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

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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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  Current councilor Charles Kronick has indicated that he is not seeking re-election but has not formally withdrawn his name.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,   

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Pittsfield Council Tables DCF Background Check Ordinance

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council decided that a policy to require clearance from the Department of Children and Families for city employees needs more time.

At last Tuesday's meeting, an ordinance requiring a background check with DCF for all new hires who have contact with minors was tabled.

Ward 2 Councilor Brittany Noto, who is an attorney, believes this is an "extreme overreach of privacy" and will have a disparate impact on otherwise qualified applicants who come from low socioeconomic status, people of color, survivors of domestic violence, and single parents.

"We want more qualified applicants in the city pool who have diverse backgrounds, not less," she asserted.

"If we want to address the actual problem in our schools then we must look to the schools themselves to follow through with disciplinary actions, disclosure, and wherever appropriate, actually removing abuse perpetrators from this field, instead of allowing them to resign and walk away quietly only to be hired by another institution."

She said that while everyone understands DCF is doing its best to serve communities, there are instances where a finding could come out negatively toward someone and then found to be without basis, successfully appealed, or overturned.

"And of note for this council, approximately half of DCF findings are overturned by the Fair Hearing office or could be the result of a non-abusive parent simply struggling to leave an abusive relationship," Noto added.

"Further, this proposed ordinance, as currently drafted, makes no distinction as to open cases versus closed cases with the department, so theoretically, otherwise qualified applicants would be subjected to having decades-old closed cases dug up for inspection, including running the risk of disclosing records involving applicants when they themselves were minors and other potential minors, of which this proposed ordinance makes no distinction."

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