Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito met with local officials and other county stakeholders on Thursday in Great Barrington, Pittsfield and North Adams.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito spent nearly two hours Thursday with a group of Pittsfield government and business leaders to understand how the state can best partner with the local communities.
In what has been dubbed the "Building Stronger Communities Tour," Polito has been circumnavigating the state to hash out "community contracts."
The idea is for the state and local officials to sign an agreement laying out expectations between the state and community. The contracts are coupled with the creation of a senior commissioner for the Division of Local Services and a state cabinet to oversee the progress.
"You have a very sophisticated team here that is collaborating, both on the public side with private business and looking to leverage private investment to achieve economic development," Polito said after meeting with Mayor Daniel Bianchi, state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, state Rep. Paul Mark, Sheriff Thomas Bowler, Vasundhra Sangar from state Sen. Benjamin Downing's office, Superintendent Jason McCandless, City Council Vice Chairman Christopher Connell, Chamber of Commerce President Jonathan Butler, Pittsfield Economic Development Authority Chairman Mick Callahan, and John Bissell of Greylock Federal Credit Union.
City officials emphasized the goals in the city including development of the William Stanley Business Park, the Berkshire Innovation Center, new Taconic High School, and the Morningside Streetscape plans, among the topics.
"I believe private dollars invest here in Pittsfield because they have strong management, because they have fiscal discipline, because they have a plan for the future," Polito said. "That's why at the state level, we want to be able to identify those public partners that are ready to accept public funds to leverage to go a little bit further."
Polito said she was particularly happy with the plans for the new Taconic High School and the subsequent efforts with Berkshire Community College to create a "pipeline" of workers to help the advanced manufacturing and life science industry.
"That is a huge asset that is already under way here in Pittsfield and Berkshire County. I was pleased to see that," Polito said.
Also regarding education, Bianchi said he discussed increases to Chapter 70 funding for schools, which he said was "anemic" this year. He advocated for increases to the local school aid.
"It was a very anemic growth rate of less than 1 percent. So, I am hoping to governor and lieutenant governor, as they go across the state, are going to hear about the importance of universal pre-K and the challenges, like we have, with literacy rates," Bianchi said.
For regional schools, Polito told Mark that the administration is releasing $5 million more for transportation.
"The best news I got from the lieutenant governor today was that the administration is releasing $5 million for regional transportation. We got regional school transportation up to 90 percent in the last budget and then Gov. Patrick cut it unilaterally with his 9C cuts in the middle of the year," Mark said. "This $5 million is something and it will certainly be helpful to the towns that have been through quite and up and down roller coaster this year."
Bianchi said the discussion about school also looked at sharing services with other districts or even consolidation.
"I think there is the potential to really look at how we can do things better from an educational standpoint. Education is still a top priority, as it is should be, and it is also a top cost center for most communities," Bianchi said. "That's almost a natural fit for compact initiative and planning."
Mark also pressed for the release of $2.5 million put in an capital bond bill to build a pre-release facility at the Berkshire County House of Corrections. That is part of the city's plan to combat opioid abuse by trying to prevent those being released from incarceration from falling back into bad habits.
On Thursday, the administration announced a $44,000 increase to the city's Charles E. Shannon Grant funding. That is aimed to combat youth violence and funds the Pittsfield Community Connection's mentoring programs.
Improving the housing stock to provide affordable living arrangements for the workers in those industries also rose to the top. She said the administration would like to support ways to increase workforce housing in the area.
"We need to help this community grow the jobs and opportunities and see more affordable housing options," Polito said.
Polito's tour took her to Great Barrington in the morning before Pittsfield. She ended her route in North Adams, accompanied by former Mayor John Barrett III.
"I see a lot of opportunity in the north, south, and central part of the county for opportunities to better partner with local government, especially the smaller communities," Polito said.
The lieutenant governor spent about 45 minutes with a diverse group of stakeholders at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, including state Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, state Rep. Gailanne Cariddi, Mayor Richard Alcombright, City Council President Lisa Blackmer, MCLA interim President Cynthia Brown and other representatives from MCLA, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, Williams College, Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, and several town administrators and selectmen.
"We needed to bring out everyone in the community, a lot of decisionmakers, a lot of folks who do real work in the community to make sure she could see just how collaboratively we work," said Mayor Richard Alcombright. "Not only within the city but within Northern Berkshires."
Polito said the administration is moving away from a singular solution in helping towns and cities. The community contracts are designed "for the community to self select what they want to achieve as a best or better practice in their community," she said. "It's not as directed by the state but really comes up through the community and what they have as a vision for their city or town."
The Community Compact Cabinet has formatted applications but towns can develop what they need to fit their circumstances, including joining with other communities to apply. The state is providing technical grants over two years to help implement the selected best practices, which can range from professional development to conservation to financial management.
"We already have about a dozen communities that have submitted best practice applications to us," Polito said. "By signing the compact, it puts the community in a more competitive position by achieving bonus points for some of the larger grants that are available statewide, like MassWorks."
Each of the state's regions have different needs, something that struck her as particularly apt in the Berkshires with its very tiny towns and the more populous Pittsfield in its center.
"Each part of this county has different challenges and a different vibe and a different opportunity," Polito said. "It underscored the importance for our administration to move away from a one-size-fits-all answer."
Officials said they were thankful the Charlie Baker administration was making an effort to include the Berkshires in the conversation. A number of officials had visited, said Downing, "all with the consistent message of 'what can we do to be helpful.' "
Alcombright said he was particularly grateful with the efforts being made on the opioid abuse crisis affecting the region and the state. He also noted it was nice to have a lieutenant governor who had served as a selectman.
"She understands what it's like in the trenches," the mayor said.
Staff writer Tammy Daniels contributed to this report.
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Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito met with local officials and other county stakeholders on Thursday in Great Barrington, Pittsfield and North Adams. 
