Bianchi, Ruberto Will Face Off in November

By Tammy Daniels
iBerkshires Staff
08:19PM / Tuesday, September 22, 2009

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Above, Daniel Bianchi greets people at his election night party; left, Mayor James Ruberto is surrounded by supporters. Top, Jodie St. Peter accepts a vote package at City Hall.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Daniel Bianchi lead the mayoral pack on Tuesday, outpolling his closest competitor, incumbent James M. Ruberto, by 542 votes.

Voters also ousted two sitting city councilors, ensuring two new faces on the council come January.

Ruberto and Bianchi will vie again in November to see which will be the city's next executive.

Pam Malumphy ran a distant third with 23-year-old Nicholas J. Caccamo making a good showing in fourth. The rest of the 10 candidates weren't even in the running.

Of the city's 14 wards, Ruberto won only Ward 4 and Precinct A in Ward 3.

Despite the returns, the Ruberto camp was upbeat over at the Italian American Club afterward.

"The outcome didn't surprise us at all. We fully expected to be where we are — heading for the Super Bowl," said Ruberto. "Tonight its 0-0, we're in the top of the first inning and the real campaign starts now."

Bianchi, too, was surrounded by supporters at the American Legion thrilled with his showing. The five-term city councilor said he was ready for the sprint to November.

"I want to thank the people of Pittsfield for participating and all the wonderful people in the campaign," he said. "I'm certainly looking forward to working real hard over the next six weeks, talking about issues and being successful in November."

Ballots arrive at City Hall.

Ruberto said he'll be running on "real results" and that his opponent "will have to explain his vision to the people of Pittsfield and to begin to explaining to the people of Pittsfield how that vision is going to represent better, more effective, more creative government than we have now."

The incumbent described the face off as between the coach (himself) and the critic, saying his opponents in the preliminary election had been focused on finding problems than on solutions.

While Ruberto said he stood for a collaborative, cooperative form of government, Bianchi said citizens were being left out.

"The major thing I'm going to work on is changing the atmosphere about the government of Pittsfield," he said. "I think people have felt excluded, like people who have felt their opinions have not been heard."

Ruberto's looking forward to the final campaign: "We're both going to be talking about the future of Pittsfield and that's what I love talking about."

Caccamo was pleased with this showing of nearly 400 votes.

"I think I did very well. It got me name recognition," he said. "Name recognition is the most important thing in politics."

He definitely is thinking about a political career: "I'm going to keep going to City Council meetings, maybe get on a board or committee ... and see if a councilor-at-large seat opens up."

In Ward 4, incumbent Michael Ward blew off his competition nearly six to one. Christopher Connell passed Terry Kinnas by 35 votes for a rematch with Ward in November.

The story was different in Wards 2 and 7, where the challengers overcame both incumbents.

In Ward 2, challengers Peter White and Kevin Morandi knocked three-term incumbent Louis Costi out of the running.

In Ward 7, Anthony Maffucio, whose personal problems with a girlfriend made headlines in the local paper, was trounced by all three challengers. Joseph C. Nichols came out on top, outpolling second-place finisher J.D. Hebert by nearly 200 votes.

The turnout was 27.88 percent, with 7,958 votes cast. There are 28,547 registered voters in the city. City Clerk Linda Tyer said the election went smoothly thanks to the great team she has.


Mayor's race

Nicholas J. Caccamo	Patricia 'Pam' Malumphy	James M. Ruberto	Mark A. Marciano	Rick E. Moon
386	775	2,998	22	54
Daniel L. Bianchi	Paul Kwasniowski	Stephen A. Fillio	Lisa M. Boyd	Jeffrey W. Ferrin
3,540	27	50	43	50

Ward 2                                                               Ward 4

Peter T. White	Kevin J. Morandi	Louis Costi		Christopher J. Connell	Michael J. Ward	Terry M. Kinnas
297	306	198		239	1,271	204

Ward 7

Anthony V. Maffucio	J.D. Hebert	Joseph C. Nichols	Loren V. Paduano
81	256	435	114

Original posting on Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 22, 2009

Mayoral candidate Lisa Boyd sent us a shot of her marking the ballot. Wonder who she voted for?

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — City voters will be setting the contestants for the general election for mayor and in three city wards today.

Of the 10 candidates for mayor, only two will make it to the Nov. 3 after Tuesday's preliminary election; Wards 2, 4 and 7 will also see their multiple candidates narrowed down to two each.

Local radio stations and iBerkshires will be offering results throughout the evening.

iBerkshires media partner Berkshire News Network will be providing coverage from 8 to 9:30 p.m. on Live 95.9, WHUPE FM, with special guest commentator Angelo Stracuzzi, a 25-year veteran of the City Council.

WBRK Radio, AM-1340 offers live preliminary election night results beginning at 7:30. News Director Len Bean will anchor the broadcast with Bob Shade, Sherman Baldwin and others providing analysis and final vote tallies as soon as the polls close. Coverage will include live reports from the candidate’s camps before and after the final count.

Mayoral candidate Dan Bianchi will be host a Primary Night Party at American Legion Post 68, 41 Wendell Ave., on at 7:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

James Ruberto supporters can catch him at the Italian-American Club on Newell Street; Pam Malumphy will be at Flavors on McKay Street and Nick Caccamo will be at East Street Cafe.

Polls are open from 8 to 8; voters are reminded that the polling places have changed in Ward 3, Precinct B and Ward 5, Precinct A because of church closings.

• Ward 1, Precinct A: Reid Middle School, 950 North St.
• Ward 1, Precinct B: Reid Middle School, 950 North St.
• Ward 2, Precinct A: Morningside Community School, 100 Burbank St.
• Ward 2, Precinct B: Somerset Fire Station, Somerset Ave.
• Ward 3, Precinct A: Providence Court, 379 East St.
• Ward 3, Precinct B: Egremont School, 84 Egremont Ave.
  
• Ward 4, Precinct A: Herberg Middle School, 501 Pomeroy Ave.
• Ward 4, Precinct B: Williams School, 50 Bushey Road
• Ward 5, Precinct A: Masonic Temple, 116 South St.
  
• Ward 5, Precinct B: Fire Station, 331 West Housatonic St.
• Ward 6, Precinct A: Columbus Arms Housing, 65 Columbus Ave.
• Ward 6, Precinct B: Conte Community School, 200 W. Union St.
• Ward 7, Precinct A: Fire Station, 54 Peck's Road
• Ward 7, Precinct B: Capeless Elementary School, 86 Brooks Ave.

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