One Incumbent Ousted in Pittsfield Council Election
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — One incumbent was ousted in the City Council election and there will be multiple new faces on the council come January.
Many councilors-elect are excited about the slate that was voted in on Tuesday night. Unofficial results show a 31.11 percent turnout, compared to the 2019 election's 42.4 percent turnout.
A number of them attended Mayor-elect Peter Marchetti's party at the Berkshire Hills County Club.
Rhonda Serre secured representation of Ward 7 with 674 votes, unseating incumbent Anthony Maffuccio who had 430 votes.
"The makeup of the City Council from the results tonight, I am so looking forward to working with every single one of my colleagues," she said. "I think we are going to be really productive."
Incumbent Peter White was the top vote-getter in the at-large race with 6,042 votes followed by Kathy Amuso with 5,345 votes, incumbent Earl Persip III with 5,224 votes, and Alisa Costa with 4,494 votes.
At-large candidates Craig Benoit, Luke Marion, and Daniel Miraglia fell out of the running.
"With how many good candidates were in this race, it just feels really good to have the work that we've been doing validated," White said. "And I think it shows that having a steady voice works for the people of Pittsfield and I look forward to just continuing to listen to my constituents and working with my councilors."
He believes that this council won't have disagreements over smaller things and will really just want to get to work.
Amuso, a current School Committee who served on the council in the past, was pleasantly surprised to be the second-highest vote-getter.
"I think we have an excellent council and I think we have a lot of work to do," she said. "And I think the work starts tomorrow."
Persip was glad that Pittsfield voters decided he deserved another term and was excited about Marchetti's victory.
"I think if you look at the numbers, Pete showed his message resonated and I think that's important," he said. "I think the residents of Pittsfield decided they want Peter to be their next mayor so I'm more excited about that."
Miraglia said the loss is only making him more determined to continue being involved, as he is a regular during open microphone at council meetings. He said he did very little campaigning and still secured more than 1,500 votes, which motivates him for a future bid.
Incumbent Kenneth Warren ran unopposed for Ward 1 and was re-elected along with incumbents James Conant in Ward 4 and Patrick Kavey in Ward 5.
Brittany Bandani was victorious in Ward 2 with 652 votes against Alex Blumin, who had 258 votes and Andrew Wrinn won Ward 3 with 1,241 votes against Bill Tyer with 384 votes.
Incumbent Dina Lampiasi secured representation in Ward 6 with 875 votes over Craig Gaetani's 304 votes.
She was incredibly grateful and honored for the re-election.
"I am so excited," she said. "We're going to have an incredible council. We have an incredible mayor. The Pittsfield City Council is going to get back to work."
Lampiasi explained that she is a "forever optimist" and this is a time when she truly believes in her optimism.
Michele Benjamin was re-elected as city clerk unopposed and in a non-binding ballot question, voters said there should be a residency requirement for the police chief, fire chief and public services manager.
There was no race for School Committee, as six candidates ran to fill six seats: incumbents Sara Hathaway, William Cameron and Daniel Elias, and newcomers William Garrity Jr., Dominick Sacco and Diana Belair.
Tags: election 2023, election results,
