To all Greenfield residents! (and forward to all Greenfield residents you know)

Here’s the crux:

When: Come this Tuesday, October 1st at 7:00pm for our LAST CHANCE to enact the Safe City Ordinance in Greenfield. We can do this, but we need you!

Why: Show up to demonstrate Greenfield’s solidarity with immigrant communities and attend the City Council meeting.

Wear: Wear blue to show your support for the Safe City Ordinance.

Come to the Greenfield High School Cafeteria!

Tuesday, October 1st at 7:00pm

Greenfield High School Cafeteria, 21 Barr Avenue

Greenfield, MA

How to Support:

  • Show up! Gather with other Safe Cities Supporters at 6:30pm before the City Council meeting begins at 7:00pm. By preparing yourself to stay till the end, we will show greater strength.  The override vote might happen at the end of the agenda. But we need to make our presence felt from the very beginning.
  • Spread the Word. RSVP and share the for the council meeting with your local networks, if you’re on Facebook. Ask three friends to write to the council and come with you to the meeting.

Our Message:

  • The Greenfield City Council must override Mayor Martin’s veto of the Safe City ordinance. Here’s why you should support the ordinance.

Here’s the longer story (if you want to know more):

As many of you know, in July, the Greenfield City Council made a historic decision, with a 10-3 vote, to adopt an ordinance designating us a “Safe City.” This means that no city employee may demand the immigration status or documentation of someone seeking city services, and city employees will not do the work of ICE. In a Safe City, *ALL* members of our community can feel safe calling the police or paramedics and seeking other necessary services. Families won’t be torn apart because someone was involved in or even witness to a traffic accident, noise violation, or needs to register their dog. 

Unfortunately, the Council’s historic decision was called into question by one of the councilors who voted yes, and the vote was reconsidered at the August meeting. But it passed yet again, with no councilors changing their votes! 

And then the mayor issued his veto, claiming that Greenfield is already a Safe City due to his 2017 executive order. The mayor is wrong. The executive order applies only to the police, and is only good as long as the mayor feels like keeping it in place. The ordinance, on the other hand, covers all city employees, and is not subject to the whim of a current or future mayor. 

This Tuesday (October 1), the Council will vote on whether to override the mayor’s veto and confirm, once and for all, that Greenfield is a Safe City. While most councilors have pledged to be at the meeting and vote consistently with their previous votes, this is not assured, and we’ve heard that several councilors are wavering. In particular, some people have called attention to the fact that supposedly opposition outnumbered – or at least outspoken – supporters of the ordinance at the August city council meeting. We must be louder. We need you. WE CAN DO THIS.

Here’s other steps you can take to help:

  • Write to the city council at towncouncil@greenfield-ma.gov. You only have to write one email – it will go to all councilors. Urge them to vote to override the Mayor’s veto. Contacting your precinct councilor and the at-large councilors personally is also a great thing to do.
  • Come to the City Council meeting this Tuesday, Oct. 1st at 6:30pm at Greenfield High School Cafeteria.
  • Sit in front
  • Speak out
  • Carry signs
  • Wear blue
  • Spread the word. RSVP and share the for the council meeting with your local networks, if you’re on Facebook. Ask three friends to write to the council and come with you to the meeting. 

We need to be a VOCAL and VISIBLE contingent that the Council can’t ignore. 

We’ve been here before, but we won’t be here again. If the Council doesn’t override the veto, this years-long effort dies. Greenfield will be known as the city that caved in to a loud, fearful minority, and refused to be a welcoming and safe community to all its members. Let’s not let that happen. See you Tuesday!