Letter: Dalton Board Should Not Stop Special Election

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To the Editor:

I would like to comment on the travesty that is taking place in the Town of Dalton. The Selectboard chooses not to set a date for a special election. Even a petition of over 200 voters to have a date scheduled for a special election is not persuading them.

This special election is due to the resignation of a Selectboard member on Oct. 1. This past Tuesday, Nov. 12, the Selectboard voted once again to suppress a date for a special election. In doing so they tried to discredit the procedure used by a dedicated elected public servant, our town clerk. The procedures she followed were through the guidance of a state official and Mass General Laws.

This date should have been set a month ago after the resignation took effect. There should not have been a reason for the petitioners to even have to come forward. This issue should have been the first thing on the agenda for the Selectboard meeting on Oct. 9 that was held prior to the special town meeting. Considering that the letter of resignation was sent in early September.

Please call the Selectboard office, go to the town web site and use contact to reach the Selectboard.

This special election will give us our opportunity to choose our representative. This is a right given to us by the Constitution of the United States of America, bylaws of the town and Mass General Laws.

Peace be with you and God Bless the USA.

William Drosehn
Dalton, Mass.

 

 

 

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Pittsfield Council Preliminarily OKs School Budget

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council kicked off budget season on Wednesday with a preliminary approval of the Pittsfield Public Schools' $86 million spending plan.

The $86,450,361 budget for fiscal year 2026 includes an $18 million city contribution and more than $68 million of anticipated Chapter 70 funding. It is a $3,765,084 increase from FY25, totaling $86,900,361 with $450,000 in school choice and Richmond tuition funds.

"The Pittsfield Public School system is in a vital place in time," Mayor Peter Marchetti said.

"It is now our time to do the right thing and to fund our schools at the level that we can, and look forward to what the future brings us."

He emphasized that the city's contribution went down nearly $1 million from FY25 to FY26.

"The increase of the school department budget from fiscal year 25 to fiscal year 26 was $3,765,084. I will tell you that the Chapter 70 increase was $4.5 million," Marchetti reported.

"So the increase that we were getting from Chapter 70 monies, we kept some of that on the city side to help defray the cost of the rising health insurance. With this budget, it impacts positions, but will impact no city personnel."

Last year, local and statewide advocacy led to a correction in Chapter 70 funding, adding another $2.4 million in aid for fiscal year 2025.

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