LENOX, Mass. — Work needs to be done in the Berkshires to address the community's growing needs surrounding infrastructure, housing, emergency services, and the Housatonic Water Works crisis. 

 

On Nov. 5, voters will decide who is most qualified to push the community forward as the next Third Berkshire District state representative.

 

Leigh Davis is running as the Democratic while Marybeth Mitts is running as an independent to fill the seat being vacated by longtime state Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli.

 

The two went head to head on Tuesday night for a debate hosted by The Berkshire Eagle at the Tina Packer Playhouse at Shakespeare & Company. 

 

Davis has served on several boards and committees in Great Barrington, including the Finance Committee and, more recently, the Select Board. 

 

She is the communications and community engagement director for Construct, the largest affordable housing nonprofit in Southern Berkshire, and has volunteered with and held leadership positions in numerous organizations. 

 

"Public service is in my DNA … I was actually born and raised in a house full of civil rights activists," she said, explaining how her dad worked at the Martin Luther King Center and on the national holiday with Coretta Scott King, and her mother worked with Sargent Shriver, the founder of the Peace Corps, Job Corps and Special Olympics.  "So, I was raised in a house that was giving back, and being a public servant was part of my core."