Williamstown Officials Condemn Threatening Email, Call for Respect

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Select Board and the Diversity, Inclusion and Racial Equity Committee  issued a joint statement Wednesday condemning an email directed at the latter panel and calling for more respect in public discourse.
 
In their second joint meeting in six days, the Select Board and DIRE Committee reviewed and edited the statement that grew from a May 26 executive session regarding, "an email that included violent imagery sent to the DIRE committee on May 23."
 
According to Wednesday's statement, that email was sent by a resident of the town and was investigated by the Williamstown Police Department, which consulted the State Police and FBI.
 
No charges resulted from the investigation, but law enforcement determined the message was "was sufficiently threatening to be charged as criminal harassment if additional harassment continues," the statement reads.
 
"While a chargeable crime has not occurred, the sender was informed that criminal harassment could be enforced if this type of behavior continues."
 
The contents of the email in question were not revealed during Wednesday's meeting.
 
Throughout the hourlong virtual meeting, it was clear that the members of both committees wanted to send the strongest possible message that such harassment has no place in town politics.
 
Calling to mind past distrust of the Select Board in the wake of earlier revelations of inappropriate behavior in town government, member Jane Patton emphasized that this time the reaction was swift and certain.
 
"I want it to be crystal clear to everyone in town that we're not messing around with nonsense like this, period, full stop," Patton said. "I don't mean to speak so strongly, but I'm passionate about this. I want people to know that this is not acceptable."
 
Patton pushed for stronger language in the joint statement, arguing that it was not the time for the committees to be "too polite about a situation that is terribly serious."
 
The panels agreed on language that commends the work of town committee members and pledges to "work to protect our committees and the people who serve on them, from intimidation acts of all kinds."
 
The one-page statement, which will be posted on the town's website, includes one sentence in bold-face type: "All of our voices are valuable and need to be heard as we work toward more transparency and citizen participation in our town government."
 
In addition to making tweaks from a draft statement to make it more direct and eliminate redundancies, the Select Board and DIRE Committee discussed whether the finished product's tone might come across as directing residents to discuss public issues in a certain way.
 
"I'm looking for a little bit of a call to action here – like, 'Please do not make personal attacks or utilize violent or threatening language,' " Select Board Chair Hugh Daley said. "I understand we're talking as us, but we're projecting out to the community. This is the tough sentence [DIRE Committee member Shana Dixon] had a good thought: Are we telling people what to do, or how do we want to come across here?"
 
"We're trying to make a strong statement, and I stand by that statement," Select Board Vice Chair Jeffrey Johnson said. "I'm not trying to tell citizens what to say and what to do, but I am saying no one should [use violent or threatening language]."
 
In the end, the panels agreed to language that reads, "No one should be making personal attacks or utilizing violent or threatening language. We commit to treating each other with the respect that everyone deserves."

Tags: harassment,   threats,   

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Williamstown Fire District Inks 3-Year Deal with New Chief

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff

Jeffrey Dias of the Onset Fire Department has signed a contract to become Williamstown's fire chief. 
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The town's next fire chief says he was "ecstatic" when he heard that he would be offered the post.
 
On Tuesday afternoon, the Prudential Committee ratified a contract to make Jeffrey Dias the successor to Chief Craig Pedercini, who retired from the post on Monday.
 
"It's very sad to leave someplace you've been the better part of three decades," said Dias, currently the deputy chief and a long-time firefighter in the South Shore community of Onset. "But I'm very excited. A lot of big things are going to happen in the future."
 
The five-member Prudential Committee, which oversees the district, selected Dias on March 12 from among three candidates it interviewed earlier in the month.
 
Last week, the committee held an executive session — a rarity for the body — to discuss the negotiation of the contract. And on Tuesday, at a special meeting, the board voted to approve the deal.
 
Dias agreed to a three-year deal with a $125,000 base salary and 3 percent cost-of-living adjustments in years two and three.
 
"We are very excited to have Chief Dias lead the department forward as we look forward to the completion of our new station and the future of the Williamstown Fire Department," Prudential Committee Chair David Moresi said on Thursday.
 
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