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The district attorney candidates make opening statements on Monday night at the primary debate at the Berkshire Athenaeum.

DA Candidates Tout Experience, Results at Primary Debate

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
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Andrea Harrington, who became the county's first woman district attorney four years ago, is running for re-election on her record of progressive justice reform.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The candidates for district attorney didn't hold back on Monday night as they each made their cases as the best choice in the Sept. 6 Democratic primary. 
 
Incumbent Andrea Harrington touted the systemic changes she's made in the office during her 3 1/2 years in office while challenger Timothy Shugrue stressed his decades of experience on both sides in the courtroom during the sometimes heated debate. 
 
The hourlong event, sponsored by Pittsfield Community Television and iBerkshires.com, drew about 100 supporters and community members to the Berkshire Athenaeum. The district attorney's race will be determined in the primary as there are no Republicans on the general election ballot. 
 
 
The candidates answered a dozen questions from a panel made up of Josh Landes of WAMC, Brittany Polito of iBerkshires and Shaw Israel Izikson of the Berkshire Edge
 
The candidates had the chance to ask each other one question. Harrington asked Shugrue where he was in the aftermath of the George Floyd killing. 
 
"Like many, I attended rallies and publicly call for reform. I never saw or heard from you," she said. "Why after two years with an election three weeks away, have you never stated your position on systemic racism within the criminal legal system?"
 
Shugrue said he and his wife had made their feelings known on Facebook. 
 
"It was an awful thing that we saw and we all had to view it and observe it," he said. "And I was clear about that. I've always been clear about the racism that was existing throughout the country."
 
Shugrue asked Harrington about three significant trials she had been involved in, related to a question at a previous forum. Harrington responded the question has been about cases not trials. 
 
"Everybody knows that you have 36 years of experience. Everybody knows that you have more experience in the courtroom than I do," she said. "What I am is I'm a leader in the office."
 
Harrington said she'd hiked the budget by 21 percent, added 39 new staff members, increased the amount of diversity in the office and prosecuted more child abuse cases.
 
"We have built trust with communities who are distrustful of law enforcement," she said. "I have worked to bring in new resources for our local law enforcement so that we can combat crime and prevent people from being victimized by crime."
 

Challenger Timothy Shugrue is a veteran defense attorney who also worked as an assistant district attorney. 
Shugrue countered that she'd lost her only Superior Court case.
 
"The DA's office is not the place for on the job training, especially by the person at the top," he said, later adding,
 
"We need a district attorney that has experience that's been in the game that knows what happens on a daily basis for people in the court system. We need a district attorney that can help people out when they need them. Not someone who's just talking about policies and philosophies."
 
Harrington said the role of district attorney wasn't just about experience.
 
"There are some very experienced lawyers on the Supreme Court who have reached the pinnacle of their career and yet they made decisions to take away the rights of women to reproductive health care," Harrington countered. "So just in and of itself, having experience doesn't mean that you're going to fulfill the vision and values of the people of this community."
 
Both agreed against the prosecution of lower-level cases
 
Harrington: "my office has made huge changes by not prosecuting those low level cases that really are are driven by mental health issues, substance use disorder and poverty."
 
She added that a Suffolk County study found half of low-level cases that were dismissed did not return to court within a two-year period. 
 
"I think that this really focuses on the issue that we really need to have dash cams, we need to have a body cameras," said Shugrue. "I think that's very important that the protects the police and it protects the communities."
 
What would you do to solve racial disparities in the local justice system?
 
Harrington accused Shugrue of following the so-called "broken windows" policy of policing minor crimes. 
 
"All the study shows that broken-windows policing has been devastating for black and brown people in this community and across this country. has led to mass incarceration," she said. "That is not what this community is going to go back to in the district attorney's office."
 
Shugrue denied categorically that he supported "broken windows" and that he had been a die-hard, true-blue Democrat since 1978.
 
"Make no mistake about it. Tough, effective prosecution can coexist with criminal justice reform. They go hand in hand," he said. 
 
Addressing gun violence
 
Shugrue said he's seen too many reductions of minimum mandatory sentences, including for one person last year now charged with murder.
 
"That to me is a one of the biggest reasons I decided to get into this race is because we need to crack down on gun violence," he said. "Our police officers aren't safe on the street."
 
Harrington disputed Shugrue's comment and said her office uses a two-pronged effort: first dealing with immediate gun threats and second, take a systematic approach as to why young people are carrying guns, such as intervention programs through local service providers.
 
Shugrue said the reason was drugs and that prosecutors shouldn't be reducing sentences or accepting pleas. 
 
"We can't tolerate gun violence in our community. Fifteen shootings since February is not acceptable to me," he said. 
 
Harrington said, "that's just simply not true. My office very aggressively prosecute the gun cases here in Berkshire County."
 
Mental health and addiction
 
"We do not have the correct kind of structures in the court system. We don't have the correct kind of tools outside of the court system. We have done our best to use the tools that we have in hand," said Harrington. 
 
The incumbent said her vision was different from Shugrue's in that mental health issues and addiction should be treated public health matters, and not through incarceration.
 
"My goal is for the district attorney's office to responsibly handle those cases when they come into the courts and to advocate for more mental health services in the public health system," she said. 
 
Shugrue said he knew firsthand about issue from dealing with his own clients as a defense attorney and said he would advocate for a mental health court similar to one in Springfield. 
 
"I think it's important that number one issues we should highlight and start talking more about mental health. It's not something we should be afraid of not usually turn our heads," he said.
 
Relationships with law enforcement
 
Shugrue is being supported by a number of current and former police officers and recently endorsed by the State Police Association of Massachusetts.
 
"I have a great relationship with every single chief of police in this county," he saaid. "I have a great relationship with all the men and women that have blue that have helped us out in our community for so long."
 
