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Election 2009: Bianchi Says Opponent's Ads Misleading08:19PM / Tuesday, October 20, 2009
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Mayoral candidate Dan Bianchi has expressed disappointment at what he describes as misleading radio and mail ads from James Ruberto.
The ads suggest Bianchi is responsible for cutting hundreds of municipal jobs. The accusations in the ads are false and misleading to voters, said Bianchi, who described older newspaper clippings used Ruberto's ads, incuding "The School Committee voted earlier this year to issue lay off notices to 119 school employees." Another reads "Some 700 city employees will go without paychecks today as Pittsfield government’s partial shutdown continues due to stalled budget negotiations between the City Council and the Mayor."
The newspaper clippings from Ruberto's own ads contradict his misleading statements, said Bianchi.
"I encourage the mayor to re-think his negative radio and mail ad campaign. This is a desperate attempt by the mayor and his highly paid professional campaign staff to deliberately mislead the citizens of Pittsfield," he said.
"I served as director of administration and finance during a time when the city and state were faced with its worst economic crisis in years. During that time, the city faced a 10 percent cut in state aid and the city's state aid was reduced $6 million. This occurred two years in a row. As finance director for the city, it was my responsibility to make sure that the city's finances were in order and that we were protecting vital services to the residents in the city, which we did under an unfortunate economic crisis," said Bianchi. "The only other option during these circumstances would have been to raise taxes exponentially, which I'm sure Jim Ruberto would have done. Several Massachusetts cities that did not manage their finances responsibly ended up in bankruptcy and receivership.
"I was not mayor of the city or a city councilor at the time. I was a member of the management team. I did not vote on the budget. At one point, the City Council forced a cessation of normal business which required delaying of payroll payments. For Mayor Ruberto to intentionally mislead the people of Pittsfield and say that I was responsible for eliminating jobs is a pathetic attempt to scare the public and gain votes. The mayor should be honest with the citizens of Pittsfield and tell them the truth about his administration instead of misleading them on the facts about former administrations."
Bianchi continued, "I am disappointed that the mayor has engaged in such negative tactics at this point in the campaign. My staff in my campaign office has been overwhelmed with responses from residents disgusted with the mayor's tactics. The mayor has failed the citizens of Pittsfield on the issues and that is why he is reaching so far to come up with false allegations from 18 years ago. I would prefer to be talking about issues affecting the citizens of Pittsfield today, how we plan to address those issues, and our philosophy of governing and treating citizens."
"My vision for moving Pittsfield forward is supporting our public safety officials so that they can combat the increase in crime that has occurred during Mayor Ruberto's tenure. I will address the lack of job opportunities by promoting the PEDA site and investing in our small businesses through the creation of a small business fund. I will continue to advocate for renovations to our two existing high schools and provide the resources for teachers and students to succeed where education begins. Pittsfield deserves better then what the mayor has given us and I intend to move Pittsfield forward in a more positive manner."
Submitted by the Campaign to Elect Dan Bianchi |
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