John Barrett and Andrew Fitch Candidates Forum On Aug. 13

12:42PM / Tuesday, August 11, 2026Print Story | Email Story

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. The Williamstown League of Women Voters will be hosting a forum for contending candidates for the 1st Berkshire District of the Massachusetts House of Representatives at 7pm on Thursday, Aug. 13, at the lower level auditorium of Williams College Paresky Center, 39 Chapin Hall Drive in Williamstown.

Incumbent John Barrett will face challenger Andrew Fitch in the Democratic Primary on Sept. 1.

Barrett has been serving as a state rep since November 2017 and, before that, was mayor of North Adams from 1984 until 2009.

A native of Massachusetts, Andrew Fitch moved to North Adams five years ago and is serving his second term on the North Adams City Council. A small business owner and owns Steeple City Social on Eagle Street in North Adams, a bakery, cafe and cocktail bar.

Berkshire County's 1st District includes Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg, Florida, Hancock, Hinsdale, Lanesborough, New Ashford, North Adams, Peru, Savoy, Williamstown and Windsor.

Willinet will be videoing the forum, so if you miss being there in person, you can still access it later on the willinet website https://www.willinet.org/ or livestream it on willinet's youtube channel at https://www.instagram.com/p/DbEdfOVFr7y/?img_index=4 .

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Williamstown Select Board Plans Off-Camera Evaluation of Town Manager

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:24AM / Friday, October 09, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Select Board plans to take extraordinary measures to avoid having its discussion of the town manager's performance recorded by the town's Public, Educational and Government cameras.

At its Sept. 28 meeting, the board decided to hold a special meeting in a room not covered by WilliNet cameras to complete its annual evaluation process of Town Manager Robert Menicocci.

Chair Peter Beck said that while the evaluation is "absolutely" to be conducted in an open meeting, the board could follow a process similar to the off site, unrecorded meetings that past Select Boards have characterized as "retreats," a term not contemplated by or included in the commonwealth's Open Meeting Law.

The current board met on June 29 for what it characterized as a "planning session" where no formal votes were taken. That meeting was held outside of Town Hall, at the new fire station on Main Street, in a room equipped with audio and video recording equipment that the Select Board chose not to use.

At the Sept. 28 meeting, one board member indicated that an unrecorded meeting was preferable to discuss the annual evaluation of the one town employee supervised by the board.

"I'd like to do it without all the Willinet stuff," Stephanie Boyd said in a discussion toward the end of a two-hour meeting. "I think it's more conducive to conversation."

With the board expected to meet just once in October — its "regular" meeting date coincides with Indigenous Peoples Day on Oct. 12 — Beck suggested that the panel could find a date for a special meeting, suggesting the third Monday of the month, Oct. 19.

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