PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Patrick Kavey is running for re-election in Ward 5 with a focus on making the city a place that is desirable to live and work in.

 

Kavey is one of the two incumbents who are not being challenged and he believes this shows how hard he has worked over the last two years. With more than a year of experience on the City Council in helping the city navigate a global pandemic, he feels that he can tackle almost anything that comes his way.

 

"I hadn't envisioned doing a lot of the work that we've done in the past year, but I think it's made me the councilor I am and it's given me a leg up to a lot of my colleagues and it's made it so there's really not much that I can't do in the future," Kavey said.

 

"There's no project, there's no obstacle that we cannot overcome."

 

This will be the councilor's second term, as he entered the political scene as a newcomer in 2019 at the age of 26. He graduated from Taconic High School and went on to earn a bachelor's degree in business management from Westfield State University.

 

He has worked in hospitality, communications, and is currently employed in real estate with Berkshire Hathaway.

 

Even before the pandemic, Kavey identified issues within Pittsfield's job market that may deter people looking to return to their hometown or make a new home in the city.

 

"In 2019, I had moved back here a couple of years before that, from Colorado, and I was looking for work with my bachelor's degree I was applying to some of the largest employers in the area, and the cost of living here is not much less than it is in Denver, and in Denver, I was making almost double doing the same job," he said.

 

"I immediately had kind of some internal turmoil, a little bit of dialogue in my head and I started looking for jobs elsewhere, but I thought to myself, 'If I don't stop and try and change the situation then I'm going to continue to see my friends leave the area,' my brothers don't live here anymore, it's definitely not ideal with an area that I think has so much potential."

 

He originally ran on the idea of creating a bridge between the city's vocational high school — Taconic High School — and local advanced manufacturers and still wants to see that happen.  

 

Kavey is college-educated but believes that path doesn't work for everyone, meaning there should be an abundance of jobs for those in the trade industry.

 

He also believes in preserving the integrity of residential neighborhoods in Pittsfield rather than building new ones on recreational green space. Ward 5 includes many historic homes that showcase the beauty of the city over a century ago, he said.

 

"As much as some people might like new construction, I'd rather keep those beautiful houses backed up on green space," he added.

 

Last year, Kavey voted in support of Mayor Linda Tyer's At Home in Pittsfield program that appropriated $500,000 from the Pittsfield Economic Development Fund to provide zero-interest loans to residents for undertaking certain home improvement projects in an effort to improve the housing stock in the city.

 

Another aspect of Kavey's campaign is lifting Pittsfield's most vulnerable populations by giving them the tools they need to integrate into the community. The biggest tool that Pittsfield has is education and workforce development, he said, because there are jobs but there isn't a consistent stream of individuals to fill specific jobs.

 

"We have companies that are interested in moving in, but they need a skilled workforce," he added. "And I think it's our job as a city government to make sure that we give our citizens the tools they need to be successful."

 

From door-to-door communications with constituents, he has learned of both the demographic variations in Ward 5 and has gotten to know the "strong, incredible, and successful" people who live there. Through the pandemic, he said he has become close to his constituents and heard their struggles while navigating the "new normal" with them.

 

"You learn so much from speaking to someone at the front door, but then you learn even more guiding people through a historic event, there were people who I had met during my campaign who would show so much strength, that were just these incredibly successful people, and those people still needed someone during the pandemic to speak to about working from home or losing their job or the crazy housing market and their taxes going up significantly," Kavey said.

 

"This past year affected everyone and affected everyone differently but there were a lot of people who use me as a resource and we got through it together, and I learned a lot about their coping, I learned a lot about my coping, we became kind of more of a family and I couldn't be more grateful for everyone in my ward."      

 

Kavey said he is excited to welcome a number of new colleagues to the City Council, as four members have announced that they won't be seeking re-election. He said if any residents are looking for information on how to run, he would gladly be a resource.

 

"I think it's exciting, it's democracy at work," he explained. "I'm making decisions in a way that benefits everyone in the ward even though some neighborhoods are so culturally different, I think it's important to do what's right by them and do what's right for the city, I respect people like that, I like people."