Adams Incumbents Tout Leadership; Challengers Call for Change
 Joseph Nowak, chairman of the Adams Democrats, asks for questions as candidate Arthur 'Skip' Harrington, looks on. |
More than 60 people crowded into the meeting room at the Discover the Berkshires Visitors Center on Friday evening to hear and quiz Board of Selectmen incumbents Edward MacDonald and Joseph C. Solomon and challengers Jason Hnatonko and Arthur "Skip" Harrington.
Hosted by the Adams Democrats, the nonpartisan event gave each man five minutes to speak their peace and time for audience members to ask questions. The four are vying for two 3-year seats on the board.
Not suprisingly, the cutbacks being proposed to close a $1.5 million budget gap next year $1.1 million budget gap over two years was a prime topic. Indeed, MacDonald spent his five minutes expounding on the fiscal crisis, only at the end asking for the gathering's vote.
"As selectmen we have to do things that are unpopular," said MacDonald, describing the current situation as the worst in 80 years. "If anybody says it's easy, it's not."
Solomon, who followed MacDonald, told the crowd "don't panic." The citizens need to work together, he said, and the town should look to pooling resources with other North County communities to weather the financial storm. He said he wanted to return to the board to see some of the projects started under his term completed, such as the Summer Street reconstruction and the Jones Block rehabilitation.
Rising in alphabetical order, Harrington and Hnatonko spoke first.
Harrington, a former town building inspector and retired teacher, recognized the next few years were going to be difficult to work through. He said he would listen to constituents and work with them.
The Selectmen have to be more open with citizens, and the town departments with each other, he said, "People need to be more aware of where their tax dollars are being used."
Hnatonko, who unsuccessfully tried for a selectman's seat last spring, bemoaned the loss of jobs and stores from the once bustling downtown and the town's high tax rate, which had forced his grandfather to sell his home. As a young father, he said he wanted to work to make Adams better for his sons while recognizing the needs of its aging population.
He dismissed a recent quote he'd heard from a selectman about the town not wanting change. "Not only does the town want change, it needs change," he said.
Both MacDonald and Solomon defended their fiscal stewardship. They noted most people hadn't realized the depth of a recession that could linger for four to five years. They pointed to the incremental taxes and grants and other economic incentives the town had offered to draw and keep businesses.
 Joseph C. Solomon, left, and Jason Hnatonko listen as Edward MacDonald answers a question. |
Solomon said the biggest roadblocks to drawing big businesses and stores were transportation and population, factors the Selectmen had no control over; without jobs, younger people aren't staying. "I think Adams is doing everything it can."
MacDonald said the board was deliberating with an entity that could bring "$15 an hour" jobs to the town; Solomon said it wasn't easy find businesses and that the board needed to rely on its professional staff to guide it on economic development.
Harrington said the town needed to market the best things about Adams: the Greylock Glen, small-town atmosphere, the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail, etc. "We're not communicating what we have here ... we have the resources here that [other communities] can't get."
Adams had to plug into the technology hub in eastern New York and take advantage of the "green" opportunities being promoted by the state, said Hnatonko. "We have to think outside the box."
All four said they would work with the new town administrator, Jonathan W. Butler, and, queried by former Selectwoman Myra Wilk on their perspective of the role of the board, agreed that they should be a policy makers, not managers.
"We've been bogging down with menial staff that shouldn't be on our plate," said Solomon.
The board has been without a full-time administrator since the abrupt and controversial departure of William Ketcham in September; 27-year-old Butler was selected to replace him earlier this month but has not started yet.
"I don't want to be a town manager and I don't want to be a micromanager, which is what I think sometimes this board gets into," said Hnatonko.
 New town administrator Jonathan W. Butler introduces himself to the gathering. |
MacDonald said the Cheshire native will have a lot on his plate when he steps into the position, and while board members will help him, they also need to sit back and let him work. "With a good administrator on board, we're good.
Solomon acknowledged that the strong board "could bowl him over." "The best thing I can do is to keep the board away from him."
The candidates will meet again on Sunday, April 19, at 3 p.m. at the PNA for a forum sponsored by the Maple Grove Civic Club.
 Arthur 'Skip' Harrington
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 Jason Hnatonko
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 Edward MacDonald
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 Joseph C. Solomon
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