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Pittsfield City Council Incumbents Prepare For Coming Election

The Pittsfield City Council office in city hall lists all 11 members of the council on its window.
Josh Landes
/
WAMC

With municipal elections coming up in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, WAMC is taking the temperature on the city council that serves the county’s largest community.

Two long-serving councilors – John Krol of Ward 6 and Anthony Simonelli of Ward 7 – have already said they will not be seeking re-election. Of the remaining nine, all but one have made their intentions clear. Three of them did so at Mayor Linda Tyer’s announcement that she would seek a second four-year term on March 28th at the co-working space Framework in downtown Pittsfield. Council President Peter Marchetti – who serves as an at-large councilor – will seek a non-consecutive seventh term in office.

“I do intend to run for re-election, and if elected I do intend to ask my colleagues to be council president for a third term.”

Fellow at-large councilor Pete White will also stand for re-election as he seeks a third two-year term.

“I think the nature of the campaign is just going to be continuing to be approachable, accessible and committed to Pittsfield. Going out, talking to people, hearing what they have to say, and continuing to keep a positive message for Pittsfield going.”

Earl Persip, who was first elected in 2017, will also seek another term as an at-large councilor.

“I think I bring a kind of common sense to the council. I listen to everybody, I listen to my colleagues, I take what they have to say, what residents have to say, and that’s how I vote and act up there.”

Helen Moon of Ward 1 also says she’s seeking a second term, and touted her work to bring constituents’ concerns to the council.

“An example of that was chip sealing. A lot of residents actually in my neighborhood around Kitteridge were complaining about their roads being repaved with chip seals and so we got together and put a petition forward and we moved the city to take away chip sealing from repavement.”

Ward 3 Councilor Nicholas Caccamo says he’s also going for another term in office, and told WAMC that he’s working on expanding his understanding of city governance.

“I’ve made really concerted efforts to spend a lot of time or as much time as possible at city hall, with department heads – seeing what they do, seeing their day to day work, and how vital it is to creating a well-functioning local government.”

Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi will also seek re-election. He says he works with city administrators on a weekly basis, and that he was proud of his advocacy for his constituents – particularly concerning the cost of living in the city of around 43,000.

“We have a real elderly population, not just in Ward 2 but throughout the whole city. So trying to keep residents, especially those in fixed incomes and low incomes, really trying to make sure they can stay in their homes.”

Donna Todd Rivers of Ward 5 and Christopher Connell of Ward 4 both confirmed to WAMC that they would be seeking re-election in their respective seats. Melissa Mazzeo – the last of the city’s four at-large councilors, and one of the body’s most outspoken members – has not yet made her intentions for November’s election clear.

White, Persip, Moon, and Caccamo all confirmed that they would support Marchetti as council president if he is reelected.

Josh Landes has been WAMC's Berkshire Bureau Chief since February 2018, following stints at WBGO Newark and WFMU East Orange. A passionate advocate for Western Massachusetts, Landes was raised in Pittsfield and attended Hampshire College in Amherst, receiving his bachelor's in Ethnomusicology and Radio Production. His free time is spent with his cat Harry, experimental electronic music, and exploring the woods.
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