To the editor:
I am writing to provide additional information as to why Mr. Gary Johnston has earned reelection.
Johnston has appointed Finance Committee members regardless of political affiliation and has looked for candidates who have a background in finance, municipal finance, business ownership, accounting, insurance and prior governmental experience. Johnston understands the need for competence and non-partisan leadership. The Finance Committee members in the last ten years have provided budget oversight, capital planning and an emphasis on funding to overcome years of deferred maintenance of plant and equipment.
It was the Finance Committee appointed by Johnston that led the effort to fully fund a $4,000,000 liability for healthcare benefits [OPEB] for Stockbridge town retirees. It was the Finance Committee appointed by him which created a stabilization fund to protect the town from adverse financial effects of the pandemic shutdown.
This is a multi-year record of accomplishment which equals or surpasses every town in Berkshire County. The record includes an increase in the Stockbridge’s bond rating to the highest level attainable by a town virtually dependent on real estate taxes. This increase in rating has saved the town hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest costs. There are only three towns in Berkshire County with this accomplishment.
We have Gary to thank for these achievements.
Please vote to reelect Gary Johnston as Stockbridge Town moderator again this year.
Thank you, John Morse
Member of the Stockbridge Finance Committee from 2003 to 2011.
To the Editor:
If you want lower taxes, do it one percentage at a time. There are no quick fixes. You have to work hard, study hard, and find the little things where a point can be shaved off of the tax rate. In Stockbridge, every point translates to between $20 and $300 per taxpayer per year, depending on the value of your property.
Let me address points raised by John Morse in The Berkshire Edge on April 17. Mr. Morse referenced the fund to pay the cost of future retirement benefits, OPEB (Other Post-Employment Benefits). Our town OPEB fund stands at $3.8 million, which earned over $300,000 in interest this past year. It is funded at over 80%, which by law allows us to use a portion to pay for current OPEB liabilities. This would reduce the property tax levy.
Funding OPEB didn’t come for free. We did that with your property taxes. Our current OPEB liability for fiscal year 2025 stands at around $140,000. If we paid this out of the $300,000+ in interest we earned last year on this fund, we wouldn’t have decreased the fund’s principal, and taxpayers would have saved 1.5% this year. I supported this. The Finance Committee Chair and my colleagues on the Select Board did not.
Mr. Morse and a few members of the Finance Committee have made the claim that accessing the town’s OPEB reserves might impact the town’s future cost of borrowing by impacting Stockbridge’s credit rating. I point out that Lenox and Stockbridge enjoy the same credit rating. Lenox, like most towns, has not funded its OPEB liability. Stockbridge has.
Second, even if this claim were true, and it is not, the difference in the cost of borrowing from a municipal credit score of AA vs. AA+ is 5 basis points, or 5/100ths of 1%. Per $1 million of borrowing, this amounts to a difference in annual costs of around $300 to the entire municipal budget, or roughly 20 cents per taxpayer per year.
It’s questionable whether the cost to fund OPEB, which in aggregate amounted to $2,500 per taxpayer to date, was the highest best use of each individual taxpayer’s money.
I would also like to point out that the Berkshire Hills Regional School District has an unfunded OPEB liability of over $60 million. Of that amount, Stockbridge’s share is roughly 25%, or $15 million. This sounds scary. However, did you know that the vast majority of municipalities do not set aside these funds; they fund OPEB out of the current year’s operating budget.
Rather than taking the time to debate these issues, folks seem to come into budget meetings with their minds made up. This discussion a few weeks ago was less than 3 minutes in length. Reasonable folks disagreed. We could have put an item on the Town Meeting warrant and let the voters decide, after hearing both sides. That would have given the Finance Committee the chance to do its job, which is to advise the voters at Town Meeting, especially if there is an issue open to debate. I remind everyone that the voters are the decision makers, not the Select Board or the Finance Committee.
