Letter: MCLA Homeless Shelter Should Have Had Public Input

Letter to the Editor03:30PM / Wednesday, May 24, 2023Print Story | Email Story

To the Editor:

I question MCLA's President Birge's commitment to education and to our North Berkshire community.

"… the historic public purpose of American higher education is to respond to the needs and demands of society." President Jamie Birge, WAMC 5/10/2023

The problem of the poor and unhoused is a symptom of a decline in democratic values and income inequality. A simple change in the earned income tax credit was able to cut child poverty by about 46 percent in just a few months.

Massachusetts needs more than 200,000 new homes in order to start addressing the housing crisis. What is stopping Massachusetts from building these homes? Powerful interests who do not have a modicum of decency prevent democratic actions to address our problems. Democracy means participation and engagement. It requires leaders to inspire open and respectful dialogue to address the needs of the people.

In 2014, North Adams Regional Hospital was closed with three days notice with no public hearing. Shortly after the hospital closing, the state closed our North Adams welfare office and our North Adams employment office with no public hearing.

In order to respond to our community's needs and demands, President Birge should have held public meetings and panel discussions on the proposed emergency shelter and its effects on the future of the college and our community. The college could have educated the community about the crisis and provided a forum for an informed and respectful discussion.

Instead President Birge chose to keep his own counsel and avoided an encounter with the public. He acted as if it was his decision alone and failed to include the community input.

Our society is suffering from people who act like autocrats and reject the democratic process of inclusion. There is still time for the college to provide the leadership in an open and inclusive educational forum that addresses the needs of the poor and unsheltered.

Richard Dassatti
North Adams, Mass.

Tags: homeless,

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McCann Committee Gets First Look at $17M Renovation Progress

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
05:50AM / Monday, October 12, 2026

The project is in the home stretch with roofing and some windows and doors still to be installed. Superintendent James Brosnan also pointed above to HVAC improvements in the Guidance Office.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The McCann School Committee got a first look at the final stretch of a $17 million overhaul aimed at making the 64-year-old vocational school safer, quieter and more energy-efficient.

After a brief School Committee meeting Thursday, Superintendent James Brosnan led the members through the school, highlighting some of the changes made in the 64-year-old building.

"Just seeing this gives you a magnitude of the amount of work that goes on," he said.

The upgrades are being funded through the Massachusetts School Building Authority's Accelerated Repair Program and the Northern Berkshire Vocational School District's member towns.

Work was supposed to be completed before the start of the school year, but weather and the removal of materials caused a delay.

The tour was all indoors, and Brosnan told a disappointed committee that he was hesitant to take them onto the roof at night, but said the new roof is near 80 percent down.

"We have another 10, and 10 percent of that missing 20 is in the AVB [air and vapor barrier] and removal phase," Brosnan said. "That particular area is across the front, down the post-secondary ... we are going to pick up from guidance. So we have that plan going through next week. Fingers crossed, within two weeks we will have that piece down."

He said the roof has been built up and insulated for more efficiency.

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