image description

Pittsfield Sees Another Certified Mayoral Candidate, Ward and School Committee Interest

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city has another certified mayoral candidate and new interest in the wards and School Committee.

Councilor At Large Karen Kalinowsky has had her signatures certified after taking out papers last month.  She had originally taken interest in returning to her seat at large but has dropped from that race to try for the city"s lead position.

So far, she and City Council President Peter Marchetti are the only certified mayoral candidates.  John Krol, Craig Gaetani, and David Webber have also taken out papers.

Resident Daniel Miraglia has taken out papers for Ward 3 to run against Bill Tyer and Matthew Wrinn, who have both been certified.  Miraglia is a regular at city meetings and often speaks about conservation and park items.

Rhonda Serre, who is the Corporate Communications Director of Greylock Federal Credit Union, has taken out papers for Ward 7.  Serre ran in the 2017 election and was ousted by Anthony Simonelli by a 73 percent to 27 percent margin.

Diana Beliar has taken out papers for School Committee and has had her signatures certified.  According to LinkedIn, she is an attorney.

Ward 2 has the most interest with four people taking out papers.  Current councilor Charles Kronick has indicated that he is not seeking re-election but has not formally withdrawn his name.

Wards 3, 6, and 7 each had three people take out papers and there are seven interested in serving on the School Committee.

The last day to submit nomination papers to the Registrar of Voters for certification is July 21 and the last day to submit papers to the city clerk is Aug. 4. A preliminary election, if needed, is scheduled for Sept. 19 and the general election is on Nov. 7.

Candidate List as of Thursday

MAYOR

***Peter M Marchetti
John Michael Krol Jr
Craig C Gaetani
***Karen M Kalinowsky
David Donald Webber

CITY CLERK

***Michele Marie Benjamin

AT LARGE

***Earl George Persip, III     
***Peter T White
***Alisa L Costa     
***Craig Benoit     
Lucas Marion

WARD 1

***Kenneth G Warren, Jr

WARD 2



Charles I Kronick
***Soncere Marie Williams
Alexander Blumin     
Brittany Katarina Bandani

WARD 3

***Bill Tyer
***Matthew J Wrinn
Daniel T Miraglia
    
WARD 4

***James Bryan Conant

WARD 5

***Patrick Kavey
Ocean L Sutton     

WARD 6

Craig C Gaetani
Dina G Lampiasi
Edward James Carmel

WARD 7

***Anthony V Maffuccio
***Jonathon R Morey
Rhonda L Serre

SCHOOL COMMITTEE

***William David Garrity Jr
***Sara Hathaway     
***William J Cameron
***Daniel C Elias     
Stephanie G Sabin
***Dominick Carmen Sacco
***Diana Marie Belair  

(*** indicates certified candidates)


Tags: election,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Letter: Is the Select Board Listening to Dalton Voters?

Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

A reasonable expectation by the people of a community is that their Select Board rises above personal preference and represents the collective interests of the community. On Tuesday night [Nov. 12], what occurred is reason for concern that might not be true in Dalton.

This all began when a Select Board member submitted his resignation effective Oct. 1 to the Town Clerk. Wishing to fill the vacated Select Board seat, in good faith I followed the state law, prepared a petition, and collected the required 200-plus signatures of which the Town Clerk certified 223. The Town Manager, who already had a copy of the Select Board member's resignation, was notified of the certified petitions the following day. All required steps had been completed.

Or had they? At the Oct. 9 Select Board meeting when Board members discussed the submitted petition, there was no mention about how they were informed of the petition or that they had not seen the resignation letter. Then a month later at the Nov. 12 Select Board meeting we learn that providing the resignation letter and certified petitions to the Town Manager was insufficient. However, by informing the Town Manager back in October the Select Board had been informed. Thus, the contentions raised at the Nov. 12 meeting by John Boyle seem like a thinly veiled attempt to delay a decision until the end of January deadline to have a special election has passed.

If this is happening with the Special Election, can we realistically hope that the present Board will listen to the call by residents to halt the rapid increases in spending and our taxes that have been occurring the last few years and pass a level-funded budget for next year, or to not harness the taxpayers in town with the majority of the cost for a new police station? I am sure these issues are of concern to many in town. However, to make a change many people need to speak up.

Please reach out to a Select Board member and let them know you are concerned and want the Special Election issue addressed and finalized at their Nov. 25 meeting.

Robert E.W. Collins
Dalton, Mass.

 

 

View Full Story

More Pittsfield Stories