LENOX, Mass. — Rinaldo Del Gallo says the state should build out broadband internet just as it would with any road or bridge. Adam Hinds says the state needs to find the best vehicle whether it be WiredWest or another group to complete the last mile. Andrea Harrington says each town should craft individualized plans on how to expand.

 

They all believe in expanding high-speed internet, citing its tremendous impact on the economy and quality of life, but how to get there is where they differ.

 

The same thing goes on a number of issues — from how to tackle the opioid scourge inflicting the county or to grow businesses or clean up the Rest of the River.

 

On principle, all of the Democratic candidates have similar stances on education, economic development, and the environment but exactly how to handle those issue differs, which was shown during the first of several debates planned for August.

 

The Lenox Democrats and the Lenox Chamber of Commerce put on the debate late Sunday morning as the three candidates are vying for the state Senate seat being vacated by Benjamin Downing, who opted not to run for re-election. The seat is open for the first time in 10 years. The state primary is Thursday, Sept. 8, and the top vote-getter of the three candidates will take on Republican challenger Christine Canning-Wilson in the November general election.

 

Moderated by state Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli, D-Lenox, the first question focused on the challenges facing small businesses and how to resolve them.

 

"Our biggest challenge is finding employees and capital to expand the business," said Harrington, whose husband owns the Public Market in West Stockbridge. 

 

Small business would love to expand but can't because of those two major holdups, which she said are coupled with high energy costs. Harrington said the way to break down barriers is by focusing on education and workforce development, creating a better transportation system for workers to get to their jobs, expanded worker housing, and push for sustainable energy policies.

 

The county needs to take a regional approach toward economic development, she said, because "when we lose 300 jobs in Pittsfield it effects the whole county."

 

Hinds said the area doesn't need to stake its future on the return of General Electric or a similar massive manufacturer. Instead there are some 6,000 manufacturing jobs in the county currently and 2,000 jobs that are unfilled. He said those vacant jobs show a huge gap between what employers want in workers and what's available — and he boasted of his work as the executive director of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition in starting a pilot program focused on bringing the players together to find what is missing and create programs to fill the gap.

 

He called to "double down" on the economic strengths of the region.

 

"Broadband has to be on top of the list," Hinds said of priorities in economic development. "It is absolutely unacceptable that it has taken this long to bring broadband, the last mile, to this area."

 

Del Gallo said he pushed for a plan more than a decade ago to deal with land left by GE based on what is being done at Fort Devens or with the Albany, N.Y., nanotechnology sector — using education to focus on the industry the area wants to attract. But, the city didn't follow that model.

 

"It is now 12 years later and I don't think there is a person on the planet who thinks the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority was successful," Del Gallo said. 

 

Del Gallo says the best way to bring about economic progress is to streamline state regulations, provide incentives and give companies what they need, particularly with education.

 

Del Gallo calls himself a "Bernie Sanders progressive" and looks to bring the political revolution the Vermont U.S. senator developed during his campaign for president to the local level. One of Sander's components is to make college education free — something Del Gallo backs. He said education is more important than putting money into downtowns.

 

"You try to develop an educational center," Del Gallo said of his economic development plan.

 

When it comes to the proposed Walmart Supercenter proposed for the William Stanley Business Park, which is under the authority of PEDA, Del Gallo is against it and says if approved future manufacturing coming to the park will be "slim to none." 

 

"[Walmart] is the poster child of what is wrong with corporate America," he said.

 

Harrington says economic development should be focused on companies that will keep dollars in the area. Walmart doesn't do that, she said, and instead ships money out of town. She hopes the newest plan will trigger some serious discussion about coming up with an alternatives for developing the land. 

 

"I would like to see specialty manufacturing there," Harrington said. 

 

Hinds said the issue of Walmart is really a local one, and not so much for the state. But, "in general I oppose Walmart and what it does to the economy."

 

Hinds' background includes working on the presidential campaign of John Kerry and the campaign of former U.S. Rep. John Olver. But more recently, he was hired to head the Pittsfield Community Connection, which crafted a program aimed at the city's at-risk youth. One of the largest issues facing local youth is the opioid epidemic that Hinds said needs a three-pronged approach: prevention, harm reduction, and treatment.

 

"The insurance companies have really failed us," Hinds said, saying the industry's policy have restricted access to substance abuse treatment programs.

 

He says there needs to be more treatment beds and more long-term recovery programs. When it comes to prevention, he wants expanded prescription monitoring programs to halt doctors from overprescribing. And he has worked with North Adams officials to get Narcan, an overdose reversal drug, into the hands of police for harm reduction. 

 

Harrington runs her own defense attorney practice and knows firsthand from her clients the impact drugs have had and agrees with Hinds that there is a significant shortage of treatment programs.

 

"It's been frustrating as an attorney to find treatment, which we know works," Harrington said.

 

A drug court is coming to the area, which Harrington is in full support of. She says such a court system requires those who have gotten in trouble with the law because of substance abuse to go into treatment programs that are aimed to tackle "underlying" causes.

 

Substance abuse is often associated with mental health and poverty, she said, and treatment needs to get at "the root of the problem."

 

Del Gallo, an attorney as well, differs when it comes to drug courts. He feels every dollar spent toward that system is taking away from treatment.

 

"Drug courts would be more money not being spent on hospital beds," he said. 

