Thread by @JoshLandesWAMC

I am here at @BerkshireCC for tonight's Pittsfield mayoral debate for @WAMCNews! At 7, incumbent Mayor Linda Tyer, At-Large city councilor Melissa Mazzeo, retired cop Karen Kalinowsky, and businessman Scott Graves will take to the stage. I'll be live tweeting! Wrap tomorrow.

@BerkshireCC @WAMCNews You can listen live on WTBR or watch it on Pittsfield Community Television!

wtbrfm.com

@BerkshireCC @WAMCNews You can track down my talks with all four candidates from this lil' story - each candidate interview is hyperlinked in the text and farther down the web page.

wamc.org/post/pittsfiel…

It is absolutely packed tonight.

Tonight's conversation comes before the September 17th preliminary election, where two of the four candidates will be eliminated before the general election on November 5th.

Opening statements! Scott Graves is first. He admits to being a little nervous. Talking about growing up in a broken home, going through a divorce, living in the projects, having almost nothing. He says "hard work and dedication" can make people who they want to be.

He's talking about his success in business - real estate, etc. He says he's invested "quite a lot" in the city with construction and the Rusty Anchor Marina.

Tyer! She says through "specific and dedicated action," the city is making a comeback. "Heart of the Berkshires" with "big city amenities." She says she's "dedicated herself to building a stronger city," wants to offer everyone opportunity. Says she's "energized the city."

She's name drops Wayfair, talks about ShotSpotter, community policing, says she "created" the police advisory board. Taking on the rising crime issue head on - saying it will take creativity to deal with it. Says she "saved" St. Mary's from the Dunkin' Donuts wrecking ball.

Tyer says she averted a fiscal crisis, talks about her infrastructure work on roads and street lights. Says she's built powerful relationships, brought in over $17 mil in grants, relieving the pressure on tax payers.

Kalinowsky! 12 sisters and brothers, wow - did not know that. Mentions her work as a cop doing community policing - says she thinks the whole job is community policing "if you're doing it right" - and working as a school resource officer. Retired last year.

Says she wants to address issues in the schools, issues with crime on the city streets "to get our city under control."

Mazzeo! Raised by a single mom, self-made story. Was "living the American dream" with her husband and family, but hasn't forgotten her roots - "a life of service." 10 year vet of the city council. Says she's frustrated with "lack of leadership."

Says the city is more dangerous now than it was 4 years ago, says she's excited to talk about infrastructure and economic development. "I will be a four year mayor" underscores her criticism of Tyer in her remarks to WAMC about what she describes as inaction over that time.

What have the candidates learned on the campaign trails? Graves: taxes, assessments, high property taxes. Says Bianchi went up $18 million, another $12 million this term. Uses "business lover" line again. Says "we're at the max of the tax," needs to build business community back.

He says he tried to open a business on North Street, but couldn't afford it. Brings up Richmond example again as he did in his remarks to WAMC - the Balderdash Cellars story about them opening with no bathroom.

Says people have to keep with diminishing tax rate.

Tyer! Says she hears "proud of history," "proud of heritage." She says residents are happy about her tenure - job creation (over 400 she says), more businesses, more events. She's working to paint a diametrically opposed vision of Pittsfield from her gloomier opponents.

Tyer says she hears that people want more road work done. Describes housing market as "hot," says people are choosing Pittsfield - "an important measurement of the health of our city." People want more, says the mayor.

Kalinowsky agrees, people are happy with Third Thursday, movie screenings on the common. Negatives: roads, potholes, schools (says people are sending their kids to Lenox), taxes (especially older people). Doesn't know if the taxes will go up or down or not. Shootings, crime.

Re: crime, Kalinowsky name drops Cumberland Farms, prostitutes, opiate problem, thefts, seeming inaction from legal system against criminals.

Mazzeo: says it's the first time she's heard from residents that people are looking for change because they're disappointed in empty promises. Rising blight, crime. Says city isn't delivering to its residents. Pros? Beautiful natural environment.

Mazzeo ties crime to economic development - slow economy leads to more crime leads to bad headlines leads to a bad brand for the city.

Question: could public trust be improved with police? If so, how? Tyer: community trust is vital. Says she's expanded community policing to do that. Cites Officer Derby's efforts with community outreach, new outreach post in the West Side - which she describes as being...

..."under a special kind of stress," likely alluding to shootings, one as recently as this weekend. Mentions Police Advisory Board. Background:

wamc.org/post/pittsfiel…

Kalinowsky says as a former cop, she has no complaints about the community, celebrates their support. Says there is work to be done, that community policing "should never have left" after it was created in the 90s. Wants more beat cops to build relationships, mentions...

