Peter J. Most is a member of the California, New York, and Massachusetts bars, practicing complex business litigation. He has been living with his family in Great Barrington since 2018, practicing law remotely.
No one should celebrate driving away from a tire store with one new tire when the full set needs to be replaced. Sure, it helps, but you will not get to where you need to be in the long run.
Two things are becoming increasingly clear. One, based on the facts and law, it is downright dopey for Great Barrington not to settle in its Community Impact Fees cases. Two, the town has persistently received bad counsel.
The dirty secret to running a utility is that if you can run it into the ground, greater riches will be bestowed. HWW’s managers have been running this play to the extreme, giving an absolute master class in how doing nothing can be inordinately profitable.
Although the world has a dreadful history of rejecting others, their ideas, and customs, it is nonetheless disappointing that our slice of Eden is not immune from such distrust.
If there is going to be any serious debate at Town Meeting, it is likely to occur in connection with consideration of Article 13. This article requests the town approve an expenditure of $150,000 for the planning-and-design phase for improvements to the ramshackle Ramsdell Library.
To address our housing crisis, we need lots of dollars and some sense. Addressing the misuse of Census data in our housing acts will not raise taxes, but it might raise some roofs.
My concern in "Landlords' cold showers" was that an unintended consequence of strengthening renters’ rights was a chilling effect on homeowners’ willingness to lease vacant properties. Mr. Mishkin urged me to consider another perspective based on several facts that I find compelling.
Let’s just say Great Barrington's understanding of contract principles, as articulated in a recent statement concerning the threatened litigation, remains mired in “that’s mine, not yours.”
In the earlier column, I noted the problem with HUD’s AMI Berkshire County map. To our current—and future—representatives, here is the problem and, with your help, an easily implemented legislative solution.
I have lived in places with fewer services and higher taxes, and let me say, Great Barrington’s model is preferred. We make up for what we pay in property taxes with fewer car alignments and tire replacements, greater livability, and enhanced property values.
