As North Adams, Massachusetts prepares to swear in a new municipal government Saturday, departing city councilors like Benjamin Lamb are looking back on years of public service. Lamb, 36, is a director of county economic development agency 1Berkshire. Over four two-year terms on the nine-member body, he’s chaired committees, served as council president and vice president, and cast countless votes impacting the 13,000 residents of North Adams. In an interview with WAMC, Lamb reflects on his tenure in North Adams politics — from a turbulent final term dominated by COVID-19 and multiple council resignations to what he thinks his lasting impact on the city will be.
LAMB: Right now, one of the biggest things is the development and facilitation of the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access Working Group, which, that group itself will be sunsetting. But we were actually able to get codified a new commission, which is the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access Commission in the city of North Adams, which is a first for the community. So that just came to conclusion recently, so it's really fresh on my mind. And it's certainly something that's taken a ton of effort over the last few years to bring together. So that's certainly a major thing that I'm really excited by and I think will carry a significant amount of weight going forward for the city. The other thing I would say is around 4DR, and I know that the Smart Growth zoning designations are something that can be divisive in some cases, especially when there's different layers of potentially misinformation or incorrect information that get brought up in those conversations. But I feel like that was a, again, almost a two year long process, where we really worked through what are the benefits of a program like that in terms of the city of North Adams, but also when we start to think of the Berkshires as a whole and really trying to tackle incentivizing housing development since we do have a housing crisis in the Berkshires. And so to be able to work on the Community Development Committee and with the Office of Community Development through that process, I feel like it’s something, again, that's going to- It may not have paid dividends yet, but we'll certainly start to see those happen after my tenure is, comes to a close.
WAMC: Over the eight years of your tenure, how has North Adams changed?
A lot of change in North Adams. I think one of the really exciting things that we've seen over the last number of years is a lot more involvement from a lot more folks that may not have been involved either in local politics or in just kind of community engagement and activity. We've seen a lot more recent graduates of our local institutions that have been have decided to call North Adams home and have really gotten engaged in a variety of senses. So that's really exciting to see, because I think when we start to see the intergenerational engagement in North Adams, that's something that I'm really excited to see and hopefully continue to be a part of. I think our small business community and the growth and sort of the pivoting and agility that we've seen in that landscape is really fantastic. A focus on kind of creative placemaking as a mechanism for economic growth and prosperity and what that can mean for a small city like ours is also really something that I've been- It's been great to see. And one of the things that I would say is probably not overly celebrated, but it's certainly really important, is when we start to look at our fiscal position as a community. While under the Alcombright administration and also under the Bernard administration, we saw budgets that were really critically looked at and put to a fine point that helped to ensure that we continue to build on our reserves so that it creates the resiliency that we need as a community going forward. And I think again, it's one of those things where we're planting a seed and we're creating fertile ground so that we aren't constantly on edge going ahead, we're actually able to rely on resources that we have aggregated over time. And so that, again, not something that's overly celebrated, but certainly something that's important.
The end of your tenure also marks a major transitional moment for the city at large, as far as its government. We're seeing the incoming mayor, Jennifer Macksey, the end of this somewhat chaotic term of the North Adams city council. When you look at all of that – and the most diverse slate of councilors the city has ever seen in its history, with the first openly transgender city councilor and the city's first Black city councilor – what are your thoughts on this moment? There's sort of a lot going on, and there's been a lot of very passionate conversation in the community leading up to 2022.
Yeah, I think, you know, this probably gets overly used, but I think we're at a precipice moment. And I think that we've seen these moments over time, in different ways and at different scales. But this is certainly a really powerful time for us to grab a hold of an opportunity to come together and to look at the future in a positive way. I've embraced this whole concept of being possiblist- not a realist, not a conservative person, but a possiblist and seeing what the potential is there. And I do think both with the new council energy, the, again, new players being involved at all levels of municipal government, and with having the new mayor coming into office, this is a really big moment for us to take the energy that's sort of been bubbling up in a positive sense and to use it for good. I think those of us who may not be continuing on in public service still have a lot to offer to the community in various ways. And we should continue to try to support as much as we can as just residents and community members. But when we look at what having new faces, ideas, demographics, experiences, professions, etc., does when you put them together and you bring them to a table that actually makes decisions, it allows it to be more open to more members of our community, either those that are already here or those that may opt to join in the future. And so that's, that to me is extremely exciting. And I do think that there's a lot of doors that could be opened, a lot of future investments that could be driven, and just a better job of embracing new people and new ideas and new friends and neighbors into this community, whether those are individuals or those are businesses. So I think, you know, I'm potentially very much so a perpetual optimist here. But I do see hope and levels of potential that will continue to grow and will continue to shape as they go forward.
If you could put one issue or project on the top of the stack for the incoming city councilors and incoming mayoral administration of North Adams, what would that be, Ben?
