The dust has settled on this year’s municipal elections in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and incumbents on the City Council of Berkshire County’s largest community fared well. Each candidate running for re-election handily defended their seats on the 11-member body, including Council President and At-large Councilor Pete White. He served as vice president of the council for two terms under current Mayor Peter Marchetti before ascending to the top spot when his longtime ally took over City Hall in 2024. As he looks ahead to his seventh two-year term – sixth in the at-large capacity – he sat down with WAMC to talk about his plans for the coming legislative term that begins in January, while acknowledging that turnout only saw a sliver of Pittsfield’s registered voters.
WHITE: Well, first we have to admit that there was low voter turnout. So, the people who did turn out like the direction that we're going in for the most part- Economic development efforts that we've made, new businesses coming in, getting construction done on our roads that will allow smoother traffic to go through, also that we're trying to tackle the housing issues. Mayor [Linda] Tyer put in place a lot of ARPA funding that is going to allow over 200 units to come on board, so I think the election for those who came out and voted said, we think you're going in the right direction, and we need to continue to try to get that other percentage of 83% of the voters who don't come out and trying to still govern for them and figure out what they're thinking too.
WAMC: Now, with that in mind, when you think about laying out a legislative agenda for 2026 as this new term starts, what comes to mind? What's sort of the top of the stack for you?
We need to continue to work on public safety, we need to work on housing, we need to work on economic development, and we just need to continue to try to make businesses want to come to Pittsfield and the residents and people who are here now have the best quality of life possible. And I know that's vague, but I think at the end of the day, that's what we need to be working on with every effort we do.
Now, of course, one great unresolved issue remains the camping ban question, which took up a lot of oxygen in the room over the course of 2025. Where do things stand on that heading into the end of the year, and looking ahead, where do you see it going?
The Board of Health should be coming back to us in the end of February with an update on the recommendations they make to try to alleviate some of the issues the unhoused are going through and also what the business owners are going through. So, I'm looking forward to hearing what our partners on the Board of Health come through with, with regulations or just different ideas that we can put forward to make it a better situation for all. I'm just glad that we got rid of the criminalization that was in the beginning. The mayor put a plan out there, and it's going through the process as it should.
We saw over in Saratoga Springs, for example, they passed their own version of a camping ban. I mean, certainly in this complicated political moment, I'm wondering- An issue like this, how do you sort of walk that line between the economic drivers like businesses in the communities, and this strong, outspoken part of Pittsfield that feels very strongly that all Pittsfielders should have an equal amount of support from city hall?
Well, all Pittsfielders should have an equal amount of support from city hall to start off, but we do need to listen to those who drive the economy, but we also need to be compassionate. We also can't think we're going to fully solve a problem that no one else in the country has solved. But also, [what] we can do is keep listening to people and moving forward with it. And I think that's what we're doing. Speakers who came to open mic, people who commented, the initial folks who got the petition on the agenda in the beginning by talking to us and the mayor- We're listening to everyone, and we're trying to go through the process, as messy as it can be, without making rash decisions and also trying to have real solutions, and not just something that's a band-aid or passing something just for the sake of passing something.
Now, I wanted to ask you about your close political ally, Mayor Peter Marchetti. You guys have worked together for many years in the council and otherwise- I'm interested in your thoughts on the mayor's performance over the course of the year and what issues you want to make sure he tackles heading into this new year.
I think the mayor has been tackling the issues we need him to tackle. I think sometimes he puts something out on the table knowing it's going to get beat up, he knows it's going to get scrutinized, but he's putting something on the table that he's willing to compromise and work with us on and he's not saying my way or the highway. So, I think in that way, it's been good that we've had the relationship of being able to go back and forth and say, hey, we think that's not good, we think this part is good. And he's been a real partner in it. And I think continuing on, we're going to keep looking at things- I'd love to see you know more news on Wahconah Park, I want to know more of what's going on with that. I want to see what's going to happen at Site Nine, with Mill Town Capital having the developer role in that. You know, are we going to see more housing on their Woodlawn section of that in between Forest Place and Woodlawn Ave? I think we've got a lot of good things in the hopper, and we just need to keep moving forward and knowing when something is put on the table at a council meeting, it is up for debate. It's not a done deal. Everything that goes to the council- As we saw last night, one councilor put something to limit public speaking or change public speaking. People came, people sent us emails, and we made changes that didn't go down. It's not going to happen, but those conversations need to happen. We need to be a fluid body that can make changes and listen to people so we're best governing for everyone who's involved and listening to everyone who's involved.
