Berkshire Immigrant Center Welcomes Three New Members

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PITTSFIELD, Mass.—The Berkshire Immigrant Center (BIC) welcomes three new members to its Board of Directors: Roberta McCulloch-Dews, David Russell and Joseph Zlatnik.
 
Roberta McCulloch-Dews is Vice President of Marketing at Greylock Federal Credit Union. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Roberta immigrated to the US when she was two years old. Growing up in the Bronx, Roberta observed – and took to heart – her family's strong work ethic, commitment to education, and service. A communications professional with more than 20 years of experience, Roberta began her career as a newspaper journalist, and later transitioned to marketing communications and public relations. Roberta serves as a Trustee on the board for the Norman Rockwell Museum and is also on the board for the Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts, and the Samuel Harrison Society. She is
also a youth mentor with the Rites of Passage Empowerment Program (R.O.P.E.). Roberta graduated from New York University (NYU) with a bachelor's degree in print journalism and earned a master's degree in social and public policy from SUNY Empire. Roberta and her husband, Warren Dews, Jr., have three children, Warren III, West, and Kennedy.
 
David Russell of Dalton was born and raised in the Midwestern US. David served in the US Air Force, including attendance at the AF Academy. He graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering. His career included nearly 30 years with Procter & Gamble as a Project Manager and Program Manager, three years managing a sizeable portion of the project portfolio at Yale University as a Director, and multiple years consulting in the field of project management. David served as the President and Chair of the Board for the Southwest Ohio Chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI) and was active with PMI until his retirement. He currently serves on the Finance Committee for his church and is the Chair of the Facilities Committee for Barrington Stage
Company. David and his wife, Debra Miersma, enjoy travelling abroad and developing an appreciation for cultural differences. David has two children and five grandchildren, all living in Cincinnati, Ohio.
 
Joseph Zlatnik was born in Kiev, Ukraine, and immigrated to the US 1989. He was raised in Queens, New York. Joseph's childhood experiences with immigration left an indelible mark on him, and motivated his desire to join the board of BIC. He received his Bachelor's Degree in Legal Studies from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and his Juris Doctorate from Boston University School of Law. He moved to Berkshire County in 2011 to join family who had moved to the area, and to work at the Berkshire District Attorney's Office. Subsequently, Joseph worked as an associate attorney at Hochberg Law Offices inPittsfield. Joseph currently operates his own private law practice in Pittsfield, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Berkshire Bar Advocates, an agency responsible for providing public criminal
defense services to indigent defendants in Berkshire County Courts. Joseph is thrilled to join the Board of Directors of the Berkshire Immigrant Center to assist in furthering its goals of aiding the immigrant constituents of Berkshire County.
 
Since 1997 BIC has been dedicated solely to serving the unique needs of local immigrants. BIC became an independent nonprofit in 2021 after 25 years of fiscal sponsorship. BIC is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization and a proud member agency of the Williamstown Community Chest, with additional support from foundations and organizations including the Barr Foundation and the Jewish Women's Foundation of the Berkshires, and from individuals and local businesses.
 
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Lanesborough Town Election Sees Expanded Select Board

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Select Board will now have five people serving with the addition of two more board members elected on Tuesday. 

Juli Baker, Jeffery Walters and incumbent Michael Murphy took the three seats up for election in a five-way race, winning a three-year, two-year and one-year seat respectively based on the number of votes received. Out of the running were Scott Graves and Christian Halley.

Out of the more than 2,600 registered voters, 328 cast ballots Tuesday in the annual town election, or about a 12 percent turnout. 

The current board consists of Chair Deborah Maynard, Jason Breault, and Murphy. The new board was voted to have five members back in 2024 at the annual town meeting after resident Kristen Tool filed a citizens petition to expand it. The home-rule petition was sent to the Legislature and was approved late last year.

Murphy was running for a third term. He said he is not done with his work on the board and wants to see more projects done like the mall. He was voted back on with 168 votes for a one-year term.

"I feel like I've put in a good six years, but I do feel like there's a couple things that I'd like to see through that are still, you know, somewhere either on the front burner or the back burner," he said. "I'll talk about the mall, I'd love to play a role in seeing how that plays out. What's moved to the back burner after being on the front burner for a couple years is the need for a new police station. I still believe there's a need for that."

He is proud to be a part of the board that will expand its members and to have helped the town have a better atmosphere and attitude toward its residents.

"My proudest accomplishment is getting a better home for our Police Department, one that they need very well," Murphy said. "Some of the things that surprised me a little bit, but that I think I had an impact on, is improving the atmosphere within the Town Hall building. I think that's the best way to put it. There was a time, and I heard from many, many people in the community when I ran that I was surprised to hear how they didn't feel welcomed, they didn't feel comfortable, and I think that that attitude and that atmosphere has changed, and I've had something to do that."

Baker won the three-year term with 258 votes. Baker has been in Lanesborough since 2021 and has been participating on the Finance Committee, which she will now leave to be on the Select Board.

She ran because she felt she could help with her experience on many other boards and her ability to be a leader and see both sides of every story.

"I've had a lot of input into other groups like the planning board and the zoning board, and a lot of the issues that have been happening in town, and I feel like I have a very level head about very contentious issues, I look at all sides of every issue and cut through the emotions and get to the bottom of what the issue is and what's best for Lanesborough," she said.

Key issues she plans to address include managing tax increases that she has done with the finance board, addressing the short-term rental bylaw, and resolving the stalemate over the mall property to find the best way to get real value from the property.

Walters took the two-year term with 215 votes. Walters has been a resident for 26 years and owns Snap-On Tools dealership. He said he looks forward to working with the board and says one of the key issues he has heard is the taxes and wants to help maintain the residents taxes. He said he has been talking about running for about eight years and the bigger board helped push him to put his name on the ballot.

"I said I would like to run for a selectman. We're going to a five person select board, so I thought it'd be a good time. Being a small business owner, I feel I have something to contribute to add to the people that we have already in the Select Board," he said.

Graves said he wanted to be on the board to help others in the community feel welcome as he did not when he first came.

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