Letter: No 'No King Day' in Williamstown

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To the Editor:

Apparently, there was no scheduled "No Kings Day" rally in Williamstown, the home of Williams College.

So ..... I took my sign and my trusty chair and sat on the lawn outside the Williamstown traffic oval just before the library's entrance.

My sign was small, but it slowed most of the speeding traffic. Got a couple of honks. I also put my signs in my Jeep's windows in the library's parking lot.

I sat there for about two hours. One elderly couple stopped looking for the rally that had been held at Field Park inside the oval at the previous No Kings rally. Alas, there was only me and my sign. A couple riding on a tandem bike holding a No Kings sign waved as they passed, presumably on their way to the North Adams protest. A family of three children excitedly crossed the road to visit the town's historic 1753 House.



I also noted that none of the trees inside the circle had changed color. Was it due to traffic air pollution?

As all the many vehicles drove by, I played a game identifying each vehicle's brand name. Many Subarus, etc. Then my game morphed into: As soon as I would see three of the same brand in a row, I could head to the library to warm up. The winner was Toyota.

The Williamstown "No Kings Day" protest had ended.

Kenneth Swiatek
Williamstown Mass.

 

 

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Williamstown Finance Committee Finalizes Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Proposal

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The tax bill of a median-priced single family home will go up by 8.45 percent in the year that begins July 1 under a spending plan approved by the Finance Committee on Wednesday night.
 
After more than a month of going through all proposed spending by the town and public schools and searching for places to trim the budget and adjust revenue estimates, the Fin Comm voted to send a series of fiscal articles to the May 19 annual town meeting for approval.
 
The panel also discussed how to appeal to town meeting members to reverse what Fin Comm members long have described as an anti-growth sentiment in town that keeps the tax base from expanding.
 
New growth in the tax base is generated by new construction or improvements to property that raise its value. A lack of new growth (the town projects 15 percent less revenue from new growth in fiscal year 2027 than it had in FY26) means that increased spending falls more heavily on current taxpayers.
 
The two largest spending articles on the draft warrant for the May meeting are the appropriations for general government spending and the assessment from the Mount Greylock Regional School District.
 
The former, which includes the Department of Public Works, the Williamstown Police and town hall staffing, is up by just 2.5 percent from the current fiscal year to FY27 — from $10.6 million to $10.9 million.
 
The latter, which pays for Williamstown Elementary School and the town's share of the middle-high school, is up 13.7 percent, from $14.8 million to $16.8 million.
 
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