North Adams City Council Will Seat Victor Early

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A new city councilor will be seated within a week of getting elected this November.

The City Council on Tuesday night unanimously approved a recommendation by council President Alan Marden to more swiftly fill the seat left vacant by former Councilor Clark H. Billings through the general election on Nov. 3.

Fifteen candidates, including eight incumbents, are vying for the seats handed to the top nine vote-getters. The newest councilor will be the non-incumbent polling the most votes. Any other new councilors will be sworn in at the first of the year with any incumbents re-elected.

Councilor Gailanne Cariddi said she had been approached by a couple people who didn't want to run but were interested in filling in until the new council was elected.

"I thought it should be that the voting public should fill the seat," said Cariddi. "I think that the public is served best by a full council."

Councilor Ronald Boucher agreed: "If you have a 4-4 vote it's essentially no vote."

Marden said there are only three meetings before the election, and another three afterward. The council is usually sworn in the first week of January.


Billings resigned his seat effective Aug. 29, the same date he retired from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. He hadn't attended a meeting since May.

The council also accepted a communication from Susan Chilson, president of the North Adams Teachers Association, stating the city had not lived up to the council's desire for open dialogue over the festering health insurance issue.

Chilson, speaking as a representative of the North Adams Public Health Insurance Committee (created by the city's three unions last year in anticipation of joining the state's Group Insurance Commission), said the committee had had one meeting with the city's attorney that went nowhere.

The unions allege the city has been underfunding its self-insurance plan by more than a $1 million over the past few years, effectively raising the raising the employees' premium above 30 percent. Mayor John Barrett III rejected the allegations raised at a City Council meeting in July.

Chilson said the unions wish to see the current state of the so-called insurance trust fund to determine if the city is meeting its obligations.

The council also gave approved the second reading of an order authorizing the mayor to borrow $680,000 toward a school feasibility study.
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Armed North Adams Man Arrested Following Domestic Standoff

Staff Reports

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Matthew Parker, a 44-year-old North Adams man, is set to face multiple counts of attempted murder and weapons charges in Northern Berkshire District Court on Friday morning following an hours-long, armed standoff at a Houghton Street home.

The defendant is being arraigned for:

  • Domestic Assault and Battery
  • Assault with the Intent to Murder (3 counts)
  • Carrying a Firearm While Under the Influence of Alcohol (3 counts)
  • Possession of a hi-capacity firearm (4 counts)
  • Improper Storage of a hi-capacity firearm (2 counts)
  • Improper Storage of a firearm (6 counts)

According to a report, on June 10, at approximately 8:42 p.m., officers responded to 365 Houghton St. following a report of a domestic assault and battery. The caller said she and her husband had been involved in a physical altercation.

She said her husband was intoxicated, making suicidal statements about shooting himself, and had access to both a shotgun and a pistol.

Upon arrival, officers made contact with both the caller and Parker. During the encounter, Parker threatened to shoot officers before retreating into the home and refusing to exit.

Officers believed that Parker was armed.

To ensure public safety, police established a perimeter around the home and requested assistance from the Berkshire County Special Response Team (SRT) and North Adams Police crisis negotiators. The Brien Center was also contacted and promptly provided an emergency mental health clinician to assist with the incident.

Special Response Team personnel deployed drones to monitor the residence and provide aerial illumination. During the operation, officers saw Parker exit the house carrying a rifle. He pointed it at the drones, stated a report. Parker subsequently pointed the rifle toward several officers positioned behind their cruisers. After officers attempted to de-escalate the situation, Parker returned inside the residence.

Trained crisis negotiators maintained communication with Parker for several hours in an effort to peacefully resolve the situation. At approximately 2 a.m., Parker ceased communication with negotiators.

Drone operators later observed Parker unconscious in a recliner on the first floor of the residence, with a rifle and shotgun on the floor nearby.

Members of the Berkshire County SRT then executed a coordinated operation. Diversionary devices were deployed through a window while an entry team simultaneously entered the home, secured the firearms, and took the defendant into custody.

A search warrant was executed after Parker was in custody. North Adams Police seized four shotguns, six rifles, two handguns, and thousands or rounds of ammunition from the home.

During the operation, one SRT member sustained a minor injury related to a less-lethal bean bag deployment. Parker also sustained non-life threatening injuries during the arrest and was transported to Berkshire Medical Center for medical evaluation.

"We thank the community for its patience and cooperation throughout this incident, particularly residents in the affected area who complied with temporary shelter-in-place requests," Police Chief Mark Bailey said.  "The North Adams Police Department extends its sincere appreciation to the agencies that provided mutual aid and assisted by handling calls for service during this incident. We are especially grateful to the Berkshire County Special Response Team for its professional and decisive response, the Brien Center for the rapid deployment of a mental health clinician, and our crisis negotiators whose efforts helped maintain dialogue and contributed significantly to the safe resolution of this incident."

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