In this issue: vol. ii no. 4 06/04/2025
Priorities for the Coming Year
The Select Board is the glue that holds the Town together and helps frame the priorities and positions we will together address.
By Patrick White
Challenges and Opportunities
Priorities for the Next Year
As is tradition, we rotate the chair of the Stockbridge Select Board each year. A new year begins with the completion of town elections, and tomorrow night is my turn. I would like to provide you with insight into the opportunities and challenges we face as a town.
Before I do, I'd like to explain my vision for the leadership role of the Select Board. It is our job to work collaboratively with both elected and appointed town boards, to ensure that goals are clearly defined and realistic, to manage deadlines for work completion, to carefully spend taxpayer money, and to deliver completed projects on both scope and budget. In this way, process is as important as outcome.
Your Select Board doesn't operate in a vacuum. We take an oath to uphold and implement the decisions of Town Meeting, as well as the laws of the Commonwealth and the United States of America. We work with a capable staff in Town Hall, who are by definition apolitical in their staff roles. The Select Board is the town's executive; as such, it is the glue that holds the Town together and helps frame the priorities and positions the Town will address.
As the Town's elected executive, our authority flows from free and fair elections. I thank you for twice voting for me, the second time with record turn-out and votes. I work for you. That said, I don't only work for the voting full-time residents. You see, in the United States only 2% of homes are second homes. In Stockbridge, that number is around 50%. While the law vests more rights with full-time residents than part-time ones, it is important to me to reinforce a culture where all voices are heard, where we encourage participation, where we never treat any resident, homeowner, or stakeholder as a second-class citizen whose voice matters less.
I've said over and again that I believe the best idea should win. After five years in this job, it never ceases to amaze me how much knowledge, wisdom, and creativity comes from you. I am not afraid of ideas, and in fact I have benefitted tremendously from your wisdom. Sometimes it reinforces our positions, other times it changes our minds. I encourage you to show up and support an idea or challenge it. Either way, decisions will be made. Make your voice heard.
Challenges and Opportunities
Land Use and Affordability. This category encompasses so much. How do we decide what land to conserve? What is the appropriate role and scale of development? How to we ensure we can afford our taxes while preserving the character of the town? Should we embrace the Seasonal Communities designation? These are decisions you will need to make. I plan to facilitate this conversation.
Town Meeting approved the creation of an affordable housing trust several years ago by a margin of approximately 10:1. The Trust is the policy of the Town. That said, we now, as a community, need to decide what types of housing we will prioritize. Should we embrace Seasonal Communities, since it likely will increase the Area Median Income cap to at least 150% from the standard 80% for most subsidized housing? Can we live with Seasonal Communities' mandates, requiring us to have bylaws for tiny homes and undersized lots for full-time residences as a condition of enjoying these benefits? Should we preference municipal employees, such as teachers, town hall workers and public safety officers? Should we focus on workforce housing, low-income housing, or both? Should we consider regionalizing our trust? This isn't up to me: you should decide these questions. Let's have these conversations together.
Public Safety. Both Stockbridge and West Stockbridge have approved a merger of our fire departments with a focus on ambulance service. We will be tasked this year with drilling down to develop a detailed construction and hiring plan. As some of you may know, I began an additional part-time job about a month ago as the Chief Financial Officer of Southern Berkshire Ambulance. I have been immersed in this operation ever since, and plan to bring these lessons to the conversation as we develop our plan.
I've also been involved in a second project, in partnership with Lenox and Berkshire Regional Planning that we've dubbed the Emerald Necklace. Two years ago, I attended the White Pines annual meeting, as I have now for five straight years. You may not know this, but White Pines has a large Orthodox Jewish Community that does not drive on the Sabbath. These residents asked me to explore ways to make the walk from northern Stockbridge to Lenox safer. With Marybeth Mitts of the Lenox Select Board, we approached BRPC and MassDOT Division 1 and received a grant to study the question. A year later, when I announced the grant, the White Pines meeting erupted in applause. That work is now nearly complete, and our consultant will present the findings to our Town's stakeholders in early July. Let me just add that walkability does not necessarily mean adding sidewalks to our rural roads. Hugh Page and our Highway Dept. do a fantastic job maintaining grass walkways on the sides of our rural rounds. I'd like to formalize these efforts as a townwide policy to keep our roads safely walkable, to reduce the chance of a tick bite while brushing up against tall grasses on the side of the road, and to maintain our rural character.