As for deferred maintenance, I recognize Mr. Morse left the Finance Committee 13 years ago. Our Town Administrator and I both started our respective jobs in 2020. I credit the Town Administrator for changing the culture of deferred maintenance. I credit the Select Board of 2020, which was comprised of Roxanne McCaffrey, Chuck Cardillo, and me, for taking his advice and changing course on this rather disastrous policy. It was a policy that cost the town dearly in bridges that needed to be replaced and yet could have been repaired for 1/10th the cost several years earlier. It was a policy that resulted in a tremendous amount of time spent by highway department employees repairing rickety old equipment rather than replacing it on a fleet schedule, thus giving them more time to do their actual jobs of plowing and road maintenance.
Finally, Mr. Morse points to the COVID stabilization fund. I note to Mr. Morse that in addition to creating the fund, the town also reduced the revenue projection for occupancy and meals taxes that year. This resulted in double-taxing our taxpayers for this COVID contingency, adding approximately 4% to the town’s budget that fiscal year. Mistakes happen. This was one of them.
Finally, I’d like to address the question of the reserve fund for FY2025. The initial draft budget had it set at $150,000, an amount we never used. I proposed reducing it to $100,000, which would the reduce tax burden by approximately 1/2%. While initially opposed by both the Finance Committee Chair and my colleagues, the Select Board ultimately took the Town Administrator’s recommendation when he endorsed my proposal.
We all learn from each other, from past mistakes, and from best practices of surrounding towns. Let’s be cautious about giving credit where it is due and avoid rewriting history to make a politically expedient argument.
Patrick White<
Stockbridge Select Board member
To the Editor
I am writing in support of Gary Johnston for Town Moderator. It is not well known that the Moderator appoints the members of the town’s Finance Committee. As a member of the Finance Committee for the past two years, I have been impressed with ever one of his appointments. Although I’m sure they come from different political perspectives, their collegiality, their historical knowledge of Stockbridge finances, and their financial expertise and even their diversity all reflect well on Gary’s careful thoughtfulness in the selections he’s made over the years.
Gary understands the apolitical role of the town Moderator. He understands that his role is to follow the order of voting on town warrants that is given to him by the Select Board and the Town Administrator as those have been reviewed by the Finance Committee.
Gary understands the job and has done it exceptionally well over the years, and that’s why I support his continuing as Town Moderator.
Edward Lane
Current Member of the Finance Committee
To the Editor:
In response to Ed Lane’s letter, a good example of political dabbling was the many positions the Finance Committee has taken in recent years. The definition of apolitical would be providing balanced information on Warrant articles to Town Meeting, not taking positions. Taking positions is the very definition political.
Nonetheless, the Finance Committee took positions on the Residential Tax Exemption, on a detailed review of the Town’s General Bylaws in their entirety, and proposed a policy for “Stockbridge Revitalization.”
According to the agenda, before the Rest of River (ROR) Committee was abolished, Finance Chairman Bikofsky called for motions to enter Executive Sessions to discuss the future strategy as respects Rest of the River (ROR). The Finance Committee may share some responsibility with the Town Representative to ROR for Stockbridge receiving just $1,500,000 when Lee And Lenox each received $25,000,000 though all three share the polluted river and the inconvenience of 13 years of truck-traffic during the cleanup. These are far beyond “apolitical” actions and questionable for an appointed committee, not a committee elected by the people. Finance Committee is meant to give information to the people as they decide. It is not meant to usurp the power of the people by deciding.
Michael Roisman
To the Editor:
I could say that I am voting for Carole Owens to be Town Moderator because of her long list of qualifications, including her vast experience running meetings for the League of Women Voters or….
I could say I’m voting for her because of her extensive involvement in charitable organizations or….
I could say I support her because she attends or listens to the proceedings of Town Commissions and Committees, and summarizes these meetings in Stockbridge Updates, so that residents could be kept informed of current events and issues.
These would all be good reasons to vote for Carole Owens.
But in truth, the real reason she has my support is because of the obvious love and passion she feels for this Town and for her insight into how Town history is relevant for issues facing the public today. She values fairness, inclusion and respect and I’m confident she will demonstrate these values if elected as Moderator.
