Article revised Friday, July 14, 10 p.m. with an updated quote from Truc Nguyen.
West Stockbridge — Before a crowd of about 20 West Stockbridge voters in Town Hall, Select Board candidate Jon Piasecki addressed local issues with residents who clamored for respect and peacefulness among today’s population, as well as affordable housing, curtailment of traffic violations, and government transparency.
“I’m [running for office] because, in my opinion, the state of the town has declined to such an extent that it requires an attempt to make it better,” he said. “I’ve solved lots of stuff and I would like to give it a try.” Piasecki previously served West Stockbridge on its Conservation Commission and Planning Board.
A graduate of Harvard and Cornell universities, the 56-year-old marijuana farmer said he seeks to resolve a schism that exists in the community between longtime older residents and newcomers to the area, with that division falling along class and racial lines. He said that break is illustrated by the tie vote in the May 8 election that forced the special election set for Monday.
Piasecki referenced the ongoing issue between the resident owners of Truc Orient Express Restaurant, including forum moderator Truc Nguyen, and The Foundry, with the former filing complaints alleging the sound emanating from the entertainment venue has repeatedly been over allowable decibel limits but without consequence by town officials. He said that selective enforcement of town regulations “is problematic” and that he will push for respect among townspeople and officials.
Piasecki said residents don’t have a good grasp as to how the permitting process works on the local level and advocated the town sponsor a document to help citizens understand the concept in addition to what they can and cannot do on their property.
But at least one attendee pushed back and said the “divide” isn’t that great, with native residents and transplants having similar goals for the town, a town that both sides “love.” The resident, who requested to remain anonymous, said, “We all raised our families together. I just don’t know how it got to this point.”
Citing his opponent’s chairing of the Select Board as a “holdover” official in the interim between the town’s prior election—that did not define a clear winner—and the upcoming election to break the tie, Piasecki said incumbent Kathleen Keresey remains unelected but sets the meetings’ agendas, a “misuse of power” and akin to serving as a town mayor instead of a board member with equal footing to the other dais participants.
As part of his agenda, should he take office, Piasecki said he would consult with the Town Director of Public Works Curt Wilson to determine whether West Stockbridge has ownership over Route 41 and research options to curtail speeders including limiting the weight of trucks that can travel on the roadway or even banning those trucks who are not en route to do business in the town. He said he may also look into the possibility of law enforcement using an electronic ticketing system that would free up officers as well as generate income for West Stockbridge.
To offset individual property taxes, Piasecki said he would search for alternative sources of funding the municipal government including adding an electric vehicle charging station that will bring in travelers to dine and shop while their cars are charging.
Citing the space occupied formerly by Rouge, he said that vacant restaurants are “a problem we need to solve.”
Piasecki urged residents to attend Select Board meetings and to vote on Monday. “When town government fails, you have no recourse but the legal system,” he said. “Please turn out to vote.”
Although the meeting was communicated to be sponsored by “Voters of West Stockbridge,” when asked what the group is, Nguyen said “someone set [the session] up and asked me to help handle the event.” She declined to name the contact. Piasecki said that he opted for a debate, but Keresey declined, so some of the town’s citizens wanted the meet-the-candidate format that ensued.
The Berkshire Edge requested a statement from Keresey as to her absence from the event. “Last week I was contacted by a town employee and was told that a ‘Meet the Candidate’ event had been scheduled for Wednesday the 12th at 6:00 p.m. at the Town Hall,” Keresey stated. “I was given no advance notice of this and as I had another commitment, I said that I could not attend. There was no alternate date offered.”
Keresey continued, “Additionally, I had a ‘Meet and Greet’ previously scheduled at the home of Nick Spain and Michael Bolognino on Saturday the 15th from 9:30-11:30 at 11 Albany Rd. We ask that people park in the SOMA parking lot, as far away from the business as possible.”
