Former Pittsfield Councilor John Krol to Run for Mayor
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — John Krol is returning to local politics after a two-year absence in a big way — with a bid for mayor.
Both Krol and Council President Peter Marchetti informally announced last week their intent to run for the corner office in the coming year. Incumbent Linda Tyer has said she will reveal her decision on whether to stand for re-election after the holidays.
The former City Council vice president touts his experience in broadcast and print media, working for former Mayor James Ruberto, and time on the council as tools to make Pittsfield the best that it can be.
"I think the timing is right for us to bring passion back to the mayor's office," he said. "I see people every single day coaching baseball, our teachers working hard, people in our community volunteering, they're passionate about this community and I think the people of our community deserve a mayor who shares that same passion."
At one time Pittsfield aimed to be the greatest small city in the Northeast, Krol said, and he intends to continue that vision for his hometown.
"I absolutely love the city with my heart and soul. I feel as though this position is a position that's much more than the manager and CEO of an organization," he said. "It's not just the manager of city services and all the functions that the city is required to do. I think I look at the mayor's position in a more expansive way. The mayor is a moral leader in our community. The mayor is someone who provides guidance."
Downtown revitalization is important to the candidate, as he feels that the city needs to be accessible to new businesses for economic growth and to fill the empty storefronts on North Street.
"I know we are not as business-friendly as we can be and that's one of the major pieces that I hear often about our process of starting businesses and growing businesses here," Krol said. "We don't make it easy and I think there are things that won't happen overnight but there are functional processes that we can prove."
He pointed to the resources that the city has such as the Pittsfield Economic Revitalization Corp., which provides assistance to small businesses. Making the permitting process more customer friendly is also a need, he said.
Krol believes that looking into successful models from the past would be more beneficial than "reinventing the wheel" and delving into more planning processes. He cited the former Storefront Artists Initiative that surfaced in the early 2010s as remarkable and innovative.
"We don't need a new plan. We don't need to spend another year on an economic plan for the downtown," he said. "It's called 'paralysis by analysis' and we don't need paralysis by analysis. We don't need another planner in the mayor's office, we need a doer in the mayor's office."
His other main priorities include making the Pittsfield Public Schools the choice of Berkshire County and ensuring that residents get proper city services.
Krol was elected to the council in 2009 to represent Ward 6 and served as vice president for two terms. He hung up his hat in 2019 when his work took him out of the city and was replaced by the current ward Councilor Dina Guiel Lampiasi.
In the early 2000s, he worked as a reporter for the former North Adams Transcript covering Adams and then Williamstown. He described this as the best education for understanding how a municipality works.
"I think more reporters should become community leaders because who better to understand really the nuts and bolts of things and then understanding what are the right questions to ask," Krol said.
He then moved on to work in commercial radio as a news anchor and, in 2005, became public affairs coordinator for Ruberto because he said he wanted to do something special for the city, a fuel that he said still burns today.
Krol has owned marketing, communications and advertising firm OneEighty Media for seven years. He has also worked as media relations manager for Berkshire Healthcare (now Integritus Healthcare) and for Amedisys home health care, which he left last month in preparation for his mayoral bid.
He anchored "Good Morning, Pittsfield" on WTBR for years and now is known for his podcast "The John Krol Show," which features long-form conversations with people ranging from business owners to artists and politicians.
Tags: election 2023, mayor, municipal election,
