GREENFIELD — A race is shaping up for the corner office at City Hall after Mayor Roxann Wedegartner announced her candidacy for reelection on Monday in a bid to make up for the time the COVID-19 pandemic “robbed” from her first term.

Running for a second term “is something I’ve been thinking about since … early to mid-2021,” Wedegartner said on Monday. “From time to time, I would think about how I felt like I was sort of robbed a year and half to two good years of being mayor that I could have begun a lot of the projects I wanted to begin and be further along.”

Wedegartner, 76, took office in January 2020. She joins Precinct 3 Councilor Virginia “Ginny” DeSorgher in the race for a four-year term for mayor. DeSorgher, 71, announced her candidacy for the Nov. 7 election in March.

Prior to becoming mayor, Wedegartner served on the School Committee and the Planning Board. In her campaign announcement, she highlighted her part in the “robust downtown redevelopment strategy,” as well as overseeing the new library and Fire Station projects, continuing efforts to expand the Interstate 91 Industrial Park and prioritizing plans for the near-completed skate park.

“My plans for Greenfield continue to be laser-focused on a clear-eyed, ‘get stuff done’ approach, not one that’s vague and filled with naïve expectations,” Wedegartner wrote in her campaign announcement.

While Wedegartner said she is anxious to be there when the doors open at the new Greenfield Public Library and the new Fire Station, both on Main Street, she added that there remains “unfinished business” she wants to make progress on in a second term.

“We haven’t really cracked the housing issue yet,” she said. “We’re making good strides, but there are still some issues both about what to do with unhoused people and how to assist them … and what the city’s role is.”

Wedegartner referenced “a particularly difficult” last year, with the May 6 jury verdict in Hampshire County Superior Court that found Police Chief Robert Haigh Jr. and the Greenfield Police Department racially discriminated against former Officer Patrick Buchanan during the promotional process. Budget cuts and staffing shortages compounded those issues.

Asked whether she has a vision for moving forward and mending the relationship between the Police Department and residents, she responded that the department isn’t “necessarily held in low regard by the majority of residents.”

“What has made everything difficult is the inability to staff police shifts fully, which then slows down progress,” Wedegartner said. “The Police Department has stepped up to the plate. … We can always do better. They do always strive to do better.”

In her campaign announcement, Wedegartner said moving Greenfield forward is a “work in progress.”

“As mayor, I’m only as good as those who lead with me,” Wedegartner wrote. “I have an incredible team of leaders in our department heads who step up to the plate every day. They are ready to work alongside me to make more change for the better.”

Nomination papers

Nomination papers for the Nov. 7 election are now available at the City Clerk’s Office, which is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. The last day to submit nomination papers is July 25, by 5 p.m. Vacancies are as follows:

■Mayor, four-year term — 100 signatures required.

■Councilor-at-Large, two seats with four-year terms — 100 signatures.

■Precinct 1 Councilor, four-year term — 50 signatures.

■Precinct 2 Councilor, four-year term — 50 signatures.

■Precinct 3 Councilor, four-year term — 50 signatures.

■Precinct 4 Councilor, four-year term — 50 signatures.

■Assessor, four-year term — 100 signatures.

■School Committee, three seats with four-year terms — 100 signatures.

■A.K. Warner Trust, three seats with two-year terms — 25 signatures.

■Jennie Bascom Education Fund, three seats with two-year terms — 25 signatures.

Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne.

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