Pittsfield Council Approves Part of Staff Raise Proposal

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — By a 9-2 vote, the City Council on Tuesday approved raises for 25 mid-level, non-union city employees who have been passed over for raises in recent years.

The amendment to the city code came as part of an overall proposal from Mayor Daniel Bianchi, which also included increases and reclassification of about the same number of management-level positions. But a council subcommittee last week decided it would prefer to look at the components more individually.  

Some residents have balked at the additional expense while proponents say the increases are needed to redress a serious disparity between Pittsfield and other municipalities. Supporters of the move argue that the pay scales have been detrimental to attracting and retaining talented staff.

"These people have only have only had a raise over the last five years of 1.5 percent," said Councilor At Large Barry Clairmont, "So it's not like we are giving out 5 percent raises every year."

The anticipated cost of the increases for the coming fiscal year is $39,750,  which with associated pension commitments amounts to around 0.0003 percent of this year's proposed FY15 budget. The money has been allocated in the city's unclassified budget until the increases are approved.

The two councilors who voted in opposition to the change, Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi and Councilor At Large Churchill Cotton, agreed with the raises but said they were against making them retroactive to last July.

"I'm all in favor of the raises," said Morandi.  "I just can't support the retro-activity of it."

Councilor Jonathan Lothrop maintained that retroactive raises are not uncommon in municipal employment, where most contracts are negotiated through collective bargaining following the expiration of the previous contract.

"I'm not swayed by the argument that this retroactive is unusual," he said, and he noted that even with the 5 percent retroactive raise, these non-union public employees are still going to be behind the rate of increases granted to other municipal employees in recent years.

Clairmont said the raises should have been brought forward then instead of having to be done retroactively.

"This study was done back in 2012, it should have been brought forward sooner," said Clairmont.  "It is not the employees' fault that it was not brought forward sooner, and I don't think they should be penalized for a lack of timely action by the administration and this council."

Councilor Kathleen Amuso likened the increases to those previously negotiated by United Educators for Pittsfield, who in 2012 negotiated a new contract that includes 3 percent in step raises over a three-year period.

"These people don't have unions out there supporting them, and that's why we have to go through this process," said Clairmont.

Social Service Organizations Highlight Challenges, Successes at Poverty Talk

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
08:04AM / Sunday, April 05, 2026

Dr. Jennifer Michaels of the Brien Center demonstrates how to use Narcan. Easy access to the drug has cut overdose deaths in the county by nearly half. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Recent actions at the federal level are making it harder for people to climb out of poverty.

Brad Gordon, executive director of Upside413, said he felt like he was doing a disservice by not recognizing national challenges and how they draw a direct line from choices being made by the Trump administration and the challenges the United States is facing. 

"They more generally impact people's ability to work their way out of poverty, and that's really, that's really the overarching dynamic," he said. 

"Poverty is incredibly corrosive, and it impacts all the topics that we'll talk about today." 

His comments came during a conversation on poverty hosted by Berkshire Community Action Council. Eight local service agency leaders detailed how they are supporting people during the current housing and affordability crisis, and the Berkshire state delegation spoke to their own efforts.

The event held on March 27 at the Berkshire Athenaeum included a working lunch and encouraged public feedback. 

"All of this information that we're going to gather today from both you and the panelists is going to drive our next three-year strategic plan," explained Deborah Leonczyk, BCAC's executive director. 

The conversation ranged from health care and housing production to financial literacy and child care.  Participating agencies included Upside 413, The Brien Center, The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, MassHire Berkshire Career Center, Berkshire Regional Transit Authority, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and Child Care of the Berkshires. 

The federal choices Gordon spoke about included allocating $140 billion for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, investing $38 billion to convert warehouses into detention centers, cutting $1 trillion from Medicaid over 10 years, a proposed 50 percent increase in the defense budget, and cutting federal funding for supportive housing programs. 

Gordon pointed to past comments about how the region can't build its way out of the housing crisis because of money. He withdrew that statement, explaining, "You know what? That's bullshit, actually."

"I'm going to be honest with you, that is absolute bullshit. I have just observed over the last year or so how we're spending our money and the amount of money that we're spending on the federal side, and I'm no longer saying in good conscience that we can't build our way out of this," he said. 

Upside 413 provided a "Housing Demand in Western Massachusetts" report that was done in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts at Amherst's Donahue Institute of Economic and Public Policy Research. It states that around 23,400 units are needed to meet current housing demand in Western Mass; 1,900 in Berkshire County in 2025.