Tricia Farley Bouvier's public record! She backed the Berkshire Museum shakedown where the most valuable pieces of art, including Norman Rockwell paintings, that were sold off for tens of millions of dollars. She wants to give illegal immigrants driver's licenses. She is part of Jimmy Ruberto's WHEN Good Old Boys (and Girls) club. In January of 2017, she voted for the controversial legislative pay raise bill without allowing a citizens' referendum. She voted for casino gambling. She sends her children to Lenox schools, but represents Pittsfield on Beacon Hill's State House. She always votes unanimously, along with all the other state Reps, in favor of Speaker for Life Bob DeLeo's legislation. In 2018, she allegedly and corruptly floated the possibility of a job for Judith Knight with Andrea Harrington as DA. She pushed for a new Taconic High School that the city government has no plans to make any principal payments on the municipal bond that will go unpaid for decades into the future. Like the aforementioned legislative pay raise bill, there was no citizens' referendum on the new Taconic High School project! On 10/24/2016, Chris Connell wrote: "In [her] five years in office my opponent [Tricia Farley Bouvier] has not passed any legislation she has sponsored. That represents 25 bills." She even backed the PEDA failure and its expensive BIC project.
- Jonathan Melle
April 21, 2020
I agree with you, Maggie May. I never said "allegedly" is a fact! You are putting your words in my writings. The sentence you took issue with, which was TFB's involvement in and support for Andrea Harrington for D.A. and the allegations made against her, were widely reported in The Berkshire Eagle and on Dan Valenti's awesome blog. TFB denied the allegations that she floated the possibility of a job for Judith Knight with candidate Andrea Harrington after she (A.H.) was sworn in as D.A. But, other people said otherwise. That means that someone is not telling the truth! In closing, that is politics in a nutshell.
- Jonathan Melle
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www.triciafarleybouvier.com
Tricia Farley-Bouvier (Ben Garver)
"Democrat Farley-Bouvier has eye on school building upgrades"
By Dick Lindsay, Berkshire Eagle Staff, October 10, 2011
PITTSFIELD -- Tricia Farley-Bouvier realized the need to upgrade the city's high schools when she was first elected to the City Council nearly eight years ago.
As a member of the Pittsfield School Building Needs Commission since 2005, Farley-Bouvier, a city councilor from 2004 to 2008, has advocated for some type of school building project on the Taconic High School campus. The commission is currently collaborating with the Massachusetts School Building Authority to determine if a proposed project will involve erecting a new Taconic, renovating the existing building, or a combination of renovation and additions. The city and state also want to see Pittsfield High School renovated as well, which would be a separate project.
If elected to the state Legislature next week, the Democratic nominee in the upcoming 3rd Berkshire District special election vows to keep the high school planning process moving forward as Pittsfield's state representative.
"The SBA is driving this, so we need a voice in Boston to keep the project on track and reduce the number of delays that occur in a bureaucracy," she said. "If we get bogged down with the state, they will take the money and build somewhere else."
Improving the Pittsfield public school system was one of several issues Farley-Bouvier addressed in a recent meeting with Eagle editors prior to the 3rd Berkshire election on Oct. 18. The Pittsfield native and former educator is campaigning in a four-way race to succeed Christopher Speranzo, who resigned in July to become clerk magistrate in the Central Berkshire District Court. She will square off against Republican Mark Jester, Green-Rainbow Party nominee Mark C. Miller and independent candidate Pam Malumphy. The 3rd Berkshire District encompasses all but two of Pittsfield's 14 precincts: Ward 1B and Ward 5B.
Farley-Bouvier, 47, is a Pittsfield native who spent 20 years in education as a teacher locally, elsewhere in New England and in Central America. She worked six years for the Literacy Network of South Berkshire before becoming an aide to Mayor James M. Ruberto in March 2010. The Democrat resigned from her City Hall job when she announced her candidacy on Aug. 9.
Farley-Bouvier's political party affiliation has come under fire recently by Malumphy, who claimed her opponent isn't a true Democrat and is hiding her stance on abortion. Personally, Farley-Bouvier said she is against abortion, but accepts current federal law of a woman's right to end an unwanted pregnancy.
"The Democratic Party has a big tent and doesn't keep out differing viewpoints," she said.
Farley-Bouvier noted she does support gay marriage, but casts a wary eye on the casino gambling bill pending on Beacon Hill.
"I will do everything I can to protect Pittsfield from the financial impact of casinos, especially when it comes to our cultural venues," she said.
The other two candidates for 3rd Berkshire District state representative -- Pam Malumphy and Mark Miller -- will be profiled in Tuesday's Eagle.
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"Tricia Farley-Bouvier hosts governor"
By Jonathan Levine, The Pittsfield Gazette, October 10, 2011
Governor Deval Patrick will be "guest of honor" at a Friday, October 14 fundraiser for Tricia Farley-Bouvier.
The pasta dinner for the state representative candidate will take place from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at the Itam Lodge.
Tickets at the door are $25, $50 and $100 with kids free.
Farley-Bouvier is one of four candidates on the Third Berkshire District ballot.
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Tricia Farley-Bouvier - state rep
By Tricia Farley-Bouvier, The Pittsfield Gazette, September 1, 2011
The people of Pittsfield share the common value of caring for our families. As a child growing up in Pittsfield, I appreciated coming from a large family. As an adult, I appreciate even more how my family shaped how I now raise my own three children and how I will approach the job as your state representative.
Education: My father, Dr. George T. Farley, taught me the value of education. He learned that a solid educational background was the foundation upon which a person could build a successful future. He had been raised by a single mom who, among other things, cleaned houses to raise her son. With the help of the GI bill, he became the first in his family to go to college. He went on to get both a MA and Doctorate in Education and was a beloved principal in the Pittsfield Schools for nearly 30 years. Education makes stronger individuals, stronger families and stronger communities. As your state representative, I will support funding for public education, from pre-Kindergarten through college.
Small Business: My grandfather taught me the importance of small businesses in a community. George Nesbit ran Nesbit’s Market on Tyler Street for years. He was responsible for running an enterprise while providing for his family in difficult economic times. Several of his grandchildren, who now run small businesses of their own, emulate his example of treating customers and employees both fairly and honestly. As your state representative, I recognize that small businesses are the cornerstone of economic prosperity. I will support businesses that create local jobs through aid for workforce development, targeted tax incentives, and upgrading technology infrastructure.
Responsible Budgeting: The most important lesson of family is that we take care of one another, especially our seniors. We need to protect pensions, curb our over-reliance on property taxes, and give seniors a meaningful seat at the table when negotiating health insurance. As is the case in most families, ours is stronger because of our support for one another in times of great joy and tragedy. The same can be said for communities; a society is stronger when the members of that society invest in the well being of all. As your state representative, I will support seniors and the safety net programs that are designed to support families.
What sets me apart from my opponents? Experience. With 20+ years of experience being a teacher, parent, and teacher-trainer, I have the understanding to know how to advocate for improved education. As a two-term city councilor, I have a record of legislative accomplishments, including initiating the Board of Health, spearheading a strong ordinance to keep Adult Entertainment out of Pittsfield, and bringing sensible management to the Sonsini Animal Shelter. Most importantly, I have the experience of being part of a team that brought civility and collaboration back to Pittsfield government. Through our hard work, Pittsfield has now become a destination for tourists, businesses, and families.
I respectfully ask for your vote so I can be a strong Voice for Pittsfield Families.
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"Farley-Bouvier focused on issues"
The Berkshire Eagle, Letter to the Editor, October 13, 2011
Tricia Farley-Bouvier is my choice in the upcoming 3rd Berkshire state representative election.
Tricia is focused on the important issues of our district -- jobs, education and the need for honest, transparent government.
Tricia works collaboratively; she takes the time to hear from all sides on the issue at hand, then makes a decision based on what she believes is in the best interest of the community.
As a city councilor, Tricia was a leader in writing the legislation that prevented strip clubs from opening in Pittsfield, and led the way to creating the city's Board of Health.
She fought to get our school nurses status in the teachers union and has worked (and was the chairperson) for the past several years on the School Building Needs Commission.
Tricia brings her love of Pittsfield and her passion for the community to her work. Please join me in voting for Tricia Farley-Bouvier on Oct. 18.
CAROLYN SIBNER
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
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Tricia Farley-Bouvier, front, answers a question during Thursday’s debate on WBEC-AM radio as her foes in the 3rd Berkshire District race, left to right, Pam Malumphy, Mark Miller and Mark Jester listen. (Ben Garver / Berkshire Eagle Staff)
"Farley-Bouvier, Malumphy exchange verbal jabs in final debate"
By Clarence Fanto, Berkshire Eagle Staff, October 14, 2011
PITTSFIELD -- In their final public debate before Tuesday's 3rd Berkshire District special election, two of the four candidates to fill former state Rep. Christopher Speranzo's seat in Boston traded sharply worded personal attacks on truthfulness in campaigning.
In her opening statement during a live, one-hour radio appearance on WBEC-AM Thursday morning, Democrat Tricia Farley-Bouvier asserted that she has "run a positive campaign and knocked on thousands of doors throughout the community."
She cited Pittsfield voters' worries over jobs and schools, arguing that, based on "hundreds of one-on-one conversations," they want "an end to negative campaigning that they see around them every day."
Independent candidate Pam Malumphy responded by declaring that "claiming to run a positive campaign does not mean it was a truthful one."
Referring to Malumphy's recent criticism over her decision to send two of her three children to Lenox public schools, Farley-Bouvier asserted that "I have not let the negative campaigning get to me. I've kept on my message and I'll continue to keep my campaign a positive one."
Later in the hour, Farley-Bouvier decried "an awful lot of negative attacks based on a family decision we made about our children based on their educational needs and nothing else. We feel that we have the right to do that, and that does not take away one bit from all the time I've spent working for education in this city."
Malumphy acknowledged that "Tricia is obviously talking about me as the candidate who is attacking her."
"Running a positive campaign doesn't mean you're running a truthful campaign," Malumphy went on. "Telling the truth shouldn't be seen as an attack or being negative." She described school-choice, resulting in an outflow of hundreds of students from Pittsfield, as a key issue.
Addressing Farley-Bouvier directly, Malumphy asserted that "no one is attacking your choice to have your children go to another district. I would defend you to the death to do what's best for your children. But you can't, at the same time, be running for public office as someone who is speaking as an advocate for Pittsfield's public schools and sending your kids to another district."
Malumphy also criticized Farley-Bouvier for "lack of communication" to the public during her five years as chair of the School Building Needs Commission, which was weighing the best solution for renovating or replacing the city's high schools.
"It's why I was removed by you and the mayor from that commission last year because I kept repeatedly saying the same thing -- why are we not involving the community in this conversation...it is the single biggest complaint from the voters I'm talking to," Malumphy said.
Ratcheting up the rhetoric, Malumphy argued: "If you can't make that connection, Tricia, between being this vocal advocate who is shoving a philosophy of education down our throats while sending your kids to another district, I can't understand why you can't get that disconnect because every voter in the city of Pittsfield does."
In her final statement, Malumphy returned to the theme, declaring that "convoluting and contorting is what's turning people off about elected officials."
Summing up her campaign, Farley-Bouvier depicted herself as "the best candidate with the leadership style that will do what Pittsfield needs. ... We have to leave the politics of ‘no' behind us and pull this community together by working as a team to solve the problems of Pittsfield."
She also described herself as a "proud Democrat because we share core values, better jobs for working families, the key to our future is education. Democrats believe we take care of each other."
Republican Mark Jester acknowledged that he's "not a professional politician" but felt "this is a great opportunity to get somebody down there who's not your usual politician, to get some refreshing ideas coming out of Pittsfield instead of the same-old, same-old."
Mark Miller, the Green-Rainbow candidate, called it "the party of the future rather than the party of the status quo and the past" and said his platform is based on "new jobs in a new economy, because the old economy is going away." He advocated "clean government including fair taxes, single-payer health insurance and a commitment to public education at all levels."
Voters in most of Pittsfield, except Wards 1-B and 5-B, will go to the polls next Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. to choose among the four candidates.
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"Final push in 3rd Berkshire rep. race"
By Ned Oliver, Berkshire Eagle Staff, October 15, 2011
PITTSFIELD -- With the 3rd Berkshire District special election just days away, Democratic Party operatives from across the state are descending on the Berkshires to help make a final push for their candidate, Tricia Farley-Bouvier.
In addition to the influx of manpower, Farley-Bouvier said she plans to spend $20,000 on her campaign to become the city’s next representative in the Statehouse -- twice as much as her nearest competitors.
The state Democratic Party is also pouring money into the district, running radio advertisements featuring Gov. Deval Patrick and providing boots-on-the-ground support to launch an intense door-to-door, get-out-the-vote effort.
Opponents say they’re undaunted by Farley-Bouvier’s big budget and high-profile endorsements.
"Does it concern me that she’s spent twice as much money? No. If it takes that much money to beat me, that’s fine. It tells you something," said Republican candidate Mark Jester, who said he expects by the special election on Tuesday he’ll have spent a little more than $10,000 on advertisements, signs and other campaign materials.
Green-Rainbow candidate Mark Miller, on the other hand, blasted Democrats for relying on corporate dollars to run their campaigns.
"It skews taxing and spending, and it effects what businesses get tax breaks; these corporations are buying our public policy," said Miller. "If [Tricia] thinks it’s necessary to take this money and support, fine, but it will make her beholden to [Democratic leadership] and corporate interests."
Miller said the Green-Rainbow Party refuses to accept donations from corporations. Miller is self-funding his campaign with a $10,000 loan, according to the latest report from the state campaign finance office. By the end of the race, however, he said he expects to have recouped at least half that amount through donations from supporters.
Farley-Bouvier said her donations don’t come because they influence decisions, they come because supporters "believe a candidate shares a vision."
She said it’s disingenuous for Miller to disparage her fundraising efforts when he’s wealthy enough to finance his own campaign.
"I’m a middle-class person who needed support from people in the community to launch and run a good campaign," said Farley-Bouvier.
Miller was unapologetic about his decision to invest his own money in his campaign.
"We’re out to win, not just to get a few good ideas across. We’re up against big money; rather than just rolling over, we’re trying to do something about it," he said.
Independent candidate Pam Malumphy is trailing her three opponents in fundraising. As of Sept. 30, her campaign had raised $4,683. But she says more donations have rolled in since then, and she was able to save a large amount of money by recycling campaign signs used in her last run for public office.
Malumphy said she’s not worried about finances. She said that, in the end, the election will be about who was able to connect, face-to-face, with the most voters.
Malumphy’s three opponents seem to agree. All said their biggest plan for this weekend is to knock on as many doors as possible.
But some of the candidates will have outside help. Miller said Green-Rainbow supporters from across Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut were planning to come up to help with the final campaign effort.
Likewise, Farley-Bouvier is benefiting from teams of canvassers provided by the state Democratic Party.
Since it’s a special election, Tuesday’s contest to fill the 3rd Berkshire seat is not competing with other local or statewide elections. And Democrats statewide are giving it their attention. Last month, the party lost a seat in the House in a special election for state representative from Bristol’s 12th District, traditionally a Democratic stronghold.
House Speaker Robert DeLeo has also offered free transportation for House members who wish to travel from Boston to campaign in the city for Farley-Bouvier.
And on Friday, Gov. Deval Patrick appeared at a fundraiser for Farley-Bouvier in Pittsfield.
Farley-Bouvier said she’s received support from a broad range of people. She said there’s nothing insidious about all the out-of-town support she’s receiving. In fact, she said she was floored by the governor’s decision to come down and campaign on her behalf.
"It’s pretty cool to have someone of his caliber believing in me," she said. "It means a lot to me."
Candidates on the issues
Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Democrat
Jobs: In addition to the important work of reducing energy and health care costs and continuing to invest in work force development, I plan to continue work on the plan to bring fiber-optic Internet connections to every business and resident in Pittsfield. It will benefit every business in Pittsfield and will be a key recruiting tool in bringing new businesses to the city.
Housatonic River cleanup: I believe a thoughtful, targeted approach is the best course of action. In the rest of the river, we should be identifying hotspots of PCBs and removing them using the best technology available at that time.
Open government: I believe that transparency in government is essential so I am in favor of expanding the open meeting law.
Mark Jester, Republican
Jobs: I want to ensure that regulations and fees on small businesses, which seem like a good idea in Boston and for Boston, stop inhibiting job growth in Pittsfield. Additionally, I want to see more construction jobs in Pittsfield. We have a need for more infrastructure repair. Many of our roads and bridges are in disrepair. There’s state money that needs to be here. I’m not asking for a handout, I’m demanding our fair share.
Housatonic River cleanup: As the president of the Berkshire County League of Sportsmen, I have been involved with the clean-up process from the beginning. We quickly realized that the proposed cleanups would in fact destroy the critical habitat further down the river. I support the Environmentally Sensitive Approach to the cleanup.
Open Government: I think open government/records laws should be expanded. There is a culture in Boston that is not good for us here in Pittsfield.
Pam Malumphy, independent
Jobs: I’ve learned that there’s nothing more important than supporting the creation and nourishment of small business. I’d like to create a matching grant program that would partner the state with the GE Economic Development Fund so we can provide either low-interest loans or grants to local businesses that need an extra push.
Housatonic River cleanup: Although I appreciate the low-impact approach, it doesn’t go as far as it need to. And I’m concerned that the high-impact cleanup is not seeking alternatives to dredging. I would very much advocate for a less-invasive alternative to dredging and I would very much advocate for those alternative to be veted going forward.
Open government: I absolutely think the open meeting and records laws should be extended to cover the state Legislature. What does open government mean if it’s not subject to the open meeting law?
Mark Miller, Green-Rainbow Party
Jobs: I would seek a collaborative effort including local businesses, municipal leaders and state officials to draft and implement a jobs plan for Pittsfield. It might include a citywide contest similar to the countywide Operation Jump Start contest I led in the early 1990s as editor of The Eagle.
Housatonic River cleanup: I await the release of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s plan this fall and anticipate favoring it over the minimalist plan backed by GE and 1Berkshire. I see the EPA’s mission as geared toward real river and floodplain cleanup for posterity. I see the GE/1Berkshire plan as primarily aimed at keeping GE’s costs at a minimum.
Open government: Extending the scope of the open-meeting and public-records laws would be a good start toward informing the public about what goes on in state government. Transparency cannot make all office-holders honest or competent, but can lead to greater public participation and better government.
-- Compiled by Ned Oliver
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"Farley-Bouvier in 3rd Berkshire"
Berkshire Eagle, Berkshire Eagle, October 16, 2011
Residents of the 3rd Berkshire District need a state representative who is open and accessible, aware of the particular needs of Pittsfield, knowledgeable about government and willing to fight for the interests of the city and Berkshires as a whole in the Statehouse. All four candidates in Tuesday's special elections have their strengths, but on balance, Democratic candidate Tricia Farley-Bouvier is the best choice for this important position.
For the past nine years, since she got involved in city politics with the Save Our Schools program, Ms. Farley-Bouvier has not only worked hard for Pittsfield she has worked hard with others, and the latter quality will benefit her as a state legislator from a western district. As a city councilor, she was a stalwart proponent of the downtown projects whose success is a key to Pittsfield's resurgence, and she continued those efforts as public affairs coordinator for Mayor James Ruberto. Her six years with the School Building Needs Commission have given her insight that will be valuable for her as a state representative as Pittsfield works with the state to determine the future of its high schools.
Independent candidate Pam Malumphy has criticized Ms. Farley-Bouvier because she and her husband send two of their three children to public schools in Lenox, but we see this as a personal issue and one that does not reflect poorly on Ms. Farley-Bouvier's opinion of and dedication to the Pittsfield public school system. Ms. Malumphy has also drawn attention to her opponent's social conservatism, and indeed, Ms. Farley-Bouvier's opposition to the right to abortion is not a mainstream Democratic view. The Eagle editorial page is pro-choice, but we take Ms. Farley-Bouvier's word that she will not go to Boston as an anti-abortion crusader and that she will support funding for relevant social programs like those dedicated to reducing teen pregnancy. This election is essentially about the economy and education, and we regard Ms. Farley-Bouvier as the strongest candidate overall on these issues.
Ms. Malumphy, who was regional director for the Mass. Office of Business and Development for Western Massachusetts, brings strong economic credentials to the table. She has worked with area businesses and would serve as an effective spokesperson for them in Boston. As a city councilor and a member of the School Building Needs Commission, she gained insight into the issues specific to Pittsfield, including those involving education.
We believe, however, that Ms. Farley-Bouvier has been more effective at working with other officials in bringing goals to fruition. Ms. Malumphy was a Democrat before taking unenrolled status 21 2 years ago and has expressed a desire to caucus with majority Democrats in the House. There is no guarantee, however, that this will happen. What has been going on in Boston regarding casino legislation is a textbook example of the perils of one-party rule, and all of the candidates have justly criticized Democrats for operating behind closed doors. Pragmatically, however, Pittsfield must have a presence behind those closed doors and Ms. Farley-Bouvier is the only candidate of the four who can guarantee it.
Republican candidate Mark Jester says he will be a mediator and conciliator in Boston, and with 15 years under his belt as president of the Berkshire County League of Sportsmen, a group that includes a wide variety of interests, we believe him. He promises to go beyond party labels to pursue what is best for the district.
Mr. Jester, however, is not nearly as knowledgeable on specific issues as are Ms. Farley-Bouvier and Ms. Malumphy. In a meeting with Eagle editors, he proposed lowering the sales tax to 5 percent but could not say how that lost revenue would be made up, or what programs would be cut because of that lost revenue. Everyone wants their taxes cut, but that is the easy part. Mr. Jester needed to better flesh out his stances during the campaign.
Mark Miller, who ran for this seat a year ago, was again an enthusiastic advocate for the positions of the Green-Rainbow Party. He was less effective at explaining how he would be a better representative for Pittsfield than his opponents. His victory would indeed be a landmark for his party, but that is of no interest to Pittsfield, and most or many of the positions advocated by the Green-Rainbow Party are supported by the Democratic Party. Mr. Miller said he would be an independent figure in the Statehouse, but that independence could also lead to isolation, which Pittsfield and Berkshire County, with its four House seats, cannot afford.
We thank all four candidates for giving the district the campaign it didn't get last fall when incumbent and now departed state representative Christopher Speranzo spent his time ducking Mr. Miller. We believe Ms. Farley-Bouvier will be the open and accessible representative her predecessor was not, and will be a wise and effective advocate for the city and region. The Eagle endorses Tricia Farley-Bouvier for election as state representative from the 3rd Berkshire District.
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"Farley-Bouvier wins 3rd Berkshire District race"
Berkshire Eagle Staff, October 18, 2011
PITTSFIELD -- Tricia Farley-Bouvier is headed to the Statehouse.
City voters have elected the Democratic nominee as the new state representative from the 3rd Berkshire District during Tuesday's special election to fill the vacant seat.
Farley-Bouvier, who garnered 1,940 votes, edged out Green-Rainbow Party candidate Mark C. Miller, who notched 1,748 votes in the four-way race. Independent candidate Pam Malumphy was third with 1,325 votes, and Republican Mark Jester came in last with 899 votes.
A total of 5,922 ballots were cast out of 24,791 registered voters -- a 24 percent voter turnout, according to City Clerk Linda M. Tyer.
All but two of Pittsfield's 14 precincts -- Ward 1B and Ward 5 B -- make up the state legislative district. Christopher Speranzo left the position in July to become the clerk magistrate in the Central Berkshire District Court.
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Tricia Farley-Bouvier celebrates her victory Tuesday in the the 3rd Berkshire District race for state representative with her family at the Crowne Plaza hotel. Farley-Bouvier narrowly edged out Green-Rainbow Party candidate Mark C. Miller for the seat, winning by 192 votes. (Ben Garver / Berkshire Eagle Staff)
"Farley-Bouvier edges out Miller for 3rd Berkshire seat"
By Dick Lindsay, Berkshire Eagle Staff, October 19, 2011
PITTSFIELD -- Tricia Farley-Bouvier is headed to the Statehouse.
City voters chose the Democratic nominee as the new state representative from the 3rd Berkshire District during Tuesday's special election to fill the vacant seat.
Farley-Bouvier, who garnered 1,940 votes, edged out Green-Rainbow Party candidate Mark C. Miller, who notched 1,748 votes in the four-way race. Independent candidate Pam Malumphy was third with 1,325 votes, and Republican Mark Jester came in last with 899 votes.
A total of 5,922 ballots were cast out of 24,791 registered voters -- a 24 percent voter turnout, according to City Clerk Linda M. Tyer.
All but two of Pittsfield's 14 precincts -- Ward 1B and Ward 5B -- make up the state legislative district. Christopher Speranzo left the position in July to become the clerk magistrate in the Central Berkshire District Court.
