| Home | About | Archives | RSS Feed |
Five Vying For Adams Board of Selectmen
 |
At Monday's deadline for nomination papers, the five candidates that had returned papers were incumbent Arthur "Skip" Harrington, former Selectman Edward Driscoll, and newcomers Richard Blanchard, John Duval and Jeremy Halek. Two others, Donald Sommer and Anthony Coty, had taken out papers but did not return them.
The only other race is for moderator. Incumbent Joseph R. Dean Jr. is being challenged by Ryan Biros.
Five elected positions do not have candidates.
Parks Commissioner Aimee Sinopoli will not be running again and the board was already one position short. Of three open positions on that board, only incumbent James Fassell returned nomination papers.
Two seats on the Redevelopment Authority — five-year and a two-year — also have no candidates. Incumbent Joseph Allard will not seek re-election, which adds to an already vacant position.
Additionally, Cemetery Commissioner Robert Ciempa is not seeking re-election, creating a vacancy there.
For all other posts, only the incumbents returned election papers. The full list is available below.
Adams 2012 Offices for Election
Adams Election Papers Available Jan. 30
 |
The papers must be returned to the Town Clerk's office by March 19 for the May 7 election. On the Board of Selectmen, there will be two seats for re-election - one of which is the three-year term of Jason Hnatanko, who will not seek re-election. The other is for the three-year term of current Chairman Arthur "Skip" Harrington.
There are also seats available for moderator, town clerk, assessor, board of health, two library trustees, three parks commissioners, planning board, cemetery commissioner, two redevelopment authority, a Northern Berkshire Regional Vocational School District, two seats on the Adams Cheshire Regional School District (a representative from Adams and Cheshire) and many town meeting members. The full list of seats are available below.
For residents who want to vote in the presidential primary on March 6, registration is required by Feb. 15. The deadline to vote in the town election is April 17. The state primary election is on Sept. 6 and the state election is on Nov. 6. The full calendar is available below as well.
Adams 2012 Election Calendar
Adams 2012 Offices for Election
Barbalunga Asks for 2 More Years on School Committee
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Statement from Alf Barbalunga, candidate for School Committee.It has been two years, and I continue to be excited about my work on the city of Pittsfield School Committee. If you believe I have served competently, please support me for re-election.
The school department spends 45 cents of every dollar the city takes from you in taxes. My highest priorities are to ensure your hard earned money is spent wisely, and our community is kept safe. Public safety and reduced crime rates go hand-in-hand with a quality education. As some of you know it took me a long time to get back to the Berkshires, and I’m not going anywhere. I am committed to doing my part to promote Pittsfield's future growth. If you believe merited and award me your vote, I will be honored to give you another two years of service.
BACKGROUND
Thirty-one year resident of Pittsfield and the only candidate under the age of 40
Attended Pittsfield Public Schools, K-12
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Total Quality Management
Community Development (Planning) Board Clerk, 12-plus years
EXPERIENCE
Massachusetts Trial Court, Probation Service Chief
20-plus years Public Safety career
Previously employed as a Juvenile Probation Officer working in the Pittsfield schools
Chairman of the Safety & Transportation subcommittee
VOTING RECORD & VALUES
Only School Committee member who voted against across the board management pay raises
Only subcommittee member who voted against the outright spending of more than $3 million dollars on the purchase of a new citywide fleet of school busses
Berkshire Brigades Democratic Organization committee member
Continues to not accept campaign donations
PREVIOUS UNION MEMBERSHIP
AFL-CIO / Local 1134
AFL-CIO / Local 285
SEIU / Local 254 - Shop Steward
SEIU-NAGE / Locals 229 & 118 - Regional Steward
North Adams Candidate Forums Scheduled
 |
Mayoral candidates Richard Alcombright and Ronald Boucher will face off in their third and last debate aired live on Tuesday, Nov. 1, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Sponsored by iBerkshires, the hourlong debate will take place at the studio without an audience. iBerkshires' Editor in Chief Tammy Daniels will be the moderator.
The focus of the debate will be economic growth, management and government/public services.
Voters are encouraged to email questions or issues they would like addressed to info@iberkshires.com with "election questions" in the subject line or tweet us @iberkshires during the debate using hashtag #election2011.
