Kathy Lloyd, owner of How We Roll, is challenging the incumbent for for City Council seat in Ward 7.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Kathy Lloyd says if you are standing around asking whose job something is, then the job is yours.

 

Recently, she's noticed that the city hasn't been keeping up with maintenance and cleanliness of her beloved Burbank Park.

 

Instead of asking whose job it is to keep up with that, she's running for a seat on the City Council to do it herself.

 

"With proper management, we could make that a real gem in the city's crown. Right now it is poorly cared for. The trash is not emptied enough — I have pictures on my phone of the trash barrels from last Sunday overflowing," Lloyd said on Monday.

 

The owner of How We Roll, a food truck operating in the city, is now running to represent Ward 7 on the City Council. Lloyd said her campaign isn't just about Burbank Park's lack of maintenance but rather the lack of maintenance across the entire city.

 

"We don't care for our things in Pittsfield. We have some things that we are not caring for to the best of our abilities. We have a 40-year-old high school that we have to tear down because we didn't care for it. There is no reason we should have to tear down that building except that we didn't care for it; we didn't take care of. We have beautiful parks that are not being cared for," Lloyd said. 

 

"I believe we can find money to care for our things in the budget. I don't think we have to find new money for that. I think we have to find the money we are spending less frugally than we ought to."

 

Ward 7 has been particularly neglected, she said, and that has led to the worst roads in the city based on a recent road management study, numerous sidewalk issues — saying that current Councilor Anthony Simonelli voted to reduce the budget for repairs — numerous unaccepted streets with advocates pushing for city services or acceptance, and poorly maintained areas around the two lakes.

 

"I feel like my ward isn't strongly represented right now. I love where I live. I loved growing up in Ward 7. It's my little part of Pittsfield that is the best part of my heart. I grew up in the state forest. I grew up in Burbank Park and Pontoosuc Lake. I went to Highland Elementary School. This is my little section of town," Lloyd said.  

 

"We need a strong advocate for our ward on the City Council and in the mayor's ear to make sure we are getting our fair share of the budget."

 

The 40-year-old is a relative newcomer to city politics after being thrust into public life in 2013 when Downtown Pittsfield Inc. advocated for the city to craft ordinances to restrict food truck operations. Lloyd, with some legal help from the Institute for Justice, fought and won the battle against the ordinances. 

 

"In general, I felt like we were fighting Downtown Pittsfield Inc. They were the ones who requested the ordinance," Lloyd said. 

 

Restaurants operating downtown urged DPI to restrict the trucks because they felt it impinged on their operations. Downtown Inc. took their side, which Lloyd disagrees with. Lloyd said the food truck is a downtown business and by accepting funds from the city, Downtown Pittsfield should have been on her side because the additional business helps contribute to North Street's prosperity.

 

Nonetheless, she won the battle after months of meetings and began to see the ins and outs of politics. Since then she's gotten involved in the Springside Park Conservancy and the Lake Onota Preservation Association, and helped produce Shire City Sessions, a monthly free concert series downtown.

 

She said there are a lot of little things she could do and ideas that she has to help improve the quality of life in the city.

 

"The food truck battle we had with Downtown Pittsfield about getting regulations done really spurred me into this. It was a stepping off point to getting really involved," Lloyd said. "I'm not out to change the world, I am just trying to do my part and do some good in downtown Pittsfield and in my ward. I have ideas and I want a turn."

 

Lloyd said improving the city doesn't need to cost a lot of money. Firstly, she is calling for a new way to handle the budget process. She wants to work with the mayor, who crafts the budget, ahead of time to hold "pre-budget" meetings with department heads and "group thinks." 

 

"I'd take a comprehensive look at where we are spending our money. I think it is easy to nickel and dime it. I would like to cut the budget. I would like to use our dollars more sensibly," Lloyd said. "We live very frugally at my house and I would like to see our city live frugally."

 

She said when she looked through this year's budget she saw information technology departments in the budget for multiple city departments. She said that could be more efficient if that was streamlined into one IT department. Lloyd believes there are other places where departments are doing similar work and could be combined.

 

However, many others have said that and it never happens because the budget process doesn't give enough time to delve into that type of detail, she said. 

 

"It looks like everybody is nickel and diming it to death. But, these talks should have started in January. They should have been meeting with heads of departments in January, not when the budget is done," Lloyd said.

 

Those types of changes can lead to support for the arts and culture scene downtown and simple cleaning of city streets and parks.

 

"There are some blight issues. There is some weed-whacking issues. I want to see the city weed whacked," Lloyd said.

 

She said there are other smaller ways to improve the quality life such as making it easier for residents to recycle batteries and light bulbs, or a public composting area.

 

On Monday, she launched a new way to tackle speeding in residential areas by using Facebook to generate a focus on the issue. She's asking 2,500 residents to take a pledge to drive 25 miles-per-hour in residential areas.

 

"Our cops are underfunded. They are down 30 policemen. I can call until my eyes are streaming tears but they literally don't have a guy to come down and stop people from speeding down my street," Lloyd said. 

 

A simple pledge could greatly reduce speeding in residential area, she said.

 

Lloyd is a 1992 graduate of Taconic High School and a 2013 graduate of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. She traveled somewhat after high school and returned to the Berkshires to start a family. In the Berkshires, the mother of two, ultimately found a business in not only operating How We Roll but also in rehabilitating trucks into food trucks and reselling them.

 

She is the only challenger to the incumbent, Simonelli.