Farley-Bouvier's 192-vote victory was her second consecutive close finish in a month, winning the Democratic primary on Sept. 20 by 196 votes. Did she expect another tight race?
"I didn't have a sense of what the final figures would be," she said. "I'm happy I came out on top."
The former Pittsfield city councilor and aide to Mayor James M. Ruberto has to wait until state election officials certify Tuesday's results before she is sworn into office. She expects that could take up to two weeks.
Nevertheless, Farley-Bouvier will begin preparing for her new political career on Beacon Hill.
"I have a lot to learn," she said. "I said I would hit the ground running and I wasn't kidding."
Meanwhile, Miller said he wasn't surprised at his second-place showing, given his impressive showing last year. The first-time political candidate lost to Speranzo by 981 votes in the regularly scheduled 3rd Berkshire election.
He felt a four-way race hurt his second attempt to capture the seat.
"I got a lot of Republican votes last time, because they didn't want to see a Democrat return to Boston," Miller said.
The former executive editor of The Eagle isn't sure if he'll make a third run at the 3rd Berkshire seat in 2012 when the entire state Legislature is up for election.
"I can't really say as I have to think of my family, which has been through a lot since last year.
However, Jester said another 3rd Berkshire campaign next year is possible. He said he was encouraged by the support he received in both the primary and Tuesday's run-off. The real estate agent had to mount a write-in campaign last month in order to win the GOP nomination.
"I went from 200 votes to 900 votes in very little time," he said. "My supporters are encouraging me to run and it's something I will seriously consider."
As for Malumphy, she wouldn't comment on whether another 3rd Berkshire race is in her political future. The former Pittsfield city councilor and mayoral candidate did say she was pleased with her latest campaign.
"We ran a good race, a great race," she said. "I'm appreciative of my supporters and proud of what we did."
When asked by an Eagle reporter if a lack of party backing hurt the independent candidate she said, "The money and resources going to the Democratic nominee proved successful."
To reach Dick Lindsay: rlindsay@berkshireeagle.com, or (413) 496-6233.
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State Rep.-elect Tricia Farley-Bouvier listens intently during the celebration of the opening of the center. She spoke at the gathering in her first official act as a state representative-elect. (Ben Garver / Berkshire Eagle Staff)
"Rep.-elect Farley-Bouvier faces divided constituency"
Berkshire Eagle, October 20, 2011
PITTSFIELD -- In her first official act as Pittsfield’s state-representative-elect, a beaming Tricia Farley-Bouvier spoke at the opening of the Education Center at Conte on Wednesday.
But as much as Farley-Bouvier was thrilled to win the seat during the 3rd Berkshire District special election on Tuesday, she acknowledged it will be a challenge to bring together the needs and desires of a divided constituency that elected her by only 192 votes.
All told, Farley-Bouvier was elected with 33 percent of the vote. A voter turnout of 24 percent means just 8 percent of registered voters in Pittsfield elected to send her to Beacon Hill.
Farley-Bouvier pledged to work with her former opponents, and to draw on their knowledge of the various issues they championed.
"It’s my job to be there representative for the whole district; the people who voted for me, the people who didn’t vote for me and even the people who didn’t vote," Farley-Bouvier told an Eagle reporter after the opening of the educational collaborative at the Conte Federal Building in Pittsfield. "That’s my job and I certainly intend to do it."
Farley-Bouvier edged out Green-Rainbow candidate Mark Miller with 1,940 votes to Miller’s 1,748. Meanwhile, independent candidate Pam Malumphy received 1,325 votes. Republican Mark Jester won 899 votes.
Farley-Bouvier stopped short of saying she’d adopt some of her former opponents’ positions, but she said that, for example, she plans to work with Miller on environmental issues and health care.
"It’s about learning from them the things that they’ve become particularly immersed in, and working with them to help communicate with people and represent different ideas," said Farley-Bouvier.
Miller said he’s still considering a run during the next regularly scheduled election in November 2012. But he said he was open to working with his former -- and possibly future -- opponent.
"I think it makes a lot of sense to do that, to reach out," he said. "I think it’s fairly standard and don’t think it’s just rhetoric, either."
Members of the all-Democrat Berkshire delegation welcomed Farley-Bouvier’s election.
Her victory means the Berkshire delegation is back to full strength, which will be crucial come the first of the year, according to state Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli.
Pignatelli, the dean of the delegation, which also includes state representatives Gailanne M. Cariddi and Paul W. Mark and Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, cites two crucial issues lawmakers will deal with when the new legislative session begins in January.
"Pension reform and health care cost reform are two matters the Berkshires needs a full voting membership," Pignatelli said. "Our voices must be heard on these two important issues."
In order for Farley-Bouvier to have an immediate impact on Beacon Hill, Pignatelli urged her to find a mentor and pace herself.
"I leaned on [former state representatives] Dan Bosley and Peter Larkin when I first got in nine years ago," he said. "And remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint."
Nevertheless, Cariddi has found having a constant presence in the Statehouse has been key to her first year in office. Last fall, Cariddi, along with Mark, were elected to their initial two-year term.
"Attend as many [legislative] hearings as you can, especially on items important to your constituents," she said. "I’ve already done that dozens of times."
Cariddi believes Farley-Bouvier will have one advantage she didn’t in order to get acclimated to being a state lawmaker: The newest state lawmakers represents one community compared to the 11 in Cariddi’s 1st Berkshire District.
"That will allow Tricia to delve into constituent issues more deeply," Cariddi said.
Farley-Bouvier said that in coming weeks she’ll be officially sworn in to her new role, but didn’t have an exact date.
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"Farley-Bouvier eyes key votes"
By Ned Oliver, Berkshire Eagle Staff, November 15, 2011
PITTSFIELD -- Going into her first full week as Pittsfield’s representative in the Statehouse, Tricia Farley-Bouvier said she’s focused on getting up to speed on major upcoming votes.
Elected during a special election in October, Farley-Bouvier will be weighing in this week on a number of hot button issues, from casino gambling to congressional redistricting.
Like her fellow Berkshire County legislators, she said she plans to vote for the redistricting plan released last week, which combines the Berkshires with a Springfield-based district currently represented by Rep. Richard Neal.
On casino gambling, Farley-Bouvier said she won’t be sure which way to vote until she sees what kind of protections for cultural nonprofits are included in the final text of the legislation, which is currently being debated behind closed doors by a House and Senate conference committee.
Sworn in Wednesday, Farley-Bouvier made her first vote Friday, voting in favor of approving rules of order for debating the redistricting process.
She has yet to be assigned to any legislative committees, but said she expects appointments to come soon.
She said she’s been overwhelmed by the warm welcome she’s received at the Statehouse.
"I was struck with the camaraderie and the friendliness of everyone," said Farley-Bouvier. "How much they welcomed me, and particularly my family, was very gratifying."
Farley-Bouvier brought 15 members of the Pittsfield step group Youth Alive, who performed in the House’s member lounge before the new representative was sworn in by Gov. Deval Patrick.
The ceremony was also attended by House Speaker Robert DeLeo.
DeLeo commended Farley-Bouvier.
"Representative Farley-Bouvier’s enthusiasm is tangible," he said in a statement. "Her strong leadership skills and knowledge of her district will make her an outstanding advocate for the people of the 3rd Berkshire District."
Making contact
To contact Tricia Farley-Bouvier with legislative issues:
Boston office:
Statehouse, Room 156
Boston, MA 02133
(617) 722-2240
District office (temporary):
113 Oliver Ave.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
(413) 281-7415
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"Mass. House, Senate roll call vote on casino bill"
Boston.com - November 15, 2011
BOSTON — Here's how members of the Massachusetts House and Senate voted Tuesday on a final compromise bill to license the construction of three resort casinos and a slots parlor.
The House voted 118-33 to approve the bill. The Senate passed the bill on a 23-14 vote.
A "yes" vote was in favor of the bill; a "no" vote was in opposition to the bill.
HOUSE:
Gailanne M. Cariddi, D-North Adams - Y
Trisha Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield - Y
Paul W. Mark, D-Hancock - Y
William "Smitty" Pignatelli, D-Lenox - N
SENATE:
Benjamin B. Downing, D-Pittsfied - N
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"Farley-Bouvier Appointed to Legislative Committees"
Pittsfield.com - December 08, 2011
BOSTON — State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, has been named to the Joint Committees on Elder Services and on Children and Families, and the House Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change by the House Speaker Robert DeLeo.
The Committee on Elder Affairs is tasked with considering all matters concerning the elderly, handicapped elders, nursing facilities, prescription drugs, reverse mortgages, senior pharmacy and such other matters as may be referred.
"This assignment gives me a great opportunity to work with elders throughout my district," said Farley-Bouvier. "I look forward to tackling issues to help protect and assist seniors here and across the commonwealth."
It shall be the duty of the committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities to consider all matters concerning mental health and public health issues involving children, child nutrition, homelessness and homeless shelters, public welfare, children, handicapped children and adults, mental retardation, and such other matters as may be referred.
"I am particularly excited to put my professional background and skill set to work on this committee," said Farley-Bouvier. "Ensuring the well-being of children and those with disabilities is a primary responsibility of government."
The House Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change has the duty of considering all matters related to the commonwealth's climate policy, including but not limited to greenhouse gas emissions, the climate impacts of renewable energy development and climate change adaptation and mitigation. The committee shall also serve in an advisory capacity to other joint committees that consider legislation with significant climate impacts.
"The commonwealth's climate policy is an incredibly important emerging issue and I am honored to be asked to work on it," she said. "The commonwealth's climate policy will have a great effect on many different aspects of our government and lives."
Farley-Bouvier was elected as representative of the 3rd Berkshire District, which encompasses Pittsfield, in a special election in October.
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"Seniors get advocate in Farley-Bouvier"
By Ned Oliver, Berkshire Eagle Staff, December 18, 2011
With her appointment to the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Elder Services, state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier says she’ll be pushing her peers in the Statehouse to restore funding to local senior centers.
"It’s the first thing I’ll be going after when it comes to budgeting," said the recently elected 3rd Berkshire District representative. She said the centers, which are largely funded through state grants, have taken a hit during recent budget cycles.
Farley-Bouvier officially took office on Nov. 9, but only recently recieved her committee appointments from House leadership.
In addition to her position on the Joint Committee on Elder Services, Farley-Bouvier was appointed to the Joint Committee on Children and Families, as well as the House Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change.
While Farley-Bouvier said she appreciates the range of topics offered by her various appointments, she said she’s most excited about her opportunity to advocate on behalf of local seniors.
"I’ve worked so closely with seniors in the city for the last 10 years," she said. In addition to spending three years working on the board of the Berkshire’s Retired Seniors Volunteer Program, Farley-Bouvier said she regularly spends time visiting the Pittsfield Senior Center.
Farley-Bouvier said she’s been focusing on making contact with her constituents in recent weeks.
She said she’s been able to wind down some since her first two whirlwind weeks in office, which coincided with the end of the Legislature’s formal session for the year and included numerous high-profile votes, ranging from the approval of casino gambling to the passage of redrawn congressional maps.
"The votes came fast and furious," she said. "But now I’m really concentrating on meeting with people in the district to better understand the needs here and how I can partner with them to make Pittsfield a stronger place."
Aside from state Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli’s appointment to the influental House Ways and Means committee, there were no other major changes in the Berkshire delegations various appointments.
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State Sen. Benjamin Downing holds a town hall meeting at EPOCH Assisted Living at Melbourne on Monday. (Stephanie Zollshan / Berkshire Eagle Staff)
"Delegates look to reverse senior cuts"
By Amanda Korman, Berkshire Eagle Staff, February 7, 2012
PITTSFIELD -- Several local delegates said they are ready to go to bat on Beacon Hill for the growing senior citizen population in the Berkshires that faces cuts to some of its key programs.
Both a proposed decrease to Meals on Wheels coffers and a dip that is already in effect in the funding councils on aging receive per capita could put a dent in social services for the 60-and-over set in the county, local leaders say.
Gov. Deval Patrick's proposed budget contains an approximately $1.5 million funding decrease to the elder nutrition program, a reduction state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, said she will fight to undo in order to prevent the loss of about a fourth of the 1,000 free meals produced every weekday in the Berkshires.
Members of the state Legislature will input and debate their budget recommendations over the next three to four months.
Meals on Wheels serves at sites throughout the Berkshires as well as through home delivery, Farley-Bouvier said, during which volunteers also do wellness checks on the elderly recipients.
"Whenever you see cuts in tough budget times, it seems to go in these human services areas, and of course those are the most vulnerable people," Farley-Bouvier said, noting that many senior citizens live in poverty.
Farley-Bouvier, a member of the Legislature's Elder Affairs Committee, also said she would like to see the amount of money granted to councils on aging keep pace with the growing numbers of people age 60 and older. Although Massachusetts' total spending in the line item increased slightly for the current fiscal year, the amount municipal groups received per senior dropped from $7 to $6.25.
Councils on aging conduct various social and outreach programs for seniors including meals, transportation, health screenings and health insurance information.
Farley-Bouvier did not yet know what other budget cuts she would suggest in order to offset the restoration of those funds.
At a town hall-style meeting at EPOCH Assisted Living at Melbourne on Monday, State Sen. Benjamin Downing, D-Pittsfield, said he and the other state representatives in the area are hoping to reverse the proportional decrease in money allotted to councils on aging.
"Everyone in the Berkshire delegation was concerned about the change in funding," Downing told a group of about a dozen senior citizens at the Pittsfield facility. "It's certainly something we have concerns about and are going to try to do everything we can to get that restored."
Diane Weinstein, director of EPOCH and a member of the Pittsfield Council on Aging, said the councils on aging rely on the so-called "formula grants" as a major part of their annual budgets.
"Nobody wants to think about any age group of persons' value going down by 75 cents a head in a year," Weinstein said.
Local advocates are already feeling the squeeze on the formula grant rate reduction. Charis Keeler, director of Lanesborough's Council on Aging, said that because her program is small, "Any little cut, to us, is a big cut."
The loss of 75 cents per senior has sliced into the council's ability to put out a quarterly newsletter, Keeler said, the only way she can communicate with the town's approximately 750 people over age 60.
The council also would like to replace some of the fold-up furniture in its community room with more comfortable chairs, but may not be able to without a turnaround in the budget situation.
To reach Amanda Korman: akorman@berkshireeagle.com (413) 496-6243
By the numbers
Elder nutrition program ...
FY 2012: $6,325,328
Governor's proposal for FY 2013: $4,810,824
Grants to councils on aging ...
FY 2012: $8,254,327
Mass. Council on Aging request for FY 2013 to restore previous "per senior" levels: $9,300,000
Governor's proposal for FY 2013: $8,433,748
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"Reps push to keep funding for senior meals"
By Ned Oliver, Berkshire Eagle Staff, February 22, 2012
DALTON -- Helga Knappe has lived in Dalton since 1950. The 84-year-old says she’s seen firsthand the importance of state-funded elder services like Meals on Wheels.
That’s why she’s worried about Gov. Deval Patrick’s proposal to cut funding for senior nutrition programs.
"The need is dire," she said. "There seems to be an increase in people coming in for food, too. ... How do you want us to deprive some of the elders?"
Knappe and advocates like her across the county are pushing their state representatives to prevent funding cutbacks. In turn, members of the Berkshire legislative delegation are pledging to take the fight to Boston.
"The overarching theme is that, these people have worked hard their whole lives, and it’s not right to make these cuts," said Rep. Paul Mark, D-Peru, after a forum Tuesday at the Dalton Senior Center. "For some people, these programs provide the only nutritious meals they get."
Patrick’s budget contains a $1.5 million funding decrease to the elder nutrition program, which could mean the loss of about a fourth of the 1,000 free meals produced and delivered every weekday to seniors in the Berkshires.
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, and Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, D-Pittsfield, already have said they are working to restore funding.
Downing, who held his own open forum Tuesday in North Adams, said concern about elder services has been a common theme as he travels his district talking to constituents.
He said he supports returning the senior program funding to the same levels as years past.
As currently proposed by Patrick, local councils on aging are facing a cut of 75 cents per senior. Currently, they receive $6.25, down from $7 the year before.
Mark and Downing both said other common concerns shared by voters include the typical municipal worries about cuts to local aid. And a theme new to this year, they said, centers around Patrick’s proposal to shift control of Berkshire Community College to a Boston-based board, a prospect the representatives say locals have found unsettling.
The representatives said that, in all cases, it’s easier to get their colleagues in Boston to take their concerns to heart when they’re backed by comments and petitions from constituents.
"The more people that call, write, email, send us petitions, the easier it is to go into the governor’s office and say, look at this, it means something," Mark said.
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"Bianchi: Pittsfield’s downtown wins coveted cultural district designation"
Berkshire Eagle, March 20, 2012
PITTSFIELD -- Pittsfield’s downtown has won the state’s designation as a Cultural District, opening up the area to showcase its creative arts and business scene to visitors and residents with help from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
Mayor Daniel Bianchi announced today that downtown became one of the first state-designated cultural districts in Massachusetts. Four others -- in Lynn, Gloucester, Rockport and Boston -- also won rights. More than 100 communities were interested in the designation.
Pittsfield’s district will be called the Upstreet Cultural District, a nod to the longtime nickname -- "upstreet" -- given downtown by generations of Pittsfielders.
The district encompasses 50 restaurants, wine bars and cafes, as well as retail shops, museums, theaters and other arts centers. This area in Downtown Pittsfield also has its year-round events ranging from Third Thursdays to the WordXWord Festival.
With the designation, Pittsfield can use it to support and promote its unique identity and sense of place.
It also is aimed at helping Pittsfield attract artists and cultural enterprises, encouraging business and job growth, expanding tourism, preserving and re-using historic buildings, enhancing property values, and fostering local cultural development.
The district will have signs delineating it and the area also will be promoted on the websites of the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism and Massachusetts Cultural Council.
"We have a wealth of cultural assets and activities, and together we have worked hard to make them available to more residents and visitors. This designation will help us advance these efforts so that arts and culture continue to strengthen our local economy and enhance our quality of life," said Pittsfield-based state Sen. Benjamin B. Downing in a prepared statement.
"As a 4th generation Pittsfield native, I am thrilled to see Pittsfield’s creative resurgence recognized by the Commonwealth, and I’m especially happy that we are bringing back the beloved name ‘upstreet’ for our downtown cultural district," said Pittsfield’s state representative, Tricia Farley Bouvier, in a statement. "A generation ago, upstreet was the place to be, and I am happy to see upstreet once again as a vibrant hub of the Berkshires."
The Massachusetts Cultural Council’s board approved the Upstreet Cultural District in a vote today. Bianchi and other officials from Pittsfield attended the meeting.
MCC’s Cultural District Initiative came out of an economic stimulus bill passed by the Massachusetts Legislature in 2010.
"Our Cultural Districts Initiative shines a brand new spotlight on the breadth and depth of creative activity happening in every corner of Massachusetts," said Anita Walker, MCC executive director, in a statement. "Each of these communities has something very special to offer a visitor - whether they are coming from across town or across the globe. With this designation, these cities can now take their cultural life to a new level."
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"Local lawmakers say state surplus should be used only for emergencies"
By Dick Lindsay, Berkshire Eagle Staff, November 5, 2012
Massachusetts has amassed the third largest state surplus in the country -- $1.652 billion -- funds local state lawmakers want to remain limited to emergency expenditures.
Late last week, state financial officials reported the so-called "Rainy Day Fund" increased from $1.379 billion at the end of fiscal 2011 to $1.652 when fiscal 2012 wrapped up June 30. The additional $273 million deposited in the Massachusetts fund was fueled by the $116 million left unspent in the fiscal 2012 budget.
Only Alaska and Texas currently have higher reserve fund balances, mainly due to billions of dollars in oil tax revenues, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers.
The Rainy Day Fund is set up to help cover budget shortfalls, pay for the cleanup and recovery from destructive weather and other unforeseen expenses.
The Berkshire legislative delegation cited how deviating from the fund's intent could put the state's financial health at risk.
"Whether a natural disaster or economic crisis, the past five to six years has shown you never have to much money stored away," said state Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, D-Pittsfield.
Local state lawmakers noted how the fund helped the Springfield area rebuild from last year's tornado and helped the state weather the "Great Recession" by avoiding cuts in local aid.
"Taxpayers should feel really good about the state's ability to manage its finances," said state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield.
Tempting as it may be to spend the surplus on non-emergency situations, area legislators say the state is already bracing for several unexpected costs.
"If there is a significant cut in Medicaid from the federal government, that will have a big impact on our budget," Downing said.
"We have no idea what Congress is going to do after the election," added state Rep. Paul W. Mark, D-Peru. "We are doing the right thing with the fund."
Mark noted how state funds may be needed to deal with the fallout from the deadly outbreak of fungal meningitis linked to a Framingham pharmaceutical company. New England Compounding Co. distributed vials of epidural steroid injections to 23 states that resulted in 29 deaths and more than 400 people becoming ill.
"The governor is looking for $30 million for costs associated with the laboratory catastrophe," he said.
A healthy reserve fund balance also saves taxpayers money, when it comes time for the state to borrow money, according to state Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli.
"The state continuing to show a surplus should sit well with Moody's and Standard & Poor's in regards to our bond rating," Pignatelli said.
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Pittsfield attorney Michael J. McCarthy’s nomination to a judicial post has been denied. (Eagle file)
"Judge nominee Michael McCarthy rejected for District Court post"
By Jim Therrien, Berkshire Eagle, February 14, 2013
PITTSFIELD -- For the second time in less than six months, the Massachusetts Governor's Council has failed to approve the nomination of Pittsfield attorney Michael J. McCarthy to a judicial post in Southern Berkshire District Court.
Despite the arguments of this region's representative and support from colleagues, the council during an afternoon meeting in Boston voted 5-3 against McCarthy's appointment to fill the vacant judgeship.
Reaction among Berkshires officials was swift and harsh.
"I could not be more disappointed," said state Sen. Ben Downing, D-Pittsfield. "This was essentially a couple of Boston politicians figuring they know better about the judicial system in Berkshire County, and that they know more about the integrity and professionalism of Michael McCarthy. I don't think this reflects well on the Governor's Council."
Downing added that, in the meantime, the Southern Berkshire judgeship remains vacant, putting an extended strain on the justice system in this area. "I don't know what it will take to fill this position. I don't know what the Governor's Council is looking for."
The District Court position would fill a vacancy created with the retirement of Judge James B. McElroy. Judge Fredric D. Rutberg of the Central Berkshire District Court is serving as acting judge for Southern Berkshire District Court until the vacancy is filled.
McCarthy, who was nominated to the position by Gov. Deval Patrick, also failed to win approval in September when the council vote was 3-3. Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray was out of the country on a trade mission to Europe at the time and thus unable to cast a tie-breaking vote in favor of the governor's nominee.
"It is terribly disappointing for me, and for the county," McCarthy said. "But I am heartened by the great outpouring of support."
Currently an attorney with George, DeGregorio, Massimiano & McCarthy in Pittsfield, McCarthy also has served as city solicitor in Pittsfield for two years and has served as an assistant district attorney in Berkshire County.
He said colleagues and others from the area, as well as some council members, "spoke eloquently on my behalf" during a council hearing on his nomination.
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, assailed what she termed "the antiquated process of a broken system," referring to Governor's Council reviews of judicial appointments.
"Mike McCarthy is a very good man and an outstanding jurist," she said, "and he had gone through a comprehensive vetting and interview process before being nominated by the governor. This was a disservice to Berkshire County and a disservice to Mr. McCarthy."
Farley-Bouvier said she found the possible political machinations "very confusing," but said they seem to indicate "a bias toward Berkshire County."
The nomination process for justices includes a review by the statewide Judicial Nominating Commission, a nonpartisan, 21-member committee of volunteer appointees. They are charged with providing from three to six names of applicants for the governor to review in making his nomination for each judicial vacancy.
State Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli, D-Lenox, who represents the area where the court is located, said McCarthy is a friend and a well-respected lawyer who became ensnared in a still-murky political situation.
"I am very disappointed," Pignatelli said. "They are always looking for quality people to sit on the bench, and in the 25 years I have known Mike McCarthy, there have been none better."
Pignatelli added, "In my opinion, in the last couple of years, the council has become very political."
The eight-member council, which reviews and confirms gubernatorial nominations for the court among other duties, gained four new members following the November election. Murray is an ex officio member.
One of the new members is Michael Albano, a former Springfield mayor who represents Western Massachusetts District 8 on the council. Albano strongly supported McCarthy in comments prior to and during the meeting. He said he heard nothing but praise for the attorney during a recent visit to the Berkshires.
Albano tried Wednesday to have the council postpone its vote so that more input could be received from Berkshire County residents who have worked with McCarthy or otherwise know him.
