By By Clarence Fanto,The Berkshire Eagle

Copyright berkshireeagle

STOCKBRIDGE — Beginning next month, residents will have the opportunity to air their views — regardless of the topic — during Select Board meetings.

The three-member board voted unanimously last week to restore the public comment period to the agenda of the biweekly Thursday evening meetings, starting Oct. 2.

The vote puts to rest a long-simmering dispute in the community. Although the board has encouraged discussion from residents on specific agenda topics, the public comment period for other subjects disappeared as of May 2023.

At Thursday’s meeting, Select Board Chairwoman Jamie Minacci acknowledged “there has been a lot of confusion about public comment. It is not a discussion; not a question and answer period.”

In surrounding towns, it’s called “citizens speak,” “public speak,” “citizens open forum” and in Pittsfield, “open mic” at the start of City Council meetings. Typically, there’s a designated time limit and speakers need to identify themselves and where they live.

Longtime board member Chuck Cardillo proposed setting aside 10 minutes at each meeting, as well as a two-minute limit per speaker, for general open public comment on non-agenda subjects.

For discussion on agenda items, he suggested a three-minute limit per speaker, with flexibility to extend that for hot topics.

“It’s been an important part of having townspeople be part of a decision [before a Select Board vote],” he said.

Recently elected board member Jorja Marsden stressed that “public comment is very, very important so we can hear what everybody has on their mind.”

But she emphasized that during general public comment or citizens speak, “we cannot answer any questions. We can hear what you say, think about it for a future meeting. But for a special permit or something else on the agenda, we can talk back and forth, which is also very important.”

Minacci agreed that “if it’s public speak or citizens speak, whatever we name it, it’s not a discussion. Of course, a citizen can speak on whatever topic.”

She also backed Cardillo’s suggestions on time limits, as did Marsden, who pointed out that speakers need to come up to the podium and give their name and address.

Cardillo pointed out that open discussion with the public on agenda items has been a long-standing fixture of Select Board meetings.

“It actually helps us make decisions, we get very important information from the public,” he noted. “There have been times when I knew how I wanted to vote, but if somebody brought up something I hadn’t thought about, it did change how we voted on it or continued it.”

Board members also agreed that during general public comment, any Stockbridge resident, homeowner, renter or business owner can speak, whether or not they live in town as full-time legal residents.

Cardillo’s motion for public comment with the time limits he had proposed, adjustable as needed, was accepted, 3-0.

On Monday, Stockbridge Updates newsletter publisher Carole Owens told The Eagle that “our officials made a decision, the people objected, Stockbridge Updates got the word out, and the decision was reversed. It is wonderful: it is how democracy works.”

Anita Schwerner, chair of the Stockbridge Democratic Town Committee, welcomed the decision.

“I’m very glad that the Select Board listened to the people of Stockbridge and agreed to restore public comment,” she stated. “The ability to openly address elected representatives with comments or questions is essential to government transparency and an informed electorate, particularly in the current political climate.”

At last Thursday’s board meeting, Minacci also explained that at the outset of each meeting, she reads a summary of the state’s open meeting law to ensure legal compliance and consistency.

“It does not restrict or eliminate public comment, which remains at the discretion of each and every board in our town,” Minacci pointed out, noting that the statement at the opening of the meetings may have been misconstrued.

Cardillo also detailed how the town chooses to provide videos of public meetings to Community Television for the Southern Berkshire for transparency as a public service, although meetings limited to executive sessions are not included, nor are meetings that lack a quorum.

Also at last week’s meeting, Town Administrator Michael Canales told the board that the town expects to land state funding for repaving more than 2.5 miles of Route 183 (Interlaken Road) from the southern Lake Drive entrance to the Lenox Line.

The work would begin next spring, pausing before Memorial Day weekend, and resuming next September after the Josh Billings RunAground. The state would fully fund the estimated cost of more than $2 million for the project.