The debate will also air on Wednesday, Nov. 2, at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.; Thursday, Nov. 3, at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.; Friday, Nov. 4, at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 5, at 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.; Sunday, Nov. 6, at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.; and Monday, Nov. 7, at 9 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.
The 16 City Council candidates will be taped in two 50-minute forums at the studio on Wednesday, Nov. 2, to be aired later. Sponsored by the North Adams Transcript, the candidates will be split into two groups of eight and asked the same three questions in alphabetical order, according to the newspaper.
The first group will be John Barrett III, Lisa Blackmer, Michael Bloom, Keith Bona, David Bond, Eric Buddington, Nancy Bullett and Robert Cardimino.
The second group will be Catherine Chaput, Diane Gallesse-Parsons, Marie Harpin, Michael Hernandez, Jennifer Breen Kirsch, Alan Marden, Greg Roach and Gail Sellers.
The forums will be shown back to back beginning on Thursday, Nov. 3, at 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.; Friday, Nov. 4, at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 5, at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.; Sunday, Nov. 6, at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., and Monday, Nov. 7, at 10 a.m. and 8:30 p.m.
A School Committee debate to be taped on Thursday has been canceled because not enough candidates were able to attend. Invited to participate are Mary Lou Acetta, Lawrence K. Taft, Leonard Giroux Jr., Tara Jacobs and David Lamarre. The five are running for three seats. They have been invited to submit candidate statements to iBerkshires.
The municipal election is Tuesday, Nov. 8, from 9 to 7. The deadline for absentee ballots is Monday, Nov. 7, at noon in the city clerk's office.
Five After Pittsfield's Corner Office
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Five are vying for the corner office and 19 are for 11 seats on the City Council.
Daniel L. Bianchi is making another run after being edged out by James Ruberto last election; he will be up against Peter Marchetti, Joseph Nichols, Steve Fillio and Donna Walto in a preliminary election on Sept. 27. Ruberto has declined to run after serving three terms.
Bianchi was a five-term councilor in Ward 6 before the 2009 election. Marchetti is considered to be an extension of the Ruberto tenure and is a four-term councilor at large. Nichols is a newcomer to the City Council, after being elected to Ward 7 in 2009, but has proved to be outspoken on city matters — and often voting in the minority. Walto, a local entrepreneur, took a run for the corner office in 2007 but was defeated by Ruberto, and Fillio has ran in the last two elections but failed to move past the preliminary.
Eight are vying for the four council at-large seats. Incumbents Melissa Mazzeo and Kevin Sherman will face Nicholas Caccamo, Barry Clairmont, Churchill Cotton, Anthony Maffuccio, Thomas Sakshaug and Richard Scapin.
Caccamo threw his hat in for mayor in the last election and Maffuccio was soundly defeated in the preliminary for the Ward 7 seat. Sakshaug is a member of the city's Animal Control and Conservation commissions. Clairmont is a member of the School Building Needs Commission. Richard Scapin is a former city council president and Cotton is a longtime member of the School Committee
In Ward 3, Jeffrey Ferrin is taking on incumbent Paul Capitanio. Ferrin has worked in the city's highway department and is involved with multiple public safety organizations.
Ward 4 will need a preliminary election to trim the pool down to two. James Bronson, Christopher Connell and Ozias "Chuck" Vincelette are all pursuing the seat that is currently filled by Michael L. Ward, who is not running for re-election. Bronson is the current president of the Berkshire County Republican Association. Vincelette sat in the Ward 4 seat until 2005 when he was beaten by Ward.
Incumbent Jonathan Lothrop will face a challenge in Joe Breault for Ward 5. Incumbent Christine Yon is uncontested in Ward 1, incumbent John Krol is uncontested in Ward 6 and newcomer Anthony Simonelli will be uncontested for Ward 7, which is being vacated by Nichols for a run for mayor.
Seven people have entered the race for School committee. Kathy Amuso, Alf Barbalunga, Daniel Elias, Jonathan King, Terry Kinnas, Kathy Yon and James Conant will all be after six seats. Linda Tyler is uncontested for city clerk.
As of Tuesday, all of the nomination signatures have been certified accept for Walto. The election schedule is available below.
Pittsfield Municipal Election Schedule 2011
| Tags: Pittsfield, mayor, council |
State Election