But according to officials present at the meeting, Murray reluctantly opposed postponing the vote, saying it could set a bad precedent for future council meetings. Murray could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Among those who voiced support or wrote some 30 letters of support to the council were state Supreme Judicial Court Justice Francis X. Spina, Superior Court Judge Daniel A. Ford, all seven members of the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Lawyers practicing in the county; city Mayor Daniel L. Bianchi, Probate and Family Court Judge Richard A. Simons, District Court Judge Paul M. Vrebel, and a number of other local attorneys, court personnel, business and community leaders from the Berkshires and Western Massachusetts.
"Michael McCarthy was a qualified candidate with a tremendous amount of support throughout Western Massachusetts, and we are disappointed by today's vote," said Patrick spokeswoman Bonnie McGilpin, who released a statement on behalf of the governor.
It was not immediately known when another nomination might be forwarded to the council.
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"Rep. Farley-Bouvier critical of legislature's transportation funding plan"
By Jim Therrien, Berkshire Eagle, April 8, 2013
PITTSFIELD -- The $500 million transportation funding plan proposed this week by House and Senate leaders could have a negative impact on Berkshire County, state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, said Friday.
When compared to Gov. Deval Patrick’s $1.9 billion proposal to reform the tax structure and boost transportation, as well as early and higher education funding, the legislative plan is "definitely smaller in scope," Farley-Bouvier said.
Her principal objection, however, is that the House-Senate proposal hikes gasoline taxes by 3 cents from the current 23.5 cents a gallon, along with hiking tobacco and some business-related taxes to fund the transportation budget.
"I’m definitely in favor of using the income tax [as in the governor’s plan], because I feel it will be more evenly distributed across the state," Farley-Bouvier said.
A gas tax hike is unfair to Berkshire County, she said, because this area is rural and lacks a transit system to reduce reliance on motor vehicles.
The governor’s proposal included a plan to raise $1.9 billion a year in new taxes for education and transportation needs, in part through an increase in the income tax from 5.25 percent to 6.25 percent and other tax changes.
Farley-Bouvier said the long-term transportation infrastructure needs the governor’s plan sought to address would get less funding under the legislative plan. "I believe we are going to have to go back and ask for more taxes in the next couple of years," she said. "It’s kicking the can down the road, as the governor said."
Farley-Bouvier said the House is expected to take up the transportation plan today, and the Senate could have it by the end of the week. Lawmakers likely "won’t get to vote on the governor’s plan," she said.
The legislative proposal was outlined in a news conference Tuesday by Senate President Therese Murray and House Speaker Robert DeLeo. The governor held his own news conference Thursday and ripped the plan, according to the Associated Press, calling the House-Senate proposal a "fiscal shell game" that only pretended to solve the state’s transportation needs.
Patrick said he would veto the bill in its current form if it reaches his desk.
DeLeo countered Thursday, saying that the legislative proposal addresses the most urgent problems without imposing a bigger tax burden.
Aside from the tax issue, the plan outlined by the House and Senate leadership was criticized as failing to meet urgent, long-term needs of the state’s transportation infrastructure.
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Tricia Farley-Bouvier: "Teen pregnancy is community issue"
By Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Special to The Berkshire Eagle, June 25, 2013
PITTSFIELD, Massachusetts
I am glad that so many concerned citizens are joining in the discussion surrounding effective sex education, and I’m encouraged to note that our recent discussion has been initiated in part by students themselves. Teen pregnancy is a complicated problem and solutions must come from the community as a whole.
At 34 births per thousand women aged 15 to 19, Pittsfield has the 11th highest teen pregnancy rate of the commonwealth’s 351 communities and a rate double our state’s average. In 2010, teen moms accounted for 46 births in Pittsfield and outcomes for these teenagers and their children can be alarming.
Pregnancy is the chief reason teenaged girls drop out of school. Only one-third of adolescent mothers will graduate high school, and only slightly over 1 percent of those will earn a college degree by age 30. In turn, the children of teen moms are less likely to finish high school than those born to older parents, and nearly half fail a grade along the way. Daughters of teen moms are three times more likely to become teenage mothers themselves. The sons of teen moms are two times more likely to end up in prison. Meanwhile, a staggering two-thirds of families begun by a young unmarried mother live in poverty while more than half of all mothers on welfare had their first child as a teenager.
Stop. Take another look at these figures and consider what they mean to these families. Dreams go unrealized and potential is unreached. Parents and children alike face a higher risk of experiencing poverty, being stuck in dead-end jobs, or becoming entangled in the justice system. Now think what it means to our community and individual taxpayers as we deal with higher dropout rates, fewer people contributing tax dollars, and a less educated workforce that creates barriers to attracting good employers. If we truly want to address cyclical poverty, it is critical that we address teen pregnancy.
I would like to commend the Berkshire United Way and CEO Kristine Hazzard for renewing the effort to combat this problem with their Face the Facts campaign. When Kristine and I spoke in front of the School Committee last month, our goal was to ensure that the school system will be part of the solution by providing students with comprehensive, medically accurate, and age appropriate information.
Some still believe that schools should leave this subject to parents, but studies have shown that providing information from many sources is the more effective approach to sex education. Any setting where adults provide guidance to teens is the right place to discuss relationships, contraception, and the consequences of teen pregnancy. Homes, churches, sports teams, and community centers should serve as open forums to expand on what our students learn in school. Community groups could host forums for parents and students to attend together, similar to the LAMO program many of my contemporaries may remember. I would encourage both classes divided by gender and co-educational sessions that allow girls and boys to listen to each other’s perspectives.
We do not have to choose just one model. The solution to ensuring that our children are exposed to our values concerning sexuality and relationships is having more conversations, not limiting them.
In addition to broad efforts at the local level, I support a bill currently before the Massachusetts Legislature entitled "An Act Relative to Healthy Youth," which ensures that Massachusetts schools choosing to teach sex education will provide information about both abstinence and effective contraceptive use, as well as sexually transmitted infections and healthy relationships. This bill is not a mandate, ensuring that local control over curriculum will be preserved while also maintaining parents’ option to take their children out of sexuality education programs.
With parents, schools, and the community working together we can successfully educate and empower young people to make healthy decisions that will positively impact their individual futures and the future of our entire community.
Tricia Farley-Bouvier is the state representative from the 3rd Berkshire District.
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"Remembering those who served: Devonshire veterans honored"
By John Sakata, Berkshire Eagle, 9/1/2013
LENOX -- During the Vietnam War, Army soldier Patricia McCord worked in the personnel department in Virginia. On a daily basis she watched soldiers dutifully serve their country and go overseas. She said every day was emotionally taxing.
"It was wrenching. I was in the office that determined what unit would go and at what time," McCord, said. "You knew many weren't coming back."
On Saturday, McCord, 79, and more than 30 others were recognized for their military service at Devonshire Estate in Lenox. McCord and the portraits of other veterans were prominently hung in the dining area surrounding a newly painted mural depicting a billowing American flag.
During McCord's time of service she rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel, serving from 1959 through 1979, which included stints in Germany and Panama.
Although she served more than 30 years ago, she still vividly recalls returning soldiers greeted with hostility and even spit upon. She said she hopes the mural and recogonition from Devonshire ease some of that pain.
"I think it's a very nice thing to do and to be recognized in your lifetime," McCord said.
Earlier in the day, President Barack Obama said he'd be asking Congress to approve a limited strike against Syria following evidence that chemical weapons were used by President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. The ceremony carried extra weight with state representatives expressing concern about sending troops overseas into a war zone, a scenario many of the veterans honored experienced first hand.
To open the 30-minute ceremony, Devonshire residents were encouraged to stand -- if they could -- as they were led in the Pledge of Allegiance by Devonshire staff member Beth Bachetti.
Jean Bolan, 92, had a husband and brother-in-law both serve in World War II. Even though she depends on a walker to get around, she grabbed the arms of her chair to lift herself up to participate.
"We all went through a lot," Bolan said. "You don't know it until you've gone through it yourself."
In years past, veterans who found themselves at Devonshire were honored with their photo placed on a black board. In the last week, a special mural depicting a billowing flag was painted by Egremont artist David Vosburgh.
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier attended the ceremony and read the name of every veteran at Devonshire Estates. The opening remarks were read by State Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli who he called for a moment of silence to honor the veterans. During his brief remarks, Pignatelli recalled the nickname "Smitty" is after his dad's best friend who died in WWII, and he said the loss retained its poignancy with his father. Farley-Bouvier -- who has a son who is serving his third tour in Afghanistan -- encouraged the veterans in the room to share their past experience with others.
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier attended the ceremony and read the name of every veteran at Devonshire Estates. The opening remarks were read by State Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli who he called for a moment of silence to honor the veterans. During his brief remarks, Pignatelli recalled the nickname "Smitty" is after his dad's best friend who died in WWII, and he said the loss retained its poignancy with his father. Farley-Bouvier -- who has a son who is serving his third tour in Afghanistan -- encouraged the veterans in the room to share their past experience with others.
During the Korean War, Robert Vanderslice, 84, was one of the infantryman standing between Chinese forces in the north and U.S.-supported forces in the south. Vanderslice, one of three lieutenant colonels at Devonshire, said he's grateful not to be fighting in the current conditions.
"At least you knew where the enemy was," Vanderslice said.
Following the ceremony, McCord and Vanderslice gathered in a corner to talk. When asked about military intervention in Syria, McCord withheld an opinion, but she said the country's leaders should carefully consider the decision.
"I'd like to think they know more than what I know and they are mulling this information carefully in their minds."
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"Most local representatives wary of Massachusetts minimum wage increase"
By Nathan Mayberg, Berkshire Eagle, 11/29/2013
BOSTON -- A measure to increase the minimum wage in Massachusetts, which the state Senate approved last week, came as a surprise to Berkshire representatives in the House.
And while the lone state senator was strongly in favor of the plan, three of the four members of the House delegation are taking a more cautious approach, calling for measures to help businesses before approving a wage hike.
"It's good that the Senate is taking some action," said Rep. Paul Mark, D-Peru. "The bill that is going to end up coming out of the House is going to be very different."
Mark, as well as Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli, D-Pittsfield, and Rep. Gailanne Cariddi, D-North Adams, said they would be focusing on building protections for businesses before determining an increase in the minimum wage. All three spoke of a need to lower the cost of doing business in the state.
The Senate bill would increase the minimum hourly salary for most workers to $11 by 2016, beginning with a $1 raise in 2014 from the present rate of $8 an hour. The House will take up the measure when it reopens in January.
"I'm very pleased with that action," Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, said on Thursday.
Farley-Bouvier is the only representative of the four to publicly support the Senate bill, which also was backed by state Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, D-Pittsfield.
"I am very much in favor of raising the minimum wage," he said. "A dollar a year over three years is a good rate."
The representatives said they are looking at freezing or lowering the amount that businesses have to contribute to the unemployment insurance fund. Farley-Bouvier said the length of time people receive unemployment insurance benefits could also be lowered.
"Wages are stagnant. People that work a full-time job should not be making $320 a week," Mark said. "There are a lot of people that are working full time and are at the poverty level."
Mark wants a bill that "will offset costs to businesses so that everybody wins," he said.
"If you work a full-time job, it's disgraceful that you will need supplemental (government) assistance," Mark said. "If people make more money, they will have more money to spend."
But, Mark said, an increase in the minimum wage will drive up "the costs of doing business."
Farley-Bouvier said she has spoken with a number of small-business owners who say they pay above the minimum wage. One small-business owner contacted her to oppose the minimum wage bill and dozens of individuals have told her they support it, she said.
"I am very concerned with employees at big-box stores getting paid the minimum wage," she said.
"We pay so much to support these workers at Walmart with SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits and housing," Farley-Bouvier said.
Cariddi said she is waiting until "a more comprehensive look" is taken on the issue. "We need to look at the costs of businesses," she said.
"I'm not on the workforce committee and I haven't really been looking at those issues," she said.
Farley-Bouvier downplayed some of her colleagues' concerns, noting that "people are hurting."
Every time a minimum wage bill comes up, people say it will hurt small businesses, she said. "It never turns out to be true."
Berkshire Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Michael Supranowitz said he hasn't heard from smaller, locally owned establishments, but he has received three calls on the issue -- all from retail and hospitality companies that employ more than 50 people.
"They called to let us know there is a direct impact to their bottom line," he said.
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"Sens. Markey, Warren and Rep. Neal push Time Warner on NECN decision"
By Clarence Fanto, Special to The Berkshire Eagle, 12/13/2013
Time Warner Cable is taking heat from local representatives in Washington over its decision to drop New England Cable News (NECN) from its Berkshire lineup.
Massachusetts Democratic Sens. Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren and U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, fired off a letter to the company’s CEO, Glenn A. Britt, late Friday asking him to reconsider the unexplained decision to pull the 24-hour news and weather channel from Time Warner’s cable systems throughout Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire.
The letter came in response to a request from the entire Berkshire delegation of lawmakers to take action on the decision to yank NECN.
Warren, Markey and Neal expressed concern over the TWC action.
"Given that NECN is the only 24-hour source of televised regional news coverage available to Massachusetts residents, we strongly support maintaining its availability to TWC subscribers in the Berkshires," the lawmakers wrote.
"Without NECN, Berkshire communities will be severed from other parts of the Commonwealth," the letter continued, "and be left without access to a wide range of important information about Massachusetts and the rest of New England."
The letter was released late Friday by state Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli, D-Lenox, who told The Eagle that while he appreciated the effort, he would have preferred a stronger approach, such as a phone call to Time Warner’s CEO.
"While we understand that TWC has to consider numerous factors in determining its channel offerings to consumers," the Washington lawmakers wrote, "we urge you to revisit and reverse TWC’s decision to drop NECN. We appreciate your attention to this important matter."
In a statement Friday night responding to the letter, Time Warner said that while it always seeks to keep the lines of communication open, there will be no change in its decision to discontinue NECN.
Berkshire lawmakers, including Pignatelli, State Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, and state Reps. Gailanne Cariddi, Paul Mark and Tricia Farley-Bouvier had formally protested the Time Warner action in a strongly worded letter Thursday to the Washington lawmakers.
In response to The Eagle’s query, Time Warner public relations executive Scott Pryzwansky issued a statement earlier this week that "we do not believe NECN represents a good value for all of our New England customers. Value includes several factors, including cost, viewership and unique content." He described the decision as final.
At NECN, Senior Vice President and General Manager Mike St. Peter stated: "We have negotiated with Time Warner Cable, and are very disappointed in their decision, which will result in fewer options and diminished service for their New England customers."
News of NECN’s impending removal from Time Warner at the end of the month unleashed a wave of protest from viewers, some of whom threatened to cancel their cable service.
Although a Boston TV channel is available on the company’s Berkshire systems for scheduled local newscasts, they are blacked out for most of the day and night since the county is designated as part of the Albany TV market, which gives that city’s channels exclusive rights to televise network and syndicated programming to this county.
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Senator Ed Markey at Ben Downing's office in Pittsfield with Mayor Dick Alcombright, Benjamin Downing, Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Gail Cariddi, Paul Mark, and Mayor Dan Bianchi on January 26, 2014.
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"Lawmakers lament impact of benefit cuts on long-term Berkshire jobless"
By Nathan Mayberg, Berkshire Eagle Staff, 1/28/2014
PITTSFIELD -- It's been more than a month since unemployment benefits expired for the long-term jobless, cutting a critical safety net for more than 1,000 Berkshire County residents.
And while Congress currently is debating a bill to extend benefits for the long-term jobless, it's of little solace to more than 1.6 million Americans who are estimated to have already lost them since Dec. 28.
"Nationwide, you've got 72,000 people who are losing their unemployment insurance every week on top of 1.3 million people who lost it on December 28," said U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield. "Economic recovery remains tepid. Demand remains slow."
Neal thinks that President Barack Obama's State of the Union address tonight will be an opportunity for the president to "make his case for extending unemployment insurance," he said.
House Republicans and Senate Democrats forged a budget deal in December that let the benefits expire for those who have received 30 weeks of unemployment insurance in exchange for staving off billions of dollars in automatic budget cuts to defense, Head Start, public housing, the energy department and other government agencies -- a policy known as sequestration.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., vowed that extending unemployment benefits would be at the top of the agenda for Congress when it returned to session earlier this month. While a bipartisan bill is on the floor, the two parties have been unable to bridge their differences.
"Nothing right now," said Giselle Barry, a spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. Markey supports the extension of unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless, though he voted for the budget deal last month.
Barry blamed Republicans in the House who want to pay for extending unemployment benefits with other budget cuts, for holding up a deal. "The longer we wait, the longer people are falling off the program. There is an urgency."
Neal, who also supported the December budget deal, blamed procedural hurdles put up by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for delaying the bill.
"I think it's pretty obvious that it's stalled." he said.
Earlier this month, the Associated Press reported that McConnell offered to extend unemployment benefits by delaying a requirement for Americans to purchase health insurance under Obamacare.
If Congress fails to act, there is little movement in the state Legislature to pick up the slack.
A bill to increase the minimum wage from $8 to $11 in Massachusetts passed the state Senate last December and is expected to be taken up in the House amid talk of possibly lowering the duration of unemployment benefits, from 30 weeks to 26,
State Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, D-Pittsfield, said he opposes such a proposal. "They are two separate issues," he said.
"Right now, if you are working for minimum wage, you live well below poverty," he said. With a wage increase, Downing said, "if you are out there working hard by the rules, you (will) get a fair day's pay for it."
Downing said poverty has increased in Massachusetts over the past six years.
"I would rather not decrease the benefits," said state Rep. Gailanne Cariddi, D-North Adams.
State Rep. William Pignatelli, D-Lenox, said legislators aren't talking about changing benefits but are looking at reducing unemployment costs for businesses, which pay for the program. He is looking forward to Gov. Deval Patrick's State of the State speech tonight for new proposals.
"I field calls every day of the week from folks frustrated by the online and phone system (for unemployment benefits)," he said.
It can take six to eight weeks for some to receive unemployment benefits from the time they sign up, he said. The state underwent a massive, $46 million overhaul of its unemployment system to a Web-based application last summer, which has caused numerous problems.
"We need to be proactive to find these folks new jobs," Pignatelli said. "We need case managers."
"A minimum wage is only good for people who have a job," he said. "There certainly is a commitment to raise the minimum wage but to what point is anybody's guess," Pignatelli said.
"The bigger story is people who are working and still in poverty," said state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield. "In general, things are getting better (economically) but for somebody without a job it isn't better."
Downing said doing more to help the long-term unemployed is "something we've talked about." He is hopeful Congress will extend benefits again but he is worried they will do "what they have done all too often, which is nothing."
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., issued a statement saying "I'm appalled that Republicans have repeatedly filibustered an extension of emergency unemployment benefits for Massachusetts families who are struggling to make ends meet during tough economic times. This is just wrong. I'm going to keep fighting in the Senate to extend this critical lifeline -- it is the right thing to do for our families and will help strengthen our economy."
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"Berkshire reps seek increased state funds for road repair"
By Richard Lindsay, Berkshire Eagle Staff, February 6, 2014
PITTSFIELD -- Berkshire highway superintendents want Gov. Deval L. Patrick to back a proposed $100 million increase in state aid to fix municipal roads -- some on the verge of beyond repair.
Last week, the Massachusetts House of Representatives proposed boosting so-called Chapter 90 money from $200 million to $300 million for fiscal 2015 starting July 1.
Lawmakers approved a similar funding hike in 2013 for the current fiscal year, only to have the governor pull the plug in August, because of a lack of revenue. State officials say the 3-cent increase in the state gasoline tax wasn’t enough to pay for more state aid to repair and maintain city and town roads.
Given Massachusetts officials want to maintain Chapter 90 money at $200 million as part of a five year, state-wide transportation plan, local highway bosses expect any proposed increase request will fall on deaf ears.
"How can we trust the [Patrick] Administration to come up with this plan again," said Richmond Highway Superintendent Jerry Coppola.
Becket Highway Superintendent Chris Bouchard says municipal road bosses are miffed because they were promised the extra highway funds for fiscal 2014, if they supported the higher gasoline tax.
"This plundering of funds has hit cities and towns hard," Bouchard noted. "We need to fix our roads or we’ll have the most expensive gravel roads, ever."
Bouchard and Coppola were commenting during a recent Massachusetts Department of Transportation hearing into MassDOT’s proposed $12.4 billion Capital Investment Plan. The CIP proposal calls for level funding Chapter 90 money through fiscal 2018.
Monday’s hearing was one of six being held prior to the MassDOT Board of Directors scheduled vote on the transportation plan at its Feb. 12 meeting.
The funding strategy -- subject to state legislative approval every year -- dedicates $6.5 million toward state highway improvements with only $1.58 million for municipal roads.
In addition, MassDOT wants to see $473 million set aside for rail and mass transit, the majority going to the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) that primarily serves the Greater Boston area.
However, state highway officials say the plan is already in trouble, facing a possible $55 million revenue shortfall for fiscal 2015. They told the small gathering at the Pittsfield hearing significant increases in Registry of Motor Vehicle fees are being considered to close the gap, or cut $55 million from the transportation plan. MassDOT officials couldn’t say which of the RMV fees will be targeted, but two Berkshire state lawmakers worry the increase will benefit MBTA riders more than Berkshire motorists.
State Reps. Tricia Farley-Bouvier and Gail Cariddi say county drivers pay millions in fees only to see it go to Boston mass transit. They worry increasing the cost of driver’s licenses, registrations, etc. won’t fully benefit needed road repairs in the Berkshires and Western Massachusetts.
"The money goes to people who go through more sneakers than tires," Cariddi.
Farley-Bouvier suggested a special assessment to cars registered within the MBTA service area to help fund Boston-area public transportation, instead of higher registry fees for all.
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State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier is on a House of Representatives panel reviewing the Department of Family and Children after the high profile Jeremiah Oliver case.
link: www.iberkshires.com/story/45658/Farley-Bouvier-Calling-for-DCF-Changes-In-Wake-of-Oliver-Case.html
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"State Rep. Farley-Bouvier sponsors immigrant driver's license bill"
By Jim Therrien, Berkshire Eagle Staff, 3/6/2014
PITTSFIELD -- A legislative hearing Wednesday on a bill that would allow immigrants to obtain a Massachusetts driver's license drew an overflow crowd, according to co-sponsor and state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield.
The Statehouse hearing room during a session of the Legislature's Joint Committee on Transportation held about 100 people and was packed, Farley-Bouvier said, and it was estimated that twice that number waited outside the room.
"I think a lot of people here are in favor," she said. "There is no question that, for every one against, there are about 20 in favor."
Referred to as the "Safe Driving Bill," House Bill 3285 would allow immigrants, who don't qualify for a Social Security card, to apply for a driver's license.
Farley-Bouvier and state Sen. Patricia Jehlen, D-Middlesex, are the initial sponsors, and about two dozen other lawmakers have signed on in support of the initiative.
The bill also is backed by the Safe Driving Coalition, which represents a number of organizations in the state, and individuals in law enforcement, the medical community and mayors and other municipal officials.
Pittsfield Mayor Daniel L. Bianchi and city Police Chief Michael J. Wynn have entered letters supporting the measure.
"At the core of this legislation is a directed effort to improve roadway safety," Wynn said. "Currently, immigration status is a barrier to applying for and receiving a learner's permit or a driver's license."
Bianchi said in part: "In the absence of comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level, it is our responsibility at the state and local levels to devise practical responses to the presence of undocumented residents of our communities."
Farley-Bouvier said there are an estimated 120,000 undocumented immigrants in the state, and, as is the case with citizens, about half of those people might be of age and wish to obtain a driver's license.
Because of confusion over provisions allowing documented immigrants to drive here, some of those people also would be covered by the legislation, she said.
Provisions of the bill include that a person who is ineligible to obtain a Social Security card -- and therefore a license -- ask for a letter to document that status. The person would then take the letter to a Registry of Motor Vehicles office to apply for a license.
The bill would require all drivers to be licensed and includes a provision requiring proof of liability insurance. By bringing immigrants into the licensing system, supporters argued that the level of driver training will rise and those who now are forced to drive illegally -- and without insurance -- will obtain a license.
The license would not allow a person to apply to vote in elections or become eligible for public benefits, and it does not provide documentation for employment.
Licenses issued to immigrants would be made distinct in some way from those citizens obtain.
"There is a lot of misinformation out there," Farley-Bouvier said. "We will continue to try to educate people that this is only the right to drive, and it requires that all those who drive have a driver's license."
She said the first indication of the bill's chances for passage will be in mid-March when it would have to be reported out of committee.
Asked whether undocumented immigrants who now drive illegally would step forward to obtain a license, Farley-Bouvier said the strongest indication is that "there is overwhelming support for this in the immigrant community. They certainly are for this."
If the bill is enacted, Massachusetts would join nine states with similar legislation. In the Northeast, Vermont allows licenses for immigrants, and Connecticut will do so beginning in 2015. New York is considering a bill.