 

His problem with drug courts are that the system doesn't handle relapse well, requires clients to plead guilty, and doesn't include ongoing opioid management such as through a methadone clinic. Del Gallo repeated "methadone clinic" multiple times to reiterate his support for such facilities in the Berkshires. 

 

Del Gallo also showed deviated from his opponents on a question regarding charter schools. A petition to raise the number of charter schools in the state is going to a ballot. Both Hinds and Harrington oppose the expansion of charter schools while Del Gallo said he'd follow the outcome of the vote. He also proposed a companion piece of legislation that would give the cities and towns in which a school is proposed to have a vote on the specific proposal.

 

Harrington said residents of Berkshire County aren't "clamoring for charter schools." Instead, the residents want excellent public schools. Charter schools have little accountability and little local oversight, she said, adding she "adamantly" opposes expanding charter programs. 

 

Hinds agrees and says the funding for public school education needs to be addressed first because right now the formula pulls money from public schools to fund charter schools.

 

"When we have schools struggling with flawed funding formulas, we need to focus on our funding first," Hinds said. 

 

It is investment in public education that Harrington believes will help keep young people in the Berkshires. She said with the population of young workers dropping, the state needs to increase Chapter 70 funding for public schools.

 

"I think having a strong education, the best schools from pre-K to college is essentially for getting young people to stay here," Harrington said, adding that another component is the creation of quality jobs because "we don't have enough of the kind of jobs people need." 

 

On the flip side of the demographics, the county is aging and by 2030 more than 60 percent will be over the age of 60. Harrington supports a tax break for elderly residents to keep them in their homes longer. But, the state needs to find revenue to replace what is lost through that incentive.

 

Del Gallo supports a circuit breaker account for the elderly population but said he'd also want to expand that for poor people. For those under a certain income, he'd like them to have the ability for tax forgiveness to keep that population in their homes as well. 

 

For both demographics, Hinds said transportation and housing need to be improved.

 

"There is a bit of a housing shortage when it comes to apartments," Hinds said, urging for more investment in affordable housing programs.

 

The demographic challenges also include preserving the quality of life, which Harrington said is of the best. But, when it comes to General Electric's clean up of the Rest of the River south of Pittsfield, quality of life is coming under threat, she said. 

 

"The Berkshires is a brand. People come here because of our environment," Harrington said, which is why she opposes a dump site for the PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, being cleaned out of the river.

 

Harrington hopes to use GE's move to Boston as leverage to hold the company accountable to perform a thorough clean up of the Housatonic River, which was polluted during the company's tenure in Pittsfield. 

 

"GE must be held responsible for cleaning up the river," Hinds said, promising to advocate against dump sites and for a clean river where children are not at risk of encountering toxic materials. 

 

Del Gallo also opposes a dump site in the Berkshires but would like to give bioremediation a try.

 

"The evidence isn't 100 percent that bioremediation works. But we should give it a try," Del Gallo said.

 

When it comes to the environment, Hinds called for a comprehensive policy to let businesses know where the state is going. That plan should be centered on renewable energy and not natural gas pipelines such as the two Kinder Morgan had proposed for the Berkshires — one of which was pulled and the other still being planned in Sandisfield. 

 

"This is the time we should be pivoting toward renewable energy," Hinds said. 

 

Del Gallo said he was the first one to go on record opposing the pipelines and hasn't wavered. He believes Kinder Morgan will be back to push the Northeast Energy Direct project and he says the voters need somebody who won't back down.

 

"There are real votes. You want somebody who was against it since the beginning," Del Gallo said. 

 

Harrington said the energy policies of the state should be focused on renewable energy, especially with off-shore wind. She too opposes the pipelines.

 

"It is about reimagining how we generate energy and who controls energy," she said, adding that renewable projects puts control in the hands of the communities.

 

Another part of the Berkshires quality of life is the cultural attractions, Del Gallo said, which could benefit from more top-notch venues. He said there needs to be more cultural attractions and then more hotels and restaurants will follow.

 

"We need to foster great entertainment that has regional appeal," Del Gallo said. "We need more Jacob's Pillows and we need more Tanglewoods."

 

Harrington said, "I am very interested in allocating more money in the state budget to food tourism." She believes there is an opportunity for the Berkshires to draw more tourism and culture through the food economy, which in turn will help local farmers and businesses. 

 

Hinds recognizes the "treasures" the Berkshires has with tourism helping revitalize downtowns. He voiced support for the Massachusetts Cultural Council funding, which the state Legislature just rescued from being unfunded in the budget. 

All three candidates support Attorney General Maura Healey's recent move to outlaw copycat assault weapons. Hinds said while he worked for the United Nations in Baghdad, he was protected by assault weapons and was glad they were there.

But, that was in a war zone and not on city streets.

"This is not about taking away guns. This is about doing what is right for our streets," Hinds said. 

 

While some in the state are suggesting Healey is overstepping her bounds, Del Gallo said the move was more about supporting existing laws and not creating new ones.

 

"She seems to have done a wise thing. She is merely enforcing a law on the books," Del Gallo said.

 

Harrington says she is "in favor of banning assault weapons and weapons that act like assault weapons." 

 

Sunday's debate triggers the start of at least three debates this month between the candidates. On Thursday, the Berkshire Brigades are hosting a debate at Berkshire Community College and later this month another debate will be held at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.