Pittsfield Council OKs Ballot Question on Residency Requirement for Public Safety Officials

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Should public safety officials have to live in Pittsfield? Voters will have a chance to answer on the upcoming ballot.

Last week, the City Council voted to place a question on the Nov. 7 ballot that asks if the residency requirement for public safety management positions should be eliminated.

It passed 7-4 with Councilors at Large Peter White and Earl Persip III, Ward 3 Councilor Kevin Sherman, and Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Maffuccio in opposition.

The petitioner, Ward 1 Councilor Kenneth Warren, leans toward keeping the residency requirement but wants voter input on the topic. It has been city policy since at least 1947.

"All of a sudden, it's something that people want and all of a sudden some of these city leaders are rushing to do this without having a lot of discussion, looking into. Sometimes the voters wonder if there is something else going on, the transparency of what's going on," he said.

"Because why do we need that change for one position all of a sudden when nobody has raised it, not even the mayor who's coming, the new mayor, whoever that may be, coming on. There seems to be some ulterior motive so if we're going to change something that's been in place for close to 100 years, you might want the voters' input and it's simple. It's very simple."

The conversation began a few months ago when a request to remove the management residency requirement and replace it with a 20-mile radius requirement was brought to the Ordinances and Rules subcommittee.

It was tabled and went to the full council in July, when it was referred to City Solicitor Stephen Pagnotta so that he could draft clarifying language.

Sherman believes this is a leadership decision that the council should make and that it needs much more public conversation.

"I don't know how I would vote right now on it," he said. "I would like to evaluate it and see what the pros and cons are and what other communities do. I think this is a leadership thing that we need to do. I'm not saying voters shouldn't vote."

Sherman later explained that he feels ballot questions pit neighbors against neighbors and that there just isn't enough information available to the council and residents on the topic yet.

White also believes that the topic deserves more thoughtful debate than a yes or no vote.

"This is a yes or no vote on something that was put forward by the administration, referred to Ordinances and Rules, tabled at Ordinances and Rules because the members of Ordinances and Rules have decided that it wasn't something that we had enough information on to vote on that night," he explained.

He added that the possible parameters of the exception have not been fully debated. A mile radius around the city is currently being considered.

With Taxes Paid, Berkshire Mall Owners Plan for Senior Housing

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
08:21AM / Sunday, May 18, 2025

The majority of the mall will have to be demolished as the 40-year-old big box stores are not suitable because of space and condition. 

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Berkshire Mall owners have paid their town taxes and plan to transform the property into more than 400 units of housing.

JMJ Holdings is entering into the design process for a nine-figure overhaul of the shuttered mall property into 420 to 450 units of senior housing. Town Administrator Gina Dario confirmed that the full fiscal year 2025 tax balance, totaling $293,380, has been paid.

"It's basically an apartment building that's catered towards older populations, people generally in their mid-60s, and the amenities on site really cater to that lifestyle. It's kind of all comprising," Timothy Grogan of the Housing Development Corp. explained, adding that there will also be assisted living, memory care, independent living, and senior affordable housing.

Grogan was hired as a consultant to guide a feasibility study for the property.  He said there haven't been recent conversations with the town "because we're really hashing it out, we want to come to them with a fully thought-out proposal in terms of the amount of supportable units."

"I think it would be a huge boon to Berkshire County, generally, in a way that the mall used to be," he said. "We're really excited about it. We're moving forward with full steam ahead."

The feasibility study determined that there could be up to 600 units, but the project team imagines a more conservative amount between 420 and 450 units.

It is being scoped as a Low Income Housing Tax Credit project, which means that at least 20 percent of the units would need to be reserved for people at/or below 50 percent of the area median income or at least 40 percent of the units would need to made affordable for persons with incomes at/or below 60 percent of the area median income.

Grogan said conversations have been scheduled with the offices of Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and state Secretary of Housing Ed Augustus.

"Given the political importance of this property and Governor Healey's emphasis on gateway cities, we don't expect that to be such a long lead item. That being said, this is envisioned to be a phased project where we have the assisted living, active adult and independent living kind of in one bucket with affordable housing in another one," he said.