Tag: Annual Town Meeting

Take this quiz and then come to the Great Barrington Town Meeting to find out how your psychic abilities stack up.

The key thing about the gas tax bill is that it forces towns to have “discipline” since gas tax money can only be spent on roads and bridges.

“The Finance Committee is an advisory board. I prefer to choose my own advisors rather than have them chosen for me by three people.” -- Mark Bachetti

Cardillo expressed his desire to serve as a selectman, and his hope that he will be re-elected at a special election. “I feel I have the support of the town, but we have to go through all this, for the same result,” he said.

In his letter to the editor, Rich Bradway writes: "To say that our Select Board is working outside of the law or is not being transparent is either a lie or an accusation that is not backed up by facts."

We are grateful that the [CPA] funds will help pay for the new slate roof for the church and parish hall as we move ahead to repair, renovate and transform the big beautiful buildings on the corner of Main Street and St. James Place/ Taconic Avenue.

The Open Town Meeting does not exist for the Town government, but rather for the governed, the people, the citizens, the registered voters of the their town, to act on all matters and subjects presented, to approve, to reject, or to amend in accord with established rules of parliamentary procedure, so that the will of the people present and voting may be accomplished.

In his letter to the editor, Berkshire Hills Regional School District Superintendent Peter Dillon writes: "In the coming months, the School Committee will start recruiting participants to serve on task forces to look at educational vision, funding and facilities. A few months later, the School Committee hopes to form a regional amendment committee to look at how the District is organized."

Dave Long of Housatonic, an outspoken critic of last year's Monument Mountain Regional High School renovation plan, and now an advocate for a systemic change to address the district’s financial and infrastructure issues, “implored everyone” to vote for the school budget. “If we start ripping apart the fabric of the schools, I think it could be disastrous,” he advised.

Contrary to what critics claim, the town’s budget over the last 7 years has only risen at the national inflation rate: about 2 percent. Even more surprising: in real terms -- controlling for inflation -- operating expenses have remained “essentially flat,” according to Finance Committee member Michael Wise.

"In order to adopt [at the Annual Town Meeting] a formal requirement affecting a regional school district...an amendment of the applicable school district agreement would be required.” -- Town Manager Jennifer Tabakin, reading from Town Counsel opinion

"The vote on the the regional school budget is about an investment in the future, not a witch hunt." -- Finance Committee member Leigh Davis