Berkshire County The race for Berkshire County’s Third District seat in the State House of Representatives just got a bit more competitive. Stockbridge Select Board member Jamie Minacci threw her hat in the ring on March 9, joining fellow Select Board member Patrick White and Great Barrington Selectboard member Leigh Davis in the Democratic primary. Lenox Select Board member Marybeth Mitts will face the winner in the November election as an independent candidate.
Minacci recognized the rarity of the opportunity to occupy the seat that will be vacated in January by 20-year veteran William “Smitty” Pignatelli. “What really prompted me was that no one’s talking about economic development, the need to bring in partners, to really bring good paying jobs so that younger people can get jobs and buy homes and have a living wage,” she said. “Housing’s important, but I think it’s the second tier.”
She added that infrastructure—roads, bridges—is not being talked about. “We need to have equitable monies come our way, to the Berkshires, so that we can survive and keep the Berkshires on the map,” Minacci said.
She also cited the need for healthcare providers, an issue Minacci experienced firsthand after being given a six-month wait for an appointment with a medical specialist. “This is impossible,” she said of the Berkshires’ healthcare needs. “How do elderly people navigate this? We need more in the Berkshires.”
A native of West Stockbridge, Minacci graduated from Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Mich., with a degree in public health education. While in college, she was honored as a member of a health education professional fraternity, interned at a Michigan hospital, and received a national award for her research in the profession.
Minacci’s work resume includes 15 years as a special education teacher, as well as serving as the recording secretary for the Great Barrington Selectboard. In addition to the Stockbridge Select Board, she is a member of the town’s Land Trust, Conservation Commission, and the Stockbridge Bowl Stewardship Commission, chairing the latter group. Minacci has also spent almost a decade as the Stockbridge representative to the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority Advisory Board. As an AmeriCorps volunteer in Great Barrington, she focused on affordable housing.
Minacci said she is intent on keeping “the Berkshires heard” by having “a voice on Beacon Hill.” “I listen, I am thoughtful about all issues, and I do my homework,” she said. “I never make a decision quickly or without enough information.”
The mother of three grown children, Minacci said those young adults have left the Berkshires “because they can’t earn a living here, and I think that’s [the same] with many young people.” She added, “That’s something that would be great—to keep some of our young people here, that they want to stay here.”
