I’m writing to express my support for Kathleen Keresey’s candidacy for The West Stockbridge Select Board. I have lived and worked in the Berkshires for ten years and lived in West Stockbridge for the past seven years. I’m an artist and the Technical Director of TurnPark Art Space, a sculpture park, gallery and event venue in West Stockbridge. I live right in the center of town and I love it here. In the years following our opening, guidance and support were hard to find. Within a couple years we had a new town administrator and a new select board. Since then I have received professional and helpful guidance and support from the Select Board, the town administrator, the Chief of Police and the Director of the DPW. Open communication has made it possible for TurnPark to grow within this great town and have a real cultural impact on this community. Kathleen Keresey is a big part of that open communication. She has always been available to give me unbiased and good advice in my efforts to navigate our place in this community. During Covid she obtained a major grant for town businesses to receive things like tables, chairs, heat lamps and tents so dining and cultural programming could be done outside. It helped so many people. Just last week Kathleen’s first annual town meeting as Select Board chair went mostly without controversy. The crowd was civil and the mood was nowhere near as tense as past annual meetings. This is healthy progress.
Kathleen grew up in this town, her family has been here since the 1840’s, she isn’t some newcomer or ambitious idealist. Being on the select board is often a thankless and I’m sure utterly exhausting job but she truly cares about this town. That’s why she is the best person for the job. I admire her for her determination and poise under pressure, her fairness, wisdom and her transparency. We couldn’t ask for anyone better.
Respectfully,
Jared Gelormino
West Stockbridge
