Peter J. Most is a member of the California, New York, and Massachusetts bars, practicing complex business litigation. He has been living with his family in Great Barrington since 2018, practicing law remotely.
In Ms. Davis and Mr. White, you had two candidates asking for your votes based on their demonstrated dedication to worthy issues, their established record of performance, and promises to work hard for the Berkshire Third.
I asked BHRSD Superintendent Dr. Peter Dillon what it would mean if we failed to rehabilitate MMRHS. He responded with a Winston Churchill quote: “We shape our buildings; thereafter, they shape us.”
Until August 20, Great Barrington, West Stockbridge, and Stockbridge had common cause and were rowing in the same direction. And then Stockbridge decided to jump ship.
To give you an idea of just how poorly advised Lee has been, it can be said without reservation that even Great Barrington’s town counsel would not have filed the action Lee brought against GE and Pharmacia.
Law firms, and lawyers, provide a service. If you are not happy with the service, you should find another service provider. Repeatedly, Great Barrington Town Counsel David J. Doneski has provided questionable service to the town.
No one should celebrate driving away from a tire store with one new tire when the full set needs to be replaced. Sure, it helps, but you will not get to where you need to be in the long run.
Two things are becoming increasingly clear. One, based on the facts and law, it is downright dopey for Great Barrington not to settle in its Community Impact Fees cases. Two, the town has persistently received bad counsel.
The dirty secret to running a utility is that if you can run it into the ground, greater riches will be bestowed. HWW’s managers have been running this play to the extreme, giving an absolute master class in how doing nothing can be inordinately profitable.
Although the world has a dreadful history of rejecting others, their ideas, and customs, it is nonetheless disappointing that our slice of Eden is not immune from such distrust.
If there is going to be any serious debate at Town Meeting, it is likely to occur in connection with consideration of Article 13. This article requests the town approve an expenditure of $150,000 for the planning-and-design phase for improvements to the ramshackle Ramsdell Library.
To address our housing crisis, we need lots of dollars and some sense. Addressing the misuse of Census data in our housing acts will not raise taxes, but it might raise some roofs.
