Election 2009: Malumphy Passing Out Baseball IOUs

01:32PM / Monday, September 14, 2009Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — As reported in a front-page story* in The Berkshire Eagle on Saturday, Sept. 12, the owners of the American Defenders baseball team still owe all fees and payments for the use of Wahconah Park estimated to be $35,000.

Mayor Ruberto's response: he is confident that the monies will be received and that the ebb and flow of business can sometimes challenge cash flow.

Malumphy's team released the following response: "We as taxpayers often have cash-flow issues, but do we stop paying our water bill, do we stop paying our property taxes? One would think if the owners of the Defenders can pay at their leisure, why can't every taxpayer in Pittsfield?"

Therefore, Malumphy will be at the steps of Pittsfield City Hall on Monday, Sept. 14, at 8:30 a.m. with a basket of baseballs. Any participant can write "IOU" [fill in the amount of your property tax bill] and then return the ball so it can be delivered to the mayor's office later in the morning.

Candidate Malumphy also added, "There have been so many flagrant misuses of public monies used on a park which rests in a flood plain and yet none of those monies, which were designated to mitigate drainage issues, were used for that purpose. In the end, over three-quarters of a million dollars of taxpayer money was used to significantly upgrade a most-beloved park, but a park that was under water all summer and will only continue to be flooded in the years to come."

Submitted by the Campaign to Elect Pam Malumphy

*This link is only available for 10 to 14 days.

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Pittsfield Wants People to Know Where Free Public Wifi Is

By Brittany PolitoiBerkhshires Staff
04:46AM / Friday, September 18, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city wants it to be clear where people can connect to free public wifi— which expands beyond downtown.

On Tuesday, the Parks Commission approved "Free Wifi" signage at The Common, Riverway Park, and Durant Park. Community members can access the internet without charge in these locations, as well as in downtown areas.

Two years ago, Pittsfield received a $99,972 Digital Equity Implementation Grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. This allowed the city to take a comprehensive look at digital equity and determine where to focus attention.

"That was a lengthy process that we worked on, and there was a lot of public input. We did some surveying. We met with a lot of focus groups; [Berkshire Regional Planning Commission] was the group that spearheaded that for us, and one of the things that came up was the lack of accessible wifi," Director of Community Development Justine Dodds reported. "Particularly in the westside."

Throughout this process, residents also wanted to see connectivity at the nearby Westside Riverway Park.

In 2023, Pittsfield was selected to participate in the Municipal Digital Equity Planning Program launched by the state and MBI, focused on ensuring residents can use the internet to conduct day-to-day activities. A digital equity plan also qualifies Pittsfield for additional grant funding.

Around 16,000 city households qualified for the Federal Communications Commission's affordable internet program that ended in 2024.

Dodds said adding Wi-FI and signage to Durant and Riverway Parks is a small piece of the larger digital equity project. Signage is already downtown, and the city plans to hire the same designer for the expanded wayfinding so it is cohesive.

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