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Pittsfield Municipal Election Preview

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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PITTSFIELD, Mass.— Voters will elect a city clerk, six School Committee members, four at-large city councilors, and seven ward councilors on Tuesday.

Polls for the municipal election open at 8 a.m. and will close at 8 p.m. 

After a tumultuous year in the schools, the School Committee will be largely brand-new come January. The only incumbent running is Daniel Elias, and the only other candidate with experience on the committee is Katherine Yon. Newcomers are Ciara Batory, Sarah Muil, Jacob Klein, Geoffrey Buerger, Heather McNiece, Vicky Smith, and Carolyn Barry.

On the City Council, at-large incumbents Kathleen Amuso, Earl Persip III, Peter White, Alisa Costa, are being challenged by Lawrence Klein, Karen Kalinowsky, Sara Hathaway. Klein is the father of 18-year-old Jacob Klein, who is running running for School Committee; Kalinowsky is a former councilor, and Hathaway, former mayor, currently serves on the School Committee. 

Ward 1 Councilor Kenneth Warren, Ward 3 Councilor Matthew Wrinn and Ward 4 Councilor James Conant is running unopposed for re-election. 

Corey Walker and Cameron Cunningham are vying to represent Ward 2, and incumbent Patrick Kavey is being challenged by Michael Grady in Ward 5. 

Incumbent Dina Lampiasi is being challenged by Walter Powell in Ward 6, and former councilor Anthony Maffuccio and Katherine Nagy Moody are running to represent Ward 7. 

Candidates have participated in an iBerkshires questionnaire, debates hosted by iBerkshires and Pittsfield Community Television, as well as several other publications to give voters an idea of their priorities for Pittsfield. 

School Committee Q&As can be found here and City Council's here.

City Clerk Michele Benjamin is running for re-election unopposed. 

All positions have two-year term lengths. The last municipal election, which included the mayor's position, had a 31 percent turnout for registered voters. 

Pittsfield polling locations: 


* Ward 1, Precinct A: Reid Middle School, 950 North St.
* Ward 1, Precinct B: Reid Middle School, 950 North St.
* Ward 2, Precinct A: Morningside Community School, 100 Burbank St.
* Ward 2, Precinct B: Somerset Fire Station, Somerset Ave.
* Ward 3, Precinct A: Providence Court, 379 East St.
* Ward 3, Precinct B: Egremont Elementary School, 84 Egremont Ave.
* Ward 4, Precinct A: Herberg Middle School, 501 Pomeroy Ave.
* Ward 4, Precinct B: Williams School, 50 Bushey Road
* Ward 5, Precinct A: Berkshire Athenaeum, 1 Wendell Ave.
* Ward 5, Precinct B: Berkshire Athenaeum, 1 Wendell Ave.
* Ward 6, Precinct A: Columbia Arms Housing, 65 Columbus Ave.
* Ward 6, Precinct B: Conte Community School, 200 W. Union St.
* Ward 7, Precinct A: Fire Station, 54 Peck's Road
* Ward 7, Precinct B: Capeless Elementary School, 86 Brooks Ave.


 


Tags: election 2025,   municipal election,   


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Wahconah Park Skating Rink Under Construction

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The outdoor ice skating rink in front of Wahconah Park is taking shape, and the city plans to open it early next week. 

If you pass by the historic park this weekend, you will notice a pop-up ice skating rink under construction on the property between Hudpucker's Pub and Grill and Thrive Diner. City officials hope for a soft launch early next week and have secured state funds for programmatic expenses and skate rentals. 

Parks, Open Space, and Natural Resources Manager James McGrath on Friday said it will take several days to build the ice.  The community will be notified through a social media post and a press release. 

Community members are asked to stay off the ice until given the OK from the city. 

Earlier this week, the City Council accepted $10,000 from the Massachusetts Office of Outdoor Recreation for programming opportunities at the 50-by-100-foot refrigerated rink. This will be used for staffing, youth assistants, adaptive skate aids, equipment rentals, bus vouchers, and other associated costs for public events. 

McGrath pointed out that Pittsfield owns the system and will know how to assemble, operate, and then disassemble it for the next year. 

"We're sort of at an interesting time here because it's kind of late in the winter, admittedly, but we're going to get some ice time out of the rink, and then we're going to pack it up, put it away, and we're going to bring it back out in subsequent years," he said. 

"And we own this system, so looking at the horizon, we'll be able to have this portable system in place at that site on Wahconah Street for many, many years to come, and certainly, the whole idea is that this rink is intimately coordinated with the site planning for the new Wahconah Park and all the civil work that we're doing down there." 

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