North Adams Health Board Marks Chairman's Retirement

By Andy McKeever
iBerkshires Staff
08:48AM / Thursday, December 15, 2011

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David Polumbo was honored for his 21 years on the Board of Health.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — After 21 years of looking over the health of the city's residents, David Polumbo attended his final Board of Health meeting on Wednesday.

Polumbo joined the Board of Health in 1990 in place of Gregory Betti and has since been credited as being the driving force behind an array of public health decisions — from the removal of cigarette vending machines to last year's "Solid Ground" temporary housing at DiSanti Field during Wilco Weekend. With his last meeting and his family in attendance, his fellow board members emotionally let him retire with kind words and a plaque.

"From the bottom of my heart, I just hope my fellow board members can do half of what you did," Board of Health Director Manuel Serrano said. "I'm going to miss you greatly. I really am."

The board highlighted his efforts to rid the city of cigarette vending machines — starting with City Hall. Polumbo knew high school students were buying cigarettes from the vending machine and despite outrage by many and people saying the students weren't, he stuck to his convictions and succeeded.

"I was crucified on that," Polumbo said as he recalled the story. "It was difficult and boy did they jump all over me."

Mayor Richard Alcombright said the board is behind the scenes but makes a lot of "heavy duty" decisions regarding the public. It takes "a certain amount of guts" to be a public servant for as long as Polumbo has.

"This is not a board, like the licensing board, that does not always make a popular decision but I want to thank you on behalf of the entire city of North Adams for everything you've done," Alcombright said. "You've stood tough for the city of North Adams and I really, really appreciate it."

But it wasn't just those tough decisions that warranted most of Wednesday's meeting. The board members all thanked him for their personal connections. Polumbo was credited with helping the others through "difficult times" and being a "father to the Board of Health."

While the board members raved about how him, Polumbo turned it back on them. He said he always supported and fought for the board's decisions because he knew his fellow board members were being "fair."

As for Wednesday's limelight, Polumbo said he didn't really care for it.

"I did my job," Polumbo said after receiving the plaque. "What am I going to do? Stand up and pat myself on my back?"

But, for the city and his fellow board members, Polumbo did a lot more than his job.

"It's been an honor to have been associated with Dave. He has been a rock when it came to the health and safety of the people of North Adams," Serrano said. "Dave always took the high road when it came to voting on regulations, keeping his focus on one thing — the health and welfare of the citizens of North Adams."

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