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Williamstown's O'Grady Wants to Fight for Her Hometown
By Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
12:40AM / Sunday, May 10, 2015
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The annual town election is Tuesday, May 12, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the elementary school gymnasium.


There are four candidates vying for the open seat being vacated by Thomas Sheldon. This is one of four interviews with the candidates; the others are Anne O'Connor, Jack Nogueira and Martino Donati.

There are three candidates running for two open seats on the Elementary School Committee.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Alison O'Grady describes herself as someone who does not give up, and she hopes Williamstown voters will let her put her fighting spirit to work for her hometown.

"It's very important that we rejuvenate the town," O'Grady said recently. "I remember when I was a little kid, I'd go to Spring Street with my dad. He'd get his paper at the Newsroom, and then I'd walk across the street with him to the bakery and Mr. Burnett ... he'd say, 'Hi,' and he'd give me a cookie because I was so incredibly cute.

"It would be nice to have that hometown feeling where we're all neighbors, where we don't feel like there are silos of interest and I'm all about this or all about that.
 
"There's almost less soul. ... We need to be more neighborly."
 
O'Grady, who talked during a break from her duties as the supervisor of interlibrary loans at Williams College, offered some comments on her campaign and ideas.
 
Q: How has the process of running for office been for you. Are you getting the opportunity to talk to many voters?
 
A: I'm trying. I'm working, so it's hard. But I have gone out to things like the [library's] book sale and mentioned it to people when I go to events at the Faculty Club, my co-workers, to remind them to vote.
 
But it's not like I put signs out.
 
Q: When you do talk to people, are you hearing their concerns?
 
A: A lot about economic development and suggestions about what we should do as far as attracting people not just to Williamstown but to the area. Someone mentioned having a 'snow train' for the winter months to encourage people to come here.
 
But that's where the sticking point is. They may fix the rail service as far as Pittsfield and then how do you get them here?
 
Somehow, we've got to figure out a way to get tourists here so they can enjoy the area — and not just our area, but Adams, North Adams and into Vermont.
 
Q: And what can town government do to facilitate that?
 
A: You know, being a newbie, I think it's something to try to figure out. Hopefully, the state can help us with funding. I know [Rep.] Gailanne Cariddi was at the League of Women Voters forum, and I think she's a great advocate.
 
I mentioned that when we were there for the forum, and she seems very receptive to different ideas. Because that was one of the questions: What can the state do?
 
Q: What can the town do?
 
A: Work with other communities and the Chamber of Commerce, maybe put some money into advertising to say, 'Come back to the town.'
 
Q: Town money?
 
A: Town money? Grant money? I don't know. I think they did allot some money in the budget to the Chamber of Commerce, but it's only $27,000 or something like that.
 
But look at options. I think this has been a great experience because it makes me more aware. I'm not in my little 'purple bubble' where I don't know what's going on.
 
I'm very concerned about [Mount Greylock Regional School]. I went there. I don't know how many students were there then, but it was way more than 467, and all the hallways were used. My children went there, and it was already starting to be unusable as far as the water and the ceilings. It just seems like it's been a sick building for a long time.
 
But I think we have to be prudent and not build a building for 2,000 students. It has to be at a modest level. You can add on if there's growth, but make sure it fits the community.
 
People are older. Something like 2,600 residents are over 50. And that's people we have to worry about, too.
 
Q: On the school, specifically, obviously the school district is its own municipal entity. How does the select board factor into that process?
 
A: I think probably advice — making sure they're prudent before they put things up to vote, making sure there's support in Lanesborough as well.
 
I'm new to the process, so it's an area where we have to have faith in the new town manager, too, that he or she can guide what goes on.
 
Q: You talked at some length at the forum about the over-50 population and its needs. You mentioned things like sidewalks and curbs. Are there other things that that population needs that the town should be addressing?
 
A: Transportation. They're not going to get on the BRTA bus, but they can use the Council on Aging van. People don't do that. My father is 91, and he'd never do it. He still drives.
 
I think we should be making sure they feel safe in their homes as far as having the streets plowed properly and sidewalks clear.
 
I went to the Clip Shop a couple of weeks ago, and I said to myself, 'OK, I'm going to park here and I'm going to walk down the street and cross over here where the curb is low.' And then I get there and the curb is all jaggedy. And I'm thinking, 'How are we going to get people into the stores if they have challenges?'
 
It does happen as you get older. It happens eventually to most people.
 
So we should continue to provide services and think about the big picture that people are going to need more exercise programs to keep them healthy.
 
Q: You mentioned your father, and he's probably not alone in that people are not accessing the services that are there. How do you get them to do that?
 
A: Outreach is very important — making use of the town website more effectively. My husband is the Council on Aging director, and he tries. He has very good programming.
 
It's very important that you have more young families in town, but you can't assume if you build a facility for white collar workers that they're going to come and have a lot of kids.
 
