The three candidates who appeared in the PCTV-hosted event at the Berkshire Athenaeum are all known quantities in Pittsfield politics: City council President Peter Marchetti, former Ward 6 city councilor John Krol, and at-large city councilor and retired police officer Karen Kalinowsky.
The candidates were asked if they think Pittsfield is a safe community.
“I would not by any means classify a city as unsafe because there was a handful of incidences or a couple dozen instances or wherever they are," said Marchetti. "I think that we need to take each of the stuff as it comes. There are issues to be addressed. There needs to be more action taken with the panhandlers and needs to be more action taken to create a drug war against our dealers. But I feel Pittsfield is safe.”
Krol said he supports a stronger police presence in the city’s neighborhoods, using the phrase “boots on the ground” to describe his approach.
“We have to address aggressive panhandling, which is an issue in our city," he said. "There's a lot of people who work downtown, they go to their cars, and they're followed. People are being harassed. And so, that is not fertile ground for our second round of revitalization of downtown Pittsfield.”
Kalinowsky said that while she feels safe in Pittsfield, others do not.
“When you live in a neighborhood and you're sleeping and bullets go through your walls and your child's sleeping in the bed and the bullet hole goes right over where if they had been sitting up, they might have been hit- They don't feel safe," she said. "When people break into your house while you're in there, then people don't feel safe. When people are getting out of their cars, and someone comes in approaches them, either wanting their car or wanting their money, they don't feel safe.”
According to the most recent data publicly available from the Pittsfield Police Department, the city has seen an overall decrease in crime by around 23% over the past five years, including an almost 50% drop in violent crime.
The candidates were asked how they would approach Pittsfield’s ongoing struggle with overdose deaths and substance use. Last year, 48 people in Berkshire County died after overdosing.
“We are completely under resourced as it relates to mental health and substance abuse," answered Krol. "As was discussed before, when it comes down to it, our social workers and those people at the front line are not paid high enough. So, there is an extraordinarily high turnover for that. I have a friend who works at the Brien Center. She's a social worker, and she said, John, there is two of us for a position where there should be 14 of us. And that is not good enough. And when it comes down to it, people are leaving because of burnout. And they're also leaving because the wages are not good enough. So, we have to think about this from a perspective of resources and say, look, we need to take resources and put them to the front as far as our social workers on the frontlines, and look at organizations in that way. And also look for an increase in reimbursement from MassHealth which has certainly not increased in at least the last 13 years.”
In his response, Marchetti alluded to Berkshire District Attorney Timothy Shugrue’s victory over incumbent progressive Andrea Harrington on a tough-on-crime platform in the 2022 election.
“I think some of it starts with our DA, and our DA now wants to hold people accountable," he said. "And it's a good thing, because our sheriff has an excellent rehab program up at the Berkshire County House of Correction. So instead of tapping someone on the hand and saying, bad boy, don't do it again, we put them into a system where they can get help. Now, I'm not saying that I want to make them a criminal. I'm not saying that I want to take their rights away. But we already have a program in place that can help with folks that need help.”
“I believe we need more detox treatments facilities, or we need to stop taking people in from all over the state or other states," Kalinowsky answered. "When somebody decides that they want to come clean, whether it's 10 o'clock at night, 10 o'clock in the morning, or three o'clock in the morning, we need to have a bed available.”
She pushed back against Marchetti’s plan to send those struggling with substance use to the criminal legal system.
“Not everybody that has a drug or alcohol, addiction, commits crimes," said Kalinowsky. "It would be nice if we could use the DA’s office and the sheriff's office, but those are only for the people that commit the crimes. If they're out there stealing for their addiction, breaking into places for their addiction, okay, that's one thing, but if it's just somebody that's using, you can't get them treatment that way.”
“I don't really think I said that anyone that was using is a criminal," responded Marchetti. "So, just to be clear on that. But I want to use all the resources that we can. But, the last time I checked, purchasing drugs, illegal drugs, is a crime. So right off the bat just to be able to get your fix, you're committing a crime to where you need to be. And I clearly said, I don't want to criminalize them, I want to get them the help. And we know that we have a sheriff that has a program developed to be able to provide those resources.”
You can hear the full debate here:
Pittsfield’s preliminary election, which will send two candidates to November’s general, is on September 19th.
