Sapienza Makes Ballot for North Adams City Council

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Brian Sapienza
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Bryan Sapienza is running for a seat on the North Adams City Council this fall. 
 
Sapienza, a city native, has returned his papers, which have been certified so he will appear on the November ballot.
 
He is a parts manager for K-M Toyota and previously was a quality assurance technician at Specialty Minerals and an instrument technician for the now closed Yankee Atomic. He also worked as a substitute teacher for both the North Adams Public Schools and Adams-Cheshire Regional School District. 
 
Sapienza attended both Berkshire Community College and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, holding an associate's degree in engineering and a bachelor's degree in business administration.
 
"My decision to run is based on the passion I have for our city,"  he said in a statement announcing his candidacy. "North Adams is a great place to live, we have a quality of life that can't be found in many other places. I care about our city and I want to see it continue to be a quality place to live.
 
"I feel that a good councilor should be responsive to all the citizens of North Adams. While we welcome newcomers to the city, we should not forget the people that live and work here, people that give our city its character. We need a balance and to make decisions that benefit all citizens of our city.
 
"Our city needs to protect it's future, by ensuring that our schools are providing a top-notch education for our children. We need to encourage our young people to stay or come back to North Adams once they have their higher education. We need to encourage people to visit our city, supporting our local businesses. We also must balance our need to grow, while at the same time preserving the important history of our city.
 
"I look forward to serving our fine city as your councilor, and welcome the challenge of helping to make decisions that will make our city a great place to live or work."
 
Sapienza can be contacted at bks4na@gmail.com or on his Facebook page. Information submitted by the candidate.

Tags: city council,   city election,   election 2017,   


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Clarksburg Gets 3 Years of Free Cash Certified

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
CLARKSBURG, Mass. — Town officials have heaved a sigh of relief with the state's certification of free cash for the first time in more than three years.
 
The town's parade of employees through its financial offices the past few years put it behind on closing out its fiscal years between 2021 and 2023. A new treasurer and two part-time accountants have been working the past year in closing the books and filing with the state.
 
The result is the town will have $571,000 in free cash on hand as it begins budget deliberations. However, town meeting last year voted that any free cash be used to replenish the stabilization account
 
Some $231,000 in stabilization was used last year to reduce the tax rate — draining the account. The town's had minimal reserves for the past nine months.
 
Chairman Robert Norcross said he didn't want residents to think the town was suddenly flush with cash. 
 
"We have to keep in mind that we have no money in the stabilization fund and we now have a free cash, so we have now got to replenish that account," he said. "So it's not like we have this money to spend ... most of it will go into the stabilization fund." 
 
The account's been hit several times over the past few fiscal years in place of free cash, which has normally been used for capital spending, to offset the budget and to refill stabilization. Free cash was last used in fiscal 2020.
 
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