Pittsfield Sees Certified Candidates, Plans Preliminary Election

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city is planning a preliminary election in September to narrow the fields for City Council and School Committee based on the projected number of candidates for several seats. 

As of now, the preliminary will include races for councilor at large, Ward 2 and Ward 6. 

Several potential councilors have had their papers certified, and the School Committee has more than 10 potential candidates. The preliminary election will be on Tuesday, Sept. 16, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 4. 

Incumbent Michele Benjamin had her papers certified for city clerk, and council incumbents Kathleen Amuso, James Conant, Alisa Costa, Patrick Kavey, Kenneth Warren, Peter White and Matthew Wrinn have been certified. Former councilor Karen Kalinowsky has also been certified. 

Nomination papers became available on April 3, and certified papers are due by Aug. 1. 

Tayshialynn Chaloux has taken out papers to challenge Benjamin for the city clerk seat but not yet had them certified.

Nine people have taken out papers for the four councilor-at-large seats: incumbents Amuso, White, Costa, and Earl Persip III, and Lawrence Klein, Alexander Blumin, Kalinowsky, School Committee member Sara Hathaway, and Danielle Munn. 

In 2023, both Mayor Peter Marchetti and Kalinowksy eschewed re-election for councilor at-large to instead run for mayor; Kalinowski did not make it past the preliminary election.

Wrinn is the only candidate for Ward 3 and Conant for Ward 4. In Ward 5, Michael Grady has taken out papers to challenge incumbent Kavey. 

Edward Carmel, incumbent Dina Lampiasi, and Walter Powell have taken out papers for Ward 6. Carmel unsuccessfully ran for the seat in the 2021 election. Lampiasi has been representing Ward 6 since 2020.

Former Ward 7 councilor Anthony Maffuccio is looking to make a return, as he and Katherine Moody took out papers for that seat. Moody has been certified. Rhonda Serre, who won the seat two years ago, indicated she will not run again. 

With a recent staffing scandal and several big changes ahead in the Pittsfield Public Schools, the School Committee has 11 interested parties to fill the six-seat committee. On Wednesday night, the committee took a historic vote on a proposed middle school restructuring, and next school year will see a new superintendent and assistant superintendent. 

Middle School Restructuring Committee members Sarah Muil, Hathaway and Vicky Smith; Carolyn Barry, Ciara Batory, Geoffrey Buerger, incumbent Daniel Elias, Jacob Klein, Kelly Ott, Heather McNiece and Katherine Yon have taken out papers for the School Committee. Yon and Smith are former committee members. Buerger, Hathaway and Smith have had their signatures certified.

Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires Honors Leaders, Volunteers

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
09:07AM / Sunday, May 24, 2026

Liana Toscanini presented the Founder's Choice Award to Smitty Pignatelli for his years of support as state representative. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires held its ninth annual nonprofit awards last week honoring the contributions of those who have helped the community in their own way.

 

The gathering at the Country Club in Pittsfield on Tuesday included the introduction of new nonprofit Executive Director Samantha Anderson, who steps in for retiring founder and director Liana Toscanini. State Reps. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, John Barrett III and Leigh Davis attended the event.

 

Toscanini, who created NPC in 2016, was honored at the conclusion of the evening to mark her decade leading the organization. 

 

"Founders don't just lead organizations, they are the organization in the deepest sense," said NPC Board President Emily Schiavoni. "Their relationships, their instincts, their fingerprints are on everything, and when someone has poured a decade of herself into building something from the ground up, the act of stepping back is not a simple handoff, it's an act of extraordinary trust and courage that brings me to what Leanna actually built." 

 

NPC became something of a chamber of commerce for nonprofits under Toscanini's guidance, creating a hub of support for leadership and networking for the small and large nonprofits that fuel much of the activity within the Berkshires. 

 

She developed more than two dozen programs, including Get on Board, which helps connect community members with nonprofit boards, and a giving-back guide, volunteer fairs, and a resource directory.

 

Schiavoni described Toscanini as a great mentor who has had a big impact in strengthening local nonprofits.