Pittsfield Council Appoints Department Heads, Requests Meetings on Gun Violence
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council on Tuesday appointed new department heads and requested that community mobilization meetings be held to address recent gun violence.
Mark Pompi was appointed director of Veterans Services, and Rian Dowd was as the new building commissioner. They will begin work on July 27.
"She is going to be an extremely resident- and business-friendly building commissioner," Mayor Peter Marchetti said about Dowd.
"… It was one of the questions in the interview: how do we get people to know that we have a friendlier environment? And she's already working on it."
A petition from Ward 1 Councilor Kenneth Warren and Ward 6 Councilor Dina Lampiasi requesting that 18 Degrees Inc. organize and host at least two community mobilization meetings was sent to the community-based organization.
"The recent gun violence that occurred in the city has left many residents feeling concerned, and also like they would just like to have more information about what we, as a city, and our partner is doing to help interrupt gun violence," Lampiasi said.
Last month, 29-year-old Pittsfield resident Justin Crawford was fatally shot near the intersection of Pleasure Avenue and Tyler Street.
18 Degrees has received a total of $1,391,170 in grants from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health's Gun Violence Prevention Program since fiscal year 2019; $394,780 in FY23 for outreach and engagement with youth and young adults ages 17-24 who have been impacted by trauma and violence.
Councilors would like to see a presentation of services and resources available through the gun violence prevention program, an opportunity for residents to share concerns and experiences, information on how people can partner with 18 Degrees in ongoing violence prevention efforts, and referral pathways to services available for eligible youth and young adults.
"That's all this petition does is ask that the agency that is funded to prevent gun violence here in the city host public meetings, two of them, one in Morningside one in the Westside, and really to provide a venue for residents to be heard, and also for the community, I think as a whole, to come together to talk about what is being done," Lampiasi said.
"I think it's important that residents feel heard."
The councilors asked that 18 Degrees coordinate with the Pittsfield Police Department, the Brien Center for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, and relevant neighborhood association leaders to promote the meetings.
A petition from Ward 2 Councilor Cameron Cunningham requesting to explore turning the school into a "public safety and community resource hub" was referred to the mayor under Rule 27.
Morningside recently closed as an elementary school after the School Committee determined that its lack of classroom walls created a difficult, noisy learning environment and impacted student success. Students are reassigned to Allendale, Capeless, Egremont, and Williams elementary schools.
Resident Susan Pietrowsky described herself as a "straight-up Morningside girl," having been born in the neighborhood and having moved there when she returned to Pittsfield.
She feels that replacing the school with police presence makes the neighborhood look more dangerous than it is and will negatively impact everyday life.
"The portrayal of Morningside as dangerous and unsafe for its citizens is bull. It is a safe neighborhood. There are problems that are happening there. I think we all understand that they're poverty-based, most of them, and if we fix poverty, we fix everything. So, universal basic income," Pietrowsky said.
"I don't believe the Morningside Community School location is the best location for the new police facility. They do obviously desperately need a new station. It's not fair to them. It's not fair to us as citizens, the place they have now. I think the perception of moving the children out, the police in, right on top of a shooting, that was pretty much an aberration overall. If I were a business person and I saw that, I'd be like, 'It's not safe for the kids. It's not safe for my employees. It's not safe for my business.' So I'm here to encourage us, as a council, as a community, and the entire city as a whole, to consider another space."
She said the Morningside and Westside neighborhoods are the two largest heat islands in Pittsfield, and the city is the heat island of the county.
"We don't have a single damn tree anywhere. No shade trees. It is blindingly white out there on a day like today," Pietrowsky added.
"So my concern with putting the police at Morningside in an already-heat-island is that it will increase the asphalt, it will increase the number of cars and engines, creating heat."
Tags: gun violence, police station,