Other states addressing the issue include New Mexico, Utah, California, Oregon, Illinois, Maryland, Colorado and Nevada, as well as the District of Columbia and the territory of Puerto Rico.
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"Berkshire lawmakers favor laws on GMO labeling"
By Nathan Mayberg, Berkshire Eagle Staff, 3/17/2014
BOSTON - All five local state lawmakers are backing their constituents' right to know what they are eating.
Berkshire County's four representatives and Sen. Benjamin B. Downing support pending legislation that would require genetically modified organism (GMO) food to be labeled as such in Massachusetts.
One of the five bills - or any combination of them - currently before joint committees of the House and Senate must be reported out with a recommendation to the full Legislature by Wednesday.
Under two of the bills, food sold across the commonwealth containing genetically modified ingredients can't be advertised as natural.
"The point is to get our food labeled so people know what they are eating," said state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield. "People are trying to do a good job of being health conscious and feeding their children good food."
Farley-Bouvier also questions the nutritional value of GMOs and the inability of using seeds from genetically modified food to produce a new crop.
GMOs have been accepted as ingredients that don't have to be labeled due to a 1992 FDA policy statement, according to Martin Dagoberto, campaign coordinator for MA Right to Know GMOs. He said that "recent science shows there are substantial differences in protein structures" and " material differences" of GMOs. Dagoberto pointed out that approximately 90 percent of corn grown in the United States is genetically modified and more than 80 percent of soy and cottonseed is genetically engineered.
"I think the industry is concerned that people will take a second look at it and it will hurt their bottom line." Farley-Bouvier said.
The Grocery Manufacture's Association, which reportedly opposes the proposed new law, didn't return a phone call from The Eagle seeking comment.
State Rep. Gailanne Cariddi, D-North Adams, says more than 300 people have contacted her in support of GMOs being listed on food labels. Cariddi, who sits on the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture, supports labeling genetically modified food and seeds.
"We don't know exactly what are the long-term effects of GMOs being put into our food. It's a right-to-know issue for me," she said. Cariddi believes GMOs should be listed along with saturated fat, vitamins and other ingredients currently printed on food labels.
"It's a consumer choice bill," said state Rep. William " Smitty" Pignatelli, D-Lenox. "People want to see what's in the food they're buying off the shelf."
Pignatelli is sponsoring a bill that would require GMOs to be labeled and which would disqualify items as natural if they use GMOs. That bill would exempt products which are from animals that are fed GMO food.
In addition, state Rep. Paul Mark, D-Peru, supports labeling GMO products in large print to make consumers more aware of their presence in the food they are buying.
"I think it just makes sense that people should have the right to know what they are eating," he said.
Similar legislation has passed in Connecticut and Vermont, according to state Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, D-Pittsfield, who says proper labeling is necessary because GMOs "play a huge role in our food production system."
Downing, who serves with Cariddi on the same joint committee, noted the panel was given presentations of studies that differed on whether GMOs pose a health risk to consumers.
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Tricia Farley-Bouvier: "Experience counts as we go to polls"
By Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Special to The Berkshire Eagle, 9/6/2014
PITTSFIELD, Massachusetts
As we get ready to say goodbye to Gov. Deval Patrick, we need to get ready for the next four (maybe eight?) years. Next week, we have an opportunity to go to cast our ballots in the commonwealth’s primary election. It’s been a quiet summer here in the Berkshires as far as political activity and this primary is sneaking up on us. I urge everyone to please take the opportunity to have your say in choosing our next governor, attorney general and treasurer.
After looking carefully at all the candidates, having personal conversations with most of them and comparing their records, I have decided to endorse Steve Grossman for governor, Maura Healey for attorney general and Tom Conroy for treasurer.
Steve Grossman has proven himself as an effective leader in both the public and private sector. I have witnessed how he brings people together to address issues, even the tough ones. I am particularly grateful to and impressed by Steve on how he has handled the Taconic school project in Pittsfield.
Upon being elected to the Legislature, one of my first conversations was with Treasurer Grossman who oversees the Massachusetts School Building Authority to express my concerns for the long-delayed project. After being briefed on the whole background, Steve promised me that he would get the project moving and keep it moving. And he has done just that.
The MSBA process remains vigorous, ensuring that we will have a quality project and spend taxpayers’ dollars efficiently, but gone are the days of wild goose chases of conducting one 18-month-long study after another. Pittsfield is well on its way to getting this long-awaited project approved and we have Steve Grossman to thank for it.
The office of attorney general has also opened up this year and I am supporting Maura Healey. Until Maura started campaigning, she ran about 50 percent of the divisions of the current AG office. Maura has an outstanding reputation for working for Massachusetts families. She led the nation’s first successful challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the federal law that discriminated against same-sex married couples. She took on subprime lenders, recovering millions on behalf of Massachusetts homeowners.
Maura oversaw the groundbreaking HomeCorps program, which was created to stop unnecessary foreclosures and keep Massachusetts families in their homes. She trained law enforcement on preventing hate crimes and led the attorney general’s efforts to address bullying in schools in addition to achieving breakthrough settlements to ensure that new technologies were accessible to people with disabilities. And talk about pluck! In 10 months’ time, she has come from being a political unknown to leading in the polls due to hard work and getting her message out to voters.
As Steve Grossman is leaving the treasurer’s office to run for governor, this important post is open and I am supporting Tom Conroy. Tom is a colleague in the House of Representatives who shares many of my values. His legislative agenda has focused on the need to create a more just economic system where everyone has a fair shot at success. Many of his initiatives -- raising the minimum wage, advocating for earned sick time, passing a law that affords child care subsidies for single parents who are in job training programs -- disproportionately affect and benefit women in the workplace and working families.
With two advanced degrees in finance and economics and 16 years in the private sector in the finance and management consulting sector, Tom is the only candidate with experience in the financial service industry. One of the main jobs of the treasurer is to help Massachusetts get low interest rates when it sells bonds; Tom’s experience in this arena is literally worth millions to taxpayers. And just as Steve Grossman took a special interest in the Taconic building project Tom, as the new head of the MSBA has already been briefed and has assured us that we will continue our momentum in moving forward.
I urge everyone to get out to vote on Tuesday, Sept. 9, and to find out more about Steve, Maura and Tom.
Tricia Farley-Bouvier is a Democratic state representative from Pittsfield.
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"Berkshire Lawmakers Head Into 2015 With New Governor"
By Jim Levulis, WAMC, December 29, 2014
As 2015 approaches, Democratic lawmakers from the Berkshires are eying a new legislative session — and for the first time in eight years, a Republican governor.
Although the Berkshire delegation remains unchanged from the previous legislative session, there will be some shifts and new faces in the Statehouse in 2015. Republican Charlie Baker replaces Democratic Governor Deval Patrick, who did not seek a third term. Democratic Senate President Therese Murray is retiring after more than two decades on Beacon Hill and is expected to be replaced by Stan Rosenberg of Amherst. Running unopposed, State Representative Smitty Pignatelli was elected to a seventh term. The Democrat’s reelection comes at time when Governor Patrick is proposing cuts to close what his administration says is a $329 million budget gap, which the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation claims is closer to $750 million.
“I think its somewhere in the middle,” Pignatelli said. “I think the new governor-elect and the legislature has to get really working on that. I’ve had meetings and discussions with the House Ways and Means chairman about this and where things are going to go. We’ve seen mid-December revenues exceeding expectations, which is a good trend to try to close that gap.”
Governor-elect Baker has not said how he might address a possible budget gap, except to rule out tax increases and cuts to local aid. State Senator Ben Downing ran unopposed while serving as the Massachusetts Democrats’ coordinated campaign chair this election. Democrats took all the statewide offices except governor and lieutenant governor. In 2015, Downing says he wants to increase economic opportunity in western Massachusetts.
“Part of that I think is tackling poverty,” Downing said. “It’s about making sure that we’re creating economic opportunity at all rungs on that economic ladder. We’ve got a lot of work to do there. That’s stuff actually that Governor-elect Baker talked about when he talked about increasing the earned income tax credit in other areas. Certainly I hope to be a part of that conversation.”
Pittsfield State Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier did not face a challenger. The Democrat plans to continue proposing drivers licenses for undocumented people, something Baker said he was opposed to during the campaign.
“I think it makes the road to success more difficult,” Farley-Bouvier said. “But if we can work with the governor [Baker] on understanding that indeed because someone doesn’t have the proper immigrant documentation doesn’t mean they don’t have good identification. That we know who these people are seems to be his primary concern. If somebody has a passport from their home country or something like that then we can use that to prove their identity. Then we can forward to insure that all the drivers on the road are trained, licensed and insured.”
Farley-Bouvier also plans to look at the best ways to address sexual assaults on college campuses, while Pignatelli expects cutting expenses to be increasingly important for small school districts with shrinking enrollments. A shared services agreement between six Berkshire districts was not funded this year as Governor Patrick cut the grant program to address the budget gap. Pignatelli also believes opiate addiction will remain a top issue, and Downing plans to continue his focus on energy issues with pipeline proposals taking up many headlines in 2014. Democratic Representatives Paul Mark and Gailanne Cariddi also ran unopposed in November.
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Charlie Baker, center, is sworn in as governor of Massachusetts by Mass. Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, front left, Thursday in the House Chamber of the Statehouse in Boston. Baker's wife Lauren, right, holds the family Bible as his daughter Caroline, behind left, and his sons, A.J., behind center left, and Charlie, behind right, look on. (Steven Senne — The Associated Press)
"Democratic Berkshire delegation encouraged by new governor's approach"
By Dick Lindsay, The Berkshire Eagle, 1/9/2015
BOSTON - The Democratic Berkshire delegation was encouraged by how Republican Gov. Charlie Baker addressed budgetary, economic and health issues — especially prescription drug abuse — during his inauguration speech Thursday afternoon.
The state's newest chief executive spoke for about a half hour after being sworn in at the Statehouse with a tone that resonated with the people of Massachusetts as much as it did the state Legislature voters elected in November, according to several local state lawmakers.
Pittsfield state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier said Baker's commitment to deal with opiate addiction across the commonwealth resonated with her and likely her constituents.
"That not only stood out, but showed a commitment ... that clearly got resounding support in the House chamber," she said.
"This is a gigantic issue that affects family, friends and neighborhoods across the state," added state Rep. Paul Mark, of the 2nd Berkshire District.
Baker's comments regarding the misuse of powerful painkillers and other prescription drugs drew a sustained standing ovation — the only one he received — from everyone attending the inauguration ceremony in Boston.
"[Opiate addiction] has the ability to wipe out all the good work we do in education, job creation; it can undermine the family foundation," said Berkshire state Sen. Benjamin B. Downing.
The 58-year-old successor to Democrat Deval L. Patrick, who didn't seek re-election, made opiate addiction one of his priorities two days after defeating Democrat Martha Coakley and three others in the Nov. 4 gubernatorial race.
In an interview with The Boston Globe, he said he was concerned his son AJ Baker would become reliant on Percocet, which was prescribed to the college student after he broke his arm days before the election playing football for Union College in Schenectady, N.Y.
Baker said he believes economic growth will be a key solution to dealing with controlling state spending, both short and long term. The state's current fiscal 2015 budget is running a $500 million deficit that he said he and legislators must address immediately.
The two branches working together to erase the red ink will be key to developing a good working relationship, Downing said.
"The budget issue will set the tone, but it won't necessarily test our resolve," he said. "Budget challenges will come and go and we'll have other pressing issues down the road."
From January 1991 to January 2007 a Republican governor and Democratic-controlled Legislature in Massachusetts achieved some successes, which lawmakers attributed to working together as people, not partisans.
"I don't think it's about party, but common sense," Mark said.
Farley-Bouvier noted Baker's political neutrality was reflected in his wardrobe during the inauguration.
"He wore a purple tie, not red or blue, but purple," she said.
Contact Dick Lindsay at 413-496-6233. rlindsay@berkshireeagle.com @BE_DLindsay on Twitter
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"Time is right to invest in our future"
By Tricia Farley-Bouvier, The Berkshire Eagle, March 31, 2015
BOSTON - In Pittsfield we are about to make the most important economic development decision in a generation. After a decade of planning and more than 50 public meetings, the new Taconic High School can soon become a reality.
A decade ago it was reported through Taconic's re-accreditation process that the existing building fell far short of today's standards. In response the mayor re-energized the School Building Needs Commission. In the fall of 2007, a 5-day workshop was held in which 40 people, teachers, business people, elected officials and parents got together and drafted a vision for high school education in our community. After much thought and discussion we settled on some core values:
* We wanted our school to be welcome members of the public and be a center of the community. After all, the whole public is paying for it.
* We wanted Career Vocational Technical Education (or CVTE, the shops) to be integrated with the traditional academic classrooms.
* We wanted the design to facilitate collaborative learning and to allow for flexibility for changes in educational practices over time, without being "trendy." We were clear that we did not want to repeat the mistake of the open classroom design of the early 1970s.
* We wanted the building to be safe and we wanted it to be as energy efficient as we could make it.
REFLECTS OUR VALUES
I am delighted and deeply appreciative that the beautiful and highly functional design that has emerged in the last few months reflects the very values we put forth in those visioning sessions.
The city and the school district have been partnering with the Massachusetts School Building Authority in developing a program of study and a building designed for the 21st century. It is based on solid enrollment projections that indicate we can expect a high school enrollment of approximately 1,850 students, which makes a two high school plan the right one for Pittsfield.
Labor market studies and input from local industry assisted the School Committee in determining the right mix of CVTE programs needed to prepare our students for college and/or career readiness, and provide local employers with a steady stream of high quality workers.
Some residents may ask whether the city can afford this project right now. My response is we cannot afford to turn down this vital economy-boosting project. We should draw inspiration from our grandparents who built the Pittsfield High School building in the middle of the Great Depression, without state financial assistance. If they were willing to invest in the future during hard times, then we should too.
LET'S GET OUR SHARE
It is also important to note that the commonwealth's portion of the cost comes from one penny of the sales tax. That means that whether you buy a cup of coffee or a flat screen TV, one cent of that 6.5 percent tax goes to the MSBA to fund projects all over the state. An estimated $10 million leaves Pittsfield each year and goes to the MSBA. That's a lot of pennies that Pittsfield taxpayers have been providing to build projects in other communities.
I think the time is right for people in the rest of the state to send their pennies right here to Pittsfield. Our children, and our community, deserve that kind of investment.
Tricia Farley-Bouvier is the Democratic state representative from the 3rd Berkshire District.
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April 14, 2015
Re: Tricia Farley Bouvier's proposal for Veterans services
Why is Pittsfield Representative Tricia Farley Bouvier sponsoring legislation to eliminate local veterans agents and create regional operations centers ran by the state government instead? She wrote: "The agents and their deputies, assistants, and any administrative staff, would be state employees who provide benefits directly from the state to the veterans and veterans' dependents within their district, removing the burden of those benefits from local taxes."
Communities throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are sending Tricia Farley Bouvier letters opposing her bill.
As a 100 percent service connected disabled Veteran who lived in Pittsfield, Massachusetts after my honorable discharge from the U.S. Army, I, too, oppose Representative Tricia Farley Bouvier's proposal. Veterans have sacrificed their lives to serve our country, and they should not have to face a state bureaucracy when they are in need of public services.
- Jonathan Melle
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During a tour of Pittsfield with Mayor Daniel L. Bianchi and Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey looks at the sculpture 'Infinite Dance' by artist Carol Gold Monday in the Common in Pittsfield. (Gillian Jones — The Berkshire Eagle). August 10, 2015
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Sheila Irvin, Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Sean Calnan and Peter Lafayette examine maps of Tyler Street. Tyler Street is the target of a Transformative Development Initiative (TDI) that kicked off Wednesday. (Ben Garver — The Berkshire Eagle)
"Pittsfield, state launch initiative to revitalize Tyler Street: Initiative will draft plan for revitalization on neighborhood"
By Dick Lindsay, The Berkshire Eagle, August 20, 2015
PITTSFIELD — Bill Cormier pictures the Morningside neighborhood creating a new image for itself.
The art gallery owner on Tyler Street envisions a graphic arts museum on one of the dormant properties along Tyler as a way to breathe new life into the business district, just as theaters did for the city's downtown a decade ago.
And as Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art did for North Adams.
"In a strange way, [Mass] MoCA would help us as it demonstrates how arts can rejuvenate a community," he said.
Cormier and dozens of other area shopkeepers, homeowners along with city, state officials and community leaders wrote their suggested improvements on poster boards during a two-hour meeting Wednesday morning to kick off the Tyler Street Transformative Development Initiative.
The initiative is one of 12 in cities across the commonwealth being funded and overseen by MassDevelopment. The state's quasi-public financing agency, with the help of a consultant, the city and neighborhood organization, will spend the next several months asking those who live and work in the Tyler Street district how best to bolster the area's economy and improve the quality of life for residents.
Once the information gathering is complete, Elan Planning, Design and Landscape Architecture of Saratoga Springs, N.Y. will draft a plan for review, make necessary changes based on public feedback and issue a final report early next spring.
City and state planners hope to build on recent individual redevelopment in the Morningside area, such as the Silk Mill Apartments, the conversion of a century-old factory into affordable housing, and the soon-to-be-built Berkshire Innovation Center within the William Stanley Business Park of the Berkshires.
Mayor Daniel L. Bianchi grew up two blocks from Tyler Street and recalls how the area was "incredibly vibrant" during the heyday of General Electric in the 1950s and '60s, now replaced by the underdeveloped business park.
"Anything the working family needed, was right here in the Morningside area," he told the gathering at the IUE Local 255 Union Hall, across from Woodlawn Avenue.
Today, Bianchi and others view the dozens of small businesses — and its residents — as the backbone of the newly defined development district and key to building on the current grassroots attempt to revitalize the area. The rectangular section is bordered by First Street to the west, Woodlawn to the east, Stoddard Avenue to the north and Maude and Kellogg streets to the south.
In recent years, the Morningside Initiative and the Tyler Street Business Group have fostered individual and community improvements such as neighborhood cleanups, the annual Discover Tyler Street block party, this year set for Aug. 27, and encouraging home and businesses owners to stay and attract new ones.
"Never underestimate the importance of neighborhood groups," said Peter Marchetti, vice chairman of the 14-year-old Morningside Initiative. "But those sitting on the sidelines must now get involved."
Anne Haynes, the new initiative's program director for MassDevelopment, urged the neighborhood to control its own destiny.
"Property owners, business owners and residents all need to be part of the redevelopment," she said.
During the planning process, the consultant will conduct individual interviews, host focus groups, open houses, public information meetings and study the socio-economic makeup of the new initiative. In addition, the proposal will identify potential funding for improvements, beyond using city taxpayer dollars.
The result should be an action plan that invites public/private investment in the district, according to Lisa Nagle, Elan's co-founder and principal planner.
"We're going to create a brand image for [Tyler Street,]" she said.
David Twiggs believes that image needs to include more youth programs, such as the mentorship program at the Goodwill Industries of the Berkshires at the west end of Tyler Street.
Twigg, a city resident, is the logistics manager for the local Goodwill who told The Eagle he welcomes the all-inclusive approach to shaping the neighborhood's future.
"Most important is what the community wants and needs and that we're talking about an area beyond Tyler as just as a street," he said.
Contact Dick Lindsay at 413-496-6233. rlindsay@berkshireeagle.com @BE_DLindsay on Twitter.
Ben Garver — The Berkshire Eagle The first meeting of the Tyler Street Transfomative Development Initiative provided an introduction to the project and input from the participants.
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"Many came through for arts community"
The Berkshire Eagle, Letters, September 7, 2015
To the editor:
The Eagle's Sept. 3 editorial "MCC funding has impact in Berkshires" rightfully shows the importance and value of state investment in the arts and cultural sector. To communities across the state, the Berkshires are a model region for how to utilize the cultural community to drive economic and cultural vibrancy.
The increase in the MCC budget this year was no easy fight. Kudos go out to Jen Glockner, the director of Pittsfield's Office of Cultural Development, and the dozens of institutions and working artists who let their voices be heard loud and clear in the six-month budget making process.
This was true especially in July when the legislature voted to overturn Gov. Baker's veto of the increase. The Berkshires delegation, Sen. Downing and Reps. Pignatelli, Farley-Bouvier, Mark, and Cariddi, were once again arts champions at the forefront of the fight for the override.
Matt Wilson, Boston
The writer is executive director, MASSCreative.
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Tricia Farley-Bouvier: "Our right to know what's in our food"
By Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Op-Ed, The Berkshire Eagle, September 19, 2015
PITTSFIELD - Growing up, I looked forward to the end of August as it meant a visit to my grandfather's garden in Richmond. Rows of fresh, unadulterated, sweet corn were ripe for the picking, and that's exactly what we did. The taste was unforgettable.
But as I reflect on this experience, my thoughts shift to the concerning state of our food today. It is not the food we served up when we were kids, and in the last 10 years the changes have come at an increasingly rapid rate. This is due in part to genetically modified organisms (GMOs), whose genetic material has been artificially manipulated due to genetic engineering. Our food has been changed at the cellular level by Big Agriculture companies like Monsanto in order to be weed resistant.
In the U.S., GMOs are in as much as 80 percent of conventional processed food, according to the NonGMO Project, a nonprofit organization, which provides third party verification and labeling for non-GMO food and products in the U.S. The fact there is no scientific consensus on the safety of genetically engineered foods is all the more unnerving.
However, consumers are denied the opportunity to make informed choices about their food selections because of the widespread inclusion of GMOs into the food stream. Considering that some of the most common GMO foods include soy, cotton, canola, corn, sugar beets, yellow squash, and zucchini, it's becoming hard to know what to avoid.
We all have a basic right to know what's in our food, and it starts with H3242, an act establishing the genetic engineering transparency food and seed labeling. I fully support this bipartisan legislation, and it clearly struck a chord among members of both the House and Senate — 153 of my colleagues, including the entire Berkshire delegation — have signed on as co-sponsors.
That rare breadth of support is due to the groundswell of individuals who have contacted their own elected leaders demanding to know what they are eating and serving their families. A 2013 New York Times poll revealed that 93 percent of respondents supported labeling food that has been genetically modified or engineered.
H 3242, modeled after similar legislation in Vermont, Connecticut and Maine, will require all food offered for retail sale in Massachusetts that is entirely or partially produced with genetic engineering to be labeled clearly and conspicuously with the following: "produced or partially produced with genetic engineering." If the product is not individually packaged, this label will be put on the bin or shelf where it is sold. Food produced with genetic engineering shall not be labeled as "natural," "naturally grown," "all natural," "naturally made" or anything similar that would tend to mislead a consumer.
The public will have an opportunity to share its thoughts on this legislation before the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture on Tuesday, Sept. 22. If passed, GMO labeling will equip Massachusetts residents with similar rights that already exists in 64 countries where GMO food has either been banned or requires labeling.
Food labeling is not a new concept, and the steps we have taken in past years have empowered consumers to make informed decisions. The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 revealed per-serving nutritional information and the Food Allergy Labeling and Consumer Protection Act has helped vulnerable individuals avoid life-threatening ingredients. GMO labeling is simply another step to maintain transparency to the American food system and to ensure consumer confidence.
The well-funded opposition will argue that this measure will increase grocery costs for families. That is completely false. Food products often have different labels depending on region of sale. For example, some of the same products that we have here in the U.S. are sold in Europe under labels clearly indicating the GMO ingredients.
Big Agri also wants you to believe that what they are doing now is no different than developing hybrid fruits and vegetables. Another falsehood. While the creation of hybrids create a bigger variety, GMO produce exists to have a higher tolerance to herbicides. Therein lies the difference, and it's an important one to understand.
The data clearly show that when people know more about GMOs, their demand for transparency increases. Here in the commonwealth, we are listening, and this legislation will help to create a food system that we can all feel confident about.
Information is truly power when it comes to knowing what's in our food, and I encourage you to learn more. The Massachusetts Right to Know GMOs, a statewide network of safe food advocates, is leading the effort to pass the GMO labeling in the commonwealth. To learn more, please visit marighttoknow.com.
Tricia Farley-Bouvier is a Democratic state representative from Pittsfield.
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Tricia Farley-Bouvier: "Gender ID bill is a matter of fairness"
By Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Op-Ed, The Berkshire Eagle, November 5, 2015
PITTSFIELD - Did you know, today, in the year 2015, there is class of people who are not protected by law as to where they can eat, sleep, shop, and even use the bathroom?
While we'd like to believe that all persons, especially here in the commonwealth of Massachusetts, are afforded such protections under the law, the truth is that in public places transgender persons are not protected under current law.
