I got a look at the list of people who have thus far taken out papers from the Clerk’s Office to run for local office this fall here in Greenfield.
We should keep in mind that the fact that a person has pulled papers (the term of art for taking out nomination papers) doesn’t mean they’ll end up on the ballot. They still need to collect the required number of signatures, submit them to the City Clerk’s office by the deadline (end of July), and get them certified. However, it does provide a reasonably good indicator of the shape of the field.
Four people running for mayor is kind of bananas, although it makes sense given the various controversies that have surrounded the Mayor’s office the last few years. Roxanne and Ginny have already announced their campaigns, so no surprises there. The other two—Stephen Snyder and Kenneth Thomas—are not names with which I am familiar. All I was able to find about Snyder’s campaign was a Facebook post announcing he had taken out papers. As for Kenneth Thomas, I have been unable to find anything about him anywhere online. Both were on the voter rolls as unenrolled as of 2022.
On the City Council, there are 6 seats up this year: Precincts 1-4 and the two (of four) at-large seats currently held by Phil Elmer and Christine Forgey. P1 is currently held by Katherine Golub, P2 by Dan Guin, P3 by Ginny Desorger, and P4 by John Bottomley.
In Precinct 1, Katherine Golub is not running for re-election (more on that in a bit). Emily Ballard has taken out papers to run there. In Precinct 2, Dan Guin (currently the Council President) has not yet taken out papers to run for reelection. However, David Moscaritolo does look to be running. Moscaritolo currently serves as vice-chair of the Public Safety Commission.
Ginny Desorger is currently the Precinct 3 City Councilor, but she is running for mayor. Michael Mastrotaro is running to backfill the P3 council seat. Meanwhile in Precinct 4, John Bottomley is collecting signatures to run for reelection. Precinct council seats require 50 signatures to get on the ballot.
Neither Phil Elmer nor Christine Forgey have taken out papers to run for reelection to their at-large Council seats. Wahab Shabae Minhas, Jesus Leyva, Katherine Golub (currently serving as Precinct 1 councilor), and Michelle Allenby have all pulled papers to run for these two at-large seats. If all four are able to collect the required 100 signatures and get them certified, it looks like we will have an actual contest on our hands for Councilor At-Large.
So far, none of the precinct seats looks to be contested. However, candidates have until July 25 to submit their nomination papers and collected signatures to the Clerk’s Office, so there is still some time for additional folks to enter these races.
Over at the School Committee, the three seats currently held by Chair Amy Proietti, Secretary Susan Eckstrom, and Jean Wall are up for election this year. Proietti is running for reelection but so far, neither Eckstom nor Wall has taken out papers. Stacey Sexton, Ann Childs, and Emily Piper are also running for these seats on the School Committee. All four candidates will need to collect 100 signatures and get them certified in order to make it onto the ballot.
As for the rest, Ann Mayo and Debbie Richards are both running for reelection to the Jennie Bascom Fund. The third seat there is currently held by Maria Burge, who does not look to be running for reelection. Meanwhile, Charles Green has taken out papers to run for the Board Of Assessors. That seat is held by current chair Joe Ruggeri. These seats all require 25 signatures to get on the ballot.
Again, the deadline for submission of nominations papers with signatures for certification is not until July 25, so there is still time for additional candidates to enter the field. However, while the signature requirements are not super-high, the more time that passes, the less chance there is for new candidates to collect the required numbers (100 for mayor, at-large City Council, and School Committee, 50 for City Council precinct seats).
Uncontested races—which currently look to be likely for the Precints 1-4 City Council seats—can increase the likelihood of write-in candidates. That is how Precinct 7 councilor Jasper Lapienski, P9 councilor Derek Helie, and at-large councilor Michael Terounzo ended up on the City Council, although no one was on the ballot for any of those seats in 2021.
The general election is set for November 7 this year (the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November on a year ending in an odd number). If there are more than two candidates on the ballot for any seat—or more than twice the number of candidates for any set of multiple seats like at-large councilor or School Committee—then we will have a preliminary election on September 12 to narrow the field. So far, the mayor’s race is the only one where a preliminary is a possibility.
The list of every local position that will be on the ballot this fall can be found here. If you’re looking for the details of all the election-related dates and deadlines, you can find that info here. Not sure which precinct you’re in? Check the Greenfield precinct map.