Local Leaders Elected as MMA Group Officers

10:41AM / Wednesday, February 01, 2023Print Story | Email Story

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Several Berkshire County elected officials and administrators have been named to leadership roles in the member groups of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, which held its annual meeting and trade show the weekend of Jan. 20.

Andrew Hogeland, a Williamstown Select Board member, is president of the Select Board Association this term and Adams Selectwoman Christine Hoyt is chair of the District 1, covering the Berkshires. Hogeland was first vice president of the association last year and has served on the MMA's Executive Committee and Local Government Advisory Committee. Hoyt has been a member of the MMA Board of Directors.

Mayor Linda Tyer, president of the Mayors Association last year, will continue to represent District 1 on the MMA Board of Directors as well as North Adams City Councilor Lisa Blackmer, elected as first vice president of the Municipal Councilors Association.

Pittsfield's Personnel Director Michael Taylor was elected a director of the Massachusetts Municipal Human Resources Association.

The MMA is a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization with the mission of improving the effectiveness of local government in the commonwealth through public policy advocacy, membership education, intergovernmental relations, services to cities and towns, increasing public awareness, and fostering unity.

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Williamstown Board Hears Concerns About 'Hometown Heroes' Banners

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:32AM / Wednesday, September 16, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Kurt Durocher told the Williamstown Select Board that he had received nothing but positive feedback from the North County communities where he proposed participation in the Hometown Heroes banner program.

Then Williamstown residents started to weigh in.

Durocher was before the board Monday evening to seek its blessing to put banners recognizing living and deceased military veterans on utility poles in Williamstown, an initiative that has been embraced in all but one of the other municipalities in the district where he serves as Veterans' Service Officer.

"The only negative I've had right now, and it's not really negative, [the Town of ] Florida doesn't want banners to go on Route 2, the Mohawk Trail, for safety reasons, understandably," Durocher said. "So we're trying to figure out an alternate way to make that work in Florida."

By and large, though, the reception to the program has been encouraging, Durocher said.

"I'll use Adams as an example," he said. "They've had a program for many, many years, but it's only for [military personnel] killed in action. Now that I've been allowed to take over that program … there's been a huge outpouring of support, because now we get living veterans on the poles as well.

"The only negative I've had is certain people want their banners in certain locations. So what we did in North Adams is we just did a random draw. I can't please everybody. I've got people who want a banner in a certain location, but three other people want that same location.It was a straight random draw for them."

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