In 2011, the Massachusetts legislature passed An Act Relative to Gender Identity – which I'm proud to say was filed in the Senate by Sen. Ben Downing of Pittsfield — that allowed Massachusetts to become the 16th state to add nondiscrimination laws for gender identity in the areas of employment, housing, K-12 public education, and credit. It also ensured that Massachusetts Hate Crimes laws included gender identity — as defined in the 2011 law as "a person's gender-related identity, appearance or behavior, whether or not that gender-related identity, appearance or behavior is different from that traditionally associated with the person's physiology or assigned sex at birth.
OPEN TO DISCRIMINATION
However, protections in public accommodations was left out of the final bill. Therefore, transgender persons are still susceptible to discrimination in any place that is open to the public and provides goods and services. According to a national transgender discrimination survey, 58 percent of Massachusetts respondents "experienced verbal harassment or mistreatment in public accommodations like hotels, restaurants, buses, airports and government agencies because they were transgender."
The gap in the law boils down to this: businesses cannot discriminate in employment against transgender persons, but have the right to deny them services as customers.
It is clear that this loophole needs to be addressed, and we have an opportunity to remedy this with the proposed legislation, the Act relative to Transgender Nondiscrimination (H1577 & S735), otherwise known as the Transgender Accommodation Bill. Filed by Reps. Denise Provost (D-Somerville), Rep. Byron Rushing (D-Boston) and Sen. Chang-Diaz (D-Boston), offers transgender persons full protection under the law, allowing them to enter and use public accommodations without fear of discrimination or subjective reproach.
On Oct. 6, the Joint Committee on the Judiciary listened to testimony from individuals and families who shared their experiences of discrimination. The legislation is now under review and there are several more steps before the full legislature will have an opportunity to vote on it.
I am hopeful that this legislation will move forward to provide a full measure of protection to those vulnerable to discrimination, and as a member of the Democratic caucus, I am especially proud to note the staunch advocacy efforts of so many of my colleagues toward this effort.
At the core of this legislation is basic civil rights under the law. However, I am cognizant that the subject of transgender persons — those with either assistance from medical intervention or by visible presentation who transition to a different gender — is a provocative issue and something new for a lot of people. There are a lot of people who don't understand, and I am admit, I don't understand everything about the subject.
What I am crystal clear is this: I believe you don't have to understand everyone's perspective, or agree with it, to realize that every person deserves equal protection under the law.
The proposed legislation is good news for individuals like Ella DeGiorgis, a transgender woman who was a guest on my public television show, Berkshires to Beacon Hill, earlier this month.
DeGiorgis, who said she considers herself an activist, described her concerns including worrying about if the restaurant she frequents will allow her to use the bathroom or if a gym membership will allow her access to appropriate changing facilities. "It makes it hard to enjoy a full life," she said.
You can't get any more basic than having the right to use a restroom. Interestingly enough, there actually is no law that specifies males and females must use their gender-assigned restroom, noted Representative Provost, who was also a guest on my show; rather, enforcement is something that occurs through social custom.
CRUEL MISCONCEPTIONS
And while these are basic rights, opponents of the legislation view it much differently. Dubbed "the bathroom bill," opponents believe the legislation legalizes predators to go into girls' bathrooms and carry out assaults. This couldn't be farther from the truth. Current data simply does not point to incidents of transgender individuals using gender identity to harm people. The proposed law does not sanction criminal activity – it has always been illegal for anyone to enter a restroom to either harm or sexually harass another individual.
Another important area to note is that this bill would not place any mandates on the school systems across the commonwealth to change their policies. Since 2011, school districts have been, and continue to, make arrangements, as they best determine, to accommodate needs of transgender students.
As stated before, I understand that this is an issue that will generate spirited discussion, and that's always a good thing. But it is my hope that in the midst of the conversation, we don't lose sight of the fact that a lack of understanding of individual perspectives should never impede basic rights under the law.
Tricia Farley-Bouvier is a Democratic state representative from Pittsfield.
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[Tricia Farley-]Bouvier just posted this on Facebook
"Massachusetts Property Taxes Grow By Largest Amount In Five Years"
December 1, 2015 via Dan Valenti's blog comment section on 12/2/2015
Property tax revenues across Massachusetts rose by 4.1 percent in the last fiscal year, the largest annual increase since fiscal 2010, but cities and towns continue to struggle to pay for employees and services due to unfunded fixed costs, according to a new report.
The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation (MTF) concluded in its annual municipal financial data report that Bay State cities and towns are “stuck in an era of modest rebound.” Overall, total municipal revenues grew by 3.8 percent.
“The pursuit of the 5.2 percent average annual revenue growth we witnessed between 1982 and 2009 continues to become more unattainable in the short term,” MTF President Eileen McAnneny said in a statement.
Cities and towns face a collective $45 billion in unfunded pension and retiree health care liabilities, a burden that’s forcing local officials to make difficult decisions about spending priorities.
“Municipalities’ growing reliance on and limited control over property taxes, along with the unlikelihood of dramatic increases to state aid and local receipts, signals that municipal budgets must increasingly align with the slower growth rate of recent years,” the report said.
Local non-property tax receipts such as motor vehicle excise, hotel and meals taxes, building permits and service charges grew by $220 million in fiscal 2015. The 5.1 percent increase in those revenues was the largest leap since fiscal 2008.
Gov. Charlie Baker, who has emphasized his support for cities and towns sharing in the state’s revenue growth, is scheduled next month to unveil his second state budget proposal, including proposed local aid levels for fiscal 2017 which starts on July 1, 2016.
Cities and towns use local aid to supplement property taxes, the two main revenue sources for municipal budgets. Property taxes across Massachusetts totaled $14.6 billion in fiscal 2015, an increase of $579 million over fiscal 2014.
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"Local tax revenues slow to rise"
The Boston Globe, December 6, 2015
A new report by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation finds that even as the overall economy improves, the state’s cities and towns are still feeling plenty of financial strain. Municipal revenues grew by a modest 3.8 percent in the last fiscal year, a figure that remains below historical averages prior to the recent recession. Wages for municipal employees grew by 3.7 percent last year, a rate higher than the average for private sector workers in Massachusetts. Municipalities collected a total of $14.6 billion in property taxes last year, an increase of 4.1 percent and the largest year-over-year increase since 2010, according to the report. (AP)
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Pittsfield City Councilor Christopher Connell recently was elected to his third term representing Ward 4. Eagle file.
"Pittsfield City Councilor Christopher Connell to announce bid for House seat"
By Jim Therrien, The Berkshire Eagle, January 13, 2016
PITTSFIELD — City Councilor Christopher Connell plans to enter the 2016 race for the House seat now held by Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield.
Connell, of Dawes Avenue, said he will detail his reasons for running for the 3rd Berkshire District seat during a press conference at 3:30 p.m. Thursday on the City Hall front steps.
The Ward 4 councilor, now beginning his third term, said he is an independent politically and is not enrolled in either the Democratic or Republican party. He said he has until March 8 to declare whether to seek the nomination of one of the parties or pursue an independent ballot line.
While a councilor, Connell has also served on several committees and commissions, including the Traffic Commission.
Connell, 57, has said his interest in seeking a legislative seat dates back to his early years growing up in the Bennington, Vt., area. After graduating from St. Michael's College in Colchester, Vt., he worked in Rhode Island for many years before moving to Pittsfield in 2002.
He said family members have lived in Pittsfield since the 1970s.
Asked Wednesday whether she will seek another term in 2016, Farley-Bouvier said, "I am indeed running."
Contact Jim Therrien at 413-496-6247. jtherrien@berkshireeagle.com @BE_therrien on Twitter.
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City Councilor Chris Connell announces his candidacy for state representative Thursday on the steps of Pittsfield City Hall. The 3rd Berkshire House seat is currently held by Tricia Farley-Bouvier. Connell said he would remain on the council if elected. (Stephanie Zollshan — The Berkshire Eagle)
“Chris Connell to seek House seat, would remain on Pittsfield City Council”
By Jim Therrien, The Berkshire Eagle, January 14, 2016
PITTSFIELD — City Councilor Christopher Connell, who said he is unafraid of long work weeks, intends to run for the 3rd Berkshire House seat in the fall election and would retain his seat on the council if elected.
The Ward 4 councilor and about two dozen supporters gathered on the City Hall steps Thursday afternoon to announce his bid for the House seat now held by state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield. Connell confirmed afterward that he also intends to remain on the council if elected to the Legislature in November.
"During my two terms on the City Council, I started to understand that there is only so much I can do locally, and I feel I can accomplish more for the city at the state level," Connell said.
He said the city needs someone to more effectively advocate for funding for infrastructure repairs and for the school system.
"I can see them as glaring needs, and as a councilor, there is only so much I can do," he said.
"We also need to explore options of regionalization with neighboring communities due to shrinking populations and increasing costs," Connell said.
Connell, 57, of Dawes Avenue, said he is now running as an independent for the office, but will decide whether to seek one of the party nominations for the House seat before a March 8 deadline to make that declaration. He has stressed as a councilor his preference for working with all political factions toward practical solutions to problems and said he is comfortable with that role.
"I've always been an independent voice for the city of Pittsfield, and I am going to go forward as an independent voice," he said.
One change that could influence the upcoming Berkshire legislative race lineup would be if one or more of the House or Senate incumbents decides against seeking a new term, but thus far none has made such an announcement.
Contacted Thursday, Farley-Bouvier said she intends to seek another term. "This is what democracy is," she said of Connell's bid. "I feel confident in running on my record, which I would put up against anyone."
The incumbent also was critical of Connell's intention to continue as a councilor if elected to the House. "It is certainly legal to collect both those paychecks, but it is not possible to do both these jobs," she said, "especially if you're from the Berkshires. He may not be accounting for the time on the [Turnpike]. So he is either fooling himself or fooling the voters."
She said the dual role might be possible "with a helicopter."
"It is my intention to do both," Connell said during a short press conference after his announcement. "Logistically, I think I can."
He said that is in part due to the fact council meetings are at night while most legislative sessions are held during the daytime. He said he has also checked with the state Ethics Commission to learn that there would be no conflict of interest.
Connell added that he wants to provide "a direct link from local government to state government. I want a local voice in the Statehouse."
As for his private sector work, Connell said he owns rental properties and has reliable employees working with him so he can be freed up to serve both on the council and in the Legislature. His wife, Esther, who is his campaign treasurer, also has experience in real estate, he said.
His prior work, he said, included 20 years in management with the F.W. Woolworth Co., and with the Cumberland Farms Inc., where he became a regional manager with 45 stores in the Rhode Island area, with an annual budget of more than $100 million.
In addition to serving on the council for the past four years, he has served on a number of commissions, committees or boards in city government and with local organizations.
"I think I have enough knowledge to do the job as state rep," Connell said. "And I am used to dealing with big numbers and big budgets."
In his remarks, Connell said his long-term interest in state politics dates to his early years growing up in Bennington, Vt., where he worked as a teen in a men's clothing shop he termed "the hub of Bennington politics," where "people were always coming in and talking politics."
The late Joseph Shaffe owned the shop on Main Street, Connell said, and his son, David, was a state representative, traveling [roughly 100 miles] to Montpelier for 12 years for House sessions at the Vermont Statehouse.
"His father taught me business," Connell said, "and David introduced me to politics."
Connell's family moved to Pittsfield during the 1970s, he said, and after working elsewhere, he settled here in 2002.
"I have always been a hard worker, both in the corporate world and in the construction field," Connell told supporters. "I've been classified as a blue collar worker with white collar experience. I'm a work horse, not a show horse."
Contact Jim Therrien at 413-496-6247. jtherrien@berkshireeagle.com @BE_therrien on Twitter.
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January 14, 2016
This is unbelievable, but Pittsfield politics City Councilors unanimously sent the lovely Linda Tyer a petition to reduce municipal taxes by having an outside consultant (or a task force) to find ways to efficiently restructure city and school departments through an independent review of the municipal budget.
The link to this news story is found on iBerkshires:
www.iberkshires.com/story/50985/Pittsfield-Council-Asks-Mayor-For-Independent-Review-of-Budgets.html
Usually, Pittsfield politics adds about 5% more to the next fiscal year budget to satisfy the vested interests: Police, Fire, and School Unions.
What will the lovely Linda Tyer do with this petition that her predecessor Dan Bianchi ignored over the past year? Will she reduce, level fund, or increase municipal taxes by about 5%?
This is a good question for Dan Valenti to ask the lovely Linda Tyer on his local, live TV show tonight!
As for Tricia Farley-Bouvier facing opposition from Christopher Connell, I hope they have a healthy and positive public discussion on the important issues facing Pittsfield. The rub on Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier is that she is a do-nothing, political hack (like the rest of the Berkshire delegation) who is supported by the local power-brokers or establishment.
The iron rule of Pittsfield politics is that you have to be a registered Democrat to win local, state, and federal elected office. The real election in Pittsfield politics is decided on the primary election instead of the general election. Pittsfield voters get to choose from unopposed or G.O.B. elections. There is no real democracy in Pittsfield politics!
- Jonathan Melle
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Pittsfield State Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier is running for re-election.
"Farley-Bouvier Confirms Re-election Bid"
By Andy McKeever, iBerkshires Staff, January 19, 2016
PITTSFIELD, Massachusetts — State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouiver has confirmed she will seek re-election for a third full term.
The Democrat won the office in a special election in 2011 after Christopher Speranzo took a lifetime appointment in Berkshire Superior Court. Farley-Bouvier first defeated Peter White and Ryan Scago in the Democratic primary and then Green-Rainbow Party Mark Miller, Republican Mark Jester, and independent Pam Malumphy in the general election. She ran unopposed in the following two elections.
She'll face competition in 2016 with Ward 4 Councilor Christopher Connell's announcement that he intends to seek the 3rd Berkshire representative seat.
"This is a democracy and I encourage people to run. And I'm confident to run on my record," Farley-Bouvier said when asked about competition.
Farley-Bouvier served on the City Council from 2004 until 2008. She then was hired as director of administration for former Mayor James Ruberto before running for the state office. She currently sits on the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities, the Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse, the House Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change, and the House Committee on Steering, Policy and Scheduling.
In responding to Connell's announcement, Farley-Bouvier confirmed that she would seek re-election and questioned Connell's intention to continue to serve on the City Council if elected.
"While it is legal to collect these two paychecks, it is not logistically possible," Farley-Bouvier said. "He's either fooling himself or fooling the voters."
Connell said he hasn't decided if he'll run on a party ticket or as an independent; he is the first challenger to an incumbent in the Berkshire delegation. If there is a primary, it would held on Sept. 8. The general election is scheduled for Nov. 8.
State Rep. Gailanne Cariddi, D-North Adams, and state Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli, D-Lenox, have both affirmed that they will run for re-election.
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Tricia Farley-Bouvier (Eagle file photo)
"Farley-Bouvier will run again for House seat"
Berkshire Eagle Staff, 1/28/2016
PITTSFIELD - Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier says she will seek a third term in the House and forgo a run for the Senate seat being vacated by Benjamin Downing.
In a news statement issued Thursday morning, Farley-Bouvier said Pittsfield is at a "critical juncture in its redevelopment."
"We need an experienced legislator laser focused on advocating for our needs," she said. "As is well known, Pittsfield's success is critical to the success of the region."
The district encompasses most of Pittsfield.
"I am looking forward to working closely with Mayor [Linda] Tyer and Superintendent [Jason] McCandless, public safety officials and our business and neighborhood leaders forging partnerships that will provide the best possible economic and educational opportunities for every Pittsfield resident," she said. "I truly value being a part of Team Pittsfield."
Farley-Bouvier, a Democrat, will face a challenge for her 3rd Berkshire District post. Pittsfield's Ward 4 city councilor, Chris Connell, has said he will run for the office as well.
State Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli, D-Lenox, confirmed he will consider a Senate bid.
Downing said this week he would not seek re-election to a sixth term.
"I wish I was voting for Ben Downing this November but with him stepping down I have been faced with a choice," Farley-Bouvier said.
"I took this decision very seriously and consulted with many stakeholders to discern what is best for my family, for Pittsfield and the larger Senate district. What has become very clear to me is that I am exactly where I need to be."
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Our Opinion: “Buffet workers victims of corporate indifference”
The Berkshire Eagle, Editorial, 2/5/2016
The closing of the Old Country Buffet in Pittsfield, a blow to workers and loyal customers, is particularly shameful because it came without any advance notice.
Like State Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier of Pittsfield, we would all "like to think that a company would treat its employees in a better manner than this." (Eagle, February 5). But as we have seen in recent months in the Berkshires, this is how restaurant chains, largely unanswerable to unions, treat workers.
Most of the suddenly jobless workers are in no position to accept the parent company's thoughtful invitation to apply for jobs at two Old Country Buffet restaurants in eastern Massachusetts — from where they would probably get laid off anyway. They are now at the mercy of the tough Berkshire job market.
Last month, members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association won a financial settlement because North Adams Regional Hospital closed without the required 60 days notice. However, federal law applied in this case because NARH employed more than 100 people (roughly 530) while Old Country Buffet only employed about 30 in Pittsfield. The parent company did close 74 buffet restaurants nationwide Thursday, which would well exceed 100 workers, but a collective appeal would be difficult to pursue without the help of a union or association.
The Old Country closing makes the case for unions. And with presidential candidates extolling the virtues of the struggling American worker, Washington should extend protection against closing businesses without warning to workers at small companies.
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Our Opinion: “State should create larger fines for jaywalking”
The Berkshire Eagle, Editorial, 2/12/2016
For Berkshire communities, Pittsfield foremost among them, to address jaywalking, the Legislature will have to act. That may finally happen this session.
Senate Majority Leader Harriette Chandler, a Worcester Democrat dismayed by pedestrian deaths in her city attributed to jaywalking, asked her counterparts Wednesday to raise the fine for jaywalking, which is currently a meaningless $1. She proposes increasing the fine for a first offense to $25, followed by two steps to $50 and then a maximum fine of $75.
A similar bill filed in the House by Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier, a Pittsfield Democrat, would raise the fine to $50. Ms. Farley-Bouvier, while an adviser to then-Mayor James Ruberto, and Pittsfield Police Chief Michael Wynn, took on jaywalking in the city five years ago following five accidents, three of them fatal, involving pedestrians in 2010. Progress was made, but there are limits to what communities can do in terms of raising fines without the Legislature changing the law. Ms. Farley Bouvier's bill was referred to the House Judiciary Committee.
A quick visit downtown (or upstreet) reveals Pittsfield's severe jaywalking problem. It is apparent that far too many pedestrians either don't know the rules pertaining to crosswalks or don't care about them. Walking against the traffic lights and the electronic red hand signaling pedestrians to stay put on the sidewalk is not only illegal it could lead to a crippling injury or death.
A $1 fine won't dissuade jaywalkers or give police any incentive to enforce the law. A heavier fine will accomplish both. A combination of the Farley-Bouvier and Chandler bills beginning the fines at $50 with a cap at $75 is ideal, but any bill raising fines substantially is acceptable as long as it is passed and sent to the governor this year. We urge the Legislature to act quickly on a law that will give communities an important tool in making their streets safer.
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From left, Mary O'Brien and state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier speak to a third Hillary Clinton supporter Saturday at the candidate's new local office. (Phil Demers — The Berkshire Eagle | photos.berkshireeagle.com)
“Clinton, Sanders backers rally for support in Pittsfield”
By Phil Demers, The Berkshire Eagle, 2/20/2016
PITTSFIELD - With New Hampshire's primaries in the rear view and Massachusetts' 10 days ahead, the city got political on Saturday.
Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton opened a "pop-up office" on heavily trafficked North Street, while supporters of her rival for the Democratic nomination, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, canvassed neighborhoods door-to-door.
The latest polls show Sanders has opened up a seven-point lead on Clinton in the state. His local supporter sought to build on it.
"We have a ton of support on the ground [in Berkshire County]," Steven Coyne, a Sanders supporter, said. "We have momentum. Right now we've pulled ahead in the [Massachusetts] polls dramatically."
Roughly 30 people gathered at Pittsfield team leader Ray Alt's home on Bartlett Avenue intending to fan out from there.
Blocks away on North Street, Clinton's local team touted their candidate's experience and cool head, deriding Sanders' policy proposals as too radical.
"We have much in common with the other candidate, but we believe our candidate has the experience to get the job done," Clinton supporter state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, said at the new office. Around 10 people gathered at the office on Saturday.
Clinton supporter Mary O'Brien contrasted Clinton's coolness under fire during the Benghazi Hearing with Sanders' "intensity and anger."
"I'm not sure that would fit in the White House," O'Brien said, preferring Hillary's demeanor. "His idea that we're going to have a revolution — that does not appeal to me. The word 'revolution' has to more frighten than inspire you, in my opinion. I think we need change, to follow up on President Obama and continue to achieve change for the better. Bernie seems to stop everything where it is and start all over again."
The Sanders crowd up the road did not find political revolution so disagreeable an idea.
Nominating Sanders, Coyne said, would be the best way to start "steering this country away from some of the destructive policies of the past 30 to 40 years."
"One of the points of politics is to say, 'Hey, we want to take ownership as the people of America and start taking the Titanic, steering it away from the iceberg and getting it back into port so we can rebuild this country," Coyne said. "I think Bernie Sanders can do that."
Ward 6 City Councilor John Krol said, "I want to make Pittsfield a centerpiece of" Sanders movement.
"I think we're a very progressive city," Krol said, pointing to Sanders' broad appeal here. Alt, too, said Sanders enjoys "a lot of organic support in Berkshire County."
Lee Doctor Michael Kaplan said Sanders' calls for a single-payer health care system alone make him a superior candidate to Hillary. Kaplan has fought for such a system for 30 years with Physicians for a National Health Program.
"Bernie's program is basically our program," Kaplan said. "It's the only answer if you're looking to cover everybody and keep health care affordable."
On the other hand, state Rep. Gailanne Cariddi, D-North Adams, said Clinton has been far more successful in proposing and passing legislation in her political career.
"As a legislator, I know what needs to occur to see good legislation passed," Cariddi said. "The president needs to work with Congress. I don't think what [Sanders] is proposing would get any traction."
Each gathering featured individuals whose history with the candidates went back decades.
Irmgard Arruda, a German immigrant and Sanders supporter, said U.S. politics frightened her in the '80s, the era of Ronald Reagan, when she was living in northern Vermont.
Then Sanders was elected mayor of Burlington 1981, and changed her view.
"He was a beacon of hope for me," Arruda said. "And over the years you build a certain trust. He has fought for the same causes since then with consistency and energy, and will continue to stand up for what's right."
On Clinton's side, Kathy Nuffer of Albany, N.Y., said she followed closely Clinton's political career and misses having her as a senator.
"She spent her early years working with families and children in need," Nuffer said. "When she ran for senator here, people initially called her a carpetbagger, but then she visited all 62 counties and really won people over. When she got to office, she started moving on her initiatives, and by the second time she ran it was a no-brainer who to vote for."
While their local supporters were busy on Pittsfield's streets on Saturday, the candidates themselves campaigned until the very last in Nevada while that state's caucus' were underway.
Clinton led by as much as 20 points in Nevada through late 2015, but polls showed the race had narrowed to a tossup by Saturday.
Farley-Bouvier said despite polls showing a statewide lead for Sanders in Massachusetts, she thinks the primary will be "tight" here, too.
"We need to counteract [Sanders' recent gains] with a very robust local campaign," she said. "We know what works is identifying our voters, having lots of one-on-one conversations, and getting them to the polls."
Sanders supporters meanwhile felt the wind was at their backs, and with their candidate headed back to Massachusetts for a rally in Amherst on Monday, the lead would only grow more dramatic, they said.
Contact Phil Demers at 413-496-6214. pdemers@berkshireeagle.com @BE_PhilD on Twitter.
Supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders rally Saturday in Pittsfield. His supporters canvassed neighborhoods door to door. (Phil Demers — The Berkshire Eagle | photos.berkshireeagle.com)
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Michael Bloomberg — a first cousin once removed of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg — will challenge state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier for her House seat. (Courtesy photo)
"Pittsfield resident Michael Bloomberg to challenge Farley-Bouvier for House seat"
By Jim Therrien, The Berkshire Eagle, 2/26/2016
PITTSFIELD - A city man will challenge for the Democratic nomination for the 3rd Berkshire District House seat now held by state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier.
Michael Bloomberg, of Holmes Road, confirmed Friday that he will make a formal announcement next week, and he has taken steps to create a campaign finance committee.
One question sure to be asked during his announcement is whether he is related to former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He is — as a first cousin, once removed. The candidate's father and the former mayor are cousins.
He said his mother is Nancy Shulman and his uncle is Jim Shulman, of the Berkshire Carousel project, and his grandfather was Irving Shulman, who began Jim's House of Shoes in Pittsfield.
