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Elizabeth Warren has been meeting with Democrats across the state as she debates running against Scott Brown for the U.S. Senate seat next year.

Berkshire Democrats Want Warren to Run, Run, Run

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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Local attorney and Democratic leader Sherwood Guernsey said the amount of people who came to his office to support Elizabeth Warren was 'fantastic'   especially on three-days notice, in the summer and on a Friday.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. —  More than a few local Democrats would be ecstatic if Elizabeth Warren decides to run against Scott Brown for the U.S. Senate.

Warren is kicking around the idea of running and stopped in Pittsfield on Friday to meet with party members to gauge their support as part of a listening tour across the state.

What she found in Berkshire County was a whole lot of support.

"She is exactly the person we need in the U.S. Senate," Lee Harrison, chairman of the local Democratic organization, said. "We're going to campaign like hell for her."

Warren, a Harvard professor teaching contract, bankruptcy and commercial law, boasts a resume that includes chief adviser to the National Bankruptcy Review Commission, member of the Federal Judicial Education Committee and most recently appointed as assistant to the president and special adviser to the secretary of the Treasury on consumer financial protection.

A movement to draft Warren for a Senate run has raised $100,000; on Thursday, she filed to form an exploratory committee. Many Democrats see her as a home-run candidate to oust Brown, a Wrentham Republican who won in a special election last year to complete the late Ted Kennedy's term.

In 2008, Warren was picked to chair the special Congressional Oversight Panel for the government bailout and she pushed for formation of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that was signed into law last July.

"We just kept pushing. We not only got the bill, we got a stronger version of the bill. We got a consumer agency," Warren told a packed room in the Law Offices of Sherwood Guernsey. "It repairs one hole in the bottom of the boat. There is so much more that is going on."

The country is now in a time where it can re-write the rules regarding economics, she said, and she wants to focus on rebuilding the middle class. The Senate seat could provide an avenue but if she is going to make a successful run, Warren said it will need to be a "truly" grassroots campaign.


The Berkshire Democrats decorated the law office with mock signs, buttons and large banners encouraging Warren to run.
"This is not about going down to be a polite senator," Warren said. "We don't have 30 years to fix these problems."

Warren spent more than an hour with the local group discussing politics and the goal of rebuilding "middle-class opportunities."

"Families are caught in a squeeze - no higher income but all the big costs are going up," Warren said.

That middle-class focus resonated with the local Democrats, many of whom pleaded with her to run. The office was decorated with signs and buttons reading "run, Elizabeth, run."

"I'm here to endorse your running," Democratic doyenne and former Middle Berkshire Registrar of Deeds Mary O'Brien told Warren. "What we'd like to do for you is to go out and speak to people across the state."

Brigade member Ethan Klepetar said a grassroots campaign for Warren is "the way to go."

"I'm very excited about Elizabeth Warren," Klepetar said. "She has terrific ideas about economic policy."

With just three days notice on a rainy Friday in August, Democrats from all over the county jumped at the invitation and filled the offices for a chance to speak with Warren. Guernsey, a former state representative, said it was one of the biggest turnouts he's seen for a person who is not an announced candidate.

"The energy she brings is something people are yearning for," Guernsey, also a Brigade member, said. "She has stood up for people in the middle class for years."

Harrison said he likes her leadership and ability to stand up against pressures — traits that will help her lead a successful campaign.

Warren has held 12 meetings in five days with Democratic leaders across the state and has four more scheduled. Announced candidates for the Democratic nomination include Newton Mayor Setti Warren; Wayland Rep. Tom Conroy; City Year founder Alan Khazei, immigration attorney Marisa DeFranco and activist and nonprofit executive Robert Massie.

Below is a video of the event's conclusion posted on Friday by Greylocknews,





Editor's Note: Lede changed at 2:33 p.m., Aug. 20, to clarify the event was not sponsored by the Berkshire Brigades although a number of its members were there.


If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Crosby/Conte Statement of Interest Gets OK From Council

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Architect Carl Franceschi and Superintendent Joseph Curtis address the City Council on Tuesday.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — With the approval of all necessary bodies, the school district will submit a statement of interest for a combined build on the site of Crosby Elementary School.

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously gave Superintendent Joseph Curtis the green light for the SOI to the Massachusetts School Building Authority by April 12.

"The statement I would make is we should have learned by our mistakes in the past," Mayor Peter Marchetti said.

"Twenty years ago, we could have built a wastewater treatment plant a lot cheaper than we could a couple of years ago and we can wait 10 years and get in line to build a new school or we can start now and, hopefully, when we get into that process and be able to do it cheaper then we can do a decade from now."

