?si=9Wd7FE-ECOoTHnNF

#GreenfieldMA

Committee Chairs of The Greenfield City Council September 2, 2025

YouTube
Sep 8, 2025 at 10:00amWeb
Show threadPeteSep 8, 2025
Apparently we’ve got a new assessor? I was going to say it feels like there has been a lot of turnover in that role, but that’s kind of been the case with *every* city department the last few years.
Show threadPeteSep 8, 2025
Rough time of year for a new assessor to be taking office… as noted by several folks in this meeting, discussions around setting the tax rate (heavily influenced by property assessments) need to happen in the next two months.
Show threadPeteSep 8, 2025
Some discussion about talking with the Greenfield Business Association, with Chair Wondoloski noting that they have been getting a number of questions from the public about "empty storefronts."
Show threadPeteSep 8, 2025
General consensus (and the Clerk's opinion) is that whatever committee the issue is before should be relatively set on what the want to bring forward to the full council and then hold the public hearing on that, because if they make substantive changes to the proposed motion, they would need to hold another public hearing on it before it can be considered by the City Council for a vote.
Show threadPeteSep 8, 2025
Councilor Golub notes here that she always does public comment, so people have a chance to speak up early in the process.
Show threadPeteSep 8, 2025
And it sounds like whatever these proposals are will be discussed at the joint EDC/Planning Board session this week.
Show threadPeteSep 8, 2025
There a couple of zoning ordinance changes (the details of which I don't currently have) coming up for discussion, and there is some interesting back-and-forth here between Councilor Golub, Councilor Garrett, and Clerk Scott about the timing of required public hearings, committee review/discussion, and the bringing of motions to the full City Council for a vote.
Show threadPeteSep 8, 2025
Seems like this month's meeting of the Appointments & Ordinances committee will be a good one to catch—lotta stuff on the agenda for discussion (and would then move on to public hearing), as well 4 items that have already had their public hearing. There are a bunch of other items that are getting pushed to October as well.
Show threadPeteSep 8, 2025
Interesting. They're on the topic of the Community Relations Committee's joint discussion with the Community Engagement Subcommittee of the School Committee, and Councilor Bottomley notes that two of the members of that subcommittee are running for re-election this November. He says it could be perceived "as political" and suggests deferring until November (after the election).
Show threadPeteSep 8, 2025
The relationship between the City Council and the School Committee is *so* fraught right now, and it seems like a real problem.
Show threadPeteSep 8, 2025
Clerk Scott is talking through some of the old history of the Community Relations Committee, which was originally the Community Relations & Education Committee. It sounds like it had representation from the schools because of the very sorts of communication issues and related bad feelings that the city government is dealing with currently.
Show threadPeteSep 8, 2025
Councilor Bottomley mentions that the City Charter clearly separates the powers and responsibilities of the Council and the School Cmte and he is concerned about muddying that separation. He also notes that when they do have joint meetings or form ad hoc committees, it is usually to solve a specific issue. These concerns are quite similar to those raised by SC Member Goodwin at the August Community Engagement Subcommittee meeting.
Show threadPeteSep 8, 2025
TBH I'm confused as to whether we are talking about an official joint meeting of the two groups, or just members of the SC subcommittee being invited to the CC committee meeting.
Show threadPeteSep 8, 2025
…and *also* TBH, it feels like they are all making this a lot more complicated than it needs to be. I get that there are policies and procedures to be followed and that powers are separated for a reason, but it also seems like municipal bodies engaged in similar and related work ought to be able to talk to one another without all of this fooferah and furrowing of brows.
Show threadPeteSep 8, 2025

Bottomley: "I just think it's a bad idea… The characters that are involved here were all involved in the budget debates."

This following Councilor Golub's comment that the discussion should be about specific topics and that they shouldn't avoid talking because it's election season.

Show threadPeteSep 8, 2025
Councilor Golub returns to her concerns about the effectiveness of the proposed meeting and any discussion therein, noting that whoever they talk to now on the SC might be gone after the November election. She asks Chair Wondolowski if there is a reason to do this now rather than waiting until after November. Councilor Bottomley is continuing about "perceived overreach."
Show threadPeteSep 8, 2025
Personally, I'm having a hard time watching this discussion and not thinking that this sort of thing is *exactly* why the relationship between these two municipal bodies is so bad right now.
Show threadPeteSep 8, 2025
And not for nothing, but it sounds like the role and purpose of the City Council's Community Relations Committee is not even well-defined right now, and that the committee is looking at rewriting the definition.
Show threadPeteSep 8, 2025

Alright, so now they have decided to defer the rewriting of the Community Relations Committee's purpose to some undetermined time in the future, and then probably to have some further informal discussions about specific areas of collaboration with the School Committee Community Engagement Subcommittee, and Chair Wondolowski will let the Clerk know as to whether the topic stays on the CRE agenda or if that *also* get deferred.

This has been a kind of crazy but also revealing conversation.

Show threadPeteSep 8, 2025
That brings us to the Ways & Means . Committee, which is chaired by Councilor Bottomley. He wants to invite DPW Director Paul Newell, it sounds like to talk about building maintenance, possibly at the transfer station, although it's a bit unclear from the conversation here.
Show threadPeteSep 8, 2025
State Senator Jo Comerford will be at the September meeting of the City Council. They're planning to wave the rules of procedure when the senator arrives.
Show threadPeteSep 8, 2025
Other than some potential changes depending on what comes out of discussions at the Appointments & Ordinances Committee meeting, the agenda for the September City Council meeting is basically set.