Donna Walto
Candidate For Mayor - Pittsfield As a small-business entrepreneur and mother of three, Donna M. Walto believes her combination of business savvy and caring spirit will help her lead the city into a new age.
A vocal opponent of the way the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority's site was handled, Walto has called for a complete investigation into the William Stanley Business Park and a complete overhaul of its board of directors.
"The PEDA site is a failure," she said recently. "Right now, it is a barren wasteland. [The site] has given the city of Pittsfield a very bad reputation and it reflects our dysfunctional governmental leadership."
Walto's other priorities are one-on-one attention in the schools, finding ways to support existing entrepreneurs in the city, inviting everyone to invest in the future of the community and representing working class families in Pittsfield.
Walto wants to use her "personal touch" to reach out to what she called underrepresented demographics in the city, including young mothers, teenagers and non-English speakers. With a growing immigrant population, Walto recently announced that she plans to retain a Spanish-speaking aide on her staff, if elected, to allow her to effectively communicate with anyone in the city who has a concern.
With economic development as the cornerstone of her campaign, Walto believes in attracting diverse types of businesses to the downtown and widening the tax base.
"We need to take the center of the city and make it electric," she said before the primary election. "So goes Pittsfield, so goes the rest of the Berkshires."
Walto also supports a no tolerance policy for crime, drugs and gang violence in the city and proposes using state funds to place more police officers on the streets.
Walto is a 1967 graduate of Pittsfield High School. She attended the University of Miami before eventually receiving a degree from Williams College in 1986 as an adult student. She currently owns and operates Berkshire Sightseeing Backroad Tour Co., which provides guided tours of the Berkshires.
Walto has never held any public office but she previously ran against incumbent James M. Ruberto in 2005, where she received only 26 percent of the vote on Election Day.
"A vote for me is a vote for you," she said in the last mayoral debate. "I want an open and honest government and I will practice democracy in my office. This city is our city and this government is our government and I will make sure everyone is treated fairly, not just the wealthy."
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