Bloomberg is a 2008 graduate of Pittsfield High School and a 2012 graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
His entry into the race would ensure a primary contest in September for the House seat to determine who will represent the party in the November election.
Farley-Bouvier has said she will seek another term. She was first elected in 2011 and previously served on the Pittsfield City Council.
Also seeking the House seat is Ward 4 City Councilor Christopher Connell, who is running as an independent.
Contact Jim Therrien at 413-496-6247. jtherrien@berkshireeagle.com @BE_therrien on Twitter.
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Letter: “Clinton is leader with experience, passion”
The Berkshire Eagle, Letters, 2/26/2016
To the editor:
Hillary Clinton is the most qualified person on the planet to be the next US president. She has the breadth and depth of experience that is comparable to absolutely no one else in the field. I trust her to lead our country.
Secretary Clinton reflects my progressive values and has the ability to accomplish our shared goals of addressing income inequality, debilitating college debt, environmental injustice, our crumbling infrastructure and our terrible campaign financing laws. And in the complicated, sometimes scary world that we live in, I trust that Secretary Clinton has an understanding of international issues and the problem-solving ability to keep us safe.
It was only 12 years ago that I began my political career with a grassroots organization whose aim was to take on the local political establishment. What the leadership of the WHEN! organization proposed caught fire in a climate of frustration in the city. You might say it was a little revolution right here in our own community.
Now, I have the honor of serving Pittsfield as your state representative (and I am proud to say my fellow WHEN! candidate serves in Pittsfield's corner office). I do so fighting for a progressive agenda on Beacon Hill — on gender issues, social justice, environmental justice, economic justice. I know that fighting for justice means that I am given the label of liberal, and it is a term I wear as a badge of honor.
So, as a relative newcomer and someone with solid progressive credentials, I support the candidate who has fought her whole life for the values I care about. I appreciate and admire the outstanding message that Sen. Sanders has proclaimed and I applaud the activists who are rallying in support of that message. At the same time, I understand that it takes much more than messaging and ideals to lead this country and the free world.
Leadership takes a combination of experience, wisdom and the willingness to work with others — even those with whom you don't always agree. Leadership is the ability to take a hit and get back up. Leadership is fighting for values that are not always the most popular, but are the right thing to do. Leadership means going beyond the sound bite to understand the myriad of details and the deep consequences of the complex issues that we face. Leadership means that proposals that you put forward can stand up to the scrutiny of experts and that the numbers will add up.
Hillary Clinton has those leadership qualities. She has the experience. She has the passion and the fortitude. I trust her to take our progressive ideals and turn them into the reality that will impact our everyday lives.
I'm proudly casting my vote for Hillary in the March 1 Massachusetts primary and I ask you to join me.
Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Pittsfield
The writer is a Democratic state representative.
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Pittsfield resident Michael Bloomberg launches his campaign for state representative in the 3rd Berkshire District on Thursday during an event at Flavours of Malaysia. (Gillian Jones — The Berkshire Eagle | photos.berkshireeagle.com)
“Pittsfield candidate Michael Bloomberg launches bid for 3rd Berkshire District seat”
By Jim Therrien, The Berkshire Eagle, 3/3/2016
PITTSFIELD — Michael Bloomberg on Thursday formally launched his run for the Democratic nomination for the 3rd Berkshire District, calling for strong new representation at the Statehouse in Boston.
"We have the opportunity now to create our future," Bloomberg told a crowd of about 30 during his remarks at Flavours of Malaysia restaurant.
He said that in newly elected Mayor Linda M. Tyer, Pittsfield has a leader for the future. "Linda has jumped headfirst into her responsibilities and is leading at the local level," he said, adding, "But now, more than ever, Pittsfield needs a leader in Boston."
Bloomberg, 26, of Holmes Road, is challenging incumbent state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, in the Sept. 8 Democratic primary. City Councilor Christopher Connell is seeking the district House seat as an independent.
Noting the city's economic and population decline since the days of General Electric employment in Pittsfield, Bloomberg said reversing that trend would be his overriding focus.
"But let me make one thing very clear tonight," he said. "Those numbers, those facts, they're history. As a community and as a city in the commonwealth of Massachusetts we have the opportunity — now — to create our future. And that's what this campaign is about. The future."
Bloomberg said the city has always been known for innovation in business and the arts, and he wants to further encourage that type of atmosphere. "And so, to all the innovators in this city," he said, "I hear you, I see you, I feel you — and let's do this."
The candidate promised to release a number of position papers on issues like economic development, taxes and public safety, providing "nothing but the facts." He added to applause, "Because Pittsfield doesn't just happen; we have to make it happen."
He thanked supporters, including his mother, Nancy Shulman, and Sabrina Tan and Chin Lee, operators of the North Street eatery.
Bloomberg introduced members of his campaign team, as well, including campaign manager Maya Richards, treasurer Montee Wasch and David Bowler.
He was introduced by Councilor at large Peter White, who said he has known Bloomberg for about 10 years as the candidate became involved in political campaigns and with the Berkshire Brigades organization.
"I've always been impressed by how much Mike cares about Pittsfield, and how much he is willing to give back, White said.
Also attending were former Councilors Barry Clairmont and Jonathan Lothrop and Conservation Commission member Thomas Sakshaug.
Bloomberg said his inspiration to run for office here stems from the "compassionate values" and love of Pittsfield instilled in him by his grandparents, Irving and Helen Shulman, who with family members founded the shop that became Jim's House of Shoes 70 years ago. That inspiration is evident in his parents' generation and now his, he said.
He said his reasons for living in Pittsfield "all come back to that story of a young man took a risk for a place he loved."
Bloomberg is a 2008 graduate of Pittsfield High School and a 2012 graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, majoring in political science. He also recently attended PDX Code Guild, a technology training program in Oregon, and he has been taking courses at UMass in labor economics and statistics.
He has worked for Bridgewater Associates, a hedge fund management firm, focusing in part on technology, and previously worked for a start-up, Kora Management, also a hedge fund.
Bloomberg said he has long been interested in politics, working on the 2006 state Senate campaign of Helen Sharron of Worthington and others. He also served an internship with the U.S. Olympic Committee, including work during the 2012 games in London.
Bloomberg's famous name prompted several inquiries from media interested whether he is related to the former New York mayor. He is a cousin, once removed, he said, as his father and the former mayor are first cousins.
Contact Jim Therrien at 413-496-6247. jtherrien@berkshireeagle.com @BE_therrien on Twitter.
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City Councilor Chris Connell kicks off his campaign for the 3rd Berkshire District House seat Wednesday with a rally at the American Legion in Pittsfield. (Stephanie Zollshan — The Berkshire Eagle | photos.berkshireeagle.com)
“Chris Connell kicks off run for 3rd Berkshire District seat”
By Jim Therrien, The Berkshire Eagle, March 18, 2016
PITTSFIELD — Christopher Connell kicked off his independent run for the 3rd Berkshire District House of Representatives seat on Thursday with an event at the American Legion post attended by more than 60 people.
Connell, the Ward 4 city councilor, reiterated his called for "a stronger voice in Boston" to push for a greater share of funding and other support for Pittsfield.
"Over the last four-plus years serving on the City Council, I have come to realize there is only so much I can accomplish to help the city," Connell said in his remarks.
He noted that as Pittsfield's population and industrial base has declined in recent decades, the tax base has eroded and the city has "limited flexibility in raising taxes to support ever increasing city services."
Among needs for which he said the city should have "our fair share of tax revenue from the state," are for a new police station, major educational investments and street and other infrastructure upgrades.
"That's why the citizens of Pittsfield need a strong voice on Beacon Hill that will put Pittsfield's needs first," Connell said.
Running as an independent, he will face the winner of a Democratic primary race and any Republican, Green/Rainbow Party or United Independent Party candidates who enter the contest.
Currently, incumbent state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, is facing a challenge in the September primary from newcomer Michael Bloomberg of Holmes Road. No other candidates have announced a campaign.
Connell was introduced prior to his remarks Thursday by Ward 7 City Councilor Anthony Simonelli. Others attending the Connell event were Mayor Linda M. Tyer, council President Peter Marchetti, councilors Peter White and Kevin Morandi, and former Mayor Gerald S. Doyle and former Councilor Barry Clairmont.
Connell said that while a councilor and previously he has worked with a number of boards and commissions and on bipartisan initiatives. He said those include work with former Assistant City Solicitor Darren Lee, who in attendance, to submit a council petition to help prompt the city's first-ever tax lien sale, which recouped more than $2 million in back taxes owed.
He also cited work with former council President and current at large Councilor Melissa Mazzeo and others to update the city's parking fine schedule, and on a study group he proposed to look into city water and wastewater system operations, as well proposing, along with councilors Mazzeo and Donna Todd Rivers, a study of operations at the Pittsfield Municipal Airport to determine whether other management options might be more cost-effective.
"I have always tried to think out of the box and collaborate with others to offer alternative ways of doing business and hopefully save the city and taxpayers money," he said.
Contact Jim Therrien at 413-496-6247. jtherrien@berkshireeagle.com @BE_therrien on Twitter.
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“Four potential Berkshire County legislative candidates take papers”
By Jim Therrien, The Berkshire Eagle, 3/28/2016
PITTSFIELD — There are at least four new potential candidates for state House and Senate seats in Berkshire County.
Three potential candidates have taken out nomination papers this month at the city clerk's office for the 3rd Berkshire District House seat now held by state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, and one took papers for the state Senate seat held by Sen. Ben Downing, D-Pittsfield, who is not seeking another term.
Taking papers for the Democratic nomination for the House seat was local attorney and environmental activist Rinaldo Del Gallo. In the September primary, he would face Farley-Bouvier, who is seeking another term, and Michael Bloomberg of Holmes Road.
The first possible Republican candidates for Berkshire legislative seats also have pulled nomination papers at City Hall. These are Alexander Blumin, who has been an advocate for more liberal public comment period rules at City Council meetings, and Thomas Wallace, both of Pittsfield.
If they return nomination papers, the two would face off in a Republican primary in September to run against the Democratic House candidate in November.
Pittsfield Ward 4 City Councilor Christopher Connell is running for the House seat as an independent.
Thus far unopposed for new terms in the House are Reps. William "Smitty" Pignatelli, D-Lenox, Gailanne Cariddi, D-North Adams, and Paul Mark, D-Peru.
Christine Canning, of Lanesborough, has taken out papers to run for the state Senate seat now held by Downing. She is seeking the Republican nomination.
Also announcing for the seat are Democrats Adam Hinds, the executive director of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition in North Adams and former coordinator of the Pittsfield Community Connection anti-youth violence initiative, and Andrea Harrington, of Richmond, an attorney with Hellman, Shearn & Arienti of Great Barrington.
The Senate District represents 52 communities and includes all of Berkshire County and parts of Hampshire, Hamden and Franklin counties.
Contact Jim Therrien at 413-496-6247. jtherrien@berkshireeagle.com @BE_therrien on Twitter.
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"Clarification: Del Gallo running for Massachusetts Senate"
The Berkshire Eagle, 3/29/2016
PITTSFIELD - Attorney Rinaldo Del Gallo clarified Tuesday that is running for the state Senate in the Democratic primary, not for the state House seat in Pittsfield, as incorrectly reported in an article on legislative candidates.
Del Gallo said he is actively gathering signatures for a run for the seat now held by Sen. Benjamin Downing, D-Pittsfield, who is not seeking another term.
In the Democratic primary in September, he would face announced candidates Adam Hinds, of Pittsfield, and Andrea Harrington, of Richmond.
On the Republican side, Christine Canning, of Lanesborough, has taken out papers to seek that party's nomination.
Del Gallo said he intends "to run as a Bernie Sanders progressive" in the race, favoring a single-payer health care system, raising the minimum wage, government-funded educational opportunities and other progressive positions.
— Jim Therrien
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State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, left, accepts the "2016 Legislators of the Year" award from Children's League of Massachusetts Vice Chairman Matt Stone and Chairwoman Carla Saccone during a ceremony at the State House recently during the Children's League's annual Advocacy Day event. (Courtesy photo)
County Fare: “State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier honored by Children's League”
The Berkshire Eagle, 3/29/2016
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, and Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, were co-honored as the "2016 Legislators of the Year" as part of the Advocacy Day 2016 event and "Superheroes 4 Kids" campaign of the Children's League of Massachusetts (CLM).
A March 22 ceremony was held at Nurses Hall at the Massachusetts State House as part of the event. The campaign and honors are designed to celebrate Children's League members of and community members who advocate for increased protections, resources and funding for children in care in the fiscal 2017 budget.
"Both Senator Tarr's and Representative Farley-Bouvier's commitment to protecting the well-being of our children is unmatched," Children's League Executive Director Erin G. Bradley said. "The most vulnerable children of our commonwealth do not have access to the corridors of power to advocate for themselves, so having eloquent and dedicated legislators who give voice to the issues of importance to children is very much appreciated. We look forward to continuing to work with both of them to further improve the safety and success of the children of Massachusetts."
Said Rep. Farley-Bouvier, "I do thank the Children's League for this great honor, but it is them and the providers who do the ever important work of advocating for children every day that deserve the accolades."
Farley-Bouvier was honored for her creation and leadership of a legislative Child Welfare Subcommittee, driven by her belief that child welfare warrants a special body of legislators who can closely examine issues affecting system-involved youth. She was also acknowledged for bringing attention to the additional burdens placed on social workers in Western Massachusetts, where long drive times and rising caseloads decrease the amount of time they can spend on any one case.
Farley-Bouvier said child welfare should be a priority for legislators and noted that, "During times like these when the heroin epidemic is running rampant in the commonwealth and income inequality continues to leave more and more families behind, it is the children that get hurt the worst."
"Protecting children should always be a priority," said Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr.
Children's League highlighted Tarr's championship in the Senate of a bill that would ban "re-homing," a process by which adoptive parents use Internet message boards to find other adults to care for adopted children when an adoption is not working. They also noted his work to pass "Jessica's Law," which created stronger protections for children from child sexual predators, as well as his work to pass legislation to raise the age of juvenile court jurisdiction from 17 to 18 years old.
County Fare, a weekly column featuring "tales from throughout the Berkshires," is compiled by Eagle staffers.
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Letter: "This time, Pittsfield must heed the market"
The Berkshire Eagle, 4/9/2016
To the editor:
Fifty years ago, the market spoke to Pittsfield. It said loud and clear that manufacturing as we know it in America was packing up and heading out of town. The message was broadcast to every city in this country. Some, like New York, Fort Collins, and Asheville, heeded the warning; many, like Detroit, Akron, and Pittsfield, did not.
Today the market speaks again. It is telling us that young people, seniors, entrepreneurs and investors are flocking to cities at the fastest rate in history. They want access to quality schools, health services, restaurants and entertainment. They want to walk outside and see streets and sidewalks full of people. They want the energy of a booming vibrant community. We can be that city.
Our downtown, (Tyler Street included) can be a vibrant city center like Burlington or Boulder, but we can't get there just doing what we've been doing. In the past two weeks alone we have seen front page articles on the rise in foreclosures, stagnant property values, and a plea from the mall for lower taxes.
While many see these signals as troubling, and understandably so, they also present an opportunity. The opportunity for our city and state officials to rethink our historical approach to economic development; the opportunity, to show our legislative support to the people and businesses who are investing in a strong, sustainable future.
A strong city starts at its center. This isn't just a feeling, it's a fact. The denser the city, the less we need to spend on roads and cars and the more we can spend on people and programs. Right now, the Greystone building (Mission and Dotties) pays taxes on a valuation of $130 per square foot of of its downtown footprint. The Allendale plaza — $16 per square foot.
This disparity has made downtown development unsustainable for many businesses and the result is a growth in big-box stores that pay low wages, require a car to reach, and which destroy vast plots of grass and trees to build their cheap, temporary structures. This issue is just one of many resulting from an old way of thinking that needs to be addressed in order to be a growing, strong, sustainable city.
Now is the time to think outside the box, look at the facts, and make use of 21st century technology. Now is the time to build partnerships with other cities around the state, country and world. Now is the time that we stop focusing on the city we once were, and start focusing on what we can be.
Mike Bloomberg, Pittsfield
Mike Bloomberg is a Democratic candidate for state representative, 3rd Berkshire District. (Pittsfield.)
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State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier has co-authored a letter calling on the commonwealth to emphasize renewable energy sources over natural gas and other fossil fuels. (Eagle file)
"Tricia Farley-Bouvier fuels legislative effort to focus more on renewable energy"
By Dick Lindsay, The Berkshire Eagle, 5/12/2016
BOSTON - State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier is powering efforts for a more diverse and renewable fuel-based omnibus energy bill than the one being debated on Beacon Hill.
The Pittsfield Democrat has co-authored a letter signed by 56 representatives — including all four members of the Berkshire delegation — that calls for the commonwealth to emphasize, solar, wind and other green energy sources over natural gas and other fossil fuels.
"The decisions we make this spring will have a major impact on where our energy comes from for the next few decades," Farley-Bouvier said in a prepared statement. "We have the opportunity to create local jobs and create healthier communities, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, so we are seeking the forthcoming legislation to prioritize clean energy."
The lawmakers want the House leadership to release a bill that also won't spend taxpayer dollars on natural gas pipeline projects. They instead want pipeline owners to fix the tens of thousands of leaks in their existing delivery systems, which would save consumers more than $90 million a year and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent, according to the legislators.
"We have heard loudly and clearly from our constituents on the issue of pipeline funding." Farley-Bouvier stated. "To have ratepayers pay for these infrastructure investment would be unprecedented. The investors who, in the end, will be profiting, should absolutely be the ones on the hook."
Recently, opponents of Kinder Morgan's Northeast pipeline plan to traverse the Berkshires claimed victory after the energy giant suspended work on the project. Kinder Morgan representatives said they couldn't line up enough natural gas providers to make it profitable.
The lawmakers said they want alternative energy sources that make sense economically and environmentally, such as meaningful offshore wind energy development and hydropower purchased from Canada coupled with environmentally sensitive transmission lines and related infrastructure.
"We can and we must balance the need for reliable energy at an affordable price for both our residents and our commercial customers, while be extremely mindful of the impact our energy policy has on our environment," Farley-Bouvier said.
Contact Dick Lindsay at 413 496-6233. rlindsay@berkshireeagle.com @BE_DLindsay on Twitter.
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Pittsfield Superintendent of Schools Jason "Jake" McCandless mingles Friday at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Taconic High School. (Ben Garver — The Berkshire Eagle | Photos.berkshireeagle.com)
Dignitaries take shovels to the construction site Friday at Taconic High School to officially recognize the construction of the new school. (Ben Garver — The Berkshire Eagle | Photos.berkshireeagle.com)
Katheleen Amuso introduces Taconic High School student Taylor Hebert to speak Friday at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new school. (Ben Garver — The Berkshire Eagle | Photos.berkshireeagle.com)
“Groundbreaking kicks off construction on new Taconic High School”
By Jim Therrien, The Berkshire Eagle, May 13, 2016
PITTSFIELD - A groundbreaking Friday to launch Pittsfield's $120.8 million new Taconic High School project drew more than 100 current and former school, city and state officials — as well as faculty, staff and students of the current school off Valentine Road.
A series of speakers — including School Building Needs Commission Co-Chairwoman Kathleen Amuso, state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, state Treasurer Deborah Goldberg and Superintendent Jason "Jake" McCandless — took turns thanking those who worked over nearly a decade to make the project a reality.
Amuso, a former School Committee member and now also a city councilor, and Farley-Bouvier noted that three mayors, five Pittsfield schools superintendents, some 30 councilors, and approximately 50 people who served on the SBNC have shown consistent, long-term support for the project.
"It really has been a long journey," said Amuso, later adding, "I can't wait until September 2018 to walk through the doors of a new Taconic High School."
The 246,520-square-foot academic and vocational school will be constructed directly across from the current school's main entrance, and the old building will be razed around the time of the 2018 ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The Massachusetts School Building Authority has issued approval for $74.2 million in state funding toward the Taconic project, and the City Council has approved bonding for up to $45 million for Pittsfield's share of the cost.
Goldberg, who chairs the MSBA board, said that as a former Brookline selectwoman, she understands the tremendous effort involved in reaching this stage of a school construction project.
"I know what you went through," the treasurer said. "But soon we will be putting shovels into that wet ground."
When she thinks about such moments, Goldberg added, "it gives me chills."
The treasurer said she has added staff members at the MSBA with local government experience, and she intends to develop new methods and strategies of working closely with school districts to facilitate construction projects.
Farley-Bouvier, who like Tyer became an early supporter of a new school while both were city councilors a decade ago, stressed that the effort was a collaborative one, stretching across the administrations of Mayors James M. Ruberto, Daniel L. Bianchi and now Tyer, who took office in January.
"This is everybody's groundbreaking," Farley-Bouvier said, citing for credit the MSBA, her fellow local state lawmakers, local school officials, city councilors who last year unanimously approved a bond for the construction and the many residents who voiced support.
"This has been a long ... time ... coming," she said, speaking slowly for emphasis.
Speaking last, before officials left the school auditorium and braved a steady drizzle to sink golden shovels into the earth of the project site, McCandless joked that he felt like massive former Chicago Bears lineman William "Refrigerator" Perry, who occasionally was given the football near the goal line and rammed home a touchdown.
However, Amuso lauded McCandless for the multitasking job he did over his three years in Pittsfield schools in helping to nail down the final project approvals. That included securing state funding, working with the project designers, traveling to MSBA sessions in Boston, and remaining calm and positive despite the long, sometimes frustrating process, even when she was not so calm, Amuso said.
Thanking educators, officials, residents and state officials, McCandless said, "Thank you for believing in the power of education." In the new Taconic High, he said, "we celebrate potential; we celebrate hope."
"This is a milestone for all of us," said Tyer, telling those present that "it is tempting in difficult economic times to dial back" such investments in the future, "but I think that is precisely the time to invest."
She praised all those involved in making that commitment.
The new Taconic, with an enhanced vocational/technical course curriculum and modern classrooms, shops and other school spaces, is considered a key to boosting the city's economy by preparing students for good-paying jobs now sometimes going unfilled in the region.
The project sends a message that "we are investing in our children and economic development," Farley-Bouvier said.
When potential business investors approach the city, she said, their first concern "is quite frankly, not lower taxes." More important to businesses, she said, is "a well-educated work force."
She added that the greatest concern expressed by parents is that their children have a good education and opportunity for a good job afterward. "We are saying today to families, Pittsfield has invested in the education you want for your children," the lawmaker said.
Taconic Principal John Vosburgh thanked the officials involved and residents for "having the courage to take this step," saying he remembers other negative votes that sunk major development projects in the city.
Taylor Hebert, a member of the SkillsUSA team at Taconic, said she wishes she could experience the new high school but knows students and staff members will appreciate the planned building, as it will eliminate roof leaks, wild swings in indoor temperatures and hall sections not handicapped accessible in the aging current school.
"Thank you for investing in education, specifically in vocational education," she said.
Also lauded were the city's project consultants, Skanska USA, the project designers, Drummey Rosane Anderson of Waltham, the construction management firm, Gilbane Inc., and David Tierney Construction, a local firm working on the project.
They have been, "our outstanding professional partners," Farley-Bouvier said.
The Taconic Chorus, directed by Jessica Passetto, performed at the start of the afternoon program.
Contact Jim Therrien at 413-496-6247. jtherrien@berkshireeagle.com @BE_therrien on Twitter.
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Our Opinion: “New Taconic a demonstration of faith by Pittsfield”
The Berkshire Eagle, Opinion: Editorial, 5/15/2016
Friday's groundbreaking ceremony for the new Taconic High School was a well-earned celebration for a city that was in need of one.
Pittsfield has struggled economically and with a loss of population for a number of years now, and while the new Taconic is certainly not a cure-all it has the potential to bring dramatic change for the better. The beginning of the construction project marked Friday is a source of pride for the many public officials who made it happen and for the residents of Pittsfield as well.
State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, who chairs the Massachusetts School Building Authority that is contributing $74 million to the project, said at an Eagle editorial board meeting before she went to the ceremony that there is a direct connection between top-notch schools and the strength of a community. The new state-of-the-art Taconic, an academic and vocational school, will not only provide a good education for Pittsfield students but should draw students from surrounding communities. Along with Pittsfield High, it will provide the city with two fine high schools.
To turn around its economy and stem its population loss, Pittsfield must keep current residents and businesses and attract more. A new Taconic designed to prepare students for the many challenges of the current job market, specifically the need for specialized technology knowledge, will help accomplish both.
Practical considerations aside, a project of this magnitude speaks well of the city's determination to do well by its students, and in so doing, improve the city as a whole. (It's unfortunate that Great Barrington won't adopt the same attitude.) As state Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier of Pittsfield said at the ceremony, "This is everybody's groundbreaking."
