Great Barrington Finance Committee Deadlocks Twice, Sends No Vacancy Recommendation to Select Board

Finance Committee · Meeting of July 14, 2026

LENOX — Great Barrington Finance Committee deadlocks twice on vacancy appointment, sends no recommendation to Select Board. The four-member quorum — Chair Kristine Cass, Clerk Mindi Morin, and members Joshua Levin and Hank Maimin — interviewed three candidates Tuesday for a seat opened by a post-election resignation: retired TV commercial producer Doug Robbins (Wharton finance degree, 40 years in business), nine-term Finance Committee veteran and Parks Commissioner Paul Gibbons, and software consultant Adrian Alcala. After deliberations, Morin moved to recommend Alcala; the vote split 2-2, with Cass and Morin in favor, Levin and Maimin opposed.

Levin then moved to recommend Robbins; that vote also ended 2-2, with Cass and Morin opposed. With no recommendation produced, the five-member Select Board will make the appointment unguided by the committee. The committee separately voted 4-0 to table appointment of a Finance Committee representative to the Community Preservation Committee until the vacancy is filled and scheduled a strategic priorities working session for July 23 at 5 p.m.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 2,915 words

Source: the Finance Committee meeting of July 14, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.