Former Pittsfield Councilor Pete White Seeking at-Large Seat
 Pete White is now seeking an at-large seat on the City Council. |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Former Ward 2 Councilor Pete White is looking to return to the City Council.
This time, he is seeking to represent the whole city as a councilor at large.
"I want to be working on much more citywide initiatives. I think there are things as an at-large councilor that would be easier to do than as a ward councilor," White said on Friday.
Nomination papers for the Nov. 3 election are available on Thursday, April 2, and White is the first to announce his candidacy.
The 36-year-old says he is the person who can bring all parties together to work collaboratively to solve the city's biggest issues.
"I don't ever want to go into an issue saying I am so set in stone on it that I won't listen to people," White said.
"I want people to talk to me. I want to be a resource for the city of Pittsfield, to my other councilors, to the School Committee, and have us all work together to move the city forward."
White served one term on the City Council and then launched a campaign for state representative. He was defeated by Tricia Farley-Bouvier in the 2012 election. Meanwhile, he has served seven years on the Traffic Commission and five on the Mobile Home Rent Control Board.
"I'm not going to be a newbie. I'm not going to be trying to figure out the nuances of government," White said. "I think I have a pretty good take on what's going on and the things we need to be focused on."
He currently works for the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission as an employment specialist, matching people with disabilities up with companies looking for employees. Prior to that he worked in a similar role with the Brien Center.
Economic development is going to be the primary goal for the candidate. He is calling for ways to increase the tax base and population, particularly with a younger crowd. The city has a lot to offer young people, he said, and it is more of a matter of getting the jobs and increasing the nightlife to build on it further.
"I think it is great that we have a Dottie's, Mission, District, J. Allen's, Patrick's, places for people to go and congregate. I think it is great if we had more music venues. I love when Word X Word does events. I love when places have bands in, anything to show that we have a nightlife," White said.
"It is not just moving here for a job but also if you move here, you can have a really good life."
White said the city needs to continually look at its process with both existing businesses and potential new businesses. For example, moving permitting agencies to 100 North St. to allow easier access is something he feels could be very conducive to making it easier for businesses to get what they need to start operations.
"I think economic development has to be the prime focus of anybody in this race. We have to make sure we are business friendly. Are we going to attract businesses to the area? Are we going to do what we can to create jobs?" White said.
The Pittsfield native says there are incentives and ideas the city could use to help attract new businesses.
"I don't have the magic answer. But you have two ears and one mouth so you should listen twice as much as you talk. So you need to make sure you are listening to businesses that are already here are saying and then any businesses that are looking to come into the area, make sure you listen to what they have to say and connect them with the right resources," White said.
At the William Stanley Business Park, White said he was disappointed that Waterstone, the company looking to use a parcel for retail, didn't work out. Some people opposed that move saying retail wouldn't provide high-paying jobs the property should be used for.
"I think we need to look long and hard at anyone who wants to come in and invest on the site," White said. "Everyone in Pittsfield is frustrated that it has not moved fast enough."
For finances, he said the city needs to be careful to avoid taxing people out of their homes but to also make investments that will provide a return.
"Right now, we are at a point where I don't think anybody in Pittsfield wants to see the taxes go up more. I would be making sure any initiatives that are going to add to the tax base are really scrutinized," White said.
"If possible, I would like to see if there is any way to make consolidations. It is kind of tough to talk about it in the abstract but one thing would be do we need two personnel departments?"
The city needs to make some investments, he said, rather than let taxes increase without attempting to grow the business base. He also opposes efforts to privatize city services.
"I am always really cautious on privatization because where are the cost savings coming from and why couldn't the city implement those anyway?" White said. "I don't think that just if you can cut personnel, that is the way to lower taxes. We need to find innovative ways to increase the tax base."
Another idea he'd like to encourage is creating a tax increment financing program for residential homes. He credits another former councilor for the idea but believes providing tax breaks for residents to improve their homes is a good thing.
He also likes the idea of looking at data on various issues dating back a number of years to spot trends and come up with ideas to address them. He gave the example of potholes that reoccur in the same spot every year.
He said he'd look at the data and if the road where potholes return in the same exact spot happen isn't schedule to be complete rehabilitated, he'd advocate for the department to public works to cut that chronically problematic spot out and do a larger repair.
White says he will also push to have the acting fire chief and police chief appointed to permanent posts. Both have been working under the acting title.
"I think it is important that we have a full-time permanent chief and full-time police chief and they are not 'acting.' I think Chief [Michael Wynn] and Chief [Robert] Czerwinski have done amazing jobs and I don't think they should be acting," White said.
Crimewise, White says the biggest issue is drug addiction. He supports the efforts to improve drug treatment and working with the Police Department to make sure they have what they need to keep drugs off the street.
"We need to continue to work with the police, the state, with the health-care facilities that take part with drug addiction to make sure people are getting the help they need and to make sure we get the drugs off the street," White said. "I think really the drug problem is where most of our crime comes from right now."
He also supports the efforts to build a new police station and the purchase of a new fire truck.
But overall, White says he is the candidate who can bring everybody to the table.
"It is hard in an election to say you want to work with certain people because you never know who is going to be in a seat after the election. You have be a person who can work with everyone. I think I've proven that over the years that I can work with anyone," White said. "I never disagree with a person but I disagree on an issue."
That includes working with school officials. White said he'd like to have a working relationship with the School Committee on any issues he could assist with.
As councilor he boasts of helping to build the Tyler Street Business Group, brought the Halloween parade to Tyler Street, help push forward efforts that led to the charter commission, and cast a vote needed to move the airport reconstruction project forward.
"I want to see more initiatives to keep people here. It is obviously early on but I want to get out there and let people know how much I care about the city and listen to what the people have to say," White said.
"I think a lot of times when people are in campaign mode, they are trying to say a lot of things that they think of what needs to be done. But the greatest thing is, you go out and collect the signatures and knock on doors and listen to what people are saying."
Tags: city council, city election, election 2015,
