Pittsfield Voters Have Some Important Decisions To Make In Two Weeks

The City of Pittsfield’s municipal election is coming up in two weeks, and when voters in the city go to the polls they will seat a new Pittsfield City Council and New Pittsfield School Committee. This is a sort of overview of what voters will be dealing with on November 2nd.

The current Pittsfield City Council looks like this:

• Ward 1 - Helen Moon
• Ward 2 - Kevin Morandi
• Ward 3 - Nicholas Caccamo
• Ward 4 - Christopher Connell
• Ward 5 - Patrick Kavey
• Ward 6 - Dina Guiel Lampiasi
• Ward 7 - Anthony Maffuccio
• At Large - Peter Marchetti, President
• At Large - Peter White
• At Large - Earl Persip III
• At Large - Yuki Cohen

The City Council will see a fair amount of reshaping as four of the current councilors have decided to not seek re-election, some incumbents have a challenger, and other seats have a current or new candidate running unopposed.

In Ward 1, where Helen Moon has decided not to run for another term, Kenneth Warren and Andrea Wilson are running. In Ward 2, where Kevon Morandi is not seeking re-election, Matthew Kudlate and Charles Kronick are running. In Ward 3, where Nicholas Caccamo is not running again, Keven Sherman is running unopposed. In Ward 4, where Chris Connell has decided to not seek another term, James Conant and Andrew Wrinn are running. In Ward 5, Patrick Kavey is running unopposed for re-election. In Ward 6, Edward Carmel is looking to unseat incumbent Dina Guiel Lampiasi. In Ward 7, Anthony Maffuccio is running for re-election without challenge.

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In the race for the city's four At-Large seats, there are six candidates running. All four current At-Large members are running for re-election along with two challengers. On the ballot are incumbents Peter Marchetti, Peter White, Yuki Cohen, and Earl Persip III, as well as the two challengers looking to unseat one of the aforementioned councilors, Karen Kalinowski and Craig Benoit.

The Pittsfield School Committee race looks like this:

Although you will see ten names on the ballot for Pittsfield School Committee, there are only eight candidates running for the six available seats. William Cameron, Mark Brazeau, Alison McGee, and Daniel Elias are all running for re-election, while Vicky Smith, Sarah Hathaway (the former mayor), Karen Reis Kaveney Murray, and William Tyer are also running. You will also see Nyanna Slaughter and Kate Lauzon listed on the ballot, but both said that they would no longer be running. They however did so after the deadline to withdraw, so their names will remain on the ballot. Katherine Yon, who currently serves as chair, has decided to not seek re-election. Linda Tyer (as the current Mayor) serves on the school committee as well.

There are no ballot questions for voters to consider this time around.

Election Day is Tuesday, November 2nd. Polls in the city will be open from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM.

City Clerk Michelle tells the Berkshire News Network that a projection of voter turnout is difficult at this time. She is expecting a low turnout, however, similar to what we saw in 2017, which was the last election that the office of Mayor was not on the ballot.