Lanesborough Committee Invites Officers to Speak on Station Plans

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Police Station Committee invited several officers to its meeting on Thursday to share thoughts on the committee's direction and the plans for the new station.

The committee asked the officers several questions about the current station, what they think of putting the new station there and other potential locations for the building. Officer Sakan Sadowsky said having to use the current station is, at times, embarrassing.

"I have been fingerprinting people lately, and it's embarrassing to have them come in, and then when you have to wash your hands and go into our bathroom .. . The security between the front desk and where our officer's room is, it's like I could flick the wood and it would break. It's not secure whatsoever."

Officer Jason Costa said he thinks the site near Skyline Country Club would be better for the new station than the 8 Prospect St. location.

"We've been there, in this location, for obviously longer than I've been on the job. It's worked, but I've heard that the Skyline is another option and that's a much better location for a lot of reasons," he said. "There's better egress and access to it, it's more central to get to both sides of the town, the northern side and the southern side. And you don't have that hill."

Board Chair Kristen Tool said, in her mind, the site is not off the table.

"For the purposes of the committee, we were directed to assess the Prospect Street site and the building design that was planned to go there," she said. "The committee has to dig into that before we can look at anything else, but we have all discussed multiple times the very ant concerns with that location, and we are going to be compiling all that to recommend to the select board," she said.

Pittsfield City Council Weighs in on 'Crisis' in Public Schools

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
08:59PM / Monday, December 23, 2024

A half-dozen people addressed the City Council from the floor of Monday's meeting, including Valerie Anderson, right.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — After expressing anger and outrage and making numerous calls for accountability and transparency, the 11 members of the City Council on Monday voted to support the School Committee in seeking an independent investigation into allegations of misconduct by staff members at Pittsfield High School that have come to light in recent weeks.

 

At the close of a month that has seen three PHS administrators put on administrative leave, including one who was arrested on drug trafficking charges, the revelation that the district is facing a civil lawsuit over inappropriate conduct by a former teacher and that a staff member who left earlier in the year is also under investigation at his current workplace, the majority of the council felt compelled to speak up about the situation.

 

"While the City Council does not have jurisdiction over the schools … we have a duty to raise our voices and amplify your concerns and ensure this crisis is met with the urgency it demands," Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey said.

 

About two dozen community members attended the special meeting of the council, which had a single agenda item.

 

Four of the councilors precipitated the meeting with a motion that the council join the School Committee in its search for an investigation and that the council, "be included in the delivery of any disclosures, interim reports or findings submitted to the city."

 

Last week, the School Committee decided to launch that investigation. On Monday, City Council President Peter White said the School Committee has a meeting scheduled for Dec. 30 to authorize its chair to enter negotiations with the Springfield law firm of Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas to conduct that probe.

 

Ward 7 Councilor Rhonda Serre, the principal author of the motion of support, was one of several members who noted that the investigation process will take time, and she, like Kavey, acknowledged that the council has no power over the public schools beyond its approval of the annual district budget.