Pittsfield Mayoral Candidates Discuss Housing, Taxes in Debate
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Three mayoral candidates delved into housing, taxes, and city economics during a debate hosted by streaming show "It's Pittsfield Tonight" last week.
Moderated by the video blog's creator Michael Daly, Peter Marchetti, Karen Kalinowsky, and John Krol answered the community's pressing questions.
Marchetti and Kalinowsky, both current city councilors, ran for the office in the past, and Krol is a former councilor.
When asked how the mayor can combat market forces that are skyrocketing housing prices and limiting availability, Kalinowsky and Marchetti emphasized the importance of upgrading Pittsfield's current housing stock.
"We have a lot of houses in Pittsfield, an awful lot of empty houses in Pittsfield. We need to get the funding to upgrade them to the living standards of what people expect when they come here into the city. Some of the people from General Dynamics, for example, they don't want to get an apartment that's going to cost them a lot of money that is rundown," Kalinowsky, a retired police officer, said.
"So we need to have an allotment of money coming in to help people upgrade these houses so that they're up to the standards of people who are going to rent, the people are going to be paying for them. So basically, it's still working with the state and trying to get funding in too. I mean, I know a lot of people want new housing, but we have a big housing stock here in this field and we've allowed them to run down and have been sitting empty for years."
Kalinowsky added that she is not against new construction but the city needs to work with the state to get funding for upgrades to housing that is suitable for people who want to come to Pittsfield for jobs.
Marchetti said the current climate with housing has more to do with the economy than the mayor, making his 35 years in the private sector as a banker handy.
"As we look at the economic situation today, I purchased my second home seven years ago and they had an interest rate of 3 percent. Today, we're looking at 6 percent for interest rates, so clearly changes the dynamic of people to be able to purchase, but there are hundreds of programs out there on the state and federal level to assist homeowners and one of the first things that we'll do is convene two different groups of folks to create a task force," he said.
"And one is going into the banking community and saying, 'We need to put everything on the table. We need to make sure that all of these programs that currently exist are being communicated to the general populace so that they understand where they are and how to be able to get them,' and then secondly, we need to take a really hard look at our rental housing stock and work with our code enforcement team to bring those up to a level that people want to live at and at the same time, continue to work with our investors like Allegrone and [David Carver of Scarafoni & Associates] who want to build affordable housing in Pittsfield over market-rate housing in Pittsfield. So we need to continue that process as well."
Krol said this is a fundamental and one of the biggest challenges that the city and county face right now. He expressed a need for renovations and new construction with mixed uses and listed projects he would like to see underway.
"There is a supply and demand issue. There is not enough inventory for middle-class people to be able to move up in their housing in our city and otherwise and there's just not enough inventory so what we have to do is focus on making more of that," said Krol, owner of a marketing and media company.
"This has to be the focus of, like we did in the mid-2000s when we renovated the Colonial Theatre and when we got Barrington Stage Company to come downtown and when we did these types of projects. There was a council of bankers who came together under the leadership of the mayor and it was Berkshire Bank and Greylock Federal Credit Union and others, Pittsfield Cooperative Bank, TD Bank coming together and saying, 'This is our focus and this is where we're going to work on this now.'"
He cited Lee Bank's new construction on South Street, which includes market-rate apartments on the second floor, adding that it only has a few units but takes some pressure off of the market.
"So think of what we can do if some of these other financial institutions that are looking, I hope, to invest in the city do that," Krol said, pointing to the possibilities for TD Bank to renovate its building at West and Center Street or Pittsfield Cooperative Bank with the former Harry's Supermarket on Elm Street. "The mayor has to lead that charge."
The candidates were also asked what they would say to people who support affordable housing initiatives but fight the projects proposed in their neighborhoods.
Marchetti said it starts with communication such as having a community meeting before the project is even announced.
"The city has just recently invested $6 million into affordable housing and if you ask the person on the street, they don't know that that's happening and so help is on the way. It's going to take some time to get here in order to redevelop some of these properties and the way that we handled both of the properties on West Housatonic [Street] didn't meet the needs and it was more or less people chasing after the fact and so from day number one, it's about communication. It's about bringing these projects to the community," he explained.
"Because I have a great idea, all of us up here may have a great idea but if we bring the public in, the public is going to help improve our ideas and they need a voice. They need a seat at the table for almost everything we do in the city and housing would start ...
"In terms of the other piece, I think that we have to hold landlords accountable and we know who they are, we need to go after them and if you're not supplying quality housing then we need to take the necessary measures to make sure that you do."
Krol said code enforcement has become lacking in the current administration.
"And I think that's really, really important for our housing stock and we take a big step backward as far as the ability for us to keep our housing stock quality and where it needs to be," he said. "So that is an initiative that I will revamp, once again, is a strong code enforcement plan."
Marchetti said this is why he advocated for additional building inspectors in last year's budget to reinvigorate the code enforcement team.
