Wednesday night, the Berkshire Eagle published a bombshell article about allegations that Pittsfield, Massachusetts mayoral candidate John Krol embezzled almost $7,000 from a now-defunct cat rescue nonprofit. Former Animal Dreams President Stacey Carver told the newspaper that Krol had access to the group’s bank account after serving on its board, and that he used it to pay off an American Express card in his name. The former city councilor has strenuously denied the allegations, blaming Greylock Federal Credit Union for providing him the wrong routing number in 2015 and describing the story as a political hit piece. It was published just a day after Pittsfield’s preliminary mayoral election in which city council president Peter Marchetti and Krol finished one-two, proceeding to November’s general election. WAMC Berkshire Bureau Chief Josh Landes sat down with Krol in his downtown Pittsfield campaign headquarters Thursday morning to talk about the allegations.
KROL: It definitely was a shock as far as the timing of this goes, because if this was an issue that was resolved in 2019, then why wasn't I given the opportunity to vet this, sit down with the Berkshire Eagle or whoever else had concerns about these things early on, even when I announced that I was running for mayor in December, or even when we did the kickoff in April, or even after papers went in and I was officially on the ballot later on. But to have it the day after the preliminary election is essentially an attempt to knock me out of the race when there's only two candidates left and allow for the status quo candidate to walk into the mayor's office, which would essentially be a clear handoff from one administration to another. So ultimately, it's a disappointment for the democratic process for this to happen. Look, I'm happy to share all the information and sit down. But the Berkshire Eagle called me up at 6:13 p.m. with a message saying that we have a breaking news story and you have until 7 p.m. to respond to it, as I'm at Herberg Middle School at my kids’ soccer practice. So that essentially was the opportunity that I was given. It's not fair, it's not right, it was clearly a political hit piece. And worse than that, it's devastating potentially to my livelihood, my career, and my family. And so that's what we're looking at. But we will persevere, and we have the truth on my side, and so we're going to keep moving forward.
WAMC: One part of the story that I wanted to dig in to just understand the dynamics more, when Ms. Carver says that she had drawn your attention to the withdrawals from the Animal Dreams account to the American Express account, those occurred in late 2018 and early 2019. And you responded with an email from Greylock Federal Credit Union, dated 2015, with the wrong routing number. Can you explain why there was that like three-to-four-year lapse between getting that wrong routing number and then making expenditures out of that account so many years later?
Yeah, I don't know if those dates are accurate, I have not had a chance to vet that as far as the payments, but the routing number and the account number was provided in 2015. And so that is when an account was attached to that credit card. So, when it comes down to it, I have to go back and vet that those numbers. There were some inaccuracies in the story that we're going through, and we'll respond once we go through it as we have, now we have time to look at it. But at the end of the day, this was an error that- There were errors all around, including Greylock Federal Credit Union, including Animal Dreams and Stacey Carver who did not see this in the beginning, as she was the one who managed the checking account. So do I take some blame? Of course, of course, absolutely. But the intention was certainly not a bad intention, and it was certainly not what has been characterized by Stacey Carver or Allen Harris. And that is incredibly disappointing.
So obviously, you're pushing back against the accusations that this was theft or embezzlement. But it certainly seems that the other explanation is some degree of incompetence financially on your own part to make what seems like a relatively substantial miscalculation with a nonprofit cat rescue. Can you speak to that?
Look, you know, the mistakes were a lack of oversight. There's no question about it. But I think I want to- It's very important that people understand that this was dealt with in 2019, that everyone went their separate ways, that it was an issue that was resolved until this very moment, the day after the preliminary election. So, it is clearly a political hit. So yes, mistakes were made. There was a lack of oversight. When I found out about it, I addressed it as quickly as I could. And that was recognized even in the Berkshire Eagle article. But I can tell you that this is unfortunate for the democratic process.
About the moving forward from 2019 aspect of it- The story talks about how Allen Harris from Berkshire Money Management gave you this loan to pay off the outstanding balance from the funds that had been improperly withdrawn from Animal Dreams. You characterize it as no strings attached gift, essentially. He characterizes it as a forward for work being done. I think for a lot of people, the idea of getting a $6,000-something, no strings attached loan from a friend- That might seem a little out of the ordinary. Can you can you speak to that conception?