So we have to figure out a way ... like I mentioned, could we be a bedroom community for Albany if we got the rail service here? It's a great place to live because it has the great school system and the mountains and lots of hiking and stuff.
 
I think we have to think outside the box.
 
Q: There is a rail line to Albany, but it's a freight line.
 
A: Maybe we could have a passenger line. Back in the day, they used to go over to Cole Avenue. Maybe it's not possible, but I'm trying to think creatively.
 
Q: Part of the problem with sharing passenger and freight service on the same line is that freight trains are always going to have priority, and if you're a commuter, you need to know the train is going to be on schedule.
 
A: I know, but I guess I don't like to say no. I kind of persevere in thinking about different ways of doing things.
 
But I'll learn. I don't have a basket of tricks. I have to pay attention to what people say.
 
Q: In terms of being a bedroom community for Albany or Pittsfield or Springfield or what have you, should the town be marketing itself to people in those markets?
 
A: Yes, or even with alumni — make it attractive to them to raise their families here because most alumni want to be involved with the college and the town, and obviously the college is our greatest asset, along with the physical beauty. We have build on what we have.
 
Q: Again it goes back to the idea that you have to market and spend money to make money.
 
A: Yes, it does. And that's why there are so many things that we need, obviously — a fire station, a police station, a high school. But we have develop priorities on how we get there and remember that we can't just serve one part of the community. It's only fair that we think of everybody.
 
Q: For you, where do the fire station and police station fall on that list of priorities?
 
A: I think the police station and fire station are very important, and I think Jack Nogueira pointed out in the League of Women Voters thing that it's a very bad situation for the police department. If they have someone who is handicapped there, they have to go outside to go to the rest room. It's not a good facility to represent the town.
 
The fire station has a lot of its own advocates.
 
Anne [O'Connor] pointed out, and I think it's clever, that they could work together in the same facility. That, I thought, was a very good idea because they both should be updated and be welcoming, almost. When you go back to when you were a kid: The policeman is your friend. You can't find him if he's in the back of Town Hall.
 
Q:There's an issue town voters are going to be asked to address and it's the kind of thing the Board of Selectmen sometimes faces. That's the proposed bylaws on plastic bags and polystyrene. How do you come down on that?
 
A: Of course the environment's really important. I hang my laundry out. We have a push mower.
 
I think it's important to be prudent about it because there are a lot of people who have a supply of plastic bags or food containers. I think it would be unfair to small businesses to say, all of sudden, 'Paper bags, and if you don't, we're going to penalize you.'
 
Maybe if we went more toward an incentive: You go to the coffee shop with your own mug and it's five cents less or your bring your own bags to Karen's Quilt Shop and she'll give you a discount. I had lunch a couple of weeks ago with Karen [Jolin], and she said, 'If this goes through, I just bought a supply of plastic bags.' She's a small business owner, like the people at Where'd You Get That!? or the fella who runs the coffee shop. I would be unfair to penalize the business owners, especially when you're looking for economic growth.
 
Of course, you can use paper cups, but let them throw away the supply of styrofoam before you make them throw away $1,000 or whatever it costs.
 
Q: So you would not be in favor of passing the bylaws at this year's town meeting?
 
A: I don't think it would be a good idea at this point. Maybe give it some time and down the road provide a way for business owners to find certain things that cost the same as the plastic.
 
Q: You talked a little about this at the League of Women Voters conference, but what specific skills make the Select Board a good fit for you?
 
A: Besides being a mom?
 
Q: That's a skill set all its own, right?
 
A: Well, it is.
 
But I don't give up. If I gave up, I wouldn't be walking.
 
At a very young age, I got a crippling [disease]. I wouldn't be walking if I hadn't fought through it, and I worked during the whole thing. It was a struggle. To get in that old [Sawyer Library]? Oh my goodness. You went from the parking lot and then you went down and you went up and you went across. And it was a struggle.
 
But I still managed to do that work and raise my children. So I think the sense that, I stick to things. I don't give up. I perservere.
 
Q: May I ask what that condition is?
 
A: Rheumatoid ankylosing. It fuses your joints. ... But, you know, you keep going. That's all you can do.
 
Q: Have you ever thought about serving the town in another capacity?
 
A: Yeah, if this doesn't work out, I probably will.
 
Q: Why run for the Board of Selectmen first?
 
A: I figured: Why not now? I have a lot of sensitivity and empathy for different groups of people because of my challenges. Like when the Spruces was happening, I watched meetings, and the 'not in my back yard' mentality really got to me. I don't like it when people feel disenfranchised, because sometimes I felt like that a lot. People look at you because you're different. And it bothers me.
 
I feel like I might help an underrepresented part of the community. ... It's important to remember that there are a lot of people who just don't feel represented.
 
Now my children are older, obviously. I have more time.
 
I think having an understanding of the community as a whole and it isn't all about everyone who is under [age] 15.
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