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Kerrigan Pushes Regional Economic Plan in Pittsfield
 State Reps. Gailanne Cariddi, William "Smitty" Pignatelli, state Sen. Benjamin Downing and lieutenant governor candidate Steve Kerrigan talked economics during a morning walk down North Street. |
Area Democrats Ramping Up For November Statewide Election
 State Sen. Benjamin Downing is the chairman of the party's coordinated campaign aimed to rally voters to the polls in November. |
RICHMOND, Mass. — County Democrats haven't forgotten the night Republican Scott Brown was elected to the U.S. Senate.
And they don't want anything similar to happen again.
 Some of the party's active volunteers, including Sheila Murray of the Berkshire Brigades at left, attended Sunday's event that was both a fundraiser for the party but also a rally for organizers to get out the vote. |
Coakley Asks Support In Final Campaign Push
 Berkshires native Martha Coakely was in Pittsfield on Thursday, making a swing into the county in the days leading to the primary. |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Gubernatorial candidate Martha Coakley asked for votes and urged financial support as she visited 3rd Thursday and met with a smattering of the local cultural crowd at the Whitney Center for the Arts last week.
"It's always a privilege to come back to Berkshire County, said Coakley, a former North Adams resident and alum of Williams College.
Coakley, who as attorney general has had jurisdiction over utility rate regulation, said Massachusetts needs to build on current efforts toward greater energy efficiency.
"In the last eight years, we've seen some very interesting challenges and changes," said Coakley, touting her allegiance with Gov. Deval Patrick's administration.
Coakley also reiterated to local voters a revised position statement made earlier in the week in opposition to the proposed Northeast Energy Direct proposal to install a new fracked gas natural pipeline
"We need rich fuels, but I do not support the pipeline plan as proposed by Kinder Morgan," said Coakley. "We have to work to do, we have to get people to the table to meet our energy needs, but that doesn't seem to be the proposal to do it."
Regarding education, Coakley spoke of the importance of science and technology curriculum that also included arts and creativity, and of institutions like Berkshire Community College and the local vocational and technical high schools in economic development for the region.
"Developing that work force," is crucial, said Coakley, "and aligning what our future may look like with the curriculum we have, so that kids who are graduating have those skills."
Coakley also said she would like to increase the state's budgetary allocation for cultural funding.
"It's a tough economy, but we know that it's a good investment for so many reasons," she said. "It's a place where those dollars can be leveraged in so many ways."
"I'm also happy to have input from you all about other ways that a governor can be a good partner, so that we can structure our government and our cabinet accordingly."
Coakley promised aggressive reform on mental health and substance abuse issues, speaking candidly of the suicide of her younger brother, which she attributed to the stigma surrounding treatment for mental ailments.
"Eighteen years ago this afternoon, he took his own life," Coakley told supporters. "In 2015, we should be dealing with mental and behavioral problems the way we do with cardiac disease and diabetes. We can do that here in Massachusetts."
According to campaign staffers, Coakley will have a large push of television advertising beginning next week up to the Sept. 9 Democratic primary, and fundraising efforts throughout the state are critical. She will face off against Steven Grossman, the state treasurer, and Don Berwick, former federal Medicare administrator.
"We've had a fairly low-key campaign, but successful campaign because of the grass roots we've done," according to Coakley. "People are starting to really pay attention [to the election] now, and every dollar we raise now goes into voter contact."
Snoonian, Rice Cruise to Victory in Adams Election
 Supporters of candidates running for local office were parked along the sidewalk near the town garage on Monday. |
ADAMS, Mass. — Veteran Selectman Michael Ouellette lost his seat on the board on Monday night to newcomer Jeffrey Snoonian.
The count was 711-450, or 61 percent of the vote.
Snoonian's a newcomer not only to politics but to much of Adams. A longtime visitor to the area, he grew up in the east end of the state and only recently moved permanently to the Mother Town.
Despite that, the construction contractor has grown deep enough roots in the community to rack up sizeable support from a number of longtime residents - and to sweep to victory with 261 votes.
Snoonian was not at the polling station at the town garage when the vote tallies were read and could not be immediately reached for comment.
"I am excited I love Adams and I think it has unlimited potential," said Snoonian, when reached on Tuesday. "I just think it needs someone to champion it a little more and to be out there and a little more aggressive an enthusiastic."
Ouellette had squeaked to victory three years ago with 22 votes over Richard Blanchard, who has since won a seat, but couldn't get enough to support this time around. He left the polling station as the vote counts were read off and it became apparent he wouldn't be returning to the board.
The former GE engineer first won a seat on the board in 2008, beating out two others to fill the seat being vacated by Myra Wilk.
Kelly Rice won the treasurer-collector's office over Melissa McGovern-Wandrei by 666-477. McGovern-Wandrei, the appointed treasurer-collector in Clarksburg, had hoped her experience would win the day but Rice, a 30-year resident of the town and a longtime employee in the public schools and Town Hall, easily won by 189 votes.
"I am ready to start at 8:30 tomorrow morning after I get sworn in," said Rice, who has been working in the office of community development.
She will serve out the two years left on the three-year treasurer-collector term.
