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Hillary Clinton Visits Western Mass on Eve of Primary

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Hillary Clinton wowed a small crowd of supporters in Springfield on Monday morning before heading off to a larger rally in Boston just a day before the state's primary.

"I will work as hard as I can every single day. ... I will get up and to go to work for you and fight for you," the Democratic presidential candidate said, asking for their votes on Tuesday. "I want us to make progress again. I am a progressive who likes to make progress."

The former secretary of state took aim at the candidates on the right, saying the Republicans left are "still peddling the same snake oil" that trickle-down economics will work.

"They are going to try to convince Americans to again go back to that policy," she said.

Clinton has positioned herself as an experienced politician who could work across the aisle, but still stand her ground. She espouses a platform based on inclusion and breaking down barriers, rather than building walls.

"The mean-spiritedness, the hateful rhetoric — that's not who we are," she said. "We have differences — that's part of the American DNA. ...

"What we can't let happen is the scapegoating, the blaming, the fingerpointing that is going on on the Republican side.

"It really undermines our fabric as a nation. So I want to set us on a difference course. ... I want to break down the barriers that stand in the way of people being successful. ... That stand in the way of Americans being successful."

This is the former secretary of state's first stop in Western Massachusetts during this presidential primary cycle; her opponent for the Democratic nomination, Vermont's U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, has three times drawn large crowds in the Springfield area and planned to be in Milton on Monday.

Clinton was headed for a rally at the Old South Meeting House in Boston after the Springfield event, but lingered after her half-hour speech to take selfies with the crowd.

Supporters were lined up outside the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History more than two hours before Clinton was to arrive. They packed into the small SIS Hall at the museum, below two vintage speed planes, to wait her arrival, occasionally breaking into chants of "413 ... Hillary."

Clinton is going into Super Tuesday on March 1 after a decisive win in South Carolina, where she picked 74 percent of the vote. Massachusetts joins Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Virginia in primary balloting, with several other states holding caucuses.

Sanders is expected to take his home state of Vermont, but Massachusetts could be a battlefield. Clinton is leading in Massachusetts by at least 5 points, according to recent polls, but Sanders' draw in Western Mass has been substantial.

Clinton has strong support from established Democrats. She was introduced by Mayor Dominic Sarno. and  U.S Rep. Richie Neal shared the stage with her on Monday. Also attending were state Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, state Reps. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, William "Smitty" Pignatelli, and Eugene Dellea, president of Fairview Hospital and a longtime Kennedy family friend. Pittsfield Mayor Linda Tyer and state Rep. Gailanne Cariddi are also supporters.

While containing most of her fire toward the Republicans, she pointed out differences between herself and her "esteemed" opponent Sanders on gun laws and education. While the Vermonter has called for college for all Americans, Clinton said her focus is on ensuring middle-class and low-income young people have the opportunity for a higher education. 

"I don't want you to pay taxes to send Donald Trump's youngest child to college."

She described herself as wanting to be a "small-business president" in promoting family-owned ventures and manufacturing, including the needs of the communities in the region.

"You are a city on the way back up and I'm going to be a president and a partner to help you keep going," Clinton vowed to Springfield residents.

Clinton said she was ready to take on "whoever the Republicans choose."

"They've been after me for 25 years and I'm still standing," she said to cheers.

Pittsfield City Council Weighs in on 'Crisis' in Public Schools

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
08:59PM / Monday, December 23, 2024

A half-dozen people addressed the City Council from the floor of Monday's meeting, including Valerie Anderson, right.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — After expressing anger and outrage and making numerous calls for accountability and transparency, the 11 members of the City Council on Monday voted to support the School Committee in seeking an independent investigation into allegations of misconduct by staff members at Pittsfield High School that have come to light in recent weeks.

 

At the close of a month that has seen three PHS administrators put on administrative leave, including one who was arrested on drug trafficking charges, the revelation that the district is facing a civil lawsuit over inappropriate conduct by a former teacher and that a staff member who left earlier in the year is also under investigation at his current workplace, the majority of the council felt compelled to speak up about the situation.

 

"While the City Council does not have jurisdiction over the schools … we have a duty to raise our voices and amplify your concerns and ensure this crisis is met with the urgency it demands," Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey said.

 

About two dozen community members attended the special meeting of the council, which had a single agenda item.

 

Four of the councilors precipitated the meeting with a motion that the council join the School Committee in its search for an investigation and that the council, "be included in the delivery of any disclosures, interim reports or findings submitted to the city."

 

Last week, the School Committee decided to launch that investigation. On Monday, City Council President Peter White said the School Committee has a meeting scheduled for Dec. 30 to authorize its chair to enter negotiations with the Springfield law firm of Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas to conduct that probe.

 

Ward 7 Councilor Rhonda Serre, the principal author of the motion of support, was one of several members who noted that the investigation process will take time, and she, like Kavey, acknowledged that the council has no power over the public schools beyond its approval of the annual district budget.