Krol said the Wright Building on North Street, owned by Allegrone Companies, has been vacant for the last several years and seeking historic tax credits for its renovation. He called on the city's leadership and state representative to guide that process in getting done.
"It has been a hole in our downtown for the last four years and the leadership today is not doing anything about it and that would be a piece of the housing component for our city and a huge piece missing in our downtown so that will be top on my priority list when I'm there," he said.
Kalinowsky said she got backlash from meeting organizers when she raised concerns about a three-story, 28-unit building at 107-111 West Housatonic St. for affordable housing last year.
"If I am mayor, our department is going to work with residents. We are not going to fight with the residents. We are not going to sit there 'You're wrong.' That doesn't work. We have to listen to their concerns because there were legitimate. The concerns being said to our local city hall, the concerns from the residents to them, are legitimate. As a police officer, I was trying to tell them what they're going to run into if they go with the format that they planned on going on and all of them basically naysay that I didn't know what I was talking about," she said.
"I spoke to other law enforcement officers about it and they, without me telling them anything, agreed with me about what that building is going to end up being like. Well, the neighbors already know this. They knew it just like I did and weren't listening. The city was not listening so it's not just meeting with the neighbors, it's listening."
The candidates had different ideas on how to lower the tax rate.
Kalinowsky feels that the city does not need a new, more than $50 million police station and that the current one can be renovated and remain in a central location.
She said it could be renovated for less than half of the cost of a new building.
"In regard to water and sewer, I was a big advocate of the [American Rescue Plan Act] money to be used. We did not have the say of where it could be used, the mayor did, but I fought from last January to the last budget meeting about trying to get ARPA money used toward water and sewer to help reduce our rates," she explained.
"I did get water meters for some of our really struggling low-income people that they will now put them in but basically I think we need to look at where we're spending. Where can we save? What is a necessity and what is just a want? Our city buildings need work. We have neglected them for years and it's cheaper to fix a building."
Krol believes the city should use a big portion of its free cash for tax relief, citing last year's end balance of about $17 million.
During the fiscal year 2024 budget process, Kalinowsky wanted to see $5 million allocated from free cash rather than the approved $1 million but Mayor Linda Tyer said this was not possible as the city will only have $6 million in free cash after the $1 million appropriation.
"I was on the council for 10 years. Never did we ever approach that much in free cash and this administration continues to tax people more and more and the status quo continues to do that," Krol said.
"In addition, the water rates. We should have taken a big portion of the $44 million in ARPA funding and defray the cost of water and sewer. There's no question about it. Times are tough for people and when you talk about a rainy day fund well, it's raining folks so it's time to help out the taxpayers."
He added that the city can increase its money intake by addressing the issue of losing students to school choice and negotiating with medical providers through health insurance.
"We lose $3 million a year in school choice every year for those students who go to other school districts and I look at that and say a $1.1 million of those goes to Lenox alone and we should be working with other school districts and sharing services," he said.
"There was a report that came from an Education Task Force about a decade ago that said if we're able to move down to one school district across Berkshire County that would at that time, save $30 million. Now, we know we're not going to get down to one school district for the entire county anytime soon but Pittsfield has to take the lead on that. This is unbelievable that this has gone on for so long. Pittsfield is the heart of the Berkshires. We have to take the leadership position and start sharing services."
Marchetti said these problems existed long before now and will in the future.
He said if a large sum of free cash was used to give taxpayers a reprieve this year, it will put the city in bad standing for the next year.
When Tyer proposed an allocation of $2 million to the stabilization fund, $2 million to the public works stabilization fund, and $2 million into the other-postemployment benefits fund, he pushed back and asked that $7.5 million be put to address roads and sidewalks.
"And that passed at City Council, that $7 1/2 million. Free cash being used for those projects now are going to save taxpayers money over the next 20 years because we're not borrowing that money like we do every single season to do roads and sidewalks," Marchetti said.
"So right off the bat, we are already being able to reduce debt by not borrowing money to do our roads and sidewalks and so we took the money from putting it into a stabilization fund or a rainy day fund. He's correct it is raining so let's put it to where we need to, let's fix the problems that we can fix and not have to overburden the taxpayers with additional debt that they can pay for."
Krol said when it comes down to it, this administration and leadership have taken the stance that they are going to stock more money away and that residents want some of it back.
He said the city received a $5 million reimbursement for the rebuild of Taconic High School that should have been given back to taxpayers.
"We're going to have this campaign and I'm just going to say it right now. I'm not Linda Tyer and you're not Jim Ruberto," Marchetti replied. "So can we start debating who we are and what we're going to do and let the taxpayers have a fair assessment of what we're going to do when we're the mayor?"
The last day to submit nomination papers to the Registrar of Voters for certification is Friday, 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.
For updates, visit the iBerkshires.com Election Page.
Tags: election 2023, mayor, municipal election,