It's going to sound like a broken record, but it's going to continue to be the public safety infrastructure. I think there has been a significant amount of work done even though it may not be very forward facing in that realm, but it's something that we, it needs to get the actual investment from public dollars to make it happen. We need a new building for our public safety departments. We've gotten the hydrants done, right, but there’s always going to need to be ongoing repairs there. But the building piece is now the big one there. So that's kind of thing number one that I would really put at the top of the list. And they're going to have to work, both the legislative body of the council and the executive body of the mayor, they're going to work together on that, and really figure out creative ways of getting there, creative ways of advocacy, engaging our delegation members, which, you know, the delegation is looking at some changes in the near future, as well. So really building that team and that relationship and that opportunity. The other thing that I would say is, when we look at economic development in the city, we've put a lot of things in place over the last eight years that will hopefully help to incentivize economic growth and development, whether that's Smart Growth zoning or that's looking at other overlays and kind of the cultural district mapping and all these things that have come together to try to make it- having an opportunity zones in the city, for instance. Trying to make investment an attractive thing to both current folks that are here and potentially new investors. But we also have to look at how we are treating our existing businesses and how we may need to help to support them through just thinking through how we tax, thinking through how our various licensing and all the requirements that we put in place really are structured throughout the city so that they aren't impediments to growth, but actually helped to support businesses new and existing. That's something that I just think is going to need a lot of work, and as city councilors, I think that that work comes through being a voice both for the residents and the business owners in this community because even though a business owner may not live in North Adams, they have a significant stake in North Adams and their businesses provide employment for North Adams residents and they pay taxes and all of these things. So just because they don't necessarily have a direct vote at the polls to decide who represents them in the city council chambers, it's still our responsibility to listen to them and to try to do what's best for the greater good. And so I think that that's just an area that I hope and I think the incoming council and the mayor will have a mind around to be able to address it in a way that's effective going forward.
Ben, your final term in office sort of saw it all in North Adams politics. Mayor Tom Barnard sparring with State Representative and former Mayor John Barrett, three resignations from the council, accusations of toxicity amongst the aforementioned council- just sort of a wild time in North Adams politics. As someone who was on the council throughout that and attempting to legislate through that, what was the insider experience? And if you had a message to folks who don't understand the somewhat unique culture of North Adams politics who watch from the outside, can you sort of decode some of this for us? Is this normal? Or was this a particularly turbulent era for the city?
I will say from my eight years on council, it was extremely turbulent, it was extremely challenging. And I will say that, in general, I would consider social media to be either an incredible tool and asset or incredibly challenging and damaging to the actual work that we're trying to do. It can really become a platform where distractions and drama become the things that are driving decision making and dialogues. You know, healthy discourse is necessary in local politics. And unfortunately, when you start to then run that through the rumor mill and conspiracy theories and all the things that sort of shake out when partial or incorrect information are being spread on various platforms, it builds a narrative that's not healthy. And our job as city council is the job of the mayor is to, are to legislate and to maintain the effective function of municipal government so that people can live work and play in North Adams. And when those various elements work in a disadvantageous way, it certainly can create a challenging space to actually do the work. It takes away- The time that we should be spending on actually doing our jobs is then focused on, how do I deal with another public records request, constantly getting those things that may not be grounded in reality, but are really grounded in various rumors and hearsay that get thrown around. And it's just not effective for everyone. I think one thing that's been challenging- Again, we are in a pandemic, right? And we've been in a pandemic for darn near two years, which, you know, pair that up with everything else I'm sure that that contributed to our, some of those challenges that have been mentioned or alluded to. And I think that part of that is that in many ways, we've forgotten how to speak to one another. And we've leaned too much on these digital platforms to be how we share information with the world and ultimately how we're sharing information with one another. And it can sometimes devolve very quickly. And so, I guess all that is to say, it has definitely been a very challenging two years. And it's been one where you, sometimes you have to put your blinders on and focus on what's in front of you and what's the important thing that's happening right now and put all that stuff aside. And then maybe look at that stuff later on, if it's actually worth looking at, but really just trying to focus on the work. And one thing that I hope, I dearly hope going into the next term is that as a new sense of whatever the normalcy is going to be for the future, as that new normalcy starts to take shape, that we can hopefully see our elected officials reengage in what it means to be civil with one another. You know, we are supposed to be civil servants as city councilors. And I think the civility component of that has somewhat left in the last couple years. And so I hope that that's something that can return and I hope that that helps the incoming councilors, especially the new folks that have never sat on the council, it helps to create a positive experience for them, and not one that is potentially tainted by grudges or egos or whatever the case might be and you can actually move forward proactively and productively in that way.
Lastly, Ben, what's next for you as you leave public life?
Gosh, you know, I have a lot of work to do in my day job. It's going to keep me even more busy, I think going into the next year plus here. But I also am really looking forward to spending time with my family. You know, we have two kids now. Which was one of my four points early on that really determined why I was going to opt not to run for another term right at this time, and I really look forward to spending more time with them and being able to get back to really appreciating all the things in the city that you get to enjoy as a resident or a visitor, without necessarily always having the pressure of municipal service on my shoulders simultaneously. I fully believe that when you're a city councilor, you are a city councilor 24/7, no matter where you are and who you're speaking to. And that is, subsequently, a second full time job. And so I'm excited to be able to spend more time with the kids and the dog and wife and doing all the things that we love to do in North Adams and the Berkshires at large. And I also do plan on taking on some additional capacity and leadership in organizations that I'm already involved in. So you know, I always try to make sure I'm not filling my plate too much, because I don't want to only half commit to things. And so I hope that I can use my time and energy effectively for the betterment of lives and businesses in our community more from the private side of things, so I'm excited for what that might look like.
