image description
Mayor Linda Tyer is making a number of changes to city hall staff.

Tyer Seeks to Replace Key City Hall Employees

Staff ReportsPrint Story | Email Story
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The shake-up of City Hall staffers will continue when the City Council is asked at its next meeting on Tuesday to approve a number of mayoral appointments - including director of finance, director of buildings maintenance and director of personnel.
 
Newly elected Mayor Linda Tyer is asking for former city councilor and current Richmond Town Manager Matthew Kerwood to take over the reins as director of finance. Kerwood will replace Susan Carmel. Former State Rep. Denis Guyer is being appointed as director of buildings maintenance, taking over for Peter Sondrini, and Michael Taylor is proposed to take over as personnel director, replacing John DeAngelo.
 
The names were made public Thursday when the City Council released the agenda.
 
Kerwood served on the City Council from 2000 until 2010, with election as vice president from 2006 until 2010. He has a bachelor's degree from Fairfield University and a master's degree in municipal management from Suffolk University.
 
He started his career as a legislative aid for former Gov. Jane Swift in 1992 and in 1996 he was appointed as the Berkshire County project manager for the state. In 1998 he became the western regional director of the Massachusetts Office of Business Development and in 2003, he started his own consulting company. In 2007, he took a job as town administrator in Blandford and in 2009, he moved to Richmond.
 
Guyer is a former state representative from 2005 until 2011. He also served on the Dalton Board of Selectmen from 2001 until 2004. Prior to that he worked 12 years at Crane and Co. He moved to Pittsfield a few years ago and took a job with Iredale Mineral Cosmetics. The documentation with the council agenda does not specify his educational background.
 
Taylor has worked in the personnel office since 2013 as personnel technician. Prior to that he worked 10 years, from 2003 until 2013, as the assistant store manager of Stop and Shop. He has a bachelor's degree in psychology from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and a human resources certificate from the College of St. Rose, which he earned in 2014.
 
The appointments continue a shake-up of city government. Two weeks ago, the City Council approved hiring Donovan and O'Connor to take over legal representation on an interim basis, replacing City Solicitor Kathleen Degnan.
 
The Council will also be asked to appoint Laura Catalano as an assessor, Maurice Peoples to the Human Rights Commission, Joe Durwin to the Parks Commission, and Chris Flynn, Albert Ingegni, Jeff Doscher and Melissa Bowler to the Council on Aging. 

Tags: Pittsfield city council ,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Dalton Man Accused of Kidnapping, Shooting Pittsfield Man

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A Dalton man was arrested on Thursday evening after allegedly kidnapping and shooting another man.

Nicholas Lighten, 35, was arraigned in Central Berkshire District Court on Friday on multiple charges including kidnapping with a firearm and armed assault with intent to murder. He was booked in Dalton around 11:45 p.m. the previous night.

There was heavy police presence Thursday night in the area of Lighten's East Housatonic Street home before his arrest.

Shortly before 7 p.m., Dalton dispatch received a call from the Pittsfield Police Department requesting that an officer respond to Berkshire Medical Center. Adrian Mclaughlin of Pittsfield claimed that he was shot in the leg by Lighten after an altercation at the defendants home. Mclaughlin drove himself to the hospital and was treated and released with non-life-threatening injuries. 

"We were told that Lighten told Adrian to go down to his basement, where he told Adrian to get down on his knees and pulled out a chain," the police report reads.

"We were told that throughout the struggle with Lighten, Adrian recalls three gunshots."

Dalton PD was advised that Pittsfield had swabbed Mclaughlin for DNA because he reported biting Lighten. A bite mark was later found on Lighten's shoulder. 

Later that night, the victim reportedly was "certain, very certain" that Lighten was his assailant when shown a photo array at the hospital.

According to Dalton Police, an officer was stationed near Lighten's house in an unmarked vehicle and instructed to call over the radio if he left the residence. The Berkshire County Special Response Team was also contacted.

Lighten was under surveillance at his home from about 7:50 p.m. to about 8:40 p.m. when he left the property in a vehicle with Massachusetts plates. Another officer initiated a high-risk motor vehicle stop with the sergeant and response team just past Mill Street on West Housatonic Street, police said, and traffic was stopped on both sides of the road.

Lighten and a passenger were removed from the vehicle and detained. Police reported finding items including a brass knuckle knife, three shell casings wrapped in a rubber glove, and a pair of rubber gloves on him.

The response team entered Lighten's home at 43 East Housatonic before 9:30 p.m. for a protective sweep and cleared the residence before 9:50 p.m., police said. The residence was secured for crime scene investigators.

View Full Story

More Pittsfield Stories