Published: 5/25/2023 6:16:59 PM
Modified: 5/25/2023 6:14:29 PM
The results of the May Greenfield City Council budget discussion seemed to be a win for everyone. The schools were fully funded. Other departments had received some budget cuts, but nothing that prevented them from doing their work. The community was very proud of the work that had been done.
And now we learn that Mayor Roxann Wedegartner has cut the $365,000 that she had promised to take from the General Stabilization and Free Cash funds to make the schools whole. Her explanation is that it was “no longer needed.”
No longer needed for what? These funds were the final piece in making the schools whole. This was a commitment that the mayor made to the School Committee and the City Council. This commitment said, if you can find the other funds, I will help make things right. Well, I guess not. It seems that the mayor’s commitment was based on the City Council failing to do its job. And when the City Council succeeded in its tasks, the mayor did not see that as the win for us all.
Perhaps the mayor’s commitments do not mean that much after all.
Susan Worgaftik
Greenfield