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Legislation Filed That Would Dissolve Hampshire Council Of Governments

New England Public Media | By Nancy Eve Cohen
Published July 19, 2019 at 4:43 PM EDT
The old Hampshire County Courthouse in Northampton, Massachusetts, which might soon be up for sale from the Hampshire Council of Governments.
Joseph A.
/
Creative Commons / flickr.com/photos/josepha
The old Hampshire County Courthouse in Northampton, Massachusetts, which might soon be up for sale from the Hampshire Council of Governments.

Massachusetts lawmakers filed legislation late Thursday that would dissolve the Hampshire Council of Government. 

Sate Senator Jo Comerford, one of several co-sponsors, said the council has more liabilities than assets.

"It did not have income necessary to maintain the kind of expenses it was incurring," she said. "So very shortly, the Hampshire Council of Government will be out of money. It is unable to sustain itself. So we had to take action."

The proposed law is designed to ensure that health benefits continue for former employees and retirees of the council. It also addresses retiree pensions.

Comerford said the bill also calls for selling the Hampshire County Courthouse.

"The legislation conveys the Hampshire County Courthouse to the state with the provision that the city of Northampton has first refusal in the sale."

The legislation also says the courthouse grounds will "remain open to the public."
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Regional News GOVERNMENT & POLITICSWESTERN MASSACHUSETTSLEGISLATURE
Nancy Eve Cohen
Nancy Eve Cohen is a former NEPM senior reporter whose investigative reporting has been recognized with an Edward R. Murrow Regional Award for Hard News, along with awards for features and spot news from the Public Media Journalists Association (PMJA), American Women in Radio & Television and the Society of Professional Journalists.

She has reported on repatriation to Native nations, criminal justice for survivors of child sexual abuse, linguistic and digital barriers to employment, fatal police shootings and efforts to address climate change and protect the environment. She has done extensive reporting on the EPA's Superfund cleanup of the Housatonic River.

Previously, she served as an editor at NPR in Washington D.C., as well as the managing editor of the Northeast Environmental Hub, a collaboration of public radio stations in New York and New England.

Before working in radio, she produced environmental public television documentaries. As part of a camera crew, she also recorded sound for network television news with assignments in Russia, Guatemala, Mexico, Cuba and in Sarajevo during the war in Bosnia.
See stories by Nancy Eve Cohen
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