Kathy Amuso is one of seven candidates vying for four at-large seats on the 11-member Pittsfield, Massachusetts city council in Tuesday’s election. It’s not her first rodeo in municipal politics: Amuso was on the Pittsfield school committee for a decade – spending six years as chair – before winning an at-large seat on the city council from 2013 to 2017. Outside of her public roles, Amuso is a former teacher and has worked at Berkshire Health Systems for over 33 years. The city’s election has been marked by scandal, with both mayoral candidates – city council president Peter Marchetti and former councilor John Krol – facing allegations of misconduct. Marchetti has been named in a federal lawsuit over claims of sexual discrimination and harassment at the bank he works at, and Krol has been accused of embezzling money from a nonprofit cat rescue. Both deny the claims. WAMC sat down with Amuso Tuesday to hear why she’s re-entering Pittsfield politics during one of its stranger election seasons.
AMUSO: My candidacy – really for anything I do, and especially for the city of Pittsfield – I will always work hard, I will always work to make sure that I'm the best informed I possibly can, and I make my decisions on listening to the people, getting the information, and then making a vote that I think is appropriate. And that's how I've always worked, and I'm responsive to people, I always have been, and at-large, you work for the entire city, you're not covering one of the seven wards. And so, you do get calls from obviously the seven wards, and then I like to work with the word councilor and the person that calls and see what we can do for a resolution, what changes need to be made.
WAMC: And as far as those big issues of this election, what come to mind?
Well, the things that come to mind and are the things that people have talked to me about- They are very uncomfortable with the panhandlers. We had a debate last night and everybody- The panhandlers, they’re bothersome. I know there was an agenda item put in because of safety, but people are very uncomfortable when people are lurking around their cars at the intersections and red lights, and they really don't want to be asked for money. So that was huge, but lots of discussions about the panhandlers and what we can do. And secondly, we want our gateway, we want our North Street to be thriving and vibrant, and we need to do some work on that.
When you look back over your previous stint as an at-large councilor, what are some issues or stances you took that you think best define your experience on the body?
Well, some of the things that I was passionate about, and I still am, are safety. And when I was on the council before, crime was up, and at one of the budget meetings I asked for two more police people, and that was approved. And right now, crime is down, which is a good thing. But always safety- You want to be in your in your city and you want to feel safe. And the other is infrastructure. When I was on the council before, two different budget meetings, but I motioned and it was approved for $3 million in funding for the roads. People are concerned about the roads, and we've made incredible headways on the roads- And just I think this year, another $13 million was approved out of free cash so it doesn't increase the taxes, and people are happy about that. They want they want to be able to drive around the roads and not hit potholes every other street. So, I think that's huge.
Now, speaking of infrastructure, recently in the council, the performance of the city's Department of Public Works Commissioner Ricardo Morales has been a recurring topic. What are your thoughts on Mr. Morales’s performance in the role? And what are your thoughts on some of the infrastructure improvements he's taking part in across the city?
I have worked with Ricardo in the past few years. I moved to Alfred Drive a few years ago, and when I went there, the road was not in good shape, and the water was brown. So, in the last few years, I've worked with Ricardo and the mayor and other city councilors and said, hey, you need to come and look at this. And at first, we thought, well, you know, maybe flush the hydrants and do this and do this. But in the end, we needed another water line, and the road has been paved. That's the kind of thing I'd like to see him do and be responsive. Facilities, we need a lot of work with our facilities. We have a lot of buildings, we have a lot of things to do. I co-chair the school building needs commission, and we talk about the new Taconic [High School]- the new Taconic is six years old. And then we talk about, well, we want to look at some of our elementary schools- Morningside, Conte, Crosby. They need a lot of work. The schools, the Pittsfield Public Schools are doing a study for facilities and structure, how it's set up, should it be K-5, 6-8. There's been some public meetings, I know there were two [Monday], so I'm urging everybody to go and listen and see, because it will drive what's going to happen in the Pittsfield Public Schools for the next couple of decades. When you talk about facilities, we talk a lot about, I think, eight elementary schools were renovated, and the renovation is 25 years old. So, we have to stay on top of it, we have to have a priority list, and we have to continue to take some of those items off the table and make sure that they get fixed.
Part of this election, given that it’s a mayoral cycle, is sort of a reflection on the last eight years of leadership from Mayor Linda Tyer. From your perspective, and as someone who has worked alongside her in the past, what are your thoughts on the end of the Tyer era?
I think Linda Tyer has worked hard and has done some things for Pittsfield. And when you look at North Street – and I think I would like to see North Street tweaked, but – when you have an opportunity, and she did, and there's grant money, do you want to do a bike lane? Well, we're a cultural area. We want people from other communities to come in, and biking is a huge industry. So, she followed up, and we have a bike lane. I'd like to see it a little bit different, but when you have an opportunity, I think you do the best you can with what you know at the time. And I believe I was on the council or on the school committee when this was going on, and a bike lane sounded good to me. I would like to see it tweaked and changed just a little bit, but I think she's worked hard. There were a lot of low paying positions in city hall and in the schools, and a lot of that has been rectified. And there still are some low paying jobs, but I think people are earning a decent wage now, and they needed to have an improved salary.
