One Incumbent Loses Seat in Pittsfield Election
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Four of the city's seven wards saw new leadership in the 2021 municipal election and familiar faces were voted into the at-large seats.
Peter Marchetti, Peter White, and Earl Persip III will return as at-large councilors but there was one upset with Karen Kalinowsky ousting incumbent Yuki Cohen.
Marchetti came out on top with 22 percent of the votes (3,881) followed by White with 20 percent (2,664.) Persip followed closely behind with 19 percent of the votes (3,314) and Kalinowsky, a retired police officer, received 15 percent of the votes (2,664.)
Cohen and challenger Craig Benoit did not make the cut, with Benoit getting 14 percent of the vote (2,575) and Cohen coming in last with 10 percent (1,839.)
"It is my honor to be elected to my eighth term on the Pittsfield City Council," Marchetti said to family and friends at the Polish Falcon Club. "It has been a pleasure to serve as the City Council president the last six years and I hope on Inauguration Day, I will once again be elected as council president to lead the council and the city forward over the next two years."
White believes that listening to his constituents is what got him re-elected.
"I'm grateful that the citizens of Pittsfield felt that I was doing a good enough job to be re-elected," Persip said. "We'll celebrate tonight and we'll be back to work tomorrow."
Kenneth Warren took the victory for Ward 1 against Andrea Wilson with 70 percent of the vote (453.) Wilson received 192 votes.
He will be replacing Helen Moon, who decided not to run for a third term. In the 2019 election, Moon was victorious over Warren in securing the Ward 1 seat.
Warren said he is very thankful for his constituents' support and commended Wilson for "running a very good campaign."
Charles Ivar Kronick secured representation of Ward 2 with 60 percent of the vote (371.) His opponent Matthew Kudlate received 248 votes.
Both candidates were newcomers to the political scene.
Kronick will fill the empty Ward 2 seat being left by longtime Councilor Kevin Morandi.
James Conant was voted to represent Ward 4 with 56 percent of the vote (627,) a seat that was vacated by Chris Connell. His opponent Andrew Wrinn earned 499 votes.
Connell and Morandi announced together that they would not be seeking re-election after representing their wards for five consecutive terms over nearly a decade.
"I am very excited and happy, I am looking forward to the challenges ahead," Conant said. "I think people look at my experience on the boards and commissions I've served on, I've had a long successful history of serving Pittsfield and I think that people recognize that and they reward that with their confidence and their vote."
Conant is chairman of the Conservation Commission; Wrinn is a retired firefighter and consultant.
Dina Lampiasi will be resuming her seat as the Ward 6 councilor for a second term after coming out on top of challenger Edward Carmel with 66 percent of the vote (437.) Carmel received 230 votes.
Lampiasi was the only incumbent ward councilor challenged in this election and this was the second time she was victorious against Carmel, as he also ran against her in the 2019 election.
Lampiasi said she looks forward to continuing her work for the ward.
"I think residents made it clear tonight that they wanted representation in Ward 6, someone who is going to show up for them," she said. "They want someone who is thoughtful and well versed in the issues."
Mayor Linda Tyer congratulated the winners and everyone who took out papers for office.
"First of all, congratulations to everybody who takes out papers and runs for office, it's a really important community endeavor," She said. "And congratulations to all the winners, I'm looking forward to starting a new term with a few new members on the City Council and I'm confident that we're going to continue to be successful in the agenda that we put forward."
Running unopposed were Kevin Sherman in Ward 3 who received 783 votes, incumbent Patrick Kavey in Ward 5 who received 570 votes, and incumbent Anthony Maffuccio in Ward 7 who received 398 votes.
Sherman is a former councilor and will fill the seat vacated by Nicholas Caccamo, who did not seek a fifth term.
Kavey will resume leadership of Ward 5 for his second term and Maffuccio will be serving his fifth non-consecutive term in Ward 7. The councilor was re-elected to office in 2019 after taking about a decade off.
There was no election for mayor, which is now a four-year position. Michele Benjamin ran unopposed for city clerk and received 4,342 votes.
School Committee incumbents William Cameron, Mark Brazeau, Alison McGee, and Daniel Elias will continue to represent the Pittsfield Public School district.
Newcomer Vicki Smith was elected as a new face to the School Committee and Sarah Hathaway, the former mayor, will return to the committee.
Brazeau came out as the top vote earner with 14 percent of the vote (3,243) and William Cameron and Sara Hathaway were close behind with 13 percent each (3.072 and 3,067.)
Daniel Elias, Vicki Smith, and Alison McGee each represented 12 percent of the vote (2,810 for Elias, 2,691 for Smith, and 2,669 for McGee.)
Cameron will be in his third term and McGee and Mrazeau in their second terms. Elias has been on the committee for the past 24 years with 18 years as vice-chairman.
Bill Tyer, Karen Reis Kaveney Murray, Nyanna Slaughter, and Kate Lauzon were not elected; both Slaughter and Lauzon both indicated they did not wish to serve after the deadline passed to remove their names from the ballot.
Tyer earned 8 percent of the vote (1,737,) Murray and Lauzon earned 6 percent (1,467 and 1,400 respectively) and Slaughter earned 5 percent (1,095.)
Pittsfield Election Results 2021 by iBerkshires.com on Scribd
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