Letter: Harrington Deserves Another Term

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To the Editor:

I'm writing to express my wholehearted endorsement of Andrea Harrington — we have been friends for many years, through thick and thin. I look at the criminal justice system through the lens of our community's most marginalized neighbors. Andrea walks the walk on showing up to make change.

She understands the value of harm reduction better than any other politician I’ve worked with. She has been a champion for keeping drug use in the realm of public health where it belongs. She has focused the arm of justice on where it belongs — domestic violence and murder.

She has faced extremely biased reporting by our local paper of record. It has been very disappointing to see the repeated smears. It has made people afraid to support her publicly, even though in private they think she is doing a good job.

It is also worth noting that the courts were fully closed during a significant portion of her tenure. Now that they are open, violent crimes are being successfully prosecuted.

Andrea has earned your vote for another four years.

Stephen Murray
North Adams, Mass.

 

 


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Affordable Housing Solutions Easy — and Complex

By John TownesSpecial to iBerkshires
This four-part series looks at the challenges in building affordable housing, and in May, Deep Dive will look at some solutions in Berkshire County. Read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.
 
The overall effort to solve the national and local housing crisis is paradoxically as straightforward as a game of checkers, but as complex and baffling as a Rubik's Cube puzzle.
 
On a basic level, the issue is clear. It boils down to two fundamental problems: There is a shortage of housing in all categories and the costs of buying or renting a home have escalated beyond the incomes of many people.
 
But because there is no single cause or "silver bullet" solution, the array of initiatives to make housing more plentiful and affordable can seem like a baffling maze of agencies, priorities, policies, regulations, and complex mathematical formulas.
 
The issue can also cause controversies and misunderstandings.
 
And for those who are seeking to buy or rent a home, the shortage of affordable housing can be personally frustrating, confusing, and even frightening. For some, it can lead to homelessness.
 
Nevertheless, while individual affordable-housing policies and programs differ in specifics, most rely on a core of basic strategies to deal with the underlying causes.
 
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