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Mayor Linda Tyer signs a Community Compact for the city of Pittsfield with Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, accompanied by state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier on Tuesday at Pittsfield City Hall. (Stephanie Zollshan — The Berkshire Eagle | photos.berkshireeagle.com)
“Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito signs 'compacts,' tours Pittsfield sites”
By Jim Therrien, The Berkshire Eagle, May 18, 2016
PITTSFIELD — Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito and officials from the city and three Berkshire towns gathered Tuesday at City Hall to sign their respective Community Compact agreements.
Polito also visited Taconic High School and took a bus tour Tuesday of the Tyler Street Transformative Development Initiative District, a section of the city's Morningside neighborhood that officials are hoping to revive with help from MassDevelopment.
Mayor Linda M. Tyer said prior to the formal compact signing that she quickly learned upon taking office in January that the Baker administration "has made partnerships with cities and towns a top priority."
In Pittsfield's case, the Community Compact agreement will provide state funding for initiatives to develop a long-range budget capital planning system that can be updated, and to create a more transparent budget format.
The city will receive $25,000 in funding to hire a consultant for the projects.
"This couldn't have come at a better time for Pittsfield," Tyer said, as the city expects to face tough budgetary decisions in creating a fiscal 2017 spending plan.
Also signing compact agreements — in which the communities agree to complete certain best practices initiatives and receive modest state grants — were officials from Cheshire, Hinsdale and Williamstown.
Hinsdale Selectwoman Laurel Scialabba said the money will go toward creating a town master plan and a comprehensive budget plan.
Williamstown Town Manager Jason Hoch said the compact agreement will provide the town with funding to focus on implementing a Complete Streets initiative — increasing pedestrian, bicycle and other enhancements within street projects.
Cheshire Selectwoman Carol Francesconi said the town has talked about creating a master plan and now will have the opportunity with the grant assistance. A goal is to contain some of the rapid growth the town has experienced, she said.
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, said the Berkshire legislative delegation "understands that you have to have teamwork," telling Polito "we appreciate what you do with communities."
"The funding is just part of this," Polito said, adding that another intent of the program "is to reach all cities and towns" in the state. The four signed compact agreements bring the number to 198 since the Baker administration launched the program a year ago, she said.
"I love the program," she said, because it allows communities to choose the type of best practices effort to tackle, rather than have the state decide which projects to fund with grant support.
Tyer administration department heads and City Council President Peter Marchetti and Vice President John Krol also attended the afternoon session in council chambers.
Accompanied by Tyer and Farley-Bouvier, Polito was shown five different sites during a tour of the city's TDI District. These included the Raymond Crow Playground on Winter Street; the Rice Silk Mill Apartments on Burbank Street; the old Berkshire County Jail & House of Correction on Second Street; the old Tyler Street firehouse that once housed the city's Emergency Services operations, and the vacant St. Mary the Morning Star Church property on Tyler Street.
City Planner C.J. Hoss outlined the district's history and the city's plans for each of those sites.
"This grew up as a neighborhood business district," Hoss said, during the stop at the old firehouse building, built in 1906 but currently vacant. "We'd like it to be again."
Following the bus tour, Polito stopped at the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority's headquarters at 81 Kellogg St., and received a briefing on the William Stanley Business Park of the Berkshires and the yet-to-be-built Berkshire Innovation Center.
"It's very interesting to come and tour a transformative development neighborhood," Polito said.
The Tyler Street TDI is one of 12 in cities across the commonwealth that are being funded and overseen by MassDevelopment. It is also one of the areas where MassDevelopment has assigned an economic development expert.
That specialist, Amewusika "Sika" D. Sedzro, began her three-year assignment in Pittsfield on May 9.
"Now you're at a point in time when the city is planning for the next 40 or 50 years, and the neighborhood that they've identified is one that has great potential of becoming a place of home ownership, a neighborhood connected within itself to parks and open space and a downtown that has seen some revitalization," Polito said.
"So, it's important that we assigned our fellow to this TDI, and this fellow will directly work with the city to see this initiative through over the next three years."
Polito also visited Taconic High School, where construction is underway on a new $120.8 million school adjacent the existing 47-year-old building.
The lieutenant governor visited the school's shop areas and viewed equipment used in advanced manufacturing education programs.
Business Editor Tony Dobrowolski contributed to this report.
jtherrien@berkshireeagle.com @BE_therrien on Twitter.
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Letter: “For real change, Pittsfield must build on its strengths”
The Berkshire Eagle, 6/16/2016
To the editor:
When I decided to run for state representative in Pittsfield, I promised myself that I would never compromise my values to get elected. Those values have been tried and tested, yet when I knock on the doors of our city, and listen to all of you, my values grow stronger.
There are many in this community who have asked me to remain quiet on issues large and small. From the newly announced "super Walmart" in the heart of the city to the slashing of the school budget.
I cannot, and will not, stay silent on these issues.
This city was built by innovators with the help of hard-working, highly skilled people. Hard-working people like my grandfather, and like many of you, who lent their backs to the cause to create an excellent place to raise a family.
Now we need changes, but change is hard. It was Jack Welch, the former CEO of GE, who famously said that "change has no constituency. People like the status quo. They like the way it was."
I believe that Jack was wrong. I believe that change does have a constituency. I believe that constituency is the PEOPLE of Pittsfield, and that the people of Pittsfield know that our future does not rest in the hands of a mega-Walmart.
Our future is in our beautiful outdoors, it's in our machine shops, our theaters, our labs, and our schools. Our future is in our local businesses and our local innovators who make this place home. Our future is a place where great people want to raise great families, regardless of their wealth, race, sexual preference, or gender.
I'm asking you to not wait until election day, Sept. 8, to have your voice heard. I'm asking you to make your voice heard now. Because this city doesn't need me, it needs you.
Our city needs you to write a letter to the editor telling our representatives about the future you want to see. Our city needs you to go downtown, to go to Tyler Street, to go to any one of our local businesses and say thank you, we're with you.
Our city needs help. And that help won't come from Boston or Washington, and it definitely won't come from a "super-Walmart." It has to come from right here in Pittsfield.
Because WE make this city.
Michael Bloomberg, Pittsfield
The writer is a Democratic candidate for 3rd Berkshire District state representative.
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Pittsfield: Farley-Bouvier to launch re-election campaign
The Berkshire Eagle, 6/16/2016
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier will officially launch her re-election campaign at a kick-off event from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, June 17, at the ITAM Lodge, 93 Waubeek Road.
The event will feature special guest Attorney General Maura Healey.
Farley-Bouvier was elected to the House of Representatives in a 2011 special election.
She currently serves on the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities, the Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse, the House Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change, and the House Committee on Steering, Policy and Scheduling.
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ON THE TRAIL: Campaign news from around the Berkshires
"Rep. Farley-Bouvier to kick off House campaign"
The Berkshire Eagle, 6/16/2016
PITTSFIELD - State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier will officially launch her re-election campaign during a kick-off even Friday, June 17, at the Itam Lodge, 93 Waubeek Road, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature special guest Attorney General Maura Healey.
"I'm thrilled and honored to be running for re-election in Pittsfield, so that I can continue advocating for the values and concerns of everyone who resides, visits, and does business in our city," said Farley-Bouvier. "I'm honored that the AG is making the trip out to support me, she said.
"This campaign is about being invested in Pittsfield families. That includes finding common sense solutions to create jobs, invest in the local economy, and solve the opioid crisis," she said. "These are the issues important to Pittsfield and to our commonwealth. These are the reasons why I'm running."
In 2002, Farley-Bouvier became involved in local politics, working with the "Save Our Schools" campaign to secure reliable funding for Pittsfield Public Schools. The following year, the grassroots group "Women Helping Empower Neighbors" supported her campaign for at-large city councilor. She received more votes than any other elected official.
Farley-Bouvier has served as the director of administration in the Pittsfield mayor's office, and was elected to the Legislature in a 2011 special election.
She currently serves on the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities, the Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse, the House Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change, and the House Committee on Steering, Policy and Scheduling.
During her tenure, she said she has gotten progressive results by fighting for an array of pressing reforms, including those addressing sexual violence on college campuses, gun violence, veterans' services, transgender anti-discrimination, public records access, safe driving, and clean energy.
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Tricia Farley-Bouvier: “Teamwork is key to good government”
By Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Op-Ed, The Berkshire Eagle, 7/3/2016
PITTSFIELD - State government does not happen in a marble building with a golden dome, on a hill in a faraway city. State government happens right here, in our community. With this principle in mind, I have prioritized being accessible to all my constituents in Pittsfield.
When I was first sworn into office, I established a full-time district office in the heart of downtown to make it convenient for anyone to call or stop by anytime. I am accessible via social media, and my constituents know I am there for them to answer questions, to help solve problems, and to gain their vital feedback on state legislation.
LISTENING IS CRITICAL
This is because I believe my most important job as a legislator is to listen to people who work, do business, and make their homes in Pittsfield, and then to collaborate with others to address challenges they face. I count on the expertise of our community partners on issues of economic development, education, child welfare, health care, housing, and the cultural economy. I also learn from my constituents who are passionate about environmental, economic, and social justice issues.
I work closely with the mayor, and I am always available to city councilors, School Committee members, the schools superintendent, and other city officials. Having all of us working together makes all the difference in securing state funding.
We all agree that economic development is job one for Pittsfield. When I listen to employers both large and small, their number one concern is a well-prepared workforce. This is why I am so proud that our perseverance is paying off with the construction of the new Taconic High School. We owe it to our children and our own future as a community to invest in a 21st century facility that will support the excellent work of our teachers.
In addition to leading the charge on the new Taconic, I am an active member of the Berkshire Compact for Education, which brings together diverse stakeholders with the mission of raising the educational aspirations and attainment levels of all people.
In the legislature, I have been active on four strong teams: the progressive caucus, the Gateway city caucus, and two legislative committees. During my tenure as a leader in the progressive caucus, we have partnered with advocacy groups to pass forward-thinking bills, such as raising the minimum wage and creating equal protection for transgender people.
A great example of the work of The Gateway city caucus is a partnership with MassDevelopment called the transformative development initiative. With Sen. Downing, we were able to pass legislation, secure funding, and advocate for the local application to transform the Tyler Street neighborhood.
Since my first term, I have served on the Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities. Past cuts and the ongoing surge in the opioid epidemic have created immense pressure on the system. In response, I brought together a group of legislators to learn from stakeholders who are too often ignored. We now have an understanding of the importance of strengthening families so that children can stay safely at home and of supporting foster families.
PITTSFIELD EXPERIENCE
Concerned about the opioid epidemic and its devastating toll on Pittsfield, I pushed for a seat on the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Committee. I am proud of my contributions to our most recent omnibus opioid bill, I am pleased that there are plans for two more facilities in Pittsfield with 46 new long-term recovery beds.
I grew up in Pittsfield and chose to raise my family here. Through my work on community projects, School Council, the City Council, and now as your state representative, I am looking forward to continuing my partnerships with local government, businesses, and community members to advance the needs of Pittsfield and advance a progressive agenda.
I truly love my job and I hope that those of you who work, do business, and make Pittsfield your home see fit to return me for another term.
Tricia Farley-Bouvier is the Democratic state representative from the 3rd Berkshire District.
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Michael Bloomberg: Working diligently to rebuild Pittsfield
By Michael Bloomberg, Op-Ed, The Berkshire Eagle, 7/3/2016
PITTSFIELD - Pittsfield was built on energy.
It wasn't the energy of General Electric, but the energy of an entire generation.
My grandparents, along with many of you, were not handed prosperity; they worked hard for it. And while Pittsfield cannot dwell on the past and the wonders of the '50s and '60s, I believe this generation can show and lead our new generation with their example. I will bring their lessons with me to the State House as your next state representative.
Lesson 1. Success doesn't just happen, you have to make it happen.
My grandparents opened Jim's Working Man's Store on Woodlawn Avenue 70 years ago. While my grandfather built and stocked the shelves, my grandmother greeted parents and their children late into the night on Thursday evenings. They worked hard not just for their business, but for the entire community, to make this the place that they wanted to raise their family.
BE PART OF CHANGE
Six months ago, when weighing my decision to run, I reached out to many friends of mine who graduated from the Pittsfield public schools and moved away from the city. I asked them if they would ever move back to Pittsfield to raise a family here. None said yes. That unfortunate answer is what sparked this campaign.
It's easy to sit, wait, and complain about the change you want to see. It's much harder to be a part of that change. My task remains the same one that my grandparents had: to make Pittsfield a greater place to raise a family.
Lesson 2. — Real collaboration yields real results.
Whether it was working on the line at General Electric, in the kitchen at the Highland, or on the field at Wahconah Park, collaboration brought results to the people of Pittsfield. Today politicians talk the talk of "collaboration" without walking the walk. Our current legislator is 0 for 25 in bills that she has sponsored. Advocacy alone does not bring about effective change.
With two elementary schools ranked in the bottom 3 percent of the state and an average family income more than $25,000 below the state average, the people of Pittsfield need more than talk. We cannot afford another day of stalled progress because of a failure to work together. I've been a blue-blooded Democrat since the day I was born, and I am a member of the Democratic City Committee, but right now, working for Pittsfield means working with a Republican governor, not just trotting out the same old talking points.
Lesson 3. — Hold yourself accountable and learn from your mistakes.
When Jim's House of Shoes burnt down in 1957, there was no mourning, no blaming, no call to the city for assistance. My grandfather and friends picked up their tools and got to work.
Over the years, Pittsfield has had its share of ups and downs, missed opportunities, and reasons to complain. Whether it was saying no to a downtown mall, a baseball stadium or a bypass, it seems for every issue we face, there is an excuse to go with it. No more excuses.
As your next state representative I will be rebuilding Pittsfield, as my grandfather did long before me. My success won't be measured by two by fours and storefronts, but by votes, bills, and funding.
ACTIONS, NOT WORDS
I pledge to the people of Pittsfield that if after four years, you don't see that positive change and progress, then you can hold me accountable: not to my words — those come easy — but to my actions and my results.
It's on us now.
While I hold my grandparents' generation in esteem, and carry with me the lessons I have learned from them, the future of this city is in the hands of a new generation — one that believes passionately in equality, sustainability, and continued progress for our community.
I am knocking on doors seven days a week asking for your vote on Sept. 8 in the Democratic preliminary election. And If we haven't yet met, I want to hear from you, 413-212-9386 or bloombergforpittsfield@gmail.com.
Michael Bloomberg is a Democratic candidate for state representative from the 3rd Berkshire District.
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On the trail: Berkshire campaigns in brief
The Berkshire Eagle, 7/9/2016
“Environmental Group Endorses Farley-Bouvier”
PITTSFIELD - The Environmental League of Massachusetts Action Fund endorsed of state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, for re-election.
"We are grateful for Tricia's leadership on environmental issues and for her work to build a more sustainable commonwealth and we are proud to stand with her," ELM stated in a letter announcing the endorsement.
"ELM has been a key player in shaping environmental policy in Massachusetts and is committed to fighting climate change and preserving the land, water, and health of the commonwealth," Farley-Bouvier said. "Good government is about teamwork and I look forward to continuing to work with ELM in ensuring that Massachusetts is on the forefront of environmental issues."
The fund is a nonprofit educational and advocacy organization committed to fighting climate change as well as the protection of the commonwealth's natural resources.
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Letter: "Farley-Bouvier works for city and residents"
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/1/2016
To the editor:
I hope that the voters are paying attention right now because there is just over a month until the Thursday, Sept. 8 state primary elections.
Tricia Farley-Bouvier has earned my whole-hearted support for state representative in the Democratic primary. She is the work horse in this race. Her record of service to Pittsfield speaks for itself.
She is present at every significant event in the city, and understands the issues they represent. She works hard to improve the economy, the cultural aspect, and the social needs of all our citizens.
Please remember to go to the polls on Thursday, Sept. 8 and vote for Tricia Farley-Bouvier for state representative.
Mary K. O'Brien, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Farley-Bouvier is dedicated to city"
The Berkshire Eagle, 10/28/2016
To the editor:
I strongly support the re-election of State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier because of her proven dedication to the people of Pittsfield and the many needs of our city.
She has learned how difficult life can be for some of our citizens when they need transportation to a job or, for seniors and disabled people, to medical appointments.
She knows how vital it is for our city to provide suitable educational opportunities to children and adults. Her deep knowledge of the agencies that help us to live more comfortably, whether for kids' day care and recreation, or to help seniors remain in their own homes as they age.
She supports and participates in the wonderful cultural activities that make Pittsfield a good place to live, and that bring people from all over to visit and come to know us.
State Rep. Farley-Bouvier knows that our city needs the help of the Berkshire legislative delegation, working as a team, to bring home our fair share of the "bacon" from Boston.
Please re-elect Tricia whose dedication and experience deserve our votes.
Mary K. O'Brien, Pittsfield
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Letter: “Dark political tactics have no place in Pittsfield”
The Berkshire Eagle, August 2, 2017
To the editor:
I recently received a glossy flyer in the mail that purported to cite Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier's record concerning funding for her local office and legislators' salaries. It accuses her of voting to raise her own salary and to increase travel and constituent service office expense reimbursement.
The flyers are flat-out lies. Representative salaries are subject to Massachusetts Constitution Article 118, tying them to the median household income in the Commonwealth, and are not subject to the vote of the body.
The disturbing aspect of the slickly produced mailing, beyond the untruths, is the anonymous funding that enables this kind of propaganda. When I tried to find out who paid for what was obviously an expensive mailing, no names of donors could be found. I do not believe that Pittsfield benefits from this kind of political poison. It offers no positive proposals, but attempts to smear a hard-working representative whose goals and efforts are focused on helping the people of our city in its struggles to improve life for us all.
I hope that Pittsfield voters are turned off by this effort to adopt the tactics that are enabled on the national level by so-called "dark money" to fund baseless attacks on sincere, dedicated people who do their best to help their constituents and communities.
Mary K. O'Brien, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Help Farley-Bouvier to keep serving Pittsfield"
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/4/2016
To the editor:
Our state representative, Tricia Farley Bouvier, is one of the hardest-working individuals I have ever met. Her heart is with the city of Pittsfield.
Tricia has worked tirelessly to improve our quality of life and has served the city over decades, from teaching in our schools to city councilor and now as our state representative. I am voting for her re-election starting with the primary on Thursday, Sept. 8.
Mary L. McGinnis, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Farley-Bouvier strong on environmental issues"
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/5/2016
To the editor:
We are writing to urge voters in Pittsfield to support the re-election of state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, who is running for re-election in the Democratic primary on Thursday, Sept. 8.
We are proud to support Rep. Farley-Bouvier due to her steadfast leadership on environmental issues in the Legislature and her tireless work on behalf of the people of Pittsfield. She understands the importance of our state investing in clean energy, sustainable transportation, and parks to help address climate change, create jobs, and build healthier communities.
This past session, she has been a leader on legislation to prevent ratepayers from subsidizing unnecessary gas pipelines and addressing the issue of gas leaks. She has also been working to create jobs and has secured new state investments in the regional economy that will encourage new companies to locate in Pittsfield.
With critical environmental issues confronting the Legislature this next session, we ask you to please support a real environmental champion this fall.
Joe O'Brien, Boston
The writer is political director, Environmental League of Massachusetts, Action Fund.
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Letter: "Why I will be voting for Mike Bloomberg"
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/10/2016
To the editor:
I am a young, biracial, single mother struggling to get by. I was raised by a single mother who struggled to get by as well. I've never lived on the nice side of town or had any of the nice things that kids with two parents had. My mother raised me to be proud of who I am and what I accomplish. My family has always worked hard for what we have, no matter how little it may be.
I was never interested in politics until I heard Bernie Sanders' speech on single mothers being heroines and his not understanding how we do it. Since then I have campaigned for ward councilors, our mayor and even Bernie himself. With my new-found love of politics, I was able to re-spark the love of Pittsfield I had as a child.
When I met Mike Bloomberg, I found someone who shares my passion for Pittsfield and who speaks positively of our city. I love walking around my neighborhood with Mike because he doesn't see it for what it once was, in "the glory days," nor does he see it in a negative light as many do today. He sees my neighborhood like he sees Pittsfield, for what it can be. It's a vision and an energy this city desperately needs.
We may have grown up on different sides of town, but we both know what it's like to be raised by a single mother who worked more than one job. I see that work ethic in him every morning when he is first to the office, every afternoon as he knocks on doors for hours on end, and every night as he works well past midnight, trying to make our home a better place for me to raise my son.
We need a state representative like Mike Bloomberg, who can relate to the younger and older generations. We need a new perspective and new energy representing us in Boston.
Please get out your vote on Thursday, Sept. 8 and please vote for Mike Bloomberg in the Democratic primary!
Nycole Gallagher, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Farley-Bouvier offers experience, commitment"
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/10/2016
To the editor:
I feel privileged to have Tricia Farley-Bouvier as my state representative and acquaintance. It was a pleasure to see her son excel in his courses at Berkshire Community College, where I teach. His accomplishments are a fitting tribute to Tricia's background as an educator and strong supporter of education, particularly in securing funding for a new Taconic school building in Pittsfield.
Please know that our votes for Tricia Farley-Bouvier will sustain a tradition of outstanding representation for us through her experience, maturity, and deep commitment to our area — the home we share with her.
June Sprigg Tooley, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Allow Farley-Bouvier to keep doing good work"
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/11/2016
To the editor:
I have known Tricia Farley-Bouvier for over 30 years. I am proud to say that I was her first employer and recognized very early on that she was a talented, hard-working, caring and motivated individual.
I have watched her over the years with admiration as she has developed into an incredibly dedicated leader who has worked day in and day out to help our community. Her determination to improve and protect the lives of the Berkshires' citizens is a model for us all to follow.
From the time she was first elected to the Pittsfield City Council, Tricia has shown great determination to help her constituents. In the Legislature, she has worked tirelessly to support legislation that has enhanced the lives of children, families, the elderly and individuals with disabilities.
Whenever a crucial meeting takes place, whether in Pittsfield or Boston you can count on Tricia being part of the conversation. She has advocated for our region, and worked hard with her Berkshire delegation colleagues to bring funding to the Berkshires.
Whether it was for the cities and towns to support schools, cultural organizations to support the arts, the nonprofit agencies that serve so many of us or to improve our environment, Tricia has continued to lead the charge to improve lives. We are so fortunate that she is fighting for us in Boston and it is important that we show our appreciation and support. I urge you to vote in the September primary to make sure we return our passionate, dedicated state representative, Tricia Farley-Bouvier, to represent us in Boston.
Kenneth W. Singer, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Bloomberg will close gap in education, technology"
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/11/2016
To the editor:
As a professor of engineering at MIT, I have worked with thousands of students and researchers, all seeking to build technology that helps transform and advance our world. As the former dean for graduate education at MIT, and through many public and private partnerships, I have worked to expand access to STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education to students of underrepresented backgrounds.
It is very difficult and, thus, rare to find individuals who are capable of bridging the gap between education, technology and public service, but Mike Bloomberg gets it.
His experience working with top technologists, his passion for education advancement, and his ability to go from the big picture, to the minute details is very unique.
What impresses me most about Mike is that his passion for the people of Pittsfield, and our state, has driven him to apply those talents to our state government. We need people like Mike on Beacon Hill if we want to continue to be the most innovate state in the most innovate country in the world.
I encourage all of you to cast your vote for Mike Bloomberg for state representative in the Democratic primary on Sept. 8.
Christine Ortiz, Cambridge
Dr. Ortiz is the Morris Cohen Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT and the former dean for graduate education at MIT.
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"Democratic House and Senate hopefuls face off in Berkshire Brigades debates"
By Jim Therrien, The Berkshire Eagle, 8/12/2016
PITTSFIELD — The five Democratic candidates seeking legislative nominations in the Sept. 8 primary participated in wide-ranging candidate debates Thursday evening at Berkshire Community College.
In back-to-back events sponsored by the Berkshire Brigades, incumbent state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, and challenger Michael Bloomberg, of Holmes Road, faced off first in a one-hour debate.
Then, Democratic Senate candidates Andrea Harrington, of Richmond, Rinaldo Del Gallo, of Lenox, and Adam Hinds of Pittsfield, who are vying to replace Sen. Ben Downing, D-Pittsfield, debated over 90 minutes.
Progressive positions — and often which candidate was the most progressive on an issue — dominated the debates. But differences over perceived qualifications and approaches to serving in the Legislature did emerge and provoked some of the sharpest exchanges.
In the House debate, moderated by Williams College political science professor Jim Mahon, Bloomberg was critical of what he termed a lack of progress during Farley-Bouvier's time in the House since 2011. Talking about the flight of young adults from the Berkshires in search of economic opportunity, he said, "This is why we need new energy; we need fresh ideas. We need change."
The area has received less state funding and support in recent years than during the terms of Farley-Bouvier's predecessors, Bloomberg asserted.
