PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Public Safety Advisory Committee is awaiting direction from the mayor as to what its role will be.

 

The committee was resurrected in 2012 as the Police Advisory Committee; last year, the City Council approved an amendment that expanded its purview for all public safety issues.

 

The last time the group was in the month before Linda Tyer won election in November. Many on the committee had been supporters of former Mayor Daniel Bianchi, who appointed them, and resigned. The committee was reduced to nearly nothing.

 

Early this year, Tyer appointed new members and the revived group met for the first time Monday to craft the new course.

 

The committee is now composed of returning members Radcliffe Harewood, Larry Tallman, Charles Smith Jr., Donald Bercury and Cheryl Nolan, and newcomers Patrick Muraca — who was appointed under Bianchi but only attended a couple meetings before the committee halted — Katherine Lloyd, William Sturgeon, and Jerome Edgerton. 

 

Sheriff Thomas Bowler is still on the committee but Bercury, who put together Monday's meeting, said the sheriff is likely going to resign. Smith's appointment has come to an end and he is retiring as the director of the Housing Authority; he is suggesting his seat be filled by his successor.

 

"If the mayor is going to re-appoint, I think she should appoint the housing director," Smith said, though he didn't rule out staying on the committee if asked.

 

After getting to know one another, the committee agreed to call on Tyer to provide some direction at its next meeting. The group is advisory to the mayor and City Council.

 

"We need the new mayor to address this group to be in an agreement of what the charge of this committee is," Smith said. 

 

They agreed that they would like to see the committee become a way to field complaints or concerns about public safety issues and facilitate solutions. The group hopes to be a vehicle for communication among departments and elected officials and the public. 

 

"We can become a sounding board," Sturgeon said.

 

Smith outlined an operating structure of compiling a list of issues to be addressed, breaking into temporary subcommittees to find viable solutions (or find there isn't one) and then craft a report for the mayor, City Council, and the departments involved. 

 

Sturgeon suggested that to be the most effective, the group should have representatives from the Fire Department, Police Department, and Board of Health in attendance. Whether that means as a voting member or not is undetermined. He urged the group to expand its view to include the public health realm, which would tackle the opioid issue facing the city, blight or other safety issues. 

 

Previously, Police Chief Michael Wynn attended the Police Advisory Committee meetings and provided information on various items. Each meeting he gave an administrative report of what's happening at the Police Department. The committee members from that time agreed Wynn's contribution was a great asset. 

 

Wynn did not attend Monday's meeting and the group decided to invite representatives from all public safety roles to send a representative to provide additional expertise, guidance, and take the committee's actions back to the rest of the department.

 

Sturgeon also added that he'd like to become more involved in evaluating the effectiveness of programs being implemented such as the Pittsfield Community Connection.

 

"Are our efforts doing what we think?" Sturgeon said. "I'm a big one for evaluation. Let's not throw money at everything."

 

The group elected Tallman to be the new chairman, taking over for Alan Righi who is no longer on the committee. Bercury was elected vice chairman and Lloyd was elected recording secretary. 

 

Tallman gave the members a homework assignment: think of topics the committee can address.

 

"At this point, everything is open. It's all on the table," Tallman said. 

 

Some ideas had already begun to flow for Tallman, who suggested the creation of a police foundation to raise money to help the department or looking to purchase moveable stop signs to attach to traffic signals for when the lights are out. 

 

"There are a lot of different areas we can discuss," he said.