In 2019, Anthony Maffuccio staged a political comeback in Pittsfield, Massachusetts by returning to the city council after a decade away. After two terms representing Ward 7 on the 11-member body, Maffuccio is campaigning for another two-year stint. While he was unopposed in 2021, Jonathon Morey is challenging the incumbent this year. Pittsfielders will go to the polls for the preliminary election on September 19th followed by the general on November 7th. Over the last year, Maffuccio missed a number of meetings due to medical issues. He tells WAMC that he’s ready and able to continue serving Ward 7.
MAFFUCCIO: I think always standing up and fighting for our portion of, especially when it comes to infrastructure and roads to sidewalks, stuff like that, I speak up and I fight tooth and nail to get our streets and our section and quadrant of the West Side done.
WAMC: Now when you look back over the last term and look ahead into the coming term, what do you perceive as the biggest struggles that Ward 7 and Pittsfield at large are going to be facing?
Well, Ward 7 I’ve actually got quite a few projects going on that'll be taking shape. I got the Hancock Bridge replacement that will be taking place, hopefully coming this fall. I have the Dan Casey Memorial Drive causeway culverts, should be going, coming to construction this coming fall. I’ve got the Peck’s Road bridge near the fire station. Hopefully, next year that will move into the bidding process and being able to start the following year’s construction season for that bridge. I'm still going to be fighting, looking for our piece of the pie, per se, for our infrastructure and our needs in Ward 7. But as a city as a whole, I see some a lot of challenges. The first two years that I have been back, I've noticed that the North Street that I knew, the one that we created from 2004 to 2008, had died. North Street is like a ghost town up there. There was more vacant storefronts than I've ever seen. There's hardly any foot traffic on downtown North Street anymore. We have to rethink our downtown area and start to have Pittsfield be the attraction that it once was and continues to be for the arts that we have here. But we have to find new opportunities now. Back then we found the opportunity. Barrington Stage came here back in our first term from 2004, my first run, in the beginning. The Colonial Theatre, all the arts. I think we have to reinvent North Street on a different model to attract more individuals who are coming downtown and rebuilding our Pittsfield, because right now it's a ghost town.
Well, respectfully, I'm going to push back on that, Tony, because, you know, I'm sitting downtown on North Street right now, and it seems quite vibrant from my perspective as a-
Well yeah, because you're in the heart, you’re in the North Street, we’ll say, from Columbus Avenue to West Street area that's busy. Besides that, go outside Josh, take a walk down the street, and you tell me if you can see North Street being busy from half ways on your second block there, before you even get to Columbus Ave, look down that way of North Street and tell me you see that vibrant down there.
Well, we've got the Franklin Barber Shop, there's Lulu’s Tiny Grocery, the Crawford Square zone-
Yeah, but that's all-new stuff that has just started to develop.
[a pause]
Right.
That's just coming on now. I'm talking about the last two years I've been sitting there.
Well, to be fair, the last two years also included the pandemic. So certainly, that's got to be a factor.
Well, okay. It's a factor but, you know, other communities built back their downtowns quite well. And Pittsfield had $40 million dollars to build back their Pittsfield, and I don't know what was done with that money.
On that subject, when we turn to ARPA and what have you, the city did invest in housing, it invested in some infrastructure stuff. By and large, do you feel like that the American Rescue Plan Act funding was well distributed by Linda Tyer and her mayoral administration?
I'd have to look at the list again, I can't- off of that presumption, no, I have to, I have to look at the list. Nowadays, I’ve got this short-term memory thing, I can't remember much. And the ARPA funds being so new and so much money that, all the controversy has been going on with ARPA this and ARPA that, and what you can what you can’t do and where it's best spent- You know, there's a list of things I was- Let’s put it this way. It wasn't our responsibility to spend that $40 million. But I probably would have spent it a lot differently.
Now, looking over the last term, you faced a few medical issues that left you missing a fair number of council meetings.
I missed three council meetings.
Well, you missed more than three council meetings for sure.
Well, I was out- There was one in December, one in January and then February. March was my return. So that was about four. Yeah, four or five. Sorry, Josh.
No worries. As you run for another term, can you speak to that? Do you feel like this is something you're capable of and that you can-
Oh yeah, no, I've bounced back. 100%.
Okay, so in the near future, you're not forecasting any absences?
Oh, no, no, not whatsoever.
Gotcha.
I’m back to 100% now, and I don't foresee anything that would come between me and my constituents. And even when I missed those council meetings, I was still tending to my constituent phone calls and going out to see my constituents when I had the energy to do so and was able to do it. So, I still did the on-hands part. I just didn't do the council meeting parts.
Now, in the mayoral race, we have current city council President Peter Marchetti facing off with former city councilor John Krol as the two front runners in the contest. At this time, Councilor Maffuccio, do you anticipate endorsing either candidate in the election?
We'll just have to see as time goes on. I mean, I didn't endorse anybody when I ran the last time, when there was Linda [Tyer] and Melissa Mazzeo. And I'm not going to endorse anybody right now. I'm not going to put that out there. I grew up with Peter. I've worked with Peter on the council. Him and I are good friends. Well, I would think it would be good friends. John Krol, I really knew of his name. I'm not familiar with a lot of his work. I think I serve one term with him, but mostly all the time I was in there, Peter Marchetti was there. So, until I see what both candidates have to offer right now, I really don't want to put a candidate endorsement on anybody.
