Pittsfield’s preliminary election Tuesday winnowed the mayoral race down to city council president Peter Marchetti and former city councilor John Krol. A day later, the Berkshire Eagle ran a story centered around claims by former Animal Dreams President Stacey Carver that Krol had stolen almost $7,000 from the bank account of the now defunct cat rescue nonprofit. While Krol admits to having misappropriated the funds, he alleges it was due to a banking error and nothing worse. Thursday, the embattled former city councilor sat down with WAMC to offer his own take on the story and the motivations behind it.
“The timing of this- This story was not something that the Berkshire Eagle just suddenly received," said Krol. "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. It could have been done before the preliminary, it could have been done in December when I announced, or any other time before this.”
WAMC took Krol’s allegations to the paper.
“I guess it's something that you want to expect candidates to say when they're facing scrutiny, and so it doesn't surprise me that that a candidate in general would say something like that," Berkshire Eagle Executive Editor Kevin Moran said. “Stacey Carver earlier this week stepped forward with documentation on this particular story. And so, we looked into it. It took us time, obviously, and so, by the time we were able to wrap up our look into the story, it was Wednesday night, right? So that's when we were able to publish the story.”
Asked about the deadline Krol was given to comment, Moran said Krol complied with the timeframe and that the reporter had given him time to add on anything he wanted at the end of the interview.
“People who run for public office invite scrutiny precisely because they're asking citizens for the most precious thing that citizens can give in a democracy, and that's their vote," said Moran. "And transparency doesn't damage the democratic process. It is part of the democratic process.”
Moran says he’s glad that Krol had responded to the request for comment, and that the story was made better for it.
Another claim made by Krol in the interview was that his rival, Marchetti, was involved in sowing seeds of the story behind the scenes for months:
“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," said Krol. "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.”
Asked for comment by WAMC, Marchetti offered the following statement:
“My campaign has been working on promoting me and my record. We do not talk about him or Karen [Kalinowksy] for that matter.”
At-large city councilor Kalinowsky was eliminated from the mayoral race Tuesday, coming in third place behind first Marchetti and then Krol.
Krol also invoked Kalinowsky in the interview, saying that the timing of the Eagle story could have had an impact on the preliminary had it been published earlier.
“It could have been done before the preliminary, it could have been done in December when I announced, or any other time before this," said Krol. "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?”
Reached by WAMC Friday, Kalinowsky said she had no comment on the story.
One of Krol’s highest-profile backers is former Pittsfield Mayor Jim Ruberto, who has donated $1,000 to his former executive assistant’s campaign and stumped for him at events leading up to the preliminary.
Krol has made his work with Ruberto a central theme of the race, as in his appearance in a PCTV debate earlier in September:
“I worked in an administration with a team that accomplished so much- Recruiting Barrington Stage Company to our downtown, opening the Colonial Theatre, the Beacon Cinema, starting Third Thursdays, and we had strong schools as well," he said. "We believed that anything was possible because it was, and it still is.”
Ruberto described a close working relationship with Krol during their tenure together in city hall. Reached by WAMC Friday, he said he hadn’t yet had an opportunity to speak with the candidate about the embezzlement allegations.
“My experiences with John have never indicated the behavior that that has been charged against him," Ruberto told WAMC. "I'm sure that after he has an opportunity to present his side of this unfortunate situation, people will at least have a full and balanced report on all of the details that surround the charges.”
The general election is November 7th.
