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Pittsfield Ward 4 Candidates Offer Experience, New Ideas
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Ward 4 race is a choice between experience or innovative thinking, say the candidates.Ozias "Chuck" Vincelette and Christopher J. Connell faced off last Monday in one of a series of debates for candidates sponsored by The Pittsfield Gazette and Pittsfield Community Television, and hosted at Berkshire Community College. The moderator was David Cachat of PCTV.
They are vying to replace outgoing Ward 4 Councilor Michael Ward. Connell lead Vincelette by less than 100 votes in September's preliminary, which left third-place candidate James Brosnan out of the running. Connell failed to best Ward two years ago; Vincelette is seeking a return to the council after being defeated by Ward in 2005.
Connell said he had learned a lot since his defeat in 2009 about safety, taxes and PCB issues, and touted his current involvement in the city. The property manager has served on the Traffic Commission and on local boards like the Pittsfield Family YMCA and participation in fundraisers for local organizations. He moved to the city nine years ago.
Vincelette touted his 40 years living in the ward and his prior service representing it, and pointed to his years as a math teacher at Pittsfield High and in local banking. He upbraided Connell for a candidate's statement on PCTV that claimed Vincelette had done nothing to contribute to the city in the past six years. "I take exception, strong exception" to that statement, he said. "Because it is simply not true."
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Vincelette said the problem goes back a decade and is further complicated by the several different speed limits along the road. "It all has to do with enforcement," he said, suggesting that "police officers on their time off come in and write citations ... They would get paid based on the number of citations they write."
Connell claimed he'd mentioned hiring enforcement officers at a prior debate "to not only monitor Holmes Road and Ward 4 but the other hotspots in the city." Rather than overtime, he said the city should hire a traffic officer and that the revenue "for wirting tickets would more than pay for the salary, the vehicle, and whatnot for this type of officer." Using electronic enforcement might also work, Connell said.
Neither really supported the plan proffered by the state for remediating the polychlorinated biphenyls from the so-called "Rest of the River," which includes dredging Woods Pond.
"I would personally like to see all the PCBs taken out but there are things to consider, for example the ecosystem ... and the property values," said Connell. "If we go to bank-to-bank remediation, the property values for those homes on the river are going to go down dramatically and people are going to be trapped because they won't be able to sell their houses."
He held out hope that advances in technology would allow a less invasive cleanup.
Vincelette said the city hadn't actually seen the plan yet, that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would decide the course in conjunction with the state. Of concern was the fact that city no longer had an official voice in the issue becuase of the consent agreement.
"All we can do is accept the decision. There's only one dog in this fight and it's the EPA," he said. "We're all wiating to find out what is the final decision."
They both supported continued municipal trash pickup, with Vincelette saying its a service that works well for citizens and Connell advocating for more education to increase recycling and reduce costs.
Both believed the city needs to change its budget review process.
"The process we have now starts only a month before the budget has to be approved and certified," said Connell. "Starting earlier will give us more in-depth perception of what's actually in the line items. ... what areas we could tweak a little bit."
Vincelette thought the current processs "is an excerise in futility" that has failed to rein in spending. "We tried to cut the capital budget but we actually raised it by $450,000," he said, suggesting a "select subcommittee" do a separate review and report back to the entire council. "You'll never get six people to agree to a cut.
Both also came down against replacing the school bus fleet at this point. The buses were purchased five years ago with the pledge to set aside money for replacements.
Vincelette said the school system had promised to do that for years with no results. "It's never going to be set aside yet we still have the problem of bringing our kids to school," he said, adding the city needed to explore other options including reviewing routes that appeared to have to few children riding.
Connell said the city should to look into leasing. "The bottom line is, we bought a new fleet, the money was supposed to be put aside every year to purchase a new fleet and it wasn't now we have to deal with it," he said. "We have to weigh all the costs, all the options and pick the best one."
In closing, Vincelette said it was "time to talk turkey" and laid out his credentials and experience within the ward and community. "Living a life of honest work, civic engagement and straight talk; this is the experience and traits I want to bring to the council table."
Connell called for new ideas. "We need new and innovative ideas to press forward in this difficult times," he said, adding he'd have a website and other social media to keep in contact with constituents. "The ways of the past just don't work anymore ... we're in the 21st century."
State Election