...her experience being the North Street beat cop. Says cops aren't doing enough now to fight crime, sending folks off to insurance companies when theft occurs. Accuses the DA's office of "not wanting to bring it," says it's not doing its job.

Adds judges to the list too. She says not being prosecuted because of a drug addiction- which she says she is sympathetic to- amounts to an anti-victim policy. Says the politics of the DA's office & the court is "infiltrating" the police officer, that cops need to do their jobs.

Really coming out swinging at the DA's office. Andrea Harrington is in the audience tonight.

Kalinowsky says the city is getting worse, and she'll do something about crime. Mazzeo "says what Karen says" to laughter and applause. She supported Harrington rival and then incumbent DA Paul Caccaviello in the 2018 election.

Mazzeo also wants more cops on the ground, and wants more follow up to crime. Reiterates desire for a full evaluation of how the police department works. "Are we setting up ourselves to go towards the technology if that's what we're spending our money on."

Says that policing needs to better mirror community desires. The famously effusive Mazzeo is definitely dialed in to her message tonight. Graves ALSO says he agrees with Kalinowsky almost word for word, says he went through the police academy.

Graves says that city cops are depressed because they don't think the system will deliver on the work after the arrest to deal with criminals. Joining the tough(er) on crime crowd, agrees with Kalinowsky that judges aren't doing their jobs.

Question now is how to bolster the city against a crisis that would leave Pittsfield powerless. I can tell you now Tyer will mention the microgrid study.

THIS microgrid study!

wamc.org/post/pittsfiel…

Kalinowsky admits to being stumped on the question, says that she knows that the city has a plan to keep police, hospitals online. Says she'll learn the plan once she's mayor to laughter.

Mazzeo: repeats "what Karen said" line to more laughter. Says that utility companies should be prepared for this kind of thing, says that public safety departments should be doing their homework on the topic. Wants to see regional network of support, collaboration with neighbors.

Graves says he's inspired by his father's love of ham radio as a possible means of emergency communication in a crisis.

Tyer says she's identified a common theme of the campaign that is clearly directed at Mazzeo - as a member of the city council, you have complete access to everything in city hall, and hence, no excuses to not know things.

Tyer says she's worked with state officials to secure the $75k for a microgrid study. BAM! I've still got it!

Recently approved plan for outdoor marijuana cultivation on Barker Road reactions! Mazzeo: says as city council member, she worked on city bylaws about the regulation of the plant. People may not agree with legalization, but it's legal, and here we are.

While I can't see it from my vantage point in the media zone, I'm told by an audience member that Kalinowsky is openly laughing during Tyer's remarks tonight.

Graves says a lot of land is being bought up for marijuana cultivation, and it's making land more valuable. He doesn't have an issue with it as long as residents have a voice in where it's being developed. Talking about security measures for outdoor grow operations.

Tyer says she's proud of her work to set up the city for marijuana legalization, drafted a resolution to protect the city while supporting the new industry. Says both are possible and important. Initially, she advocated for a cap of 10 marijuana businesses. The council...

...expanded that to 35. She says the question of cultivation in residential neighborhoods impacts quality of life of neighbors, says ordinance insists fencing/security taken into account, a review board process, plenty of safeguards as far as impact on communities.

Kalinowsky mentions she used to be a D.A.R.E. officer to laughter. She voted against legalization, has concerns about outdoor grow facility security. Thinks of it as "bringing drugs into the city." Says as mayor she would go with what people want.

Discussion of use- or lack there of- of green components in construction of new Columbus Ave parking lot. Immediate confusion from Graves, says he's in support of green tech in city projects after a couple clarification questions. "I'm a little on the stumped side here." passes.

Tyer says green components like rain gardens and shade trees and electric charging stations should be part of the conversation. Says the lot in question doesn't have those things because the city wants to build a parking garage there eventually, is learning from it.

The mayor says the city is being celebrated for its green efforts, says it might generate more solar than any other community in the whole state. Mentions microgrid again, resiliency efforts, work as mayor on green projects.

Kalinowsky seems somewhat stumped by this.

Mazzeo says the city should be using green energy. She backs up Tyer's statement about the lot in question initially being planned as a garage, as she has fingerprints on it as well. She's going back to weed, saying that as long as it is regulated evenly, the number of...

...licences shouldn't matter.

How would you rate the street conditions in the city? (Immediate laughter and grumbling in the audience.) Tyer: "this is a hot topic, isn't it"? Says there is work to be done, talks about work to create a structured process to carry out paving projects, has rated and graded city.

Brings up "41 miles of road paving since I took office" stat. Explains system of how the city addresses road projects with its rating process. I can tell you the other candidates are eager to try and dunk on Tyer and her administration about this.

The mayor is bringing up potholes, explaining why it takes time to work through them - weather conditions, the technique used to seal them, etc. Says a process is in place, investments have been made, "it does take time." Says streets are in "fair condition."

