By KENNEDY GRIFFIN
(Greenfield, MA) Update: At Wednesday’s City Council meeting the Mayor said she made a mistake with her veto; “sometimes you don’t have all the information you need sometimes you don’t reflect on it long enough.”
In November’s Greenfield City Council meeting, the Council voted to reduce the Mayor’s allocation of $2.5 million from Free Cash to Capital Stabilization to $2.2 million with the hope that the Mayor would use the other $300,000 to fund teacher contracts. The Mayor did not agree with the amendment and vetoed the order. The Council overrode her veto and appropriated $2.2 million to capital stabilization.
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Greenfield Mayor Roxann Wedegartner has vetoed City Council’s vote for $2.2 million to be transferred from free cash to capital stabilization. In November’s City Council meeting, the councilors voted to amend the financial order from $2.5 million to $2.2 million with the recommendation that the Mayor move the $300,000 difference into contract stabilization to show support for city employees, including teachers who are in the middle of contract negotiations.
Although the Mayor was not present at Tuesday’s City Council Committee Chairs meeting, City Clerk Kathryn Scott and new Finance Director Dianne Schindler were in attendance and spoke with the Mayor about the veto. Scott and Schindler expressed their belief that while the Mayor disapproved of the reduction to the financial order, the Mayor does still want the Council to take action to transfer funds into the capital stabilization account.
The City Council can override the veto with a two-thirds vote, or nine votes. If the City Council does not override the veto, none of the original $2.5 million will be moved into capital stabilization from free cash without a new financial order from the Mayor.
The next City Council meeting will be held on December 21st at 6:30 p.m. at the John Zon Community Center, also accessible via Zoom and GCTV.