Lisa Bozzuto
To the Editor:
My husband and I moved to Stockbridge over two years ago and have been following the local political scene since then. The one person who has kept us most informed has been Carole Owens through her Stockbridge Updates posts. Her summaries are rigorous and impartial, and her values are clear; a commitment to small town participatory democracy where community members from all levels can be heard and considered. To move from scribe of proceedings to participant in them I think would be of great value to Stockbridge: someone who is deeply versed in the proceedings and fully committed to giving all a voice. Carole Owens as Moderator is a perfect fit!
Jane Weiss
Letter to the Editor
I have known Carole Owens for only three years. A blink of time on the calendar of Stockbridge history. No one has made the values of this town more vivid or meaningful to me in that short sprint of time. Her regular columns in the Eagle and Edge would have been enough to define what it means to be a thoughtful citizen in a small town, but her work on Stockbridge Update is a work of civic commitment that few people share. If politics is the art of the possible, then Stockbridge Update is the most honest and clear-sighted palette for painting a documentary picture in real time. It’s a record of how a small town centered on a two-hundred-eighty-five-year-old system of participatory governance actually works. She covers, whether in person or online, virtually every meeting of every aspect of every board or commission or planning event that is held. If intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the town while offering a platform for debate that respects all points of view isn’t the best evidence that she will make an admirable Town Moderator, it’s hard to say what is.
Barry Hoffman
Dear Editor,
In 2020, as the Covid pandemic tightened its grip, we washed our hands multiple times a day, wore masks frequently, limited contact with friends, and avoided public gatherings like Town and Board meetings. That summer Carole Owens launched Stockbridge Updates, a free semimonthly newsletter to help us stay connected.
After 94 issues, her goals remain the same: enable the people of Stockbridge to better understand how our town government works, show why their participation is critical for democracy’s success, and provide everyone — without regard to political affiliation — a place to freely express their thoughts and concerns. Bottom line? She started Updates to strengthen community spirit and advocate for open dialogue.
Owens’ love of Stockbridge is well known through her many books and articles about the Berkshires and our town’s “cottages.” Now Carole is running for Stockbridge Moderator where her in-depth knowledge of town government, coupled with her sense of fairness, will help ensure Town Meetings are conducted impartially. And she wants to bring greater diversity to our Finance Board by bringing in new voices with a broader variety of perspectives.
Her passion to honor our past, her engagement with the issues of today, and her commitment to a sustainable future are why I support her candidacy. Please consider Carole Owens for Moderator.
Barney Edmonds, Stockbridge
Former Planning Board member and long-time Commissioner on the Stockbridge Housing Authority
To the Editor,
It has become apparent that the most important factor in the upcoming election for the position of Stockbridge Town Moderator is the power of the moderator to appoint the Finance Board. Since 1977 members of that board have been accountable to one person only, Gary Johnston. This is a board in a bubble. In its insularity, it advised a policy of systematic neglect for town infrastructure and years later awoke to the problems that created and proposed a belated and unnecessarily expensive remediation policy. Unfortunately, policies and budgeting priorities originating in the Finance Board have routinely been adopted by a passive and compliant Select Board.
The Finance Board is supposed to be advisory to the town; advice given when asked for. Its “advice” has become virtually determinative through its self-assertion and the absence of effective resistance, symbolized by its seating – as though it is something more than it is – on the dais at the Annual Town Meeting. We can’t currently vote for Finance Board members (we should fix that) but we can vote for Moderator. I support Carole Owens for that position. She has said that she intends to bring change to the Finance Board, orderly change, accomplished by replacing board members upon expiration of their staggered terms.
Ms. Owens brings so much more to the table, including a deep knowledge of the history of this town and this state, experience leading numerous organizations and a passion for preserving the things that have managed to survive that make Stockbridge such a wonderful place to live. That said, the breath of fresh air in the moderatorship she would represent is more than enough to recommend her.
Brent Wiggans
To the Editor:
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that politics brings out strongly held positions, even in our small town. But I have been surprised that people are characterized for anything other than their positions on the issues and opportunities ahead. Let’s pay tribute and thanks to anyone willing to take their time to look after our civic/municipal needs.