Stakeholders and Partners. I've worked hard to build relationships with leaders of our nonprofits, including the BSO, Norman Rockwell Museum, and many others. I was pleased that as a result of these efforts, we were able to maintain the Josh Billings Race in Stockbridge. We enjoy strong relationships with our nonprofit partners, and I welcome the chance to strengthen them further.
In the past year, we also formed our Stockbridge Mohican Commission. Chaired by Tribal Liaison Sherry White and me, we continue to work together on initiatives to strengthen our ties and the relationship between our peoples. I look forward to continuing to build upon this progress with the descendants of the region's indigenous inhabitants.
Environmental Stewardship. We've made some great strides in environmental stewardship over the past five years. We revived both the Kampoosa Bog Stewardship Commission and the Agriculture and Forestry Commission. The Town and its partners have permanently conserved hundreds of additional acres in Stockbridge. We recently adopted the specialized stretch code at Town Meeting that reduces the energy consumption of new home construction. This year, I'd like to see us facilitate the strengthening of how these and other boards work together. I would also like us to pursue a grant for a top-down review of our bylaws to ensure they reflect best practices for land use decisions.
Historic Preservation and Celebration. Town Meeting approved two significant investments to celebrate our history: The creation of a Revolutionary War Memorial that we hope to install in 2026 and funding for our year-long celebration of our nation's 250th anniversary. With regard to the latter, ideas please! Let's celebrate our nation and our Town as creatively and with as much public enthusiasm as we can muster.
I was at the Town Green twice today, once to meet with the Mohican Tribal Historic Preservation Officer and a second time to review the work we are about to complete renovating Berkshire Waldorf High School's Old Town Hall, where I serve as the Chief Financial Officer. In between these two meetings, I attended the BWHS student chorus' concert at Heaton Court. What an amazing performance! These students bring so much to the Town, and with Old Town Hall nearly complete, we've pulled off what many folks told us we never could. I feel a quiet pride in being a part of the team that wouldn't take no for an answer.
Management Improvements. Inside Town Hall, there are several projects I would like to champion this year. One is the digitization of our records. A second is improvements to our town website. I'd love to hear your thoughts on how the town could improve its delivery of information.
As the chair, I do plan to return Public Speak to each meeting's agenda and I plan to add it to the beginning of each meeting. Not everyone likes to sit through a meeting just to have the opportunity to raise an issue. I want to hear from you. If you have a compliment, a concern, an idea, whatever it is you feel a need to say. This is your Town and your government. You shouldn't have to ask my permission as the Chair to speak what's on your mind.
Monument Mountain Regional High School. On November 4th, you will decide if you want to invest in a new academic and vocational high school to replace the aging MMRHS. I plan to make sure you have a steady stream of information so that you can make an informed decision. Kudos to the BHRSD School Committee for their tremendous work on this project. In just 150 days, the voters will decide.
And so much else... The median age in Stockbridge is about 25 years older than the state average. We will look at every way possible to ensure you can age in place, stay in Town, and get whatever support services our elderly need to live life to the fullest.
We will also work to move the multi-year Lake Mahkeenac dredging project finally to completion. Tremendous progress has been made in the past year, with a goal to bring a proposal to Town Meeting for 2028 dredging. This is a project that's been discussed for nearly two decades. With the voter's approval, I am fully confident we will finally get this done.
Well, my dinner is getting cold so I will stop here. Suffice to say, while we have a full plate, we also have a great team in place, be they volunteers, staff, and partners, to accomplish these goals. It's a great honor to be able to serve you and to help make a great town even better.
Warmly,
Patrick White
Stockbridge Select Board
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The Reader: Pass It On!
Previous posts
To view previous posts, click here: www.berkshirereader.com/resourcecenter.asp
vol. ii no. 4 06/04/2025
Priorities for the Coming Year
The Select Board is the glue that holds the Town together and helps frame the priorities and positions we will together address.
By Patrick White
vol. ii no. 3 03/09/2025
Hidden Motives
I cannot imagine every running for office outside of Stockbridge again.
By Patrick White
Upcoming Webinar on the Housing Crisis
The webinar is sponsored by The Berkshire Edge and is Wednesday, March 12 from 9:30 – 11am.
Monument Mountain Funding Solutions
Perhaps there are additional strategies to fund a new high school beyond property taxes. Here are three ideas.
