Election Checkup: Pittsfield Sees Increased Interest in School Committee

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — More candidates have had their signatures certified and there is now a full slate of interest in the School Committee.

Not long after the City Council averted a petition from Ward 2 Councilor Charles Kronick that imposed a 30-year age requirement to represent Pittsfield schools, two more people have taken out papers for the six-seat board: Stephanie Sabin and Dominick Carmen Sacco.

According to her social media, Sabin works as a patient advocate for bariatric surgery at Berkshire Medical Center.

Kronick had proposed charter modifications that include a minimum 30-year age requirement on School Committee candidates and a one-year "cooling off" period for elected officials and it did not fare well.

A majority of the councilors and some community members spoke against the proposal before Ward 1 Councilor Kenneth Warren called a charter objection.

At the time, only five candidates have taken out papers for the six-seat board, one of whom is 19-year-old William Garrity. The young candidate said people his age are leaving and the city should be enticing them to return.

"By putting an age limit for office, the city would be implying that it does not care about the voices of young people like me in the city," he said.

"How would this implicit statement help to keep and attract young people to the city in a time where it's very much needed for our future?"

A new candidate has also taken out papers for Ward 2, Soncere Williams. According to her Linkedin, she is self-employed as a forensic mitigation social service expert.

Kronick indicated during last week's council meeting that he is dropping out of the race and had not returned nomination papers as of Friday. 

Alisa Costa, who is vying for an at-large seat, has had her signatures certified by the city clerk. Costa was previously running for a Ward 3 and at-large seat and has since withdrawn from the ward race.

As of Friday, eight of the 28 people who took out papers have had their signatures certified and returned to the city clerk's office: mayoral candidate Peter Marchetti, incumbent City Clerk Michele Benjamin, Costa, incumbent Councilor at Large Peter White, at-large candidate Craig Benoit, Ward 3 candidate Bill Tyer, Ward 3 candidate Matthew Wrinn, and incumbent Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey.

The last day to submit nomination papers to the Registrar of Voters for certification is July 21 and the last day to submit papers to the city clerk is Aug. 4. A preliminary election, if needed, is scheduled for Sept. 19 and the general election is on Nov. 7.

Candidate list

MAYOR

Peter Marchetti
John Krol Jr
Craig Gaetani

CITY CLERK

Michele Benjamin

AT LARGE

Earl Persip, III
Peter White
Alisa Costa
Craig Benoit
Karen Kalinowsky
Jonathon Morey


WARD 1

Kenneth Warren, Jr

WARD 2

Charles Kronick
Soncere Williams

WARD 3

Bill Tyer
Matthew J Wrinn

WARD 4

James Bryan Conant

WARD 5

Patrick Kavey
Ocean Sutton

WARD 6

Craig Gaetani
Dina Lampiasi

WARD 7

Anthony Maffuccio
Jonathon Morey

SCHOOL COMMITTEE

William Garrity Jr.
Sara Hathaway
William Cameron
Daniel Elias
Stephanie Sabin
Dominick Sacco

 


Tags: election 2023,   municipal election,   


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Pittsfield CPA Committee Funds Half of FY24 Requests

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A few projects are not getting funded by the Community Preservation Committee because of a tight budget.

The projects not making the cut were in the historic preservation and open space and recreation categories and though they were seen as interesting and valuable projects, the urgency was not prevalent enough for this cycle.

"It's a tough year," Chair Danielle Steinmann said.

The panel made its recommendations on Monday after several meetings of presentations from applications. They will advance to the City Council for final approval.  

Two cemetery projects were scored low by the committee and not funded: A $9,500 request from the city for fencing at the West Part Cemetery as outlined in a preservation plan created in 2021 and a $39,500 request from the St. Joseph Cemetery Commission for tombstone restorations.

"I feel personally that they could be pushed back a year," Elizabeth Herland said. "And I think they're both good projects but they don't have the urgency."

It was also decided that George B. Crane Memorial Center's $73,465 application for the creation of a recreational space would not be funded. Herland said the main reason she scored the project low was because it didn't appear to benefit the larger community as much as other projects do.

There was conversation about not funding The Christian Center's $34,100 request for heating system repairs but the committee ended up voting to give it $21,341 when monies were left over.

The total funding request was more than $1.6 million for FY24 and with a budget of $808,547, only about half could be funded. The panel allocated all of the available monies, breaking down into $107,206 for open space and recreation, $276,341 for historic preservation, and $425,000 for community housing.

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