NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The City Council on Tuesday accepted a fiscal 2025 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant in the amount of $14,231 for the construction of an evidence room. 

 

The small but contentious grant was accepted 5-4 after weeks of debate. 

 

"It was appropriate for us to accept the Byrne grant as those items of question, we'll say, were not going to be enforceable," said Mayor Jennifer Macksey, then turning to the packed audience, "I don't know how you feel, but I'm very sensitive to what you feel and the worries that you have. And I would speak on behalf of Chief Bailey ... 

 

"Our job is to make sure everyone is safe, whether you lived here five minutes, whether you lived here 50 years, 100 years."

 

The grant received weeks of pushback from area residents who have filled council chambers for the past four meetings and started a petition. The crux had been certain language added to the grant this year that put conditions on local law enforcement regarding immigration and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

 

At the last meeting, councilors had asked for a reservation of rights, a legal letter outlining that the city could not be compelled to comply with four provisions in the grant, based on the opinions of the city solicitor and Attorney General Andrea Campbell, and recent court cases. 

 

Councilor Peter Breen, who had urged the submission of a letter, noted the 23 states that have filed class action suits.  

 

"[The attorney general] came back specifically on addressing four items that are to be removed, and they are they're being removed under the FY 25 thing, which is excellent," he said. "Looking at the legal notices, and this is all over the country. ...

 

"It's going to be like any other grant we get from the state, the federal government, or private."

 

Councilor Lillian Zavastky did not think the letter was enough. 

 

"This letter says, and I won't read the whole thing, but pursuant to the injunction issued in the city of Chicago v. Garland, the reservation of rights is hinging on the legal argument, and so I don't even see this letter as doing the thing that we want it to," she said, adding that the city should copy and paste and remove the clauses, and let the DOJ accept it or not. "That is the only way that I would consider voting for this."

 

She asked if the council would consider it. The mayor said the contract is signed electronically so provisions could not be removed but, the reservation of rights letter could be attached. Councilor Lisa Blackmer added that in her experience with grants, it's very much a black and white process ... and even that missing a checkbox could lose the grant. 

 

Councilor Keith Bona said he could not find any examples of ICE coming into a community based on a Byrne grant and that only a couple agencies had turned down grants (including Pittsfield).

 

"It does not say ICE can come in here and further, they do whatever they want because we're signing this grant," he said. "It says they can use what we're using the money for, and it's nails and wood."

 

He described the provisions as a "playground bully" and that by refusing the money, it will just go to another community.

 

"This funding was promoted and pushed to us from the Healey administration, our state Democratic leader, and someone who is also standing up to the Trump administration," Bona said. "This is who's coming to and saying, 'we have this money. Please use it. Support your your public safety.'"

 

Councilor Andrew Fitch said he couldn't vote for the grant, "I mean, really, a lot of our community is is begging us not to do this, and that is really why I'm not going to be able to do this."

 

"It's so important to me that I think we listen to this advocacy journey here because it is led by people who are going to at least potentially be most affected by this," he continued. "And if we look in the audience and see those who are most passionately asking us, begging us to not vote for this, those are the people who might be most affected by it."

 

On Tuesday night, the number of attendees was so high that people had to stand in the hallway and, again, opposers spoke for nearly an hour despite Council President Ashley Shade asking that it be limited to people who hadn't spoken or who had "new information." 

 

Hari Kumar of Williamstown pointed to the recent election which resulted in a repudiation of the Trump administration. 

 

"So many people are now pressuring Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries. Why? Because they see them as being ineffective in standing up to this unlawful regime," said Hari Kumar of Williamstown. "Those folks specialize in writing strongly worded letters, and you are about to be satisfied with a strongly worded letter. 

 

"We, the people, are watching, and the message last week was: we are tired of elected representatives treating an illegal regime as if they're going to operate lawfully, and we're tired of strongly worded letters. We want to see you live up to principle."

 

Others pointed to Trump adminstration "doubling down" with the appointment of deportation czar Stephen Miller to chief of staff, and concerns that accepting the grant would put the city into a difficult position. 

 

"If this grant is accepted, we may not be paying for the upgrades with money. We will be paying with human lives," said a North Adams resident.

 

Michael Hitchcock of Middlefield said the courts might be finding against ICE but the administration is ignoring the judgments or the cases are being overturned.

 

"We're in a litigious society right now with a litigious administration who has proven and said they will do anything they want, the courts will not protect us," he said. "Every little block you put against this is a help, not a hindrance."

 

Carrie Waara of Williamstown gave the council kudos for its patience in hearing the opposition over the past weeks. She referred to Councilor Lisa Blackmer's question to the council candidates earlier in the meeting about changing minds with new information. 

 

"I just hope that those council members who were pretty committed to accepting this grant have had a real change of heart and are reconsidering it and maybe change your mind," she said.

 

William Blackmer, a retired State Police station commander, was the only attendee to stand in support of the grant, which he also did two weeks ago. 

 

The state's Protect Act, Blackmer said, "explicitly forbids" police from civil immigration cooperation with ICE, the DOJ has entirely removed enforcement conditions and the courts have struck down the latest attempts to attach them to related public safety funds. 

 

"The threat being protested simply does not exist in this grant," he said. "We must trust the local guardrails we have built. We need to amplify the voices of our chief, our solicitor, and the attorney general in assuring our community that this grant in no way changes their defense of the vulnerable among us."

 

Police Chief Mark Bailey reiterated that under the state's Protect Act, police cannot ask about immigration status, record it, detain anyone on known or suspected status, or share information with other agencies, including federal ones. 

 

Bona asked Zavatsky if keeping the addendum would change her vote; she said no. Councilor Virginia Riehl agreed with Zavastky, saying if the city pressured the DOJ then perhaps other communities would as well. 

 

"They're expecting a side letter. If you just take the things out, that's not the contract. They've already awarded us the contract, signed the contract. It's up to us to certify that we agree with the contract," said Breen. "I don't think we should cut and paste."

 

Initially, it wasn't clear if the council would even take up the issue. The grant had technically been rejected and the council has had to vote to reconsider to discuss it, and that motion had to be made by someone who voted against it. 

 

Shade called for a motion — and had silence until Councilor Marie McCarron, participating remotely, made a motion.

 

In a roll call vote, Fitch, Riehl, Shade and Zavatsky voted against; Blackmer, Bona, Breen, McCarron and Councilor Bryan Sapienza voted for. 

 

"This has been the absolute most contentious item that's come before this council in my time," said Shade. "To the public, I hear every word you're saying. That is why we will be introduced, Safe Communities ordinance, very soon. We will work with the ACLU to get it right and we will do so to protect the people of North Adams."