Harrington said it was OK for the DA's office and law enforcement to have different political opinions but their relationship has been professional and collaborative. 
 
"It's not necessarily, you know, a healthy thing for the district attorney and police to be hand in hand because I don't represent the police," she said. "I don't represent the courts. I don't represent the judges. I represent the voters of this community who elected me."

Tags: debate,   district attorney,   election 2022,   primary,   


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Crosby/Conte Statement of Interest Gets OK From Council

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Architect Carl Franceschi and Superintendent Joseph Curtis address the City Council on Tuesday.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — With the approval of all necessary bodies, the school district will submit a statement of interest for a combined build on the site of Crosby Elementary School.

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously gave Superintendent Joseph Curtis the green light for the SOI to the Massachusetts School Building Authority by April 12.

"The statement I would make is we should have learned by our mistakes in the past," Mayor Peter Marchetti said.

"Twenty years ago, we could have built a wastewater treatment plant a lot cheaper than we could a couple of years ago and we can wait 10 years and get in line to build a new school or we can start now and, hopefully, when we get into that process and be able to do it cheaper then we can do a decade from now."

The proposal rebuilds Conte Community School and Crosby on the West Street site with shared facilities, as both have outdated campuses, insufficient layouts, and need significant repair. A rough timeline shows a feasibility study in 2026 with design and construction ranging from 2027 to 2028.

Following the SOI, the next step would be a feasibility study to determine the specific needs and parameters of the project, costing about $1.5 million and partially covered by the state. There is a potential for 80 percent reimbursement through the MSBA, who will decide on the project by the end of the year.

Earlier this month, city officials took a tour of both schools — some were shocked at the conditions students are learning in.

Silvio O. Conte Community School, built in 1974, is a 69,500 square foot open-concept facility that was popular in the 1960s and 1970s but the quad classroom layout poses educational and security risks.  John C. Crosby Elementary School, built in 1962, is about 69,800 square feet and was built as a junior high school so several aspects had to be adapted for elementary use.

Ward 6 Councilor Dina Lampiasi said the walkthrough was "striking" at points, particularly at Conte, and had her thinking there was no way she would want her child educated there. She recognized that not everyone has the ability to choose where their child goes to school and "we need to do better."

"The two facilities that we are looking at I think are a great place to start," she said.

"As the Ward 6 councilor, this is where my residents and my students are going to school so selfishly yes, I want to see this project happen but looking at how we are educating Pittsfield students, this is going to give us a big bang for our buck and it's going to help improve the educational experience of a vast group of students in our city."

During the tour, Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey, saw where it could be difficult to pay attention in an open classroom with so much going on and imagined the struggle for students.

Councilor at Large Alisa Costa said, "we cannot afford not to do this" because the city needs schools that people want their children to attend.

"I know that every financial decision we make is tough but we have to figure this out. If the roof on your house were crumbling in, you'd have to figure it out and that's where we're at and we can't afford to wait any longer," she said.

"We can't afford for the sake of the children going to our schools, for the sake of our city that we want to see grow so we have to build a city where people want to go."

Councilor at Large Kathy Amuso, who served on the School Building Needs Commission for about 18 years, pointed out that the panel identified a need to address Conte in 2008.

Curtis addressed questions about the fate of Conte if the build were to happen, explaining that it could be kept as an active space for community use, house the Eagle Academy or the Adult Learning Center, or house the central offices.

School attendance zones are a point of discussion for the entire school district and for this project.

"At one time I think we had 36 school buildings and now we have essentially 12 and then it would go down again but in a thoughtful way," Curtis said.

Currently, eight attendance zones designate where a student will go to elementary school. Part of the vision is to collapse those zones into three with hopes of building a plan that incorporates partner schools in each attendance zone.

"I think that going from eight schools to three would be easier to maintain and I think it would make more sense but in order to get there we will have to build these buildings and we will have to spend money," Kavey said, hoping that the city would receive the 80 percent reimbursement it is vying for.

This plan for West Street, which is subject to change, has the potential to house grades pre-kindergarten to first grade in one school and Grades 2 to 4 in another with both having their own identities and administrations. 

The districtwide vision for middle school students is to divide all students into a grade five and six school and a grade seven and eight school to ensure equity.

"The vagueness of what that looks like is worrisome to some folks that I have talked to," Lampiasi said.

Curtis emphasized that these changes would have to be voted on by the School Committee and include public input.

"We've talked about it conceptually just to illustrate a possible grade span allocation," he said. "No decisions have been made at all by the School Committee, even the grade-span proposals."

School Committee Chair William Cameron said it is civic duty of the committee and council to move forward with the SOI.
 
He explained that when seven of the city's schools were renovated in the late 1990s, the community schools were only 25 years old and Crosby was 35 years old.  The commonwealth did not deem them to be sorely in need of renovation or replacement.
 
"Now 25 years later, Crosby is physically decrepit and an eyesore. It houses students ages three to 11 in a facility meant for use by teenagers,"
 
"Conte and Morningside opened in the mid-1970s. They were built as then state-of-the-art schools featuring large elongated rectangles of open instructional space. Over almost half a century, these physical arrangements have proven to be inadequate for teaching core academic skills effectively to students, many of whom need extra services and a distraction-free environment if they are to realize their full academic potential."
 
He said  the proposal addresses a serious problem in the "economically poorest, most ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse area" of the city.
 
Cameron added that these facilities have been deemed unsatisfactory and need to be replaced as part of the project to reimagine how the city can best meet the educational needs of its students.  He said it is the local government's job to move this project forward to ensure that children learn in an environment that is conducive to their thriving academically.
 
"The process of meeting this responsibility needs to begin here tonight," he said.
 
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