Quick Hits are random stories about our cities and town that catch the eye of our contributors
Sandisfield is a small town in Western Massachusetts with a population of 982. Rustic and beautiful, with a rich history of farming, it sits tucked away in the Southern Berkshires on the border of Connecticut.
For such a small town, there has been some interesting–if anecdotal and probably unrelated–activity in recent years.
Here are a few stories on the radar:
Jonathan Sylbert resigns as Sandisfield town manager with one day’s notice
From the April 22 article in the Berkshire Eagle:
“SANDISFIELD — Jonathan Sylbert has resigned from his post as town manager.
Sylbert’s one-line resignation email reads as follows:
“Steve, I’ve had enough from you. I am resigning as Town Manager effective Monday at noon. Jon”
It was dated Friday at 12:28 p.m.”
That seemed intriguing, although not unusual in the realm of small-town politics. It made me chuckle, so I thought I’d look into the town, as I was unfamiliar with its location or its history.
A simple search of Sandisfield, MA, brought up another interesting story:
Sandisfield padlocks property after judge orders woman and her mother to leave
From the March 22 article in the Berkshire Eagle:
“Jennifer Pilbin and her 75-year-old mother had been living there without utilities and out of compliance with health, sanitary, building, septic and zoning ordinances, according to a housing court judge.
Pilbin bought the 76-acre parcel in 2019 and filed for bankruptcy in September. A foreclosure auction was paused or stayed by the bankruptcy filing.”
Digging deeper…
The town has been struggling for a few years to retain Town Managers and other positions at the municipal level after a financial audit revealed shenanigans in 2021. There has been a constant shuffling of bodies from one board to another, and a chain of Town Managers has quit without notice.
One might question the legitimacy of the rulings against Pilbin based on the evaluations of these turbulent town boards and departments.
Then there are the reports from neighbors.
“Three neighbors, two on West Hubbard Road and one on South Main Street, filed affidavits attesting to hearing barking dogs and a generator running “at all hours of the day and night,” seeing gasoline cans “strewn around the trailer” as well as “visible garbage and waste strewn around the property creating an eyesore on an otherwise well-maintained street.”
Pilbin filed a police report after being harassed by neighbors.
“Countering the town’s latest inspection report, Pilbin submitted a copy of a Sandisfield police report that was written by Police Chief Michael Morrison.
In it, Morrison said Pilbin contacted him because “she was being harassed by local residents.”
The list included people driving by her property “real slow, taking pictures.” She also reported seeing two men trespassing on her property.
Morrison wrote that Pilbin was concerned for both her mother’s and her own safety “with all that is going on.”
One might wonder if the neighbors who filed the affidavits are the same ones harassing her.
To be clear, I don’t live in Sandisfield, nor have I ever been there. I don’t know these people, but I know how petty and insidious small-town politics can be. The Pilbins claim to want to be left alone. Neighbors claim their activities are dangerous. I wonder how many of these neighbors still wear masks at the grocery store?
Whatever happened to helping your neighbor? Couldn’t these same people put their energies into raising funds for the Pilbins to help them build the tiny house they claimed to want?
Maybe all efforts have been exhausted as the town claims. Maybe the neighbors’ attempts to help have been rebuffed. I don’t know. But I don’t trust any government entity to work for the people without an ulterior motive. One might wonder who could benefit from condemning the property.
What’s the property value of 76 acres on 12 West Hubbard Road? $385,000
What can happen to condemned property?
“If the property is not repaired within a set amount of time or the expense of rehabilitating the structure is not justified, it is generally demolished by the appropriate local authority. Sometimes property is “taken” through state or federal powers of eminent domain in order to put it to an important public use. These uses include roads, parks, and levees. Local departments of building safety or inspections are usually responsible for designating a structure as condemned. This designation generally occurs when a property has been vacant, unoccupied, or boarded up for more than six months.”1
The town taking over the property through eminent domain is a possibility. Are there any real estate developers interested in the property?
Lastly, here is a fun little anecdote about Sandisfield from the past year, that connects the sleepy little town to national news.
“Salame, a Sandisfield resident, is co-chief executive officer of FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange that was founded in 2019. In January 2022, the company had been valued at $32 billion; however, the company has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings since November 2022. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been under federal investigation for fraud over the company’s collapse, while Salame has been under investigation for campaign finance violations.”
Again, I ask. What the heck is up with Sandisfield?
by Citizens for Truth Contributor
Massachusetts First 
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