Letter: District Attorney Seat Belongs to the People

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To the Editor:

The position of district attorney is not a tenured position. It is not a seat that you earn over time. It does not belong to any one person. There is a reason for this. No one should have a monopoly on this office for years at a time. It is important for fair administration. This is why we have elections for certain positions. And the election process should not be controlled by money or power.

Mr. Caccaviello lost an election, period. Blaming his election loss on his not being a politician is absurd and hypocritical. He manipulated the political system to get the advantage of incumbency. He became a Democrat purposely to sew up the election in the primary, and he still failed. He ran a full campaign with standouts and events. He had opportunities in several debates. He had far more ads than his opponents in The Berkshire Eagle. He now seeks the Republican vote after he failed as a Democrat. Mr. Caccaviello had the governor of Massachusetts outright hand him the title of district attorney. However, this job was not the governor's to give away. Mr. Caccaviello had every political advantage in the world, and he still lost. He refuses to accept the people's choice and blames politics.

Maybe he lost because people are tired of the status quo and the violent crime in Berkshire County. Mr. Caccaviello had the opportunity to make a difference for 30 years, and we see the results: two cities in Berkshire County on the top 10 list for violent crime in Massachusetts.

The office of district attorney is an elected seat and belongs to the people. Mr. Caccaviello took that seat away from the people once already by sneaking himself in as an incumbent without the people's consent. Please do not let him do it again. Please vote for attorney Andrea Harrington, the Democratic nominee, on Nov. 6.

Kathleen Riley
Pittsfield, Mass.

 

 


Tags: district attorney,   election 2018,   


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Pittsfield CPA Committee Funds Half of FY24 Requests

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A few projects are not getting funded by the Community Preservation Committee because of a tight budget.

The projects not making the cut were in the historic preservation and open space and recreation categories and though they were seen as interesting and valuable projects, the urgency was not prevalent enough for this cycle.

"It's a tough year," Chair Danielle Steinmann said.

The panel made its recommendations on Monday after several meetings of presentations from applications. They will advance to the City Council for final approval.  

Two cemetery projects were scored low by the committee and not funded: A $9,500 request from the city for fencing at the West Part Cemetery as outlined in a preservation plan created in 2021 and a $39,500 request from the St. Joseph Cemetery Commission for tombstone restorations.

"I feel personally that they could be pushed back a year," Elizabeth Herland said. "And I think they're both good projects but they don't have the urgency."

It was also decided that George B. Crane Memorial Center's $73,465 application for the creation of a recreational space would not be funded. Herland said the main reason she scored the project low was because it didn't appear to benefit the larger community as much as other projects do.

There was conversation about not funding The Christian Center's $34,100 request for heating system repairs but the committee ended up voting to give it $21,341 when monies were left over.

The total funding request was more than $1.6 million for FY24 and with a budget of $808,547, only about half could be funded. The panel allocated all of the available monies, breaking down into $107,206 for open space and recreation, $276,341 for historic preservation, and $425,000 for community housing.

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