Yeah. So, Allen emailed me and said, I'd like for you to call me, and I did. And he said, look, this is a situation that I want resolved. Stacey is clearly not happy with this, but I want to help resolve this. And so, he did give that money to me and then I paid that balance to Animal Dreams and he made it clear that he didn't want Stacey to know about it. So that was the situation. I don't recall him- There was no strings attached to that, although if there was any time that Berkshire Money Management wanted 180 Media to do work for them, I certainly would have done it in exchange, but I was never asked. So, up until recently, I would certainly have done that.
I guess in a lot of ways it comes down to, to take your explanation at face value, if you struggled to handle that financial situation, what does it say about your ability to handle the finances of Pittsfield, I think is a big question here.
Yeah, it wasn't a struggle of a financial situation. It was an error made by Greylock Federal Credit Union, and also not overseen by Animal Dreams, and it was something that I missed in the accounting purposes. And so, as soon as I learned about it, I addressed it as quickly as possible. So, I wouldn't characterize it as mismanagement. I would characterize it as an error that was made and once it was discovered, I addressed it as quickly as possible.
The manner in which you addressed it is somewhat extraordinary though, going to someone's – at the time, I believe they were married at that point, Allen Harris and Stacey Carver – going to the husband of the person to get a no strings attached $6,000 loan. That's not a normal resolution, I think, to most problems.
Yeah. He came to me. He came to me, it wasn't the other way around. He reached out to me, and made that offer.
You framed this as a political hit job, you've talked about this being an effort by the Pittsfield political machine to shut down your campaign. I think it's worth noting that you served on the council for a decade, you were the council's vice president, you've been endorsed by a former mayor, Jim Ruberto, you were introduced to your election night party by Melissa Mazzeo, who spent many years alongside you on the council and was herself mayoral candidate. How exactly does that make you an outsider candidate given the innumerable connections you have to both city government and high-ranking people in the world of Pittsfield politics?
Oh, well, there's no question where the power base is right now. [laughs] There's no question about that. So, the timing of this, this story was not something that the Berkshire Eagle just suddenly received. They have had it, they have held it, and they gave me 47 minutes to respond before their deadline. And so, I think it is very clear that this was timed perfectly to attempt to knock me out of the race when there were only two candidates. Again, it could have been done before the preliminary, it could have been done in December when I announced, or any other time before this. So, I would even look at supporters of Karen Kalinowsky who may be upset to say, well, if they were going to take Krol out of this race, why are they waiting now? And so, there's only two candidates left. And then it would be an uncontested race, hypothetically, if I were to get knocked out of the race because of this, because that's what the intention was for this hit piece. There's no question about it.
Do you have any evidence that it was held prior to the preliminary election?
There have been certainly whispers about this. My opponent has run a vigorous whisper campaign since the very beginning that has attacked me personally, that's attacked me professionally, in a variety of ways. And Josh, you know whisper campaigns- They happen, and you have supporters of a particular candidate that talk about a candidate, and they're voicing untruths and misinformation and misleading information, but they keep it under the radar so that it doesn't make print or doesn't get published. So that has been happening since the very beginning. And this is one of the narratives that was going on. So, it's certainly no secret that this was out there. And so, it's been since 2019. It was actually vetted, Josh, in my divorce process, and I provided a full explanation in discovery at probate court before the judge for this particular issue. So, this was something that was tried. My ex tried to use this as leverage against me to get a better deal for the separation agreement. It didn't work because all the attorneys and the judge looked at it and said, okay, did he pay the money back? Okay, were there any charges? No. Was there any lawsuit? No. Okay, then what's the issue? So, this has been vetted, it's been out there, there's no secret. So, the Berkshire Eagle had access to it. My opponents have had access to it since basically, the very least, around 2020 or 2021 during that divorce process. It's clear, it's no secret. So suddenly coming out now, the day after the prelim? Absolutely the timing is political in nature.