As to the position of town moderator, we have an opportunity for healthy assessment of the position and a civil debate on the merits of various positions. The current moderator has been in place for decades, and as in the case of any long-tenured position, fresh perspectives on historic performance and future needs should happen from time to time. Suggestions that anyone is acting out of spurious motives are just plain silly.
I would suggest that Stockbridge residents look at the issues, the facts, the statements, and the records of both candidates rather than leaning on potentially spurious arguments from individuals who might have a ‘dog in the fight’.
I will be voting for Carole Owens for the moderator’s position. Carole’s well-known service to the community, her experience, her love of Stockbridge and its history, and a contagious positivity makes this an easy choice. I would strongly encourage my friends and neighbors to do the same. Best wishes and good luck to both candidates.
Bruce Brodie
Please print this in your reader to reader section.
I am responding to several writer’s claims that my previous letter supporting Gary Johnston for Town Moderator in Stockbridge, citing the appropriate sections in the Massachusetts statute governing the duties of the Moderator were incorrect.
Nowhere do they convey the right of the Moderator to dictate to the Finance Committee that they will become “more active” in managing the economic affairs of a town. The Finance Committee is not the equivalent of a Ways and Means Committee.
The Finance Committee is a recommending body, who can only make official recommendations when financial articles are presented to them by the Selectboard.
One writer claimed that he took liberties when he was town moderator in another town. Gary Johnston in over 45 years has not once directed the members of the Finance Committee to do anything outside the purview of their responsibilities. Not a single time has he attempted to influence the people he appointed in any manner whatsoever.
The town moderator has the right to change the order for consideration of the various articles to be voted upon, but usually will only do so if the Selectboard OR the voters present request it.
Again, this year, Gary Johnston is running to continue his excellent leadership as Stockbridge moderator, and I hope everyone will join me in voting for continued excellent performance.
Thank you,
Jim Balfanz
Please note – I write this as a private citizen and not as a member of any town committee.
Editor’s note: We print everyone’s claims, opinions, and points of view. You send ’em, we post ’em. That is the purpose of a letter section.
To the Editor:
There are many reasons to support Carole Owens for Stockbridge Town Moderator, and I want to name a few that stand out for me. The first is Carole’s extraordinary demonstration of dedication to transparency in government. She’s shown this through the time and effort she puts into covering town events and reporting on them in the Stockbridge Updates. Before Carole started publishing the Updates, Stockbridge was largely a local news desert. Now it’s blessed with better coverage of local government and events than many larger towns across the country. These days, it sometimes seems that everyone is trying to monetize everything, but the Updates brings Carole no financial benefits. She does it as a service because she loves the town and believes in government in the sunlight.
Carole has repeatedly shown that she’s smart, thoughtful, and has a grasp on the big picture. Her proposal to move controversial items to the front of the Town Meeting agenda is a case in point. If you want to put something over on people, move it toward the end of the meeting when they’re tired, impatient, and ready to go home. They’re most alert and thoughtful at the beginning of a meeting, and that’s the time to take on the more challenging items. Research tells us this is true — question anyone who argues otherwise.
Finally, as a leadership scholar I’ve studied and observed many examples over the years of incumbents who stayed too long in their posts: times had changed, they hadn’t, and their organizations got stuck in patterns that better worked in the past than the present. Stockbridge and the world are very different places than 40 years ago. Gary Johnston may know that and may have new ideas and methods, but there’s no way of knowing because he’s been mostly invisible in recent years. Carole, on the other hand, has been consistently visible. She’s transparent, available, and forward-looking. Take a look at her Owens for Moderator website and you’ll see what I mean. http://www.owensmoderator.com
It was love at first sight when I first met Stockbridge more than 35 years ago, and I am a proud second homeowner who cares deeply about the town and its future. If I could vote, in this election I would not hesitate for a moment before voting for Carole Owens. She’ll be a great Town Moderator.
Joan Gallos