The proposal rebuilds Conte Community School and Crosby on the West Street site with shared facilities, as both have outdated campuses, insufficient layouts, and need significant repair. A rough timeline shows a feasibility study in 2026 with design and construction ranging from 2027 to 2028.

Following the SOI, the next step would be a feasibility study to determine the specific needs and parameters of the project, costing about $1.5 million and partially covered by the state. There is a potential for 80 percent reimbursement through the MSBA, who will decide on the project by the end of the year.

Earlier this month, city officials took a tour of both schools — some were shocked at the conditions students are learning in.

Silvio O. Conte Community School, built in 1974, is a 69,500 square foot open-concept facility that was popular in the 1960s and 1970s but the quad classroom layout poses educational and security risks.  John C. Crosby Elementary School, built in 1962, is about 69,800 square feet and was built as a junior high school so several aspects had to be adapted for elementary use.

Ward 6 Councilor Dina Lampiasi said the walkthrough was "striking" at points, particularly at Conte, and had her thinking there was no way she would want her child educated there. She recognized that not everyone has the ability to choose where their child goes to school and "we need to do better."

"The two facilities that we are looking at I think are a great place to start," she said.

"As the Ward 6 councilor, this is where my residents and my students are going to school so selfishly yes, I want to see this project happen but looking at how we are educating Pittsfield students, this is going to give us a big bang for our buck and it's going to help improve the educational experience of a vast group of students in our city."

During the tour, Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey, saw where it could be difficult to pay attention in an open classroom with so much going on and imagined the struggle for students.

Councilor at Large Alisa Costa said, "we cannot afford not to do this" because the city needs schools that people want their children to attend.

"I know that every financial decision we make is tough but we have to figure this out. If the roof on your house were crumbling in, you'd have to figure it out and that's where we're at and we can't afford to wait any longer," she said.

"We can't afford for the sake of the children going to our schools, for the sake of our city that we want to see grow so we have to build a city where people want to go."

Councilor at Large Kathy Amuso, who served on the School Building Needs Commission for about 18 years, pointed out that the panel identified a need to address Conte in 2008.

Curtis addressed questions about the fate of Conte if the build were to happen, explaining that it could be kept as an active space for community use, house the Eagle Academy or the Adult Learning Center, or house the central offices.

School attendance zones are a point of discussion for the entire school district and for this project.

"At one time I think we had 36 school buildings and now we have essentially 12 and then it would go down again but in a thoughtful way," Curtis said.

Currently, eight attendance zones designate where a student will go to elementary school. Part of the vision is to collapse those zones into three with hopes of building a plan that incorporates partner schools in each attendance zone.

"I think that going from eight schools to three would be easier to maintain and I think it would make more sense but in order to get there we will have to build these buildings and we will have to spend money," Kavey said, hoping that the city would receive the 80 percent reimbursement it is vying for.

This plan for West Street, which is subject to change, has the potential to house grades pre-kindergarten to first grade in one school and Grades 2 to 4 in another with both having their own identities and administrations. 

The districtwide vision for middle school students is to divide all students into a grade five and six school and a grade seven and eight school to ensure equity.

"The vagueness of what that looks like is worrisome to some folks that I have talked to," Lampiasi said.

Curtis emphasized that these changes would have to be voted on by the School Committee and include public input.

"We've talked about it conceptually just to illustrate a possible grade span allocation," he said. "No decisions have been made at all by the School Committee, even the grade-span proposals."

School Committee Chair William Cameron said it is civic duty of the committee and council to move forward with the SOI.
 
He explained that when seven of the city's schools were renovated in the late 1990s, the community schools were only 25 years old and Crosby was 35 years old.  The commonwealth did not deem them to be sorely in need of renovation or replacement.
 
"Now 25 years later, Crosby is physically decrepit and an eyesore. It houses students ages three to 11 in a facility meant for use by teenagers,"
 
"Conte and Morningside opened in the mid-1970s. They were built as then state-of-the-art schools featuring large elongated rectangles of open instructional space. Over almost half a century, these physical arrangements have proven to be inadequate for teaching core academic skills effectively to students, many of whom need extra services and a distraction-free environment if they are to realize their full academic potential."
 
He said  the proposal addresses a serious problem in the "economically poorest, most ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse area" of the city.
 
Cameron added that these facilities have been deemed unsatisfactory and need to be replaced as part of the project to reimagine how the city can best meet the educational needs of its students.  He said it is the local government's job to move this project forward to ensure that children learn in an environment that is conducive to their thriving academically.
 
"The process of meeting this responsibility needs to begin here tonight," he said.
 
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