On Nov. 5, Great Barrington, Mass., fire chief Scott Turner was abruptly placed on administrative leave without explanation. The agenda for the town selectboard’s special Thursday meeting shows that criminal complaints against the chief are under consideration over issues related to use of municipal funds.
Berkshire Bureau Chief Josh Landes spoke with Selectboard Chair Steve Bannon to untangle the ongoing situation involving Turner, who has led the fire department of Southern Berkshire County’s largest community since 2023.
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
Editor's note: This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.
Bannon: The fire chief in Great Barrington is hired by the town manager, not the select board. So, there was a search committee, and the town manager hired the chief.
Landes: Now, at the time, that would have been Mark Pruhenski, the former town manager, right?
Bannon: That is correct.
Landes: I know that there're a lot of personnel questions around the current situation, but can you give us a timeline on what's transpired this month concerning Fire Chief Turner and his current status with Great Barrington?
Bannon: Yeah, I can't answer anything about personnel, especially relating to Chief Turner. That's confidential by Mass. Law.
Landes: Now, this agenda for executive session coming up on Thursday for the selectboard in Great Barrington, the Massachusetts general law cited in that agenda concerns discussion of the "reputation, character, physical condition, or mental health, rather than professional competence of an individual to discuss the discipline or dismissal of, or complaints or charges brought against a public officer, employee, staff member, or individual," can you speak to whether or not this might concern criminal actions or pursuits against Chief Turner?
Bannon: I think if you look at the second part of the agenda, the posting, that is all the information I can give out.
Landes: So, it does indeed cite to consider filing criminal complaints concerning potential matters involving municipal funds within the fire department.
Bannon: We're going into executive session for those two reasons. So, yes.
Landes: Now, since Chief Turner was placed on leave, there has been a succession of folks taking over that interim position of running the fire department. Can you sort of walk us through that journey from the first interim appointment to the second?
Bannon: Yeah, it was simply a matter of getting someone in place right away, so that there was no gap and no gap in coverage. And the town manager had tapped Brian Mead. Once Brian was in place, she then worked with the union to put one of the full-time firefighters in place, and firefighter Marks is now in place as interim chief.
Landes: Reporting from the Berkshire Edge cited some concern raised by former town elected officials about concerns about how the initial appointment, Mead, could sort of maintain multiple roles while serving as acting fire chief. Can you speak to that moment of consideration before things turned to Captain Marks?
Bannon: Yeah, the assumption, the wrong assumption by the that press outlet was that he was going to be full time and keep a full-time job. That was never the intention.
Landes: At this point, can you speak to your confidence in the fire department leadership? It's a crucial role in Great Barrington. Residents obviously have the wildfires from from not that long ago still fresh in mind. Do you feel like that the department is in good hands and stable amidst these conversations about the the chief?
Bannon: I don't really have a sense how long it will be. A while, I'm sure, because everything has to go through the regulatory process. Plus, if we were to hire a new chief, and I'm not sure we are, if you look through Berkshire County, there are a lot of openings for fire chiefs.
Landes: Any thoughts on that? There's actually been a lot of turnover and a lot of controversy around fire chiefs in the Southern Berkshires, in Sandisfield, their former chief Michael Grillo, was placed on leave and then fired over allegations about a relationship with a subordinate. The lead chief Ryan Brown, also placed on leave for the same issue. Brown then resigned. Any thoughts on that? Why has this position become something of a hot seat recently?
Bannon: I don't know. I wonder that myself, but I don't see anything that ties all the positions together. So, I'm going to chalk it up to coincidence.
Landes: Let's turn to the ongoing Housatonic Water Works situation. This week, the Great Barrington Selectboard made an announcement about funding around this long and tortured journey trying to acquire the troubled company. What's the update financially from the selectboard?
Bannon: Yeah, we approved some money to be used that was granted by the legislature $50,000. Some or all of that money to be used as seed money for a USDA loan. And what we really want to be able to do is, work on finding money for acquisition, transition, and capital costs before we ever take this to a town meeting vote.
Landes: That announcement about funding does follow this recent emergency announcement from the Water Works, calling on people to conserve their use of water. Just last week, given a unspecified water supply emergency, these struggles of this private company to provide the basic service of water that's really been at the core of this for years now. Any thoughts or any information about what that emergency water supply situation was, or what this says about Great Barrington's efforts with the company?
Bannon: Yeah, there's been a series of leaks that have caused pressure to drop, and those leaks have been repaired, as I understand it. Although I haven't seen where the emergency has been lifted, and Housatonic Water Works is having trouble and has had trouble for years maintaining clean water, safe water, and now pressure. The town of Great Barrington, the selectboard, would love to be able to correct that. It's time. It just can't go on much longer.
Landes: When you think about improvements to the system, like this press release details about the town's plans for its potential acquisition, is this the kind of thing that you would expect the company to rectify in the short-term, or do you see this as being part of the larger effort to again take over and make these much needed maintenance improvements to the system by by the town itself?
Bannon: I don't have a lot of confidence that the water company has the ability and resources to make these changes, and so I would have much more confidence in the town being able to do it than the company.
Landes: I was a keen follower of the vote in Massachusetts over Question 7 on the Massachusetts ballot, it was the tightest vote of the entire slate of questions for voters to resolve. It ultimately failed this question of overriding local controls to allow development of single-family homes on lots as small as 5,000 square feet. It did pass in Great Barrington with about 400 votes, or 8% of the vote cast. What were your thoughts on Question 7 as someone involved in municipal permitting and zoning, and involved in housing efforts in a region that desperately needs new housing?
Bannon: Yeah, I could give you my own personal opinion, and that was that I personally did not think it would pass. I'm surprised how close it was. New Englanders as a whole don't like to give up local control, and this would give up local control. And I think that may that scares some people.
