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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The School Committee and City Council will meet Wednesday evening to fill a vacancy on the School Committee left by the abrupt departure of Dennis Powell. Five.
The School Committee and City Council will hold a joint session Wednesday evening to fill a vacancy on the school committee. EAGLE FILE PHOTO
PITTSFIELD â Four people are interested in filling a School Committee vacancy due to the abrupt departure of Dennis Powell, whose resignation letter was deeply critical of the committee.
They include two candidates who pulled papers to run for School Committee in this fallâs municipal elections, Karen Reis Kaveney-Murray and Kate Lauzon. Also putting their names in are former School Committee member Kathleen Amuso, and Nyanna Slaughter, the central Massachusetts regional director for Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
The City Council voted 7-4 to cap meetings at four hours and to start an hour earlier. The votes followed about an hour of debate and a number of amendments. Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi, Ward 4 Councilor Chris Connell, Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey, and Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Maffuccio voted against the time limit. Council President Peter Marchetti, Morandi, Connell, and Ward 1 Councilor Helen Moon voted against starting meetings at 6 p.m. The four-hour limit will go into effect at the next meeting on Feb. 23 and 6 p.m. schedule will begin April 1 to give the public and council members time to prepare for the modification.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. City Clerk Michele Benjamin wants City Council meetings to end by 11 p.m. Council meetings have often stretched into the wee hours of the morning and her request by petition was discussed during Tuesday s meeting which went 4 1/2 hours. I just feel strongly that after 4, 5, and 5 and a half hours of a meeting nobody s thinking clearly when it s midnight or 12:30 in the morning, Benjamin said. We ve gone until 1 in the morning and I just feel strongly that we should be able to process and get through and deliberate and have good strong meetings in four hours. The petition would cap meetings to fours hours and was referred unanimously to the Ordinance and Rules Subcommittee since it would require a charter change.