Pittsfield Election: More Than A Dozen Qualify For Ballot So Far
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — With 10 days to go, less than half the possible City Council and School Committee candidates who took out nomination paper have returned them.
A total of 34 residents took out papers to run for either of the municipal seats. So far, 15 of those candidates have qualified for the ballot. In the city clerk race, only Michele Cetti had taken out papers and she, too, has qualified for the ballot by returning the needed amount of signatures.
- In Ward 1, only Helen Moon has qualified for the ballot while Michael Cirullo Jr. and Gabriel Ecklund have taken out papers but haven't returned with enough signatures yet.
- In Ward 2, both Dina Guiel and incumbent Kevin Morandi have qualified for the ballot.
- In Ward 3, incumbent Nicholas Caccamo is on the ballot while James Gleason has taken out papers but hasn't returned enough signatures yet.
- In Ward 4, incumbent Christopher Connell is on the ballot while William Wright has taken out papers but not returned enough.
- In Ward 5, incumbent Donna Todd Rivers is on the ballot and William Keane has taken out nomination papers.
- In Ward 6, neither incumbent John Krol nor challenger Craig Gaetani have returned papers, though both took them out.
- In Ward 7, incumbent Anthony Simonelli is on the ballot and Rhonda Serre has taken out papers.
For the at-large race, there are four candidates on the ballot so far, though seven others have taken out papers but haven't returned enough signatures yet. Incumbents Peter Marchetti, Melissa Mazzeo and Peter White are all on the ballot, as is Earl Persip III. Alexander Blumin, Edward James Carmel, Craig Gaetani, Donald Girard, Robert Heck and Auron Stark have all taken out papers but have not yet certified enough signatures to be on the ballot. Ty Allen Jackson also took out papers but has since indicated he will not run for office.
The School Committee election doesn't have enough candidates officially on the ballot yet to fill all of the seats. There are six seats available and four candidates have so far qualified for the ballot: incumbents Joshua Cutler and Daniel Elias, and newcomers William Joseph Cameron and Dennis Powell. Others who have taken out papers for the seats but haven't been certified for the ballot are Pamela Farron, Craig Gaetani, Anthony Riello, Gary Stergis, Cynthia Taylor, and Katherine Yon.
At this point it isn't likely that a preliminary will be needed but there are enough nomination papers out for Ward 1, at-large, and the School Committee to force one should enough potential candidates qualify for the ballot.
In order to get on the ballot, candidates must have 150 signatures for an at-large seat or a seat on the School Committee and 50 for a ward seat. Nomination papers must be submitted by July 24. The city election is on Nov. 7.
Tags: city election, election 2017,