You mentioned in your Facebook Live appearance last night your plans to pursue a defamation lawsuit. Who would that be directed towards exactly? And is there any hope of that being remotely resolved at the time of the election?
Well, these things take a very long time, there's no question about it. And this wouldn't be the only defamation suit in Pittsfield politics. So, it’s something that I'm speaking with attorneys about right now, but I'm not going to comment on where that may go. But certainly, this was an attack on me not only politically, but also to my own livelihood and certainly my integrity. I’m a man in this community who- I am a husband, I have children, I have a family, I have to support my family, I have a small business, I have a reputation. And this is going right to the heart of it. And I understand that, yes, it is a political situation. I am a public figure, I get that. But this is why people stay out of politics, because of this nastiness and because of this just absolute cut throat from the powers that be. And I can tell you, we have run a positive campaign. We have not gone negative, we have kept the message high on the issues in this campaign, and that's what we're going to continue to do. And have we made sharp differences on the issues? Absolutely. Have we made sharp contrast on what's happening as far as who is going to be the right mayor, the right leader for this community? Absolutely. But we have not gone below the belt in any way, shape, or form. And so, this is disappointing. This is not what people want to see. This is not what people want to see.
You've alluded to sort of this political machine or the status quo, so to speak. I think it's probably fair to people to identify who you're talking about. Are you talking about Peter Marchetti, the city council president and your mayoral rival? Are you talking about the administration of Mayor Linda Tyer? What is this group that you feel like is working to suppress your campaign?
Well Josh, you know if you name names, you can get called in a defamation lawsuit in this city. So, I'm not going to name names. People know who the people in power are, and it's a relatively small group. There's no question about that. And so, we know- And look, Allen Harris and Stacey Carver are contributors to Peter Marchetti’s campaign. That's right on to OCPF. You can find that. Allen just recently donated $1,000 to Peter Marchetti’s campaign. So, the idea that this is not politically motivated is ludicrous, because if Stacey Carver had a problem with John Krol for all these years between 2019 and now, then why didn't she approach me before that? Or why wasn't this brought up earlier? Or why wasn't brought up during even my divorce settlement? So, you know, and- I just feel as though, and it's clear, that this is politically motivated.
It occurs to me there could be sort of a cart before the horse situation where, you know, if Carver and Harris feel like that you were guilty of embezzlement, then of course they'd probably support your opponent. You know what I mean? Like, there's sort of a cause-effect situation there?
I suppose so, but come out earlier. Come out earlier. Why is it the day after the prelim? Why is it the day after the prelim when there's only two candidates left? You know, think about that, Josh. I mean, what would happen if they're successful in their attempt to knock me out of the race? There's no race. There's no race at this point. So that wouldn't be good for Josh Landes at WAMC, that wouldn't be good for the Berkshire Eagle, that wouldn't be good for the people of Pittsfield who want to have a real conversation about who's going to lead this community. And so that's where we are. And I think that the timing is- If the Berkshire Eagle had come to me and said, John, we have this situation, we've learned about this, come sit down with us, we can we can go through this, we'd like to hear your side of the story, bring all your documentation, and that process could take place, but it wasn't. It wasn't that. It was 47 minutes to give a comment, and if you don't, we're going to run with it anyway. And this is something that is just the nature of things at this point.
So lastly, looking forward in the remaining weeks before November 7th- This is obviously somewhat of a seismic moment for your campaign. What comes next? What are the next steps after this process?
We're just going to keep on keeping on. We have the momentum actually in this race. I think that the Marchetti campaign was surprised by the results on Tuesday night, that we did better than they anticipated. And so, I think that's one of the reasons why this story came out this week. And I think that when you look at the city of Pittsfield and you look at what is happening with the skyrocketing taxes, with city services that are not up to snuff, with empty storefronts in our downtown, with all the issues that we're seeing, aggressive panhandling in the downtown, encampments in our parks, schools that are challenge- Change is required in the city if we want to see a better day tomorrow and there are vested interests that clearly don't want that. So, we'll keep on keeping on. Our message is resonating and we’ll keep up the fight.
