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Ericka M. Oleson will begin her duties on Oct. 24.

Clarksburg Hires New Treasurer/Tax Collector

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
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CLARKSBURG, Mass. — The Select Board hired Ericka M. Oleson of the town of Florida on Wednesday as the new treasurer/tax collector.

Oleson will begin her duties officially on Monday, Oct. 24. She was selected out of four applicants for the post to replace Melissa McGovern-Wandrei, who was fired two weeks ago.

Officials have not revealed the reason for her termination but they did strongly impress upon Oleson the need for the town's small staff to get along and to be pleasant to citizens.

"What needs to happen is everyone has to get along very well," said Chairman Jeffrey Levanos, later adding that "if I have somebody [at work] who we just don't get along with or don't play well ... you almost don't want to go to work."

Board member William Schrade alluded to phone call complaints from citizens "that just left a bad taste."

Apparently a statement that Oleson had made during her interview last week about how she sometimes "doesn't play well in the sandbox" caused some trepidation despite her impressive credentials.

"We perceive that as possibly causing problems here," Levanos said. "Our customers ... they just want to see a smiling face."

Oleson assured them (board member Linda Reardon was absent) that she was speaking about "internal frustrations" when others don't perform to their abilities, or undermine those who do.

"That question was what's my weakness," she said, adding that she believes her strength and weaknesses go hand in hand.  

"I'm very driven, I work very hard and I want to excel ... along with that I can get frustrated internally when other people don't ...

"Don't you think the world would be much better if we all worked a little harder?"

She pointed to her work as a part-time tax collector in the town of Florida, saying her boss, Town Administrator Christine Dobbert, tells her she's "too nice for her own good."

"I go above and beyond to help anybody who walks through our door," she said. "I've never gotten into an arguent with anyone I worked with ...



"I want to leave Clarksburg better than I find it."

Oleson holds a bachelor of science degree in business administration, with a concentration in accounting, from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. She has worked at Tarm Services Accounting & Business Solutions in North Adams for three years.

"I think she would be an excellent choice," said Schrade.

Both board members voted to appoint her to a three-year term at a wage of $19.72, with a six-month probation. Her hours to start will be Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 8:30 to 4 and Wednesdays from noon to 7, with a half-hour made up somewhere for her 30 hours.

Oleson said she would come in prior to her start date to familiarize herself and Town Administrator Carl McKinney said he would set up training on the town's SoftWrite accounting software. Police Chief Michael Williams, appointed as interim treasurer/tax collector, was voted to continue as backup so his name could remain on record with the financial institutions.

In other business, the board discussed having the Board of Assessors take over abatement responsibilities. The board had done it in the past but it had been shifted to the assistant town administrator. Levanos said he had been approached by one of the assessors about the board having very little to do.

Schrade, however, rejected the idea of voting that night, saying the Select Board should speak with assessors before making any decisions. They had pushed forward with changing responsibilities in the past, he said, only to find out they were unworkable for the people involved.

It was determined that McKinney would speak with Town Assessor Ross Vivori and, if needed, set up a joint meeting with the Board of Assessors next week.

Amalio Jusino, part-time police officer, informed the board of a seminar he'd been accepted to on 21st century community policing in Washington, D.C. He attended with North Adams Police Director Michael Cozzaglio and Sgt. Jason Wood, a number of officers from other Berkshire County departments, and many types of law enforcement agencies from across the country.

He was most impressed, he said, with a session on bias that was a "real eye-opener." The attendees were given a test that revealed their implicit biases and learned how to recognize those stereotypical assumptions in their actions. Assumptions about age and obesity are the top biases, he said.

"I can sit in a cruiser at Big Y all day long ... but if I pull into Dunkin' Donuts - and there, you're all laughing because you have a bias," he said to the chuckling selectmen.

Acknowledging and overcoming bias can help officers relate better the citizens, Jusino said. Even though Clarksburg is a small community, many different people are drawn to the area because of Williams College, MCLA and Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.


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Crosby/Conte Statement of Interest Gets OK From Council

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Architect Carl Franceschi and Superintendent Joseph Curtis address the City Council on Tuesday.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — With the approval of all necessary bodies, the school district will submit a statement of interest for a combined build on the site of Crosby Elementary School.

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously gave Superintendent Joseph Curtis the green light for the SOI to the Massachusetts School Building Authority by April 12.

"The statement I would make is we should have learned by our mistakes in the past," Mayor Peter Marchetti said.

"Twenty years ago, we could have built a wastewater treatment plant a lot cheaper than we could a couple of years ago and we can wait 10 years and get in line to build a new school or we can start now and, hopefully, when we get into that process and be able to do it cheaper then we can do a decade from now."

