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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  Current councilor Charles Kronick has indicated that he is not seeking re-election but has not formally withdrawn his name.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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Lanesborough Picks Information Panel for Public Safety Proposal

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The town has a public safety building proposal to present to taxpayers, and now, an informational committee will help move the process forward.

On Monday, the Select Board voted to form a public safety building informational outreach committee and re-appointed four members: Dean Clement, Daniel MacWhinnie, Mark Siegars, and Lisa Dachinger.

"The Public Safety Building Committee has done their job. Now we need, hopefully with some of those same bodies, to form a new committee of some type and move forward," Select Board member Timothy Sorrell explained.

Earlier this month, the town officials voted to advance a $7.3 million combined police/emergency medical services facility to town meeting, discarding the option for a $6.5 million separate build.  The same design, then priced at $5.9 million, was shot down in 2023.

"There is the option to go to what could be a debt exclusion, which requires a two-thirds majority at either a special town meeting or an annual town meeting, and that can be followed by inclusion in a ballot," Town Administrator Gina Dario said.

Siegars advised that if the question goes to a ballot first with a fixed project budget, that amount can't be changed for a subsequent special town meeting vote.

"In our discussions, there are committee members who are willing to stay on if you wanted to continue the committee or appoint to new one, who have volunteered to be involved with any public information sessions to try to answer the questions with the idea that that they would also explore further and work with Gina and town counsel on specifically what the question should be for a special town meeting, and if, if warranted a subsequent ballot vote," he reported.

Chairman Michael Murphy echoed the former committees' arguments that the town can't explore grants and financing until it has approved an amount.

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