By Patrick White
Tanglewood Jobs
There are lots of jobs available for the Summer 2025 season.
Last Thoughts: Nuclear Pittsfield
The Berkshires have been worried about being a target of a nuclear strike our entire lives.
vol. ii no. 2 02/23/2025
Municipal Budget Season
It is important to build consensus as the foundation in good municipal budgeting.
By Patrick White
Predicting Trump's Impacts on Local Governments and Economies
Local governments will be financially impacted by the unfolding changes in federal funding.
By Patrick White
Do Ambulance and Fire Belong Together?
Stockbridge and West Stockbridge plan to roll out a new shared service in 2027, with a combined fire and ambulance station.
By Patrick White
HWW: Great Barrington Joins Stockbridge's Motion for Enforcement
The towns are working together to keep Housatonic Water Works on schedule for the implementation of a manganese filtration system.
By Patrick White
Four Proposed Changes to Massachusetts Taxes
While it takes revenue to fund local government, all proposals do not share the same merit.
By Patrick White
What Price a Mountain?
Article 97 conservation lands are protected by the Massachusetts Constitution. Let's not cut down our forests to achieve our climate goals.
By Patrick White
We May Lose the Josh
Working behind the scenes, a number of us have made the case to keep the Josh Billings Runaground Triathlon in Stockbridge.
By Patrick White
Speaker's Corner: On Anmore and America
A comparison of local government in the Berkshires to a small town in British Columbia on the west coast of Canada.
By Joerge Dyrkton
Former Chair in the History of European Thought, Oxford University
Last Thoughts: Overcoming Division
Last week, Stockbridge had a mini-crisis over a fake social media posting related to the recent Fishing Derby on the Bowl.
By Patrick White
vol. ii no. 1 01/09/2025
Stockbridge Forests
According to old forest guru Bob Leverett, Stockbridge is #1 in a key measure of forest presence in all of Massachusetts!
By Patrick White
Scam Alert: EZ Pass
Don't fall for email or text messages claiming you owe money to EZ Pass.
My ADU Comments
I submitted the following comments on Accessory Dwelling Units to Housing Secretary Ed Augustus, which the Legislature made by right with the passage of the Affordable Homes Act.
Zoning Appeals Litigation Changes
The Affordable Homes Act (AHA) includes a provision similar to a "loser pays" rule for litigation related to zoning appeals.
Housing Affordability and Economic Growth
I came across this paper on the economic impacts of housing shortages. It's a solid read that is relevant not just to the top metropolitan areas of the country, but rural areas such as ours.
Tiny Homes Don't Need to Be Ugly Homes
Here are some images that might serve as tiny home eye visual candy. I could live in one of these!
vol. i no. 4 12/26/2024
Solving the Rental Crisis
An increase in Section 8 vouchers is a critical strategy toward improving the availability of rental units in Berkshire County.
by Patrick White
New Firehouse: The Inside Story
How Stockbridge plans to negate the tax impact of a new firehouse.
Soap Update: Mohican Soap in Stockbridge
Here's an example of how we can strengthen the economic ties between the Mohicans and the Berkshires.
vol. i no. 3 12/19/2024
The Case for a Seasonal Community Designation
Here's why Berkshire municipalities should work quickly to be designated seasonal communities.
by Patrick White
Strengthening Ambulance Service
Housing availability will be a key driver in the success of emergency medical service regional solutions.
Gift Drive Results
You all were responsible for buying nearly 150 gifts for these communities and brought a lot of smiles to folks this holiday season.
vol. i no. 2 12/12/2024
Fire and Flood
What can we do to mitigate the impact of forest fires? Keep trails clear of debris during dry spells.
by Patrick White
Holiday Gift Update
During this holiday season, please support these efforts to give to those in need.
vol. i no. 1 12/1/2024
Introducing The Reader
MMRHS: By the Numbers
Approximately 50% of high school graduates in South County either do not attend or do not finish college. With its significant investment in vocational offerings, this proposal is far better than the original.
Historic Stockbridge Mohican Commission Launches
The purpose of the Commission is to foster reconciliation via practical initiatives and common ground.
Egremont Tackles the Affordable Housing Crisis
Taken together, Egremont is using CPC to kickstart funding for affordable housing, and then augmenting these public funds with market incentives designed to empower private-sector individuals.
Join Us in Helping Our Neighbors!
Throughout these centuries, the holidays remind us that small acts of kindness nurture the soul of the individual and the character of a people.