EDITOR’S NOTE: Three Democrats will compete in the primary election Thursday, Sept. 8, for the Berkshire-Hampshire-Franklin-Hampden Senate seat being vacated after 10 years by Sen. Benjamin Downing, D-Pittsfield. The elected Democrat will run against Republican candidate Christine Canning of Lanesborough, who has no primary opponent. This is the last of three candidate profiles.
PITTSFIELD — Shelburne Falls native Adam Hinds points to his experience negotiating agreements in the Mideast for the United Nations over nearly a decade as a key strength he would bring as a state senator for the 52-community district that includes a slew of towns in western Hampshire and Franklin counties.
The 40-year-old executive director of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition and founding director of Pittsfield Community Connection, one of three Democrats competing in the Sept. 8 primary for the post being vacated by Sen. Benjamin Downing, says he was told by early supporters, “You can mobilize people and get seemingly divergent views behind a common vision.”
Hinds, a graduate of Mohawk Trail Regional High School, Wesleyan University and Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, worked on the 1998 and 2000 campaigns of former U.S. Rep. John W. Olver and served as his 2000 campaign manager.
He was New Hampshire regional coordinator from 2003 to 2004 for presidential candidate John Kerry, later serving on his campaign’s national security and foreign policy team.
Hinds has been endorsed by Olver, as well as by North Adams’ Mayor Richard “Dick” Alcombright and Pittsfield School Committee Chairwoman Katherine Yon.
He’s also gained endorsements from the Massachusetts Teachers Association and 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East.
After returning from the Mideast, Hinds was hired by the City of Pittsfield to administer a gang prevention program targeting at-risk youth.
He helped the city win a $5 million grant to help troubled young men move toward education, jobs and counseling.
Since last September, he’s headed a North Adams-based coalition that provides family and child support services and works to engage residents, organizations and officials to respond to local challenges including access to health care and strategies around heroin addiction in the region.
“I’ve been in the weeds on big issues: everything from the impact of poverty and the impact of income inequality or the importance of a (North Adams) hospital closure and how we ensure rural health and access to rural health, or a regional strategy for dealing with the heroin epidemic,” Hinds said.
“I’ve also been involved in countywide efforts related to economic development … working on economic development in downtown Pittsfield through Downtown Pittsfield Inc., so I think a combination of doing the real work on the ground plus some of the political background with Congressman Olver and Sen. Kerry exposed me to some of those realities. I believe government is a useful path for making change, because of its impacts on policies and our daily lives. And spending time in Iraq, Syria and Jerusalem working on big negotiations … gave me a lot of skills.”
When Downing announced that he was leaving the Senate after 10 years, Hinds first considered running for what he considered would be “a meaningful post where you can have a big impact on local issues and significant state policy.”
His Pittsfield youth violence-prevention work, Hinds said, addressed larger societal issues, including community dynamics related to employment and educational opportunities as well as counseling “and being clear on why we’re taking and promoting certain (state) policies.” As he’s found in northern Berkshire, “it’s one thing to have a long list of requirements, and it’s another thing to start to chip away at what’s happening at home that’s resulting in a negative outcome. That was one thing that hit me over the head in those interactions with the state.”
He saw that Boston-articulated state policies often don’t mesh up with on-the-ground western Massachusetts realities.
“One reason I’m running is to be a strong voice for western Mass., because it’s clear we have a small number of legislators in comparison to the rest of the state, and a real disconnect in understanding our needs,” Hinds said.
“Broadband is a problem at the top of the list. It’s unacceptable for something that’s so essential to economic development, security, home sales, population decline and education, and yet it’s not viewed as a priority from the other side of the state. I’d work tirelessly to make sure we accelerate that process to finalize last-mile, high-speed internet.”
As a senator, Hinds said, he would join a coalition of potential allies in smaller towns and districts across the state, and look for the ways that interlocking state policies can address a host of key issues.
“If we’re trying to make the argument we can bring in more dollars to communities by attracting businesses to western Mass., we need state help in reforming school funding, particularly regional school transportation (reimbursements) … or Chapter 70 (school aid) reform or investments in broadband. You’re not going to bring in more revenue to the state unless we have those investments. To me there’s a very clear articulation of needs from out here that will help go a long way, and may be how we’re going to use this position to articulate a clear vision for the western part of the state.”
Hinds, who has worked with the Northern Berkshire Coalition to articulate needs like workforce training to match skills training to job needs of employers, says combating the region’s expected population decline means improving transportation and broadband access to attract more people to the region, but also improving schools.
“When you have a population decline, school assistance declines with decreased enrollment, but the schools are still stuck with fixed costs for maintaining aging buildings and the like, so it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain a quality curriculum and quality education,” said Hinds, who also opposes lifting the state’s charter school cap.
To attract people to the region, he says, “We’d better be able to make the case that our schools are strong and are going to stay strong. And we have a pretty good brand out here in western Mass., with easy access to nature and culture and a good place to raise a family.”
Ideally, Hinds sees himself as following in Downing’s footsteps as a leader in energy issues, especially helping the state promote renewable technologies and energy efficiencies to help it meet its goals in addressing climate change.
On the Web: www.adamhinds.org.