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 Mayor Richard Alcombright chats with chamber co-Presidents Mary Morrow and Bonnie Clark, Executive Director Judy Giamborino and Tom Loughman, a member of the board of the directors. |
Alcombright Calls for Regional CollaborationBy Tammy Daniels
iBerkshires Staff
06:21PM / Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Mayor Richard Alcombright spoke at the Williamstown Chamber breakfast at Mass MoCA. |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Mayor Richard Alcombright is looking to strengthen bonds on a regional level by reaching out to leaders in the surrounding communities.
"I'm convinced that none of our communities — none of our communities — can truly grow without acknowledging the assets and the liabilities of the communities of North Berkshire as a whole," he told members and guests of the Williamstown Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday morning. "We need to re-engage at all levels. The first step will be to build strong relationships with our North Berkshire neighbors and welcome collaborative development efforts."
He listed the Hoosic River Revival, the Berkshire Bike Path and regional transportation efforts as among issues that would benefit from cross-border collaboration.
Alcombright said he was meeting with the town managers and administrators of Williamstown, Florida, Clarksburg and Adams on Thursday to brainstorm ways to "better utilize each other." It's the first of what he hopes will be regular sessions.
"We're much more visible as Northern Berkshire," he said, than as separate entities.
More than 50 people braved the wintry weather to attend the chamber's monthly breakfast that was held at Lickety Split at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. Among them were Williamstown Town Manager Peter Fohlin, Adams Town Administrator Jonathan Butler and Councilor Lisa Blackmer.
The city's new mayor touched on some of the challenges ahead - understaffed departments, aged infrastructure, blighted housing and poverty. Property taxes have been kept low by attrition, he said. "The problem now is that we're out of options; as a community, we need to agree on what levels of public service are adequate and then deal with and accept the costs."
A growing dependence on state aid has created a double-edged sword, said Alcombright, and as the state grapples with a $3 billion deficit, communities will have to find new revenue sources.
"There are two ways out - economic growth or raising fees and taxes," he said. He's charged the City Council with finding new efficiencies and revenue streams and ways to market the area for cultural and commercial growth.
But North Adams can't do it alone, said Alcombright. Building a sense of cooperation within the city, through the engagement of councilors, boards, civic groups and the use of NorthAdamsIdeas.com, is important but it also has to happen on the regional level, as well, he said.
He's already met with U.S. Rep. John W. Olver and various regional panels, and plans to meet with U.S. Sen. John Kerry soon.
"I've also had several conversations with the governor to let him know very specifically what our hopes are for North Adams and North Berkshire," Alcombright told the audience.
The new administration is hoping to thaw the often frosty relations the city has had with its neighbors over the years. The city's tussled with Williamstown over its shared waste-water plant and the runway extension at the Harriman & West Airport, and with Adams over developments on the city's southern border.
The communities should be working together as much as possible, said Alcombright, adding that jobs created in one town will inevitably help the others.
"We have a common destiny, we have common concerns ... transportation, education, public safety and, above all, the creation of jobs and more jobs," he said. "Those are the common threads that bind us together as North County." |
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| love it ,its about time we think north berkshire.its are little corner of the world why not make it better, boston can only do so much .can we also bring in pownal .vt and stanford vt. they also buy and work in the berkshires . i feel they too are part of north berkshires too .just a idea ? | | from: chad | on: 02-25-2010 12:00AM
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This is similar to the recent city councilor tour of city yard - noisy and meaningless.
The only official relationship the city council in North Adams has with the city yard is to vote its entire budget up or down once a year. By law, the councilors make no personnel or equipment purchasing decisions. Also by law, they have zero legal authority over the day to day operations of the crews. What possible honest purpose could a visit to the city yard by the North Adams City Council serve?
Again, as far as inter-town cooperation goes, who's kidding who? Can anyone who has lived in northern Berkshire County for more than ten minutes imagine Williamstown and Williams College walking hand-in-hand with North Adams on anything official at any time?
There has been one significant inter-community cooperative effort in thirty years - the North Adams transfer station. And North Adams had to force that down northern Berkshire's throat.
Alcombright isn't looking for cooperation with the City Council or the rest of northern Berkshire. He's looking to create a phony image that he's doing something meaningful. | | from: dog and pony | on: 02-25-2010 12:00AM
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@ Dog & pony... how exactly have YOU contributed to B. county? You have some insight,why just snipe? Have any plausable ideas?
| | from: Dave D. | on: 03-01-2010 12:00AM
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| Incredible thought a long time coming. It's about time./ | | from: | on: 03-03-2010 12:00AM
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