Kalinowsky - who told WAMC that she was driven to run by the quality of the streets - says that they are in poor condition, says that city workers told her that they're paving more now, in an election year, than they have all year - a clear shot at Tyer.

She says the city wasted money on poor pothole repair, and is now describing how to successfully repair potholes. Here's a hot tip - you cut around them in a square, according to Kalinowsky.

Like she mentioned in her remarks to WAMC, she brings up the example of Lanesborough who she says let voters determine which unaccepted streets to incorporate to enter the rolls for Chapter 90 funding.

In another shot at Tyer, Mazzeo says it's not just the roads that are finally being acted on in an election year, to titters. She says the potholes are out of control, admits to not being a pothole expert but taking the city's DPW czar to task over them. Says she heard excuses.

Mazzeo says the city went $1 mil+ over budget on salt and sand to little effect. Asks why the city is still painting lines in August. She is holding the whole DPW responsible for this & paving & pothole questions, says she'd press those responsible harder on these issues.

Graves says he's had to do his own work repairing the roads, spending thousands on potholes the city hasn't done.

If aliens were listening to this forum, I think they would walk away thinking that the question of being a human mayor is largely one of detailed pothole repair plans.

Question: how and where should the city provide visitors with information about Pittsfield? Kalinowsky says she didn't realize that the Park Square info booth was gone (it's been gone for a while). Wants to see it back up.

Mazzeo says we need them back as well, suggests a plan for multiple hubs around the city - kiosks! Gets a dig about the difficulty of parking in there, a classic point of contention between her and Tyer.

Graves: wants a centrally located hub, and social media/PCTV coverage of the city's tourism efforts.

Somewhat of a strange, low stakes question.

Tyer says the visitors' center is in the city's intermodal center on North Street, has struggled to find volunteers to run it. Suggests that contemporary visitors use the internet to research Pittsfield as opposed to brick and mortar locations.

Hits back against election year claims - "it's just baloney." Applause. Says the city council - read, Mazzeo - as been voting on her proposals for the last four years. Takes credit for efforts to energize economy and build public safety that go back to her early days. Big pop.

Last question is about age-friendliness for the city's elderly. Mazzeo says she fought for the senior center's marquee to be restored, says elderly are frustrated due to damaged sidewalks, had to wait for other gestures for years.

Mazzeo says she wants to see more retail downtown, more consolidated and accessible for elderly. Getting back to Tyer - says that the first four year mayor didn't deliver on the possibilities of the expanded time frame.

She says projects could have started years ago, and that "it's a disgrace" that she is finding out about city initiatives in the press and not in person to applause. But before we get back for Tyer's response, here's Graves talking about elderly issues.

The much awaited Tyer vs. Mazzeo showdown is starting to shape up here. There's years of conflict behind this.

Tyer says she wants to build a pickleball court for the city's elderly, and blames the council for scuttling it. She says that seniors must be woven into the city's fabric. Strangely, doesn't take the opportunity to respond to Mazzeo's claims.

Kalinowsky is going back to the need for increased police presence on North Street to curb public drinking to make it more accessible for the elderly. Is sharing her stories of life as a beat cop there in the 90s.

She's really promoting a much more aggressive stance on the homeless, talking about a more liberal use of protective custody.

Kalinowsky says that what's happening on North Street is a disgrace to the city. Says that rising city taxes are a threat to seniors on fixed incomes. Agrees with the mayor- is pro-pickleball.

Mazzeo says she voted for pickleball. The moderator admits to not knowing what pickleball is. He can't be alone. (I was taught pickleball at PHS, just to cover my local credentials.)

Closing statements! Graves is not a politician, won't be business as usual, will deliver on promises. Says he hasn't gotten a fair shake in life but overcame that, that the city's "policies and procedures" have faded away. He commends Tyer for her work as mayor.

Tyer goes positive- says she loves her city, that all its residents contribute to its success. She says she's worked to bring the city forward, needs "four more years of proven leadership" with "thoughtful and decisive action." Opted to not get into it with Mazzeo here again.

Kalinowsky says the mayor hasn't been there for everything, points to what she describes as a troubled school system, wants its leadership held accountable. There's not much in the way of details there. She says the same for the city's DPW, says "it shows on the streets."

Kalinowsky "won't sit behind a desk," will be hands on and hold people accountable.

Mazzeo has the last word. "Can't keep our heads in the sand," says the city has serious issues it's not facing. Says Tyer is responsible for overseeing city during spike in crime despite promises to curb it. Says business owners think city isn't hospitable to business.

I am legitimately astonished that metered parking did not come up as a question tonight. And no reference to the wastewater treatment plant from anyone.

And we're out! Wrap tomorrow on WAMC.