Lanesborough TA Tapped as Adams Community Development Director

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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ADAMS, Mass.— Lanesborough's town administrator has been tapped as Adams' director of community development. 

On the agenda for the Select Board's meeting on Wednesday is a ratification of Gina Dario as director of community development. She has worked for Lanesborough since late 2022, when she was hired as town administrator. 

Dario is also a native of Adams and will replace Donna Cesan, the retired community development director who stepped in last year to temporarily fill the vacant spot. 

The town's job posting explains that the community development director manages community and economic programs and develops work plans and programs to meet Adams' growth and development goals.  

This includes managing the Community Development Block Grant Program funding and procuring, negotiating, and managing professional service contracts. 


The position reports to the Town Administrator Nicholas Caccamo, who was hired last year.  

Lanesborough Select Board Chair Deborah Maynard on Tuesday said Dario had informed Town Hall and all boards and committees. 
 
"She plans on leaving mid-October," Maynard wrote. "Hopefully, we will have candidates to interview before then."

The pay grade is level 14, between about $80,000 per year and $118,000.  A Bachelor's Degree, Master's preferred, in a related field and a minimum of eight years of progressively responsible experience in project management or local planning is required, or an equivalent combination of education and experience. 

Before her work in Lanesborough, Dario was a former state manager with the Australian Electoral Commission in Perth, Western Australia, and before that, she worked as an assistant commissioner with the Australian Electoral Commission in Canberra, the country's capital.

She grew up in the Berkshires before attending Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley and obtaining a master's degree in international public affairs from Columbia University in New York City.


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North Berkshire School Study Encouraging Stakeholders to Take Survey

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
CHESHIRE, Mass. — The consultants behind the education study for North Berkshire are hoping for solid responses to its recently released survey. 
 
The survey, released last week, can be found here. 
 
"Our goal is somewhere between 5 and 10 percent overall survey responses, which is somewhere between 2,000 and 4,000 responses," project manager Jake Eberwein told the steering committee for the North Berkshire Educational Sustainability Study at Wednesday's meeting at Hoosac Valley High School. 
 
This is the next phase of the study of secondary education in North County being undertaken through state funding and conducted by Berkshire Educational Consulting Group, Berk12.
 
"Our first phase was project awareness, and that was really our you know attempt to meet the school committees, select boards, and we wrapped that up this past Monday in Williamstown," Berk12 researcher Brendan Sheran said. "And certainly, we'll be doing more of that going back out probably in the midyear or springtime. But in terms of info gathering, really, the data collection — that's where we are now."
 
The community survey was launched through sharing on social media, the group's stakeholder list, the press, and the district partners, which are distributing it to educators, parents and students. The window is expected to close on Friday, Oct. 9, but Sheran said they can be flexible with the date. 
 
The survey takes about seven to 10 minutes and is open to those in the Hoosac Valley Regional and Mount Greylock Regional school districts and in North Adams, Clarksburg, Florida and Savoy.
 
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