State Rep. William 'Smitty' Pignatelli and Casey Pease, an aide to state Sen. Paul Mark, addresse the meeting. State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, a longtime advocate for Berkshire County Arc, was unable to attend due to a family commitment.
Ricky Ostellino calls on Pittsfield Mayor Linda Tyer for a selfie after he received a Citizenship Award at Friday's annual meeting of Berkshire County Arc.
Tori Ackley entertains the annual meeting with her song 'Victorious.'
Recently retired Berkshire County Arc President Ken Singer applauds Tori Ackley.
Maria Cardino celebrates receiving a Self Advocate Award at Friday morning's meeting.
Maryann Hyatt presides over her first Berkshire County Arc annual meeting since she was named president and CEO in March.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Coming off a year in which her agency cared for more than 1,000 individuals and their families, Berkshire Arc President Maryann Hyatt reminded supporters Friday that there are always more obstacles to overcome.
"This work is not easy, and every year it gets more complex," Hyatt told attendees at BC Arc's annual meeting. "New regulations, new treatments, new technology, new medications … new challenges we can't even see coming, like COVID. That is why today is so important, to balance those challenges with successes and highlights from the past year.
"I would like to recognize today every individual and staff member and all our family members and caregivers. They all deserve recognition."
Hundreds of members of the BC Arc family packed the ballroom at Berkshire Hills Country Club for the organization's 68th annual meet.
In some respects, it was just like past years: shared fellowship of caregivers, individuals who utilize Arc's services, and the non-profit's staff; awards for outstanding achievements and dedicated service; a moving musical performance by Tori Ackley; and speeches from local politicians.
One big difference this year was Hyatt, who took the reins of the organization in March after the retirement of longtime President Ken Singer.
Not that Hyatt was a new face to many in the room.
Prior to her appointment as Singer's successor, she spent more than 30 years working for Berkshire County Arc, which provides services to individuals with developmental disabilities, brain injuries and autism in Berkshire and Hampden Counties.
Hyatt used Friday's meeting as an opportunity to recognize all that Singer did for BC Arc and for her throughout her career with the agency.
"As a woman, I really take a lot of pride in everything I had to do and did over the years to have this wonderful board of directors look at me and say, ‘She's the right one for the job,' " Hyatt said. "However, I realize that I would not be here today if it was not for this individual.
"He hired me, many, many years ago — when I had purple hair. And I worked nights at one of our residential programs. I had absolutely no experience. Over the years, I looked at him a lot, what he did, how he led. And it inspired me. … He's my mentor. I'm his protege."
Singer returned the praise.
"Maryann and I worked side by side for over 35 years, and I have never been more comfortable with any decision that was made by our board than when it selected Maryann," Singer said. "There are a lot of people who have a lot of qualifications and can do good things. This lady has it right here — she's got heart."
In her remarks to the meeting, Hyatt talked about her efforts to increase staff engagement.
"I heard first hand the hard work our staff are doing to advance the goals for our individuals," she said. "I also assured our staff of our continued statewide advocacy to address direct care workforce salary needs."
State Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli, D-Lenox, indicated that message is being heard.
"I think we're going to have a good [state] budget coming out, hopefully in the next couple of weeks," Pignatelli said. "But I think the challenge we have going forward are around workforce, salaries, opportunities to help you folks lead a better a life and, hopefully, allow your staff have a quality of life and an affordable life.
"I think we need to focus on salaries for direct care workers."
Among the those recognized with awards at Friday's meeting were:
Employer of the Year: the food service team at Drury High School.
Business Partnership: Orion Magazine in Great Barrington.
Citizen Advocate: Victory Gritman.
Individual Achievement: Patricia Butler, Robert Day and Dan Connors.
Achievement in Personal Growth: Gloria Hunt and Eric Karlin.
Work Achievement: Justin Abbott.
Self-Advocacy: Maria Cardeno and Victoria Provencher.
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Pittsfield Begins Review of $226M Budget for Fiscal 2026
By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — On the second night of fiscal year 2026 budget hearings, the City Council preliminarily approved 11 departmental budgets in 40 minutes.
Conversation on Thursday began with a discussion about employee raises. Mayor Peter Marchetti explained that everyone's raises are different, but his, based on the consumer price index, is a 3.1 percent hike from $119,313 to $125,279.
"For department heads and some middle managers, they're also with the same CPI index of 3.1 percent. According to the code, the mayor is entitled to give them a merit-based raise if he or she chooses to. I did for all the department heads retroactively, and it was just recently that I had done that," he explained.
"And the logic behind it is, if you pick up a union contract, and I'm just generically speaking, if a union contract says their (Cost of living adjustment) is 3 percent they're also entitled to a step increase, which is about 3 percent and so staff is getting a pay raise of 6 percent while the administrative team is only getting a raise of 3.1 percent and in some cases, very quickly, the second in command could be making more than the department based on contract."
When an employee meets all of their requirements and goals, they are entitled to a two percent merit raise. There are merit raises budgeted for FY26 so far.
Ward 4 Councilor James Conant was absent, and there were no speakers during public comment.
Mayor
The $275,723 mayor's office budget was preliminarily approved with little discussion. It is a $13,907, or 5.31 percent, increase from the previous year.
Account Name
2022 Approval
2023 Approval
2024 Approval
2025 Approval
2026 Approval
Mayor
$102,428
$110,000
$115,725
$119,313
$125,279
Director of Admin Services
$62,889
$67,605
$70,000
$72,170
$75,779
Executive Assistant
$46,516
$50,004
$53,872
$54,133
$56,840
Markets and Advertising
$125
$125
$200
$200
$200
Supplies
$2,575
$2,450
$2,500
$2,500
$3,500
Travel
$0
0
$1,000
$1,000
$1,500
MA Municipal Association
$11,500
$11,500
$12,500
$12,500
$12,625
Total
$225,908
$242,784
$255,797
$261,816
$275,723
RSVP
The $132,021 Retired Senior Volunteer Program Budget was preliminarily approved with some discussion. It is a $7,943, or 6.40 percent, raise from the previous year.
Councilor at Large Alisa Costa inquired about $35,000 and $36,000 salary lines in the department, as they are "extremely low." Director Lisa Torrey explained that those positions get about a $10,000 pay bump through a grant.
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