Former assistant district attorney Timothy Shugrue speaks to supporters on Monday at the Bounti-fare. Shugrue is making a second run at the office of district attorney. His website is here.
ADAMS, Mass. — Timothy Shugrue is making a vow to clean up what he calls mismanagement in the district attorney's office.
"We need to have experience, integrity, and justice for everyone," he said at his North Berkshire campaign launch for DA on Monday. "We need to get law enforcement. And we need to go after the criminals that are destroying our community and destroying our towns."
There's a lack of prosecution and follow-through, he said, little communication with police, too many dismissals, too few diversion programs and a general lack of confidence in the DA's office that's filtering down to police and the community.
Shugrue is challenging incumbent Andrea Harrington in the Democratic primary and, while he never said her name, he described her four years in office as the "awful experiment."
"It's led us to a bad situation that's required me to enter this race," he told the three dozen or so attendees who turned out to hear him at a Bounti-fare fundraiser on Monday night that included North Adams City Councilors Lisa Blackmer and Peter Oleskiewicz, School Committee member Tara Jacobs, Adams Selectwoman Christine Hoyt, and a number of retired police officers and court officials, including retired Judge Daniel Ford.
"After having 36 years of experience, both as prosecution and as defense, and being a businessman in Pittsfield, and being a homeowner in Pittsfield, to see what we've seen on our streets, they're no longer safe," Shugrue said. "None of us feel that we can go anywhere and feel like we're protected. And worse than that is how many police officers tell me that they bring charges they get dropped after their thorough and hard investigations ... they have cases dismissed and thrown out without them even knowing about it."
The founder of Berkshire County Kids Place has been in private practice for the last three decades but began his career prosecuting sexual abuse cases with the Hampden County District Attorney's Office and for three years as assistant district attorney in Berkshire County. He ran for DA in 2004 but lost to then Assistant District Attorney David Capeless.
Shugrue thinks that too many cases are being dropped and that the office overall is unqualified for the cases it does take on.
"I want you guys to know that if I'm in that office, I'm going to be prosecuting crimes and I'll been making sure that crimes are being handled correctly by trained individuals," he said. "I'm not afraid to try a case. I'd rather try a case and lose it than dismiss it. I'll tell you that right now."
Shugrue said he's heard from police officers, community members and business owners that they don't feel reporting crimes is doing any good.
"We have criminals that are taking over our streets and crimes that are not being prosecuted. We've got law enforcement that don't feel they're being heard or that their cases are being properly handled," he said. In responses to questions from the attendees, he said his office would be transparent and open to the community and that he would work with police to achieve justice.
He said he was all about giving people help if they get caught up in the system for the first time.
"You use the criminal justice system for that purpose," he said. "You bring them in and you give them the services that they are required to earn for a dismissal, not just give them a dismissal — to earn it."
One of the hallmarks of Harrington's campaign was to dispense with cash bail. It's been part of a national movement to eliminate a bail system that can end up locking people up for days, weeks and even months for petty crimes.
Shugrue said he doesn't think that really applies to Berkshire County because most minor crimes don't have bail anyways. As a defense attorney, he said he'd rather have cash bail because it allows him to assure prosecutors that his client will show up.
But bail is necessary, he said, to hold individuals that the system needs to get off the streets — people at-risk, not from the community, using aliases that make them difficult to find once they're let out.
"When I'm doing my job as a prosecutor, my job is to get the high bail and convince a judge, by doing my job, to say this is why this person should be held," Shugrue said, instead of doing dangerousness hearings. "That's what the judge is there for. But to turn around and say I'm not going to ask for bail is, I think is disrespectful."
The attorney said it was imperative to go after drug crimes and illegal gun owners to make the county safer.
"I want to make sure that my message is loud and clear. You have an illegal gun, you're going to jail. You're not getting three years probation so you can kill somebody three months later," he said to applause. "That's not happening in my administration, we will make sure that we're going to tackle the gun problem."
Shugrue said he believed he could attract qualified people to work in the DA's office. Lawyers graduate knowing the law but not how to prosecute or defend a case, he said.
"I think we will attract people that want to come and learn, I think will attract people that want to get trained and that will attract people that want to try cases and not be afraid to try cases because they don't know what they're doing," he said.
Harrington, who ran on progressive criminal justice reform four years ago and beat the favorite in the race twice (in the primary and again as a write-in in the general) is expected to run for re-election but has not formally announced her campaign. The winner of the Democratic primary on Sept. 6 will face off against independent Robert Sullivan Jr., a former assistant district attorney.
"I am not a politician. I'm a lawyer. And I want to be your lawyer. I want to be the lawyer for Berkshire County," said Shugrue. "I want to be the head chief prosecutor of Berkshire County.
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Pittsfield School Committee OKs $82M Budget, $1.5M Cuts
By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The school budget is less grim than the original proposal but still requires more than $1.5 million in cuts.
On Thursday, the School Committee approved an $82.8 million spending plan for fiscal year 2025, including a city appropriation of $80.4 million and $2.4 million in Chapter 70 funds.
The cuts made to balance the budget include about 50 staff reductions — some due to the sunsetting of federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds.
"The final version does not answer all needs. It will be unacceptable to some or to many but I must say that tonight's final proposal is very different than where we started when we believed we would have a $3,600,000 reduction. I want to assure everyone that every effort has been made to minimize the impact on both students, families, and staff members while also ensuring that our district has the necessary resources to progress forward," Superintendent Joseph Curtis said.
"Nevertheless, there are incredibly passionate, dedicated staff members who will not be with us next year. This pains me as I've been a part of this organization for now 30 years so I want to assure everyone that our team, this has weighed very heavily in our hearts, this entire process. This is not a group of people that is looking at a spreadsheet saying ‘Well that can go and this can go’ and take that lightly."
Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Kristen Behnke and other officials worked with the state Department of Secondary and Elementary Education to rectify an error in the Chapter 70 funding formula, recognized 11 more low-income students in the district, and added an additional $2.4 million to the FY25 budget.
Curtis commented that when he first saw the governor’s FY25 budget, he was "rather stunned."
"The extraordinary circumstances we face this budget season by the conclusion of the substantial ESSER federal grant and a significant reduction in Chapter 70 allotment caused challenges for this team and our school principals and our educators and our staff that have been nothing short of all-consuming," he said.
Downtown Pittsfield Inc. proposed angled parking on North Street and was pleasantly surprised that the city responded with an in-depth study and new plans — even if they don't include angled parking.
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Officials celebrated Arbor Day on Friday by installing a commemorative plaque next to the American elm sapling. This is a tree that James McGrath, the city's park program manager, said Presutti would have been particularly proud of.
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Albert Ingegni III was applauded for four decades of service on the Zoning Board of Appeals during City Council. Mayor Peter Marchetti presented him with a certificate of thanks for his commitment to the community.
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