Barrett Calls for MCLA Trustees to Make Decision on Housing Proposal
Trustee John Barrett III pushed his colleagues to ask more questions at Thursday's meeting in Murdock Hall. Other trustees say they want to see the DHCD's proposal in writing first.
But Trustee John Barrett III, a neighbor of the campus, said placing the homeless in the Berkshire Towers would be "catastrophic" for the school and castigated the board for not asking more questions about its role in the decision.
President James Birge told the trustees at their meeting on Thursday in Murdock Hall that the college has received no agreement yet from the state Department of Housing and Community Development about its plans for placing up to 50 families in the towers on Church Street. Without an agreement, he said, he didn't have much information to provide the board or the community and added that a lot of misinformation was being generated outside the college.
"If we are going to proceed with that, we'll have a community forum including campus people and neighbors and others that might want to join in to provide more details once we know them from the state," he said.
Birge's comments indicated that the housing wasn't a done deal but he also stated that the decision was one of management — not of the trustees.
"I'm saying it's a management decision but I will listen to the board," he said. "I think that the input from the board is important to consider the decisions that management has to make."
Barrett, a state representative, objected that the board of trustees should have a say in decisions as it has over the budget and programs and not a president who may be gone in a few years.
"You're saying to me and the rest of us appointed members by the governor that we have no stake in that," he said. "I don't want this community shut out of the process which impacts it. ...
"I don't want to see a mistake being made, which I think would be catastrophic to the future of this school and be harmful to the city of North Adams ... and if I'm wrong for that, I'm guilty."
The college is estimated to receive just under $2.7 million for use of the currently vacant towers. The dormitories would be managed by ServiceNet, a nonprofit human service agency that also runs a shelter in Pittsfield. The families are expected to be about 50 with 25 children from Western Massachusetts and the Berkshires and possibly those recently arrived in the country.
"There's a critical shortage of emergency shelter space right now for families," said Birge. "In Massachusetts, there are about 3,000 shelter beds. Last night there were about 18,000 people who are homeless, 3,700 of those individuals were family members. So even if we fill all of the available beds, there would be close to 700 family members who didn't have a bed."
The initial term would be 18 months and Birge said MCLA would retain control of the towers "because we anticipate needing to use that space for enrollment as it is increasing."
He pointed out that deposits for the fall semester were up 40 percent over this time last year. Enrollment had gone over a cliff because of the pandemic, he continued, and it is taking time to recover.
MCLA was one of a number of state universities approached by DHCD to use their excess capacity to house families. He acknowledged there were questions still to be answered, including how DHCD plans to transition families out and assurances it would not become a place to "warehouse" people.
Barrett said he had been told that the state was planning to move people in in June. Birge acknowledged that was the target date but without a signed agreement, it was just a goal.
"We want more details about that certainly before we make any decisions," he said. "So I just want to re-emphasize we are not about to sign a contract with anybody until we get more questions answered."
Barrett pushed his colleagues on being, as he felt, left out of the conversation and said the president should have reached out to him. Chair Brenda Burdick noted that the committee has discussed the proposal at four meetings, most recently at its February meeting.
"Are you telling me now that I can't ask any questions?" he responded. Burdick said she welcomed questions but they were difficult to answer without seeing a lease.
There was some back and forth with Barrett questioning Burdick's right as chair to speak for the trustees.
"I think what she's saying is accurate, that what we're trying to do is move cautiously by gathering as much information as we can," said Trustee Denise Marshall.
Trustee Robert Reilly said that while Birge has done an "outstanding job," he, too, was concerned about the role of the board.
"I don't want to speak for or against the Berkshire Towers project but I am unclear because there are things that colleges do ... this seems to be outside the realm of college operations," he said. "This seems to be something that board needs to have a direct input in, yes or no."
Burdick said she would get some counsel as to how the board should proceed.
Thomas Bernard, president and CEO of Berkshire United Way and, like Barrett, former mayor of the city, said this was an opportunity for MCLA to provide equity and dignity for people.
"It appears that process has been confused for outcome," he said as the only one to speak during public comment. "We are assuming that conclusions are done and decisions have been made, that negotiations are finalized and I just encourage the board to to listen, to cut through the noise and the cruft of all of it, and to continue to explore and to deliberate because that is the spirit of the liberal arts, that is the spirit of liberal values."
As a former clerk of the trustees, he encouraged them to look at the bylaws and "who speaks for the institution."
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