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Matthew Kerwood *
Candidate For City Council - Pittsfield As the youngest member of the City Council, Matthew Kerwood has had to prove himself to the city over his four terms as a Councilor At-Large. A Pittsfield native, Kerwood, 38, jumped into the political arena after working for several state and federal legislators, including former state senator and governor Jane Swift.
"In 1999, there was a changing dynamic and I wanted to contribute more by becoming an elected official," said Kerwood. "I wanted to further assist the city with the problems they were having at that time."
Kerwood graduated from Pittsfield High School in 1986 (where he was a "band geek" with fellow Councilor Peter Marchetti) and from Fairfield University in 1990, with a bachelor's degree in political science and a minor in education. Though he spent some time away from the city, his voter registration was always in the Berkshires.
For the father of two, one of the major issues for the city is education. With a dangerously high dropout rate in city high schools and constant worry over Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test scores, Pittsfield has faced some challenges in repairing the school system.
"I think we've made some first steps to making some targeted improvements," Kerwood said.
Kerwood said the City Council would be working in collaboration with the school committee in the next few years to develop strategies to dealing with the problems facing the city's youth.
Along with what Kerwood called "quality of life issues" like making investments in neighborhood infrastructure and paving roads, the City Council should be undertaking other key issues.
"As the community continues its evolution as a diversifying economy, we're going to see a lot more issues relative to land use," he said. "As we become culturally and economically diverse, we're going to have these issues and we have to balance how we look at economic development with existing neighborhoods."
Kerwood's community involvement activities include acting on the board of directors of the Berkshire Applied Technology Council and as a member of the Finance Committee for the Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity, Downtown Inc., the Pittsfield Economic Revitalization Corporation, the Massachusetts Economic Development Council, the 3rd Thursdays Steering Committee and the Friends of the Pediatric Development Center Advisory Committee. He also works part-time as the town administrator for Blandford.
See more at mattkerwood.com
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