Well, you brought up the dreaded bike lanes question, but you alluded to supporting the concept but wanting to tweak it. In your vision, what would a tweaked bike lane look like from North Street?
Well, I've heard two different versions. One I like better than the other. But another version would be you have the sidewalk, you have the bike lane, and then you have a curb. I like the idea. I've been talking to former city councilor Lisa Tully, she lives in Florida for part of the year, and in Florida, you would maintain your two lanes, and the lane closest to the sidewalk would be “share the road,” and it would be for bikes and cars. And quite honestly, I don't think we have that many bikes. We do have some. The other day I was walking up from the hospital, and I actually had to leave the sidewalk and walk in the bike lane because there was a bike coming down the sidewalk. Now, no matter what kind of bike lane you have, that doesn't stop a biker from still riding their bike on the sidewalk, but I think we can do a little bit better.
Now, since you were last on the council, there's also been a lot of conversations about policing in Pittsfield, about what it means to respond to mental health incidents, about police shootings. Where do you sort of find yourself in those conversations as you re approach the council?
I think mental health is a significant issue in Pittsfield, as it is throughout the country, but what we need to obviously work on is what's happening in Pittsfield. And I think we have to use all our resources – the Brien Center, ServiceNet, Berkshire Health Systems, any of the organizations in Pittsfield, and the local, state, and federal government – to say, hey, this is an issue and we need to work on it. Because I think you work on that, and I think some of the other things will come into play. And when we have drug abuse, use on North Street, and I said last night, Monsignor Mike had to take down thriving shrubbery so that some of the drug users would move off the St. Joseph's property. To me, that’s shameful. I think we need to work on that. And it does- We do need to police, but I can tell you in all my years, we have good, hard working police people, and we need to continue to work with them, and put in processes that will work for Pittsfield. And one of the things I'm excited about is voting in the new chief in 2024. And I have no idea who that will be, but I'm looking forward to that and working with the new police chief.
Going back to the mayoral race of at all- Peter Marchetti, John Krol. Are you endorsing in this campaign? And if so, who are you backing?
I have endorsed and I am backing Peter Marchetti. In 2003, it was my first year on the school committee. At some point, I was on for 10 years, Peter Marchetti was on the city council. So, we've been friends for two decades. And you can only support one person, and Peter's my friend, and that's important to me. But more importantly is we worked really well on a lot of things for the city. And one that I can recall is, and this can be difficult, we had to deal with the unions. And it's changed now, but I can remember, I don't know, a few days in a row, Peter was the present city council, I was chair of the school committee, Jim Ruberto was mayor, we had the union leadership and there was an option for GIC insurance that was a good option for the for the people of Pittsfield, and a reduced rate for the city of Pittsfield, and to have everything align and work hard and explain everything- And the unions did come around and we went to the GIC insurance. And to be able to work on something that significant and have a positive outcome is important to me, and that's how Peter and I worked. So, I respect the work he does.
Now of course, we're speaking after news came out that he was named in a federal lawsuit about discrimination and harassment at Pittsfield Cooperative Bank. Any thoughts on that? Because obviously, that's a layer to the endorsement at this point.
All my years that I've known Peter – and it's been as friends but in a work capacity as elected officials – I have never seen that side to Peter. And I have to see how that plays out, but I have never seen that side of him, and I fully, completely still endorse him.
Given that you've had all this experience in Pittsfield politics, just out of personal interest, I'm interested in, when it comes to this mayoral slate, there's sort of these two candidates with, at this point, some baggage attached to both of them for various reasons. Is there anything unique about that situation, that at this point, the two choices Pittsfield has have a fair amount of accompanying baggage with them?
Well, I haven't seen this before, and I don't think anybody has, at least in the city of Pittsfield. I think we need to get through the election. And, you know, 8:30, on November 7th, we will know who our new mayor is, and whoever is elected has to work with the new mayor and any councilors that are elected, and we need to work to move Pittsfield forward all together, no matter who you supported. And you go forward, and you work with the elected officials.
Are you excited about Pittsfield’s future, or worried about it?
I'm always excited about Pittsfield future. I'm passionate about Pittsfield, I'm a lifelong resident. One of my things a few years ago was, I want Pittsfield to be a place where my two boys will stay and thrive and be lifelong residents, at least while I'm here. And they both have houses here now, and that's important to me. And when you have an election, everybody's asking you, what can you work on? What don't you like? What do you want to tweak? But I look at Pittsfield, and we have our lakes and our parks, and we have theater, and I think we need to work on our downtown, but that doesn't mean I don't love Pittsfield because I do, and I think there's a lot of good things, when I say we've got a great police department and fire department and we do a lot of really good things. And so, I think we piggyback on what's going well, but during the election, it’s what do you need to work on? What are people talking about? And that's, you kind of dwell on the negative. And I'm positive and I love Pittsfield.