The incumbent fired back by asking voters to look at her training and work in the special education field, at her work at City Hall and as a city councilor in Pittsfield prior to her election to the House, and asked them to note "the absence of such experience by my opponent."
In her closing remarks, Farley-Bouvier also asked voters to "think of this election as a job application and put my resume and my opponent's side by side."
She cited "gaps in his work resume" and lack of significant employment in Berkshire County.
Bloomberg, a 2008 Pittsfield High School graduate and 2012 University of Massachusetts grad, said he hasn't been working recently because he is studying economic issues at UMass. He said he previously gained experience working for a start-up hedge fund, Kora Management.
The candidate added that he grew up in the Berkshires and his family has deep roots in Pittsfield. He said he always intended to return to the area and now hopes to help foster an economic climate that will lure other young adults to settle here.
Farley-Bouvier asked voters to compare the endorsements from political figures and organizations she has received to those Bloomberg, a first time candidate for office, has attracted in the primary race.
And she touted what she termed a "proven progressive record" in Boston and a reputation "for being everywhere" at community events, and for working in a collaborative manner to accomplish legislative goals. Among initiatives she expressed pride in were efforts to ensure equal pay for equal work, which she said involved a tough 20-year struggle that recently came to fruition.
Bloomberg said he has gained experience working in a high-pressure industry and through his studies that would lead to new approaches to economic development here. One change he would pursue, he said, would be to organize the House representatives from the 26 Gateway Cities, such as Pittsfield, toward gaining a larger share of economic development funding.
The candidates are seeking the party's nomination for the 3rd Berkshire House seat, with the winner facing independent Christopher Connell, a Pittsfield city councilor, in the Nov. 8 general election.
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Tricia Farley-Bouvier: “A proven record of accomplishment”
By Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Op-Ed, The Berkshire Eagle, 8/12/2016
PITTSFIELD - I have always thought of a campaign as a kind of a job interview with the voters. Candidates present their resumes, they participate in interviews (debates), offer references and engage in conversations with people on their front porches.
In this election, I invite you to put my resume and that of my opponent side by side. I have 30 years of professional experience in education and public service in Pittsfield. I've taught in the public schools and I have run a non-profit organization. I have been your city councilor and your state representative. I have a proven record as an effective legislator both advocating for the passing of sound progressive legislation and supporting my district through grant funding and earmarks.
I sponsored the 2013 legislation that allowed for the changes in the City Charter. In addition, I have passed legislation on insurance mandates and protections for sexual assault survivors. As chair of the Progressive Caucus, I have proudly taken a lead role in passing such bills as the Equal Pay Act, the Transgender Public Accommodation law and the Gas Leak provisions in the Energy bill.
Through my leadership role in the Gateway City Caucus, I helped pass and then fund the Transformative Development Initiative, which will bring focused planning and development into Gateway City neighborhoods. Further, I played a key role in getting Pittsfield named as one of only 10 districts selected and then further to receive one of the few full-time planning fellowships to focus on the transformation of Tyler Street.
I have spearheaded the $76 million of state investment in the Taconic High School Building Project, won $9.6 million for the Berkshire Innovation Center, secured bond authorization of $6 million for the repair of the Columbus Street Garage, secured $1.9 million in funding for the last two phases of the renovation of the Common and facilitated such applications for the Shannon Grant and Safe & Supportive Youth. I have also secured the funding for the recently opened opioid treatment facility in Pittsfield with plans for a second in the near future.
NEIGHBORHOOD EFFORTS
I have spent a great deal of time in the many different neighborhoods of Pittsfield meeting with and addressing the needs of residents. I'm particularly proud of my work in supporting both the coalition to reduce teen pregnancy and the Pittsfield Promise campaign whose goal is to have all our third graders reading at grade level. In that effort, I have worked directly with Manny and Vanessa Slaughter in helping them take their popular neighborhood sports and games playground program and extend it into a Summer Literacy Program.
Now let's compare this experience to that of my challenger. According to Mr. Bloomberg, he had internships working for the Olympics, Bloomberg Sports, Bloomberg News, all of which require pretty unusual connections to secure. It is also concerning that the longest he has stayed in any job is eight months; that's two professional jobs, for eight months each. Since November 2014, he has not been employed.
Mr. Bloomberg makes the repeated claim of being experienced at urban planning. His major was Political Science and neither of his internships nor his two jobs involved planning. Urban planning is a technical field that requires not only a great deal of course work but also years of experience in the field.
Finally, I think the voters might be concerned that he has almost no experience in the city he wants to represent. Not only has he not worked here professionally, he has not served on any boards or commissions and he has not held any local elected position. He's been here for a matter of months and by all appearances, he moved back here for the sole purpose of running for office.
The position of state representative is not an entry-level position.
When seeking a job it is customary to provide references. The advocacy organizations who most closely follow the issues facing the community offer endorsements. In contrast to my opponent who has not received a single endorsement from these kinds of groups, I am proud to have received the following to date:
For my leadership on environmental issues, The Environmental League of Massachusetts, The Sierra Club, and Clean Water Action.
For my work standing up for the Scientists and Engineers of MA, their union, MOSES.
For my consistent advocacy for all things educational, including my strong opposition of lifting the Charter Cap, The Massachusetts Teachers Association, including the United Educators of Pittsfield.
For my proven record on protecting workers rights and our strong and strategic advocacy of raising the minimum wage, SEIU1199 and SEIU888.
For my leadership on women's rights and civil rights, particularly my role in the passage of the Transgender Public Accommodation law and the Equal Pay Act, the Massachusetts Women's Political Caucus.
Taking into account our professional experience, our record of commitment to Pittsfield and our job references, I believe it is clear that I am the strongest candidate to serve as Pittsfield's state representative.
Tricia Farley-Bouvier is the Democratic representative from the 3rd Berkshire District.
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Letter: “Speedskater attests to Bloomberg's hard work”
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/12/2016
To the editor:
As an Olympic athlete, I commit myself to training every day, whether I have a rough night's sleep or a sore back, there is always work to be done, no excuses. I took a break today to write this letter in support of Mike Bloomberg, a Democratic candidate for state representative, because wherever he is right now, he is without a doubt busting his butt for your community.
Mike will be the first person to tell you he's not an athlete (sorry, Mike), but don't let him tell you he doesn't work as hard as one. He is always striving to make himself, and everyone around him, better at what they do. That's leadership. That's dedication. I don't know much about politics at the Statehouse, but I would imagine those are great qualities to have in a representative.
If you vote for Mike Bloomberg on Sept. 8 and again in November, I guarantee you that you will have the hardest working state representative in Boston.
Brian Hansen, South Salt Lake City, Utah
Brian Hansen is a two-time Olympic speedskater who won a silver medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Hansen met Bloomberg at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs where he was rehabbing an injury and Bloomberg was serving as an intern with the U.S. Olympic Committee. Hansen is training for the 2018 Winter Games.
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Letter: "Farley-Bouvier is a proven state representative"
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/15/2016
To the editor:
Michael Bloomberg is a bright young man who has done his research but lacks important skills and experience to be our state representative. For 12 years, Tricia Farley-Bouvier has demonstrated her ability to make things happen. She listens and learns from constituents in every neighborhood in Pittsfield to represent our city well. She earned the reputation for "being everywhere" because she is.
She has a unique ability to listen to both sides of an issue and to withhold judgment until a careful analysis is completed. She has the skills to negotiate a win-win solution. During her years in the House, she developed relationships on both sides of the aisle to facilitate important legislation. She used these skills to help to pass such important legislation as the Transgender Public Accommodation Bill and the Equal Pay Act.
She has the respect of the Speaker of the House because she can bring people to the table, along with the support of her colleagues in the Berkshire delegation, the Progressive Caucus and the Gateway City Caucus, all of whom think we are lucky to have her represent us. These connections take time to develop. We can't afford to start over and Michael's "just give them facts" response at the recent debate reflects his political naiveté in understanding the importance of those relationships.
Michael's suggestion that he would work with the other Gateway Cities is old news to Tricia, who has worked with the Gateway Cities Caucus to secure the funds for the Tyler Street development and for the three-year planning fellow to facilitate that process. His accusation that Tricia doesn't secure needed funding for education are unfounded. She has been a teacher, a member of the original building needs committee, a city councilor liaison to the Taconic High School project, which shows that she cares about education, and been the voice in Boston that helped secure that funding. She has been endorsed by the teachers union because she advocates for their issues, specifically increased pay for early educators. Obtaining funds for additional substance abuse treatment is another.
Michael has some good ideas for Pittsfield and he would be smart to find a way to contribute to the City's future. He is not ready to be our state representative. I am voting for Tricia Farley-Bouvier on Thursday, Sept. 8 because she has proven she has the skills.
Marjorie Safran, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Bloomberg brings energy, and a fresh perspective"
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/15/2016
To the editor:
As a lifelong resident of Pittsfield and a downtown merchant for over 30 years, I encourage my fellow citizens to vote for Michael Bloomberg to represent the 3rd Berkshire District (Pittsfield) in Boston.
I am impressed with Michael's fresh outlook on some of Pittsfield's most vexing problems. As much as we love this city, I think that vision is largely due to him having gone out and lived elsewhere. For me this isn't a deterrent, but a positive to electing him to office.
His energy reminds me of another young man who ran for office some 10 years ago, Ben Downing, who at an even younger age than Michael, has gone on to be one of our city's greatest representatives.
Many people who escape the gravity of family and finances leave to greener pastures. Michael has returned to Pittsfield to bring state attention to the renewal of our economy. It's going to take a lot of work, but I believe he has the energy and vision to make it happen.
I think he will be an important voice for Pittsfield in the Statehouse if elected. Please remember to exercise your right to vote on Sept. 8.
Thomas Martin, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Bloomberg offers energy, new ideas"
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/15/2016
To the editor:
In 2011, I served as field organizer for Western Massachusetts for Barack Obama's campaign. In spite of a lifelong passion for women's liberation, my deepest conviction was that Barack Obama was the right person for the job.
These past eight years, I've learned to be a political operative and mentored young women in the field. You may be surprised that I'm now working for Michael Bloomberg, a millennial who grew up here in Pittsfield, a graduate of Pittsfield High, and UMass, in his race to become the next state representative of his home city.
Why would I work for Mike, rather than support the incumbent, a lovely woman who has been a friend?
I believe we need new energy and ideas. Pittsfield is a treasure, but the city desperately needs bright, creative thinkers who can create the kind of jobs that will keep and bring in youthful energy.
As I have gotten to know Mike, I see Pittsfield through his eyes, a walkable, green, beautiful downtown, a city with history yet even more potential. He sees a city with great education for ALL children, and safety in every neighborhood. He sees citizens of all ages integrated for the betterment of all.
Most importantly, he has a realistic vision for how we get there. He worked in finance in the heart of New York City, and has studied urban revitalization efforts around the country. He wants to bring back the lessons learned from other cities and states, and put them to work for the town he grew up in.
People often talk about women working together, and I know that can be a beautiful thing. I am also finding that Mike naturally collaborates, not merely as a strategy, but rather as an innate understanding that that is just how things get done. I'm impressed.
So Pittsfieldians, mark your calendar — Thursday, Sept. 8 — and cast your vote for Mike Bloomberg.
Susan Olshuff, Lenox
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Letter to the Editor: "Bloomberg will take on Pittsfield's negativity"
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/16/2016
To the editor:
As a 20-year-old born and raised in Pittsfield, I grew up completely immersed in the mythology of the negativity of our local politics. I remember being taken to Joe Bruno Stadium in Troy, N.Y., for a ValleyCats game and being told, "This stadium was almost in Pittsfield, but politics got in the way." I remember going to the Berkshire Mall and being told, "This was almost in Pittsfield, but politics got in the way." Nothing good would ever happen because people were always against this or that, never for anything.
"Things have always been this way" is an excuse I've heard ad nauseum, but that I, and my generation, refuse to accept. Pittsfield needs youth and fresh ideas. Pittsfield needs people like Mike Bloomberg.
I was Mike's campaign manager for two months before leaving for school. As someone who cares deeply about what I do, I would not have worked for him unless I truly believed in his message and ability to do the job. I've seen how he operates from the inside. When Mike says something, he means it.
There is no tolerance for excuses. Mike is willing to give constructive criticism but also, more importantly, is eager to receive it. If there were ever a political candidate who is willing and able to break the cycle of negativity that has dominated our local political discourse for several decades, to move Pittsfield forward without excuses or a wait-your-turn-and-trade-votes mentality, it is Mike Bloomberg.
As of late, there has been much talk of resumes and some vague insinuations of favoritism due to Mike's last name. While his opponent was busy digging up opposition research from an old LinkedIn profile (which hadn't been updated in several years), I can promise you that he was doing one of two things: knocking on doors to hear from people like you, or burying his nose in policy briefs to figure out how to best help people like you. Like me, Mike is tired of the negativity and mudslinging. We all are. It's time to move forward.
On Sept. 8, I urge you to vote for Mike Bloomberg.
Lucas Benjamin, Pittsfield
Reader's comment:
"Mikes9152" wrote:
Lucas your preaching to choir here. Massachusetts is liberal Democratic controlled state. Most of what you described is so true, we were going have a bypass in the 70's the people killed that. You see the people here think the bigger the government the better and we don't need change to keep up with the rest of the world. Why? Because we live in a utopia where everyone would just love be here and enjoy the scenery. But the truth is the population is declining business is closing or leaving. You only have to listen to the politicians who insist we will fight to get more of our fair share of dollars from the State, a State that can't even afford to improve the roads and bridges and can't even live within the budget because the money is not there. TFB fits that role because they operated that way for decades and the voters like it, but I assure they won't like it in the end because the money is running out. If it wasn't for our Republican Governor Charlie Baker who has refused to raise taxes Tricia would have the mileage tax in place. We already going to vote in this election to raise the tax on people who make over million dollars a year to pay 4% more on the money above that. I'm not for that because that is sending a terrible message that if you come to Massachusetts to create business, jobs, or wealth you will be penalized. Which will make a bad situation even worse. We used to be a people in this country to strive to succeed and create wealth for ourselves but now we have become a country of what can we take from the people who have more than me without no effort to produce for ourselves. This is the policy of the Democratic Party for which Michael Bloomberg is a part of and that I find a little troublesome. Is he a true Democrat or is he just saying it because he knows he can't win if he runs as a Republican or an Independent? My take is the whole system needs to change and for that to happen the mentality of the voters and the parties need to change. There are many legs to this example we have a Governor who would like to make change but a democratic house and senate that will hold him back because they want more spending on everything and anything. This true even with the local politicians, property taxes and business taxes keep increasing because of the democratic party policy of more taxes to prop it up, except it's not working the middle class jobs are disappearing. Were in an election for President this year, we can vote for Hillary for which she will continue the Democratic policy or vote for Donald for hope of some change to move this country in the right direction. I believe a vote for Hillary will change this country to the point of no return. The politics in this country have become so bad that even the politicians can't speak the truth, we either don't want to here it or we have to be political correct, if not don't speak. This what the people have forced on the politicians it's very saddening. Because if they can't speak their minds then we never really know what their thinking.
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Letter: "Connell is a proven hard worker for city"
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/17/2016
To the editor:
I am writing this letter to express my support for Christopher Connell, who is running as an independent for state representative from the 3rd Berkshire District.
It is unusual for me to write in support of a candidate, as I tend to be skeptical of politicians who too often are in politics for power and to promote their self–interest. I can tell you first-hand that Chris is not a typical politician.
Chris became my first friend in the area when I moved to the Berkshires eight years ago. Chris wasn't in politics then. I met him playing basketball at the Pittsfield YMCA.
Basketball reveals character. Chris was the ultimate gentleman on the court and looked to pass to teammates rather than score himself. Over the eight years I have known Chris, I have observed that he is concerned about the success of others.
My business struggled during the financial crisis and even though we had just become friends, Chris took the time to listen to my problems and offered me helpful and creative ideas that made a difference.
I was so impressed by his business experience, from being a regional manager for Cumberland Farms, a contractor, and a rental property owner/manager. His wealth of experience enabled him to see solutions to my business challenges that I had overlooked.
When I learned Chris was running for the Pittsfield City Council 4 ½ years ago, I became interested in local politics. I have observed that as a city councilor Chris works hard to listen to people and get things done for them. He is a lot more action than talk. For example, during the last four years he has been fighting to get more parking spaces in Pittsfield for the physically challenged.
Chris has collaborated with other city councilors to improve the quality of life for those of us living in Pittsfield. Chris is not into party politics. His agenda for running for state representative is to bring needed dollars from Beacon Hill back to Pittsfield.
On a personal note, I have made so many friends in Pittsfield these last eight years, and I love this town. With all the companies that have gone out of business or left the region, I worry about its financial well-being.
It is not because Chris Connell is my friend that I pray that he wins this election; it is because Chris will work harder than any other candidate to help Pittsfield receive the funding it needs to maintain our infrastructure and create more business opportunities and jobs.
Michael Eitelberg Pittsfield
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Letter: “Many reasons to vote for Farley-Bouvier”
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/14/2016
To the editor:
As a School Committee member, educator and 20-year resident of Pittsfield, I am voting to reelect Tricia Farley-Bouvier for state representative and this is why:
First, Tricia is a staunch advocate for education. She has fought passionately for funding for the full-time kindergarten grant and continues to fight for universal pre-K, especially for the Gateway Cities, of which Pittsfield is one, and she will continue the fight to keep the cap on charter schools. Tricia has also fought tirelessly over the past decade and secured funding for the new Taconic High School.
But, her advocacy does not stop at pre-K-12 education. Tricia fights passionately to ensure equity in funding for our community colleges and has been committed to working with administrators at Berkshire Community College to keep abreast of issues impacting higher education. Tricia meets regularly with Supt. McCandless of the Pittsfield Public Schools and President Kennedy of BCC. She understands education is the way out of poverty and the key to improved economic development.
Second, I am voting to reelect Tricia Farley-Bouvier because of her character. Tricia is service oriented, not politically motivated. She has been advocating for the improvement of people's lives long before she became a state rep and will continue long after she leaves public office. Tricia is known as the leader in the House on issues of child welfare and her advocacy for social workers.
As a member of the Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Tricia was instrumental in passing the new opioid bill and advocating for the establishment of two new opioid addiction facilities in Pittsfield. As co-chair of the Progressive Caucus, she was a key leader in advocating for a strong renewable energy bill, including having rules put in place to hold the gas companies accountable for their gas leaks.
Finally, I am voting to reelect Tricia because she represents all her constituents. She is accessible, values diversity and appreciates others' differences. Tricia is a good listener who seeks first to understand, then to be understood. I have personally witnessed Tricia work to bring diverse members of our community together to solve problems and become a more culturally competent community.
She is the kind of person I want representing my community in Boston and it is why I urge you to join me in voting to reelect Tricia Farley-Bouvier for our state representative on Thursday, Sept. 8.
Pamela A. Farron, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Michael Bloomberg keeps politics positive"
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/18/2016
To the editor:
I have always been active in politics over the years, whether it was as an early member of WHEN (Women Helping Empower Neighborhoods) or through conversations with the many people who have walked through the doors at our restaurant, Teddy's Pizza, which has been open for more than 40 years.
Being right next to Pittsfield High School, I meet hundreds of young adults every year, athletes, actors and actresses, you name it. One young man I have had the pleasure of knowing for over 12 years is Michael Bloomberg, who is now running for state representative in Pittsfield.
I'm writing this letter because I recently read online, and in the newspaper, some people saying that Michael hasn't been involved in the community before. I couldn't believe it. That is just nasty politics and couldn't be further from the truth.
This young man has been involved with local politics since he was 14-years-old! He helped run a campaign for state Senate when he was 16, was a member of the County Democratic Organization, president of the Pittsfield Youth Commission, member of Rotary Interact, and I am sure much more that I can't remember.
Over the years, even as he went off to college and then to work in New York City, he has always stayed involved in local politics. I can always count on him to walk me through the issues of our city, listen to my concerns, and help find solutions.
But my favorite thing about Michael, and why I encourage all of you to vote for him on Sept. 8, is that he always stays positive.
Susan Bilis, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Farley-Bouvier has made case for re-election"
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/19/2016
To the editor:
There are many reasons why I support re-electing state Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier to represent Pittsfield's 3rd District.
Tricia has an incredible ability to connect with people. Tricia is involved in many programs that support Pittsfield residents and neighborhoods. When she is not in Boston, Tricia meets with more groups than I could possibly mention to understand the needs of our families and neighbors. She is accessible and understands that collaboration is the key to successful representation in the state house.
Tricia has worked closely with administrators in the Pittsfield schools and at Berkshire Community College. Tricia has a solid understanding of the need for accessible education as a way to break the cycle of poverty. She has been endorsed by the United Educators of Pittsfield and the Mass Teachers Association in recognition of her support for public education.
Tricia is co-chair of the House Progressive Caucus, has been a leading advocate for renewable energy as well as for holding natural gas companies responsible for fixing leaking gas pipelines, and she has been endorsed by the Environmental League of Massachusetts and the Sierra Club for her actions.
Tricia has been a leader in the Gateway City Caucus, and was able to help secure one of a very few grants for a full time fellowship position focusing on Tyler Street redevelopment.
I am proud to call Tricia a friend and hope that you will join me in voting for Tricia Farley-Bouvier on Thursday, Sept 8 and again in the November general election.
Peter Sibner, Pittsfield
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Letter: “Farley-Bouvier is the education candidate”
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/21/2016
To the editor:
As someone who has over 30 years of experience working in many administrative capacities for the Pittsfield Public Schools, I enthusiastically endorse state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier as the clear education candidate in this election.
Throughout her life, Tricia has worn many hats in support of education. After graduating college, Tricia spent a year volunteering as a teacher for hearing impaired children in Belize, Central America. Upon her return to the U.S., she became a special education teacher here in Pittsfield. Once she earned her Master's Degree, Tricia taught for two years at the American School in Uruguay. Once she and her husband decided it was time to start a family, they returned to Pittsfield and Tricia began teaching at the Adult Learning Center. While she sat on the City Council, she also served as the executive director of the Literacy Network of South Berkshire.
As an original member and at one point co-chair of the School Building Needs Commission, Tricia met with teachers, administrators, parents, architects, and concerned citizens to initiate the process of upgrading Taconic High School. Tricia's collaborative approach not only gave all vested parties a voice at the table, but also gave all of us an example of how good government works.
Tricia's involvement in local politics began when Pittsfield Public Schools were facing the prospect of massive layoffs. Tricia collaborated with a group of fellow parents and concerned citizens called "Save Our Schools" to successfully pressure the city to find the funds needed to avert an educational disaster.
Once Tricia became our state representative, she helped to secure the funding needed to make the Taconic High School project a reality. Tricia's tireless efforts in support of this project will pay dividends for thousands of Pittsfield students for many years.
It would be difficult to find any candidate for office that is more dedicated to education than Tricia Farley-Bouvier. I am honored to have such a dedicated public servant represent me in Boston. She is a tireless fighter for education who gets things done. She is a doer, not just a sayer.
Charles Bordeau, Pittsfield
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U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (Eagle File)
“Sen. Elizabeth Warren to visit Berkshires as part of 'America's Agenda' tour”
By Dick Lindsay, The Berkshire Eagle, 8/21/2016
PITTSFIELD — The Democratic presidential campaign sort of makes a stop in the Berkshires next weekend.
On Saturday, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren brings her "America's Agenda" tour to the Berkshire Community College West Street campus.
According to organizers, the doors at BCC's Boland Theater will open at 11 a.m. and those planning to attend are asked to RSVP at everett.handford@gmail.com
Since the mid-term elections two years ago, Warren has espoused the income inequality in the country, focusing on the erosion of the middle class. In recent weeks, she has criss-crossed the commonwealth to discuss her agenda, at times doing so in the context of stumping for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Warren reportedly was on Clinton's short list of vice presidential running mates, with the former first lady choosing U.S. Tim Kaine of Virginia.
Warren has said in radio and newspaper interviews, the one-time U.S. senator from New York is best suited for taking back the federal government influence by corporate America.
It's a position she has maintained since the opinion piece she wrote in the Washington Post, Nov. 7, 2014.
"It's not the size of government that worries people; rather it's deep-down concern over who government works for," she wrote. "People are ready to work, ready to do their part, ready to fight for their futures and their kids' futures, but they see a government that bows and scrapes for big corporations, big banks, big oil companies and big political donors — and they know this government does not work for them."
Among Warren's reported economic solutions:
• Raising the minimum wage
• Create more jobs
• Protect Social Security and medicare and encourage more private pension plans
• Reduce Wall Street's grip on the American economic and political systems
• Close federal tax loopholes and raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans.
Contact Dick Lindsay at 413-496-6233. rlindