While the contest only brought out 31% or around 9,500 registered voters, White secured his fifth two-year term with over 6,000 votes. While City Clerk Michele Benjamin won just under 7,000 in her unopposed bid for a fourth term, White’s support came in a packed, seven-candidate race for four at-large seats on the 11-member council. WAMC caught up with White at the Berkshire Hills Country Club victory party for city council President Peter Marchetti, who won the mayoral race against former councilor John Krol to succeed outgoing two-term Mayor Linda Tyer.
“I just really look forward to hopefully getting a bike lane that is workable for people as a traffic calming measure, but also just as a downtown that people want to go to," White told WAMC. "Help with our homeless population. I think we really have the opportunity to do so many great things for the city right now, and I just want to use being in – no matter if I was [first, second, third or fourth] – to continue working for the people of Pittsfield along with my fellow councilors”
For his past two terms, White has served as the council’s second-in-command under Marchetti, who will now leave the city’s legislative branch to take over the corner office after his win Tuesday. As the top vote getter and one of the longest-tenured councilmembers, the stage is set for White to ascend to the body’s top spot.
“I'll probably, you know, pursue it, but it'll be up to the council to really make that decision," he said. "It's a council vote in January, and I think I can do the job, but that'll be up to my fellow councilors to decide, and I'm just happy to be able to work with such a great group of people in any capacity.”
If elected to the city council presidency, White will take over a body in transition. Tuesday’s election saw the conservative minority on the council disappear, removing even a token opposition for Pittsfield’s new leadership team.
“Having people who just want to move Pittsfield in the direction that we've been moving in will just make the debate hopefully go smoother, and we'll be able to work harder on the issues that need to be addressed, so we can not just spend time arguing about the issues that tend to cause contention, and we can work on sidewalks, we can work on roads, we can work on making sure that the city of Pittsfield operates as smoothly as possible while listening to the voters of Pittsfield, because that's going to put us all in our seats,” said the council vice president.
WAMC asked White to identify the biggest issues of the election.
“I think the issues that actually mattered are how well we operate the city, how well- Roads are getting taken care of, we have more paving in line," he answered. "We're working together on so many things, we're moving in the right directions. I think that at the end of the day, it's having steady hands that can move the city forward with people that they trust, people who they know are dedicated to the city, and that are going to not just try to throw monkey wrenches in the process, nut people who actually want to work together for the people of Pittsfield. And I think that's what I've seen most out of all of this, is positivity wins out.”
White says during the election, he heard a call for change from Pittsfield’s voters that the council must respond to.
“Power comes down to responsibility," he told WAMC. "We've been given the approval by the city of Pittsfield to continue with the things that we have been working on, and they want us working harder, they want better communication. I know the change is- Change was a big thing in this election. I think that change is communicate more with everyone, and have all of us working together and not trying to just throw monkey wrenches, throwing roadblocks up where we don't need them. Let's tackle issues, let's talk about the barriers with them, and let's move forward. Let's not take so much time on things that ultimately- We’ve got to listen to everyone, however, let's move forward and get stuff done. Not just talk about it, but let's do things. Let's get that, a trash recycling plan in place, let's figure out what the bike lane should look like, let's figure out what we can do as a city to help the people who are without homes. I think we just need to do the work now.”
Pittsfield’s new municipal government will be sworn in in January.
