It’s municipal election season in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. By the end of the year, voters will determine the makeup of the 11-member city council as well as a new mayor. In that race, city council President Peter Marchetti, former city councilor John Krol, at-large city councilor Karen Kalinowsky, and Craig Gaetani represent the current slate of candidates. In Ward 7 – the northwestern quadrant of Pittsfield – incumbent Anthony Maffuccio is being challenged by political newcomer Jon Morey. A baker who owns a business in the city, he originally pulled papers for at-large city councilor before focusing on a ward seat. Ahead of the preliminary election in September and the general in November, Morey sat down with WAMC to explain why he’s running for the first time.
MOREY: Currently, what I've been hearing from constituents is that they're concerned about communication and responsiveness, somebody getting back to them and actually hearing what they have to say. I don't have anything bad to say about Mr. Maffuccio. I understand if whatever personal issues may arise, of course, it happens. But I would like to step up and try to fill his shoes if I could.
WAMC: You're referring, of course, to the fact that Mr. Maffuccio missed a number of meetings due to medical reasons over the course of the last term.
Yes, those were concerns that were brought up to me by constituents.
So, tell me a little bit about Ward 7 from your perspective. When you look at that part of Pittsfield, what do you know about that community? What does it mean to you?
Well, I'll admit, I am newer to the neighborhood, so to speak. My wife and I bought our property here in 2018. But I have been following the politics here, and I believe that I can bring what the people in Ward 7 are looking for: More communication, more responsiveness, and getting some of the things done around our neighborhood that they want to get done.
So, walk me through some of those. When you talk to constituents, what do they want to see happening in Ward 7 that maybe is not happening right now?
For instance, on Pecks Road, we have the bridge that's been down to one lane going on two years, I believe now that that's been down. And that was one of the biggest concerns I heard around that area of our neighborhood. Also, on Kirkwood, they have, I guess, been fighting with the city to try to get their street repaired. It's never been repaired or redone, redone, and they're just, they're angry at this point, because they feel like nobody is listening to them.
When you look at the city council today – and obviously, it's about to change somewhat dramatically over the course of this election, given how many folks are running for different positions or not defending their seats – What are your thoughts on the current state of the council? Do you feel like it's operating well? Do you feel like it's addressing the interests of Pittsfield residents? Do you have frustrations or complaints? Walk me through your thoughts on that.
So, yes, I do have some concerns about- There seem to be cliques that govern and control the politics in Pittsfield, and I think that we need to break that up a little bit. And I think we need to have a little bit more communication, once again, and transparency about the decisions that are being made and why, and a little more negotiation. For instance, with the budget recently, it was Mr. [Earl] Persip’s position that we have higher rates and Karen Kalinowsky brought that, maybe 50% of that. And, of course, they went on with higher rates, but my position was, if Mr. Persip feels like he can afford a higher rate because he's doing well, then perhaps people with family budgets over $100,000 of income, they could be paying the higher rate and those with lower than $100,000 could be paying the lower rate. This way, we're both getting a little bit of what we want.
It's also a mayoral election this year in Pittsfield, so, I have to ask- At this point, looking over the slate of candidates, has anyone caught your eye that you'd want to endorse in this election cycle?
Well, I have had the opportunity to sit with Mr. [Peter] Marchetti and Mr. [John] Krol. I haven't had a chance to sit down with Craig [Gaetani] or Karen [Kalinowsky]. I have spoken with Karen and have dealings with her in the past, but I'll have to sit and talk with her about her positions on some things. And I was originally feeling Mr. Marchetti’s position. But again, I have to listen to everybody before I can make a final decision.
What issues do you feel like are afoot in Pittsfield today that don't get enough airtime or enough conversation from the council this point? Are there any issues that you think need more exposure or a greater amount of sunlight?
Most definitely. There seems to be this issue with misuse or potentially even as far as abuse of position and power and influence, making decisions that are more selfish and self-serving than rather what's best for Pittsfield and for the public in general.
Well, that's certainly a big claim to make. Are there any examples of that that you feel like illustrates that?
Oh, most certainly. The most forefront one that I've been dealing with city councilors is the removal and banning of our business from the Pittsfield Farmers Market. There was no legitimate reason to do that or to take such drastic measures. So, I have a petition signed by the city council, by businesses that are in the market, and Pittsfield residents who all want us back at the market, but I cannot get anyone, the directors or co-directors to even respond to me. And the councilors that have tried to negotiate the situation have also hit roadblocks and not being able to get anywhere with them.
Do you want to sort of shed a little light leave the background to that, just so that I understand the full context?
Well, let's just say, to keep it as simply as possible, that there was a misunderstanding in which I thought that one of the co-directors was being dishonest with me about the request of certain paperwork. And when I informed her that I felt like she was being dishonest with me, she immediately responded by banning our business from market permanently, which was extremely drastic and made no sense to us whatsoever, nor the people involved that have tried to negotiate the situation.
To any degree, is your run related to that situation? Or is that a separate issue to the candidacy?
It is a separate, but somewhat attached, because I see that this this seems to be a problem not just in that one respect. It seems to be an issue across Pittsfield. And, in fact, a prominent local politician told me that I should think of it as two famous warring rich families, apparently, but I don't know exactly how that works or who they are. But I don't think that that's what we need anywhere in our in our government.
So, if you had to sort of offer me the summation, the elevator pitch, the nugget of the Morey for Ward 7 campaign, how do you sum it up to people?
[I’m] not a politician, but a peopletician. I want to do what I'm supposed to do and serve the people and listen to what they have to say and bring that and try to get things done the way that people want them done. Not just how a few decide amongst themselves.
If you had to describe your own politics, how would you describe yourself? Where do you fall on any kind of spectrum that makes sense to you?
That's a difficult question. I find myself understanding some of Democratic views, Republican views, and liberal views, so I don't really- I don't really know how to answer that question. I'm a flexible thinker, but I lean on the side of logic, what's reasonable and logical.
