Pittsfield Election: More Than A Dozen Qualify For Ballot So Far

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — With 10 days to go, less than half the possible City Council and School Committee candidates who took out nomination paper have returned them.
 
A total of 34 residents took out papers to run for either of the municipal seats. So far, 15 of those candidates have qualified for the ballot. In the city clerk race, only Michele Cetti had taken out papers and she, too, has qualified for the ballot by returning the needed amount of signatures.
 
  • In Ward 1, only Helen Moon has qualified for the ballot while Michael Cirullo Jr. and Gabriel Ecklund have taken out papers but haven't returned with enough signatures yet.
  • In Ward 2, both Dina Guiel and incumbent Kevin Morandi have qualified for the ballot.
  • In Ward 3, incumbent Nicholas Caccamo is on the ballot while James Gleason has taken out papers but hasn't returned enough signatures yet.
  • In Ward 4, incumbent Christopher Connell is on the ballot while William Wright has taken out papers but not returned enough.
  • In Ward 5, incumbent Donna Todd Rivers is on the ballot and William Keane has taken out nomination papers.
  • In Ward 6, neither incumbent John Krol nor challenger Craig Gaetani have returned papers, though both took them out.
  • In Ward 7, incumbent Anthony Simonelli is on the ballot and Rhonda Serre has taken out papers.
For the at-large race, there are four candidates on the ballot so far, though seven others have taken out papers but haven't returned enough signatures yet. Incumbents Peter Marchetti, Melissa Mazzeo and Peter White are all on the ballot, as is Earl Persip III. Alexander Blumin, Edward James Carmel, Craig Gaetani, Donald Girard, Robert Heck and Auron Stark have all taken out papers but have not yet certified enough signatures to be on the ballot. Ty Allen Jackson also took out papers but has since indicated he will not run for office.
 
The School Committee election doesn't have enough candidates officially on the ballot yet to fill all of the seats. There are six seats available and four candidates have so far qualified for the ballot: incumbents Joshua Cutler and Daniel Elias, and newcomers William Joseph Cameron and Dennis Powell. Others who have taken out papers for the seats but haven't been certified for the ballot are Pamela Farron, Craig Gaetani, Anthony Riello, Gary Stergis, Cynthia Taylor, and Katherine Yon.
 
At this point it isn't likely that a preliminary will be needed but there are enough nomination papers out for Ward 1, at-large, and the School Committee to force one should enough potential candidates qualify for the ballot.
 
In order to get on the ballot, candidates must have 150 signatures for an at-large seat or a seat on the School Committee and 50 for a ward seat. Nomination papers must be submitted by July 24. The city election is on Nov. 7.

Tags: city election,   election 2017,   


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Pittsfield CPA Committee Funds Half of FY24 Requests

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A few projects are not getting funded by the Community Preservation Committee because of a tight budget.

The projects not making the cut were in the historic preservation and open space and recreation categories and though they were seen as interesting and valuable projects, the urgency was not prevalent enough for this cycle.

"It's a tough year," Chair Danielle Steinmann said.

The panel made its recommendations on Monday after several meetings of presentations from applications. They will advance to the City Council for final approval.  

Two cemetery projects were scored low by the committee and not funded: A $9,500 request from the city for fencing at the West Part Cemetery as outlined in a preservation plan created in 2021 and a $39,500 request from the St. Joseph Cemetery Commission for tombstone restorations.

"I feel personally that they could be pushed back a year," Elizabeth Herland said. "And I think they're both good projects but they don't have the urgency."

It was also decided that George B. Crane Memorial Center's $73,465 application for the creation of a recreational space would not be funded. Herland said the main reason she scored the project low was because it didn't appear to benefit the larger community as much as other projects do.

There was conversation about not funding The Christian Center's $34,100 request for heating system repairs but the committee ended up voting to give it $21,341 when monies were left over.

The total funding request was more than $1.6 million for FY24 and with a budget of $808,547, only about half could be funded. The panel allocated all of the available monies, breaking down into $107,206 for open space and recreation, $276,341 for historic preservation, and $425,000 for community housing.

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