By CHRIS COLLINS
(Greenfield, MA) — Greenfield’s first mayor is now its new chief budget writer.
Greenfield City Council President Penny Ricketts has announced that she has named former Mayor Christine Forgey, now an At Large Councilor, as the new chair of the Ways and Means Committee, which deals primarily with budget and financial matters. Forgey takes over for Precinct 7 Councilor Otis Wheeler, who served in the post last year while also doing a stint at Vice President.
Joining Forgey on Ways and Means will be Councilors Ed Jarvis, Virgina DeSorgher, John Bottomley and Doug Mayo. Desorgher will chair the Economic Development Committee, where she will be joined by Ashli Stempel Rae, Norman Hirschfeld, Phil Elmer and the aforementioned Wheeler. Dan Guin will once again chair the Appointments and Ordinances Committee, where he will be joined by Jarvis, Elmer, Tim Dolan and new Council Vice President Sheila Gilmour.
The Community Relations and Education Committee will be chaired by Doug Mayo, and will include Stempel Rae,
Wheeler, Hirschfeld and Dolan. Ricketts said she realizes she’s asking people to, in some cases, serve on committees which weren’t their first choice, but believes this is the best alignment to ensure that the people’s business gets done efficiently.
“I did not take this job lightly at all and did my very best,” Ricketts wrote on social media when announcing her picks..