On Tuesday, incumbent chair Jamie Minacci won a second three-year term on the Stockbridge, Massachusetts select board. She beat challenger Lisa Sauer by just 15 votes of the 461 ballots cast. Minacci, who unsuccessfully ran for state representative in last year’s Democratic primary, won despite her opponent’s endorsement by the Stockbridge Democratic Town Committee. The election came amid an ongoing conversation in the affluent Southern Berkshire community of around 2,000 over how to balance development with conservation. Minacci spoke with WAMC.
MINACCI: My campaign happened to coincide with the special permit for 35-37 Interlaken Road, which is the cottage bylaw. [Developer Patrick] Sheehan wanted to build a hotel, and so we were working on that. And that was kind of like, half the town is okay, and the neighbors, the abutters, were not so happy with it. So that was happening. Also, there was a, you might have read in the paper, there was a property on Interlaken Cross Road, it was for sale. And some people, the abutters also wanted to create open space. So that was sort of on people's minds. The residential tax exemption, which is a yearly selectmen decision, if to adopt, it's changing the levy of the- So the levy, you still capture the same amount of money, but you just tax people in different categories in a different way.
WAMC: Now, with another three-year term guaranteed, what do you think the big issues are going to be for Stockbridge moving forward as you steer the select board into this new era?
So, the next big issues are- The Berkshire Hills Regional School District wants to build a new school, and that's regional. So, it's West Stockbridge, Stockbridge and Great Barrington, so that decision will be made early November. There's also- We've been working on a shared services with West Stockbridge with EMS and fire, because there's no longer enough firemen volunteers that we need to hire professional firemen and ambulance, our EMS people. And the other one is, continue to fix our bridges and culverts because of these terrific storms and just wear and tear.
So much of the conversation in Stockbridge, and as you pointed out, during this very tight election, concerns the development of the town, and this tension between creating opportunity for housing and preserving the character of Stockbridge. If you were to sum up your stance on that question, how would you describe it to people?
I think, as you know, we do have our- We've met our state quota for affordable housing, but there's still more need, of course, and it is a challenge across the state, and I think nationally, how do you provide enough housing at an affordable cost and still have diversity in your town? And our town is aging, which is- We also adopted an ADU bylaw, so that may provide some relief to people, because they can build some additional housing with their homes or on their land. Yes, that is a big challenge here.