The proposal rebuilds Conte Community School and Crosby on the West Street site with shared facilities, as both have outdated campuses, insufficient layouts, and need significant repair. A rough timeline shows a feasibility study in 2026 with design and construction ranging from 2027 to 2028.

Following the SOI, the next step would be a feasibility study to determine the specific needs and parameters of the project, costing about $1.5 million and partially covered by the state. There is a potential for 80 percent reimbursement through the MSBA, who will decide on the project by the end of the year.

Earlier this month, city officials took a tour of both schools — some were shocked at the conditions students are learning in.

Silvio O. Conte Community School, built in 1974, is a 69,500 square foot open-concept facility that was popular in the 1960s and 1970s but the quad classroom layout poses educational and security risks.  John C. Crosby Elementary School, built in 1962, is about 69,800 square feet and was built as a junior high school so several aspects had to be adapted for elementary use.

Ward 6 Councilor Dina Lampiasi said the walkthrough was "striking" at points, particularly at Conte, and had her thinking there was no way she would want her child educated there. She recognized that not everyone has the ability to choose where their child goes to school and "we need to do better."

"The two facilities that we are looking at I think are a great place to start," she said.

"As the Ward 6 councilor, this is where my residents and my students are going to school so selfishly yes, I want to see this project happen but looking at how we are educating Pittsfield students, this is going to give us a big bang for our buck and it's going to help improve the educational experience of a vast group of students in our city."

During the tour, Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey, saw where it could be difficult to pay attention in an open classroom with so much going on and imagined the struggle for students.

Councilor at Large Alisa Costa said, "we cannot afford not to do this" because the city needs schools that people want their children to attend.

"I know that every financial decision we make is tough but we have to figure this out. If the roof on your house were crumbling in, you'd have to figure it out and that's where we're at and we can't afford to wait any longer," she said.

"We can't afford for the sake of the children going to our schools, for the sake of our city that we want to see grow so we have to build a city where people want to go."

Councilor at Large Kathy Amuso, who served on the School Building Needs Commission for about 18 years, pointed out that the panel identified a need to address Conte in 2008.

Curtis addressed questions about the fate of Conte if the build were to happen, explaining that it could be kept as an active space for community use, house the Eagle Academy or the Adult Learning Center, or house the central offices.

School attendance zones are a point of discussion for the entire school district and for this project.

"At one time I think we had 36 school buildings and now we have essentially 12 and then it would go down again but in a thoughtful way," Curtis said.

Currently, eight attendance zones designate where a student will go to elementary school. Part of the vision is to collapse those zones into three with hopes of building a plan that incorporates partner schools in each attendance zone.

"I think that going from eight schools to three would be easier to maintain and I think it would make more sense but in order to get there we will have to build these buildings and we will have to spend money," Kavey said, hoping that the city would receive the 80 percent reimbursement it is vying for.

This plan for West Street, which is subject to change, has the potential to house grades pre-kindergarten to first grade in one school and Grades 2 to 4 in another with both having their own identities and administrations. 

The districtwide vision for middle school students is to divide all students into a grade five and six school and a grade seven and eight school to ensure equity.

"The vagueness of what that looks like is worrisome to some folks that I have talked to," Lampiasi said.

Curtis emphasized that these changes would have to be voted on by the School Committee and include public input.

"We've talked about it conceptually just to illustrate a possible grade span allocation," he said. "No decisions have been made at all by the School Committee, even the grade-span proposals."

School Committee Chair William Cameron said it is civic duty of the committee and council to move forward with the SOI.
 
He explained that when seven of the city's schools were renovated in the late 1990s, the community schools were only 25 years old and Crosby was 35 years old.  The commonwealth did not deem them to be sorely in need of renovation or replacement.
 
"Now 25 years later, Crosby is physically decrepit and an eyesore. It houses students ages three to 11 in a facility meant for use by teenagers,"
 
"Conte and Morningside opened in the mid-1970s. They were built as then state-of-the-art schools featuring large elongated rectangles of open instructional space. Over almost half a century, these physical arrangements have proven to be inadequate for teaching core academic skills effectively to students, many of whom need extra services and a distraction-free environment if they are to realize their full academic potential."
 
He said  the proposal addresses a serious problem in the "economically poorest, most ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse area" of the city.
 
Cameron added that these facilities have been deemed unsatisfactory and need to be replaced as part of the project to reimagine how the city can best meet the educational needs of its students.  He said it is the local government's job to move this project forward to ensure that children learn in an environment that is conducive to their thriving academically.
 
"The process of meeting this responsibility needs to begin here tonight," he said.
 
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