In the only other race on the ballot, George Haddad handily beat out Dennis A. Gajda by a vote of 748-366 for the three-year seat on the Board of Assessors being vacated by Lynn D. Avery.
"I am glad to serve the town of Adams again and I will do everything I can," said the former selectman. "I really appreciate the voters."
All other offices were unopposed.
Town Clerk Haley Meczywor said 1,171 of the town's 5,861 registered votered made it to the polls, or about 20 percent. That's on par with last year's election at 1,182 voters.
Green-Rainbow Statewide Candidates Launch 'Listening' Tour
 Local Green-Party activist L. Scott Laugenour, center, accompanied candidates Danny Factor, left, and Ian Jackson to submit their nomination sheets at Pittsfield City Hall. |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A trio of Green-Rainbow Party state candidates toured the Berkshires on Tuesday, meeting with citizens and filing their papers at Pittsfield City Hall.
The group kicked off the day in front of the closed North Adams Regional Hospital to press a focal point of the party's platform: Universal health care.
"Health care is a human right," said Danny Factor of Acton, who is running for secretary of the commonwealth. If the government can bail out a corporation, it can find funds to secure a deal to reopen a critical medical facility, he said.
"There's a lot the government can do in that and it can look into other options, such as taking it by eminent domain."
Auditor candidate M.K. Merelice of Brookline, an "occasional Franklin County resident," said North Berkshire's position was similar to that of the "forgotten county" of Franklin with its pockets of poverty.
"It does seem to me that this has as much to do with classism as anything else," she said. "If this hospital was located in the Southern Berkshires rather than the Northern Berkshires this would not be allowed to happen."
She said if elected, she would determine what type of medical services the community needed.
The candidates, including Ian Jackson, running for treasurer, called for more transparency and information regarding the closure, and a possibly publicly operated system with greater accountability to the people.
"People did pay for medical care, [that money] didn't just evaporate," said Jackson, who called for a different payment structure to make it easier for lawmakers to understand what happened.
After North Adams, the three candidates traveled to Kelly's Package Store in Dalton to discuss the long-pending bottle bill. That bill would expand the 5-cent deposit on soda and beer bottles and cans to other packaging — such as water or sports drinks.
Kelly's Package Store owner John Kelly recently testified in favor of the bill, saying recyclables is becoming a "secondary economy." The store collects and recycles bottles as an additional source of income.
"We felt like the expansion of the bottle bill would raise the recycling rate in the average household from 33 percent to 88 percent," Kelly told the candidates.
He added that those deposits help community groups raising money through bottle drives while there are individuals who collect bottles from the side of the road for extra income.
The candidates say that bill is long overdue.
"Just having a small deposit make sure it is going to the right place instead of going into a landfill," said Jackson.
But, it is more than that too, said Merelice, adding that the bottle bill is just one small step in turning the state's economy into a more environmentally-friendly one.
"It is a tiny step of what a future economy looks like," she said. "This may seem like a little thing, but when you look at the environment as a whole ... ."
Factor said there is a "culture" that needs changing when it comes to being environmentally friendly and encouraging more recyclables through the bill would help make that change. The bill will help push environmental consciousness into people's minds, which can lead to even more environmentally friendly practices.
Merelice added, "part of auditing is recognizing that the commonwealth's resources are no confined to finances. Part of the resources are people and the environment."
Following Kelly's the group went to Berkshire Organics to discuss the labeling of genetically modified organisms. Berkshire Organics focused on organic, high-quality foods, which the Green Rainbow Party supports. The party wants to push the labeling bill and no cracking under the pressure of major corporate suppliers who oppose it.
The three candidates rode the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority bus from Lenox to Pittsfield's Intermodal Transportation Center, where they heard from BRTA Assistant Administrator Robert Malnati on the region's public transportation.
 The candidates set up outside North Adams Regional Hospital to kick off their tour. |
A strong demand for increased evening and weekday service remain among the ongoing challenges for which the agency has had insufficient funding, Malnati said.
"Sixty-five percent of the population that we serve don't have a vehicle," Malnati told them, saying limitations in transportation availability was an obstacle to an economic development in an area increasingly dominated by jobs in the service industry.
Candidates expressed concerns about regional equality in transportation, as with health-care issues seen in their earlier NARH visit, and stressed that Berkshire residents must remain organized in order to effectively advocate for their needs.
"There's a saying that the quickest way that people give up their power is thinking they don't have any," said Merelice.
Green-Rainbow hopefuls said Berkshire County, which has seen high showings for their party in recent elections, is an important part of the upcoming election.
"We love this area," said Merelice. "It's important to identify your base."
Candidates said while the Green Rainbow party does have an overarching platform of core beliefs, they are touring the commonwealth to hear about each region's specific needs.
"Right now there's no candidate from the Berkshires running in our races, so it's important to come out and see what the Berkshires want and need," said Jackson.
The tour of the Berkshires led them to Pittsfield City Hall, where they submitted their nomination sheets to be on the ballot.
"We're calling this a listening launch," Merelise said of the daylong trip.
iBerkshires writers Tammy Daniels, Andy McKeever and Joe Durwin compiled this report.
State Election