GREENFIELD — Roughly five minutes before the 5 p.m. application deadline on Tuesday, Crossroads Cultural District Committee Co-Chair Charlotte Treiber submitted her application for the seat left vacant by former At-Large Councilor Penny Ricketts.

Treiber joins four other candidates — Mpress Bennu, Sara Brown, Stephanie Gale and Thomas Bledsoe — all vying for Ricketts’ seat following her resignation last month. City Council is expected to vote on its selection after Committee Chairs picks its finalists at its Oct. 1 meeting.

Treiber, in an interview Wednesday, said she was inspired to apply for the position because of a series of “positive changes” that she has noticed within the community. Specifically, she mentioned Police Chief Todd Dodge’s appointment and the redevelopment of the former Wilson’s Department Store on Main Street. Treiber said she was also inspired by the “Everything Greenfield” Facebook page and some of the complaints that are aired there.

“People air a lot of grievances that I believe have very tangible solutions and I’d like to be a part of pioneering some of that change,” Treiber said. “Things like ‘Do we need to repaint this crosswalk, how do we improve traffic safety by the school,’ things that people are bringing up all the time.”

If she is selected to serve on the council, Treiber said she would brainstorm ways to improve youth programming, as well as programming for veterans and retired citizens. She said she hopes to collaboratively seek improvements for the city’s schools and help develop disability-accessible infrastructure and housing.

Treiber, who founded the city’s monthly Arts Walk and co-founded the Main Street business MadHouse Multi-Arts, said she wants to develop diverse and accessible housing and grow the local economy by searching for ways to attract those from neighboring towns to Greenfield.

“My interest in local government is a continuation of my commitment to helping communities thrive through collaboration, mutual benefit and proper support. I’m constantly inspired by the people I meet in Greenfield, and their desire to make it a better place,” Treiber wrote in her letter of interest to the city. “I believe my track record of improving current systems and building new ones can provide valuable insight to the council, and can be applied to areas outside of arts and culture such as schools, infrastructure, emergency services, housing, harm reduction and public programming.”

Other candidates

Brown, the Valley Housing Co-op co-founder and president, announced her application for the at-large seat during last week’s City Council meeting, citing environmental preservation and housing as two of the main issues she wishes to help tackle as a councilor. In her letter of interest, Brown said she wants to work collaboratively with other councilors and engage with constituents to work toward the city’s “long-term success” and sustainability.

Bennu wears multiple hats in the community, serving as chair of the Human Rights Commission, Franklin County Rotary Club president, Moving Mountains CEO, and Greenfield Savings Bank Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) analyst and community outreach officer. She submitted her application on Sept. 10, and said she decided to run for the vacant seat to promote unity in Greenfield and bring a sense of community to the city.

A 25-year Greenfield resident, Gale formerly served as director of resource development, community engagement and marketing at United Way of Franklin County (now United Way of the Franklin & Hampshire Region), and more recently as a pretrial service coordinator for Youth Services Inc. in Brattleboro, Vermont. She said she hopes to help facilitate “open and transparent” communication between municipal departments.

Until his retirement in 2022, Bledsoe was the founding CEO of the Housing Partnership Network (HPN), a collaborative of the nation’s leading nonprofit affordable housing developers, lenders and service providers. Bledsoe said he hopes to help the city develop a mixture of both commercial and affordable housing properties; assist with the city’s effort to rid the former Lunt Silversmiths property of groundwater toxins; and get involved with plans to create the east-west rail to foster economic development.

More information about Brown, Bennu, Gale and Bledsoe was published in the Sept. 25 edition of the Greenfield Recorder.

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.