From the battle to succeed outgoing two-term Mayor Linda Tyer to a packed field for four at-large city council seats, Tuesday marks a significant election in Pittsfield. While the stakes are high, public enthusiasm is low. In September’s preliminary election, less than 16% of registered voters showed up, and both mayoral candidates have spent the closing days of the campaign combatting scandals.
City council president Peter Marchetti, a longtime ally of Tyer, is looking to ascend to the corner office after a lengthy political career. He’s served eight nonconsecutive terms on the council, and came within less than a percentage point of being mayor in 2011 when he lost to Dan Bianchi. At a recent debate, Marchetti laid out his pitch to voters.
“I'm running for mayor because I have the qualifications and the experience to succeed as your next mayor," he said. "I have 35 years of private sector experience with my employment at the Pittsfield Cooperative Bank combined with decades of serving on boards and commissions and community organizations, such as coaching youth bowling and running Pittsfield’s Fourth of July parade.”
His opponent is former Ward 6 city councilor John Krol, who has labored to frame himself as the outsider choice for mayor despite a full decade on the council and regularly citing his work with the administration of former Mayor Jim Ruberto.
“We talked about experience- And no matter what that experience is, we have to look at the nature of it, we have to look at the character of it," Krol said. "What does that experience mean? And if it doesn't have respect, and it doesn't have equitable actions and fairness, then we have to have a change. And now is the time to do that. And if we're going to make the changes that are essential in our city – downtown revitalization, better public services, a friendlier business environment for our city – then that's exactly the foundation that we need to work from.”
Marchetti won the preliminary election with around 2,300 votes to Krol’s roughly 1,800 — a 47% to 37% split. While at-large city councilor Karen Kalinowsky was eliminated from the race in her second bid for mayor, the 15% of the vote she secured in the preliminary now seems more significant than ever.
Krol has been accused of stealing money from a now defunct nonprofit cat rescue whose board he served on. The former president of Animal Dreams, Stacey Carver, shared bank documents that show Krol misappropriated funds from the rescue’s bank account to pay off his personal credit card bill. While Krol has denied that what he did was theft, he doesn’t dispute that he used the account inappropriately — as he attempted to explain in a sit-down interview with WAMC the morning after the Berkshire Eagle published its bombshell article.
“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," said the candidate. "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.”
Krol went on to provide the Eagle with his own documentation of the situation — inadvertently showing that in fact his misappropriation was greater than initially reported.
In the meantime, a federal lawsuit alleges that Marchetti – along with other senior leaders at Pittsfield Cooperative Bank – created a work environment where female employees were regularly discriminated against and harassed. The employee who filed the lawsuit details an incident where Marchetti screamed at her and denigrated her in front of other bank leadership with no repercussions. The candidate and bank both dispute the allegations, and Marchetti said at a debate that an internal investigation had cleared him.
“Personally, I strongly support that harassment of any kind has no place in the workforce, none whatsoever," he said. "That is why I supported the creation of the [Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion] Office at city hall. It is important to have protections for women and all marginalized people. As a gay man myself, I understand the importance of fair, respectful, and harassment free culture. I have and will continue to support a safe and non-hostile work environment, a culture that is accepting of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, and disability. I will stand up for fairness of women and anti-harassment and discrimination policies in the workplace.”
With Marchetti and Kalinowsky out of the at-large council race, seven candidates are battling to fill the four slots on the 11-member body: incumbents Pete White and Earl Persip face challengers Alisa Costa, former councilor Kathy Amuso, Luke Marion, Craig Benoit, and Daniel Miraglia.
In Ward 2, Brittany Bandani is facing off with Alex Blumin to succeed outgoing one-term councilor Charles Kronick, who has endorsed Blumin. An investigation by WAMC that drew on hundreds of internal city emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request revealed that Blumin has harassed, intimidated, and threatened municipal employees for years, and is well known to the Pittsfield Police Department for his behavior.
In Ward 3, Matthew Wrinn and Bill Tyer are competing to succeed the outgoing Kevin Sherman, while in Ward 6, incumbent Dina Lampiasi faces a challenge from perennial outsider candidate and vocal city critic Craig Gaetani. In Ward 7, incumbent Anthony Maffuccio is running against Rhonda Serre.
In Wards 1, 4, and 5, incumbents Kenny Warren, James Conant, and Patrick Kavey are unopposed.
City clerk Michele Benjamin is running unopposed for her fourth two-year term.
The school committee race has six candidates running for six open seats. Chair Dr. William Cameron, Vice-Chair Daniel Elias, and former mayor Sara Hathaway are seeking re-election, with William Garrity, Dominick Sacco, and Diana Belair looking to join the body.
Polls are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in Pittsfield.
