White Runs for Pittsfield At-Large to Stay Accessible to Constituents
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Peter White says he wants to continue being an approachable, accessible, representative that is dedicated to the city of Pittsfield.
The current councilor at large is seeking a fourth term. He served one term as Ward 2 councilor from 2010-11 and was elected to his current position in 2015.
Born and raised in Pittsfield, he is highly invested in the city as a whole and enjoys collaborating with his colleagues across the board.
"I love being on the City Council," he said. "The way I am at-large is more like a ward councilor for the city, I like getting involved with different issues, I really enjoy working with other ward councilors, and my fellow at-large councilors, so if I can be like a backup, or assist in any way, to our seven ward councilors, I find that to be a pretty cool part of the large job."
He clarified that he will always direct constituents to ward councilors for issues specific to their area but enjoys being both the facilitator of communication and collaborator in problem-solving.
White first entered the political scene in 2003 when he sought an at-large seat and did not win.
He became interested in local government in the early 2000s as a member of the Student Government Association at Berkshire Community College. White and the group worked with local officials to get an elevator installed in the Jonathan Edwards Library for increased accessibility.
A membership that he said began as a social activity inspired him to get involved in the interworkings of the city after seeing the debates and processes that went into making the elevator installation happen.
"I got to know like our state senator, our state representative, pretty well and kind of get an idea that government is a good way to help people," he said.
"I didn't think that youth were being represented very well so I ran for councilor at large back in 2003, I didn't win the race, however, I got involved with some different committee work."
In 2012, White was defeated by Tricia Farley-Bouvier in the special election for state representative for the Third Berkshire District.
He currently chairs the Affirmative Action Advisory Committee and has previously served seven years on the Traffic Commission and five on the Mobile Home Rent Control Board.
"I've always been focused on remaining approachable, accessible, and dedicated to Pittsfield. So being out there listening to what people are saying, rather than trying to push my own agenda, or try to come up with things that I might want to see happen," he said in regard to his campaign focus.
"A focus to the campaign is to continue listening to the constituents, being on Facebook, being accessible through email and phone calls, being out at farmers' markets, and talking to people in the grocery stores and trying to have as much communication with people in Pittsfield as possible."
White said public safety always has to be in mind as well as maintaining infrastructure while monitoring how any spending will affect the budget and taxes.
He also thinks the city needs to continue looking at ways to address all levels of housing including affordable, workforce, and low-income housing with high standards. Similarly, he urges the city to look at alleviating homelessness by using a "housing first" model.
One of the standout citywide projects White worked on has been rethinking the trash collection and disposal system, which has increased by around $3 million since 2015.
The most challenging thing, he said, is beginning the conversation about fixing an unsustainable system because many are afraid of change.
In February, the Committee of the Whole tabled a petition by President Peter Marchetti, White, and Councilor at Large Earl Persip III to adopt a "Pay As You Throw" trash system that provides residents with 104 15-gallon bags free each year at cost and any additional bags would be purchased for $1.50 per 30-gallon bag and $0.80 per 15-gallon bag.
In another Committee of the Whole Meeting, a charter objection halted a presentation from Waste Zero and discussion following.
"Nothing should be perfect when a councilor introduces it or when the administration introduces it, we should be looking to make amendments or tweaks to everything to make it so it works for the people of Pittsfield," he said.
"The point isn't to stop anyone from being able to use the city service of trash, it's to be able to have it be a little more sustainable and not have the person who's putting out two recycling bins and one small bag of trash have to subsidize the person who does no recycling and puts out like, five to 10 bags of trash."
White's campaign outreach style is being constantly present in the city whether he is at a meeting, a Pittsfield Suns baseball game, a music event, or supporting local businesses.
He highly regards the city in which he was born and raised and makes it a part of his everyday life to be involved with the community.
"I kind of take a different approach to campaign like in campaign season, the big changes for me during campaign season are going to be I'll do lawn signs if people want them, I'll go to debates, I'll be lucky to have the interviews like this because you provide a great service," he said.
"I try to just maintain a pretty steady communication with the public throughout the entire term and I don't try to like change something just because we have an election coming up in like four months, and I try to go with if, if you only see me when there's an election, there's something wrong."
White will be on the ballot with Peter Marchetti, Earl Persip III, Yuki Cohen, Craig Benoit and Karen Kalinowsky; winners will be the four highest vote-getters.
Tags: election 2021, municipal election,
