Copyright berkshireeagle
ADAMS — Three finalists for Adams’ next town administrator offered different visions and levels of familiarity with the community, each pitching themselves as the right fit to guide the town’s next chapter. During interviews on Saturday, the candidates — Peter White and Nicholas Caccamo, both of Pittsfield, and Dillon Maxfield of Amherst — all expressed a desire to work in Adams, an appreciation for its natural beauty and for the economic and tourism opportunities presented by the Greylock Glen Outdoor Center and its downtown. The stakes are high for filling the position, left vacant after Jay Green took a job as Lenox town administrator in 2024, as the next administrator will help oversee the completion of the Glen project and look to further develop the downtown. Kenneth Walto had served as interim town administrator until September; Adams Free Library Director Holli Jayko is now serving on an interim basis. The Select Board will make its final decision on Wednesday at its 6 p.m. meeting. The salary range of the position is posted at $125,000 to $150,000. The candidates demonstrated different levels of familiarity with the town, with White having first spent time in Adams as a teenager 30 years ago. They also demonstrated different levels of commitment to living in the town if hired, with Maxfield and Caccamo both saying they would be willing to move. White, who did not make the same commitment, said that residents would still see him just as much as if he lived in town. “It's not where you sleep at night. It's where you put in your work, and I'm just putting in very long days, so you're probably going to be running into me first thing in the morning and often late at night, whether I live here or not," White told the Select Board. White, a career and business specialist at MassAbility, said he hopes to still serve as a regular member of Pittsfield City Council if reelected as a councilor at-large on Nov. 4, but that it would be subject to negotiation. “I would not be looking at any council leadership positions, and my priority would always be Adams," he said. "So if there was a meeting I needed to be at in Adams, I would be in Adams. The city council would not interfere.” White, 47, spoke about the need for redevelopment of the Curtis Paper Mill and other properties in Adams to enhance economic development. He spoke of a need to expand the tax base without changing the character of the town. “I'm only here because Adams is special to me,” he said. “And I want to use the 20 years municipal experience that I have to benefit Adams.” Maxfield, 35, associate planner for the town of Easthampton, is also currently running for Amherst Town Council. He’s running for one of two seats, both held by incumbents. Maxfield added that he’s willing to move to Adams, sooner if he doesn’t win the seat in Amherst. Otherwise, he will move after his term is finished in two years. Asked to describe a previous success, he discussed the conversion of an Easthampton church property into condominium units and said he worked to shepherd the project along. Of the three candidates, only Maxfield was asked about his preference for hiring — whether he leans toward internal or external candidates. “All things being equal, usually I like the outside perspective,” he said. But he added that he has seen internal candidates excel, especially in municipal government. Asked how he would prepare the Select Board for a 2026 policy and strategic direction workshop, he said he would look to what had been done in the prior year. When told by Select Board member Christine Hoyt that the last session was held in 2019 and this would be a “blank canvas,” he said he would turn to her first for ideas in planning it. Caccamo, who served on Pittsfield City Council for eight years, is currently town administrator of Williamsburg. “I tend to be very cautious,” he said. “I think that level of caution can be seen as sort of slow walking where, you know, sometimes Select Boards like to see … really quick results. But there are guardrails and confines in general law.” Caccamo, 39, said he did a lot of his research on the town’s website. “To me, I think the most important document that a community could have is an up-to-date, active, comprehensive plan,” he said. “So I didn't see one, but when I was here on Wednesday, it was conveyed to me that there was a comprehensive plan for the town of Adams, and maybe in the ballpark of like, 20 years old.” Asked about how he would support the Greylock Glen master plan, Caccamo said he hadn’t seen it. As to his vision for the town, he said, "We all work together and generate the vision for the future."
