Letter: Not NIMBY, It's Common Sense

Letter to the Editor02:00PM / Thursday, June 09, 2022Print Story | Email Story

To the Editor:

Here in Williamstown those of us opposed to the former Planning Board's complex and radical zoning changes – because they were dumped on us with no time for review their impacts on our neighborhoods, no supporting documents, and while our Comprehensive Plan is still in the works – are already hearing whispers of NIMBY-ism ahead of our June 14 town meeting. So, I address the whisperers.

NIMBY, or "Not In My Backyard," is credited to Lois Gibbs of Niagara Falls, N.Y. It was her rallying cry for neighbors to oppose Hooker Chemical's dumping of toxic waste in nearby Love Canal. Gibbs declared that "people fighting for their own back yard is what democracy is about."

Of course, developers and industry interests cleverly reversed her meaning for their own financial interests, accusing Gibbs of opposing growth and – incredibly – the selfish preservation of home values. Today, accusations of racism and exclusionary zoning have been added to the list.

But here in Williamstown, those opposing the radical zoning changes are not racists, nor do we want exclusionary zoning. We simply ask our fellow residents to wait a year until our $180,000 Comprehensive Town Plan is complete before approving radical changes. Shouldn't zoning implement our Comprehensive Plan, not the other way around?

Soaring real estate prices are a national problem, but that is not to say Williamstown shouldn't try to lower housing costs while also embracing the principles of smart growth and inclusion. Most of the former Planning Board's radical changes, however, are unlikely to accomplish either. They offer no backup studies, no reports from other towns that tried something similar, no information on the impact on our schools, our property taxes, or most critically, housing affordability.

So, I encourage people to turn out on June 14 to turn down these radical zoning amendments to allow our Comprehensive Planning Team and our new Planning Board to do the hard work of developing zoning that has a chance of bringing housing costs down and increasing diversity in Williamstown. It's not NIMBY; it's just common sense.

Lee Harrison
Williamstown, Mass.

Tags: zoning,

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Williamstown Select Board Evaluates Town Manager

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:39AM / Wednesday, October 28, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — In 2022, the town still was recovering from the twin blows of a global pandemic and a lawsuit that exposed disturbing allegations against the town's police department.

The latter ultimately led to the resignation of the police chief and the town manager. To replace the manager, the Select Board at the time turned to Robert Menicocci.

Menicocci represented a break in style from his immediate predecessor, who was a more prominent voice in town government. That prominence, in part, was a product of the times: When town boards and committees were not meeting in-person and access to town hall itself was limited at the height of the pandemic, the manager's voice in Zoom meetings was more front and center.

In his four years in the corner office, Menicocci has helped shepherd the police department on its path to certification and helped the town weather the fiscal storm of skyrocketing costs linked to inflation – particularly sharp increases in the cost of health insurance that hit hard for a labor-intensive endeavor like municipal government. All the while, he has been a little more taciturn, while always willing to participate, when appropriate, with responsive answers in discussions of the Select Board and Finance Committee.

On Monday, the current Select Board – completely turned over from the 2022 edition – pushed Menicocci to be more of a cheerleader for the town.

"Do you see your role more as a behind-the-scenes guy and our role is to be out in public?" board member Matthew Neely asked Menicocci during the board's review of the manager's job performance. "Or is there more of a role for you in that? So many people, if I say your name, they're like, ‘Who?'

"I would have assumed your role would be more public facing as well, and more, for lack of a better word, leading the charge as opposed to running day-to-day operations. I feel you're strong running day-to-day. But something we all wish is we had a little more of a proactive [manager] …. Since we need development, need all these things in town so much. … I'd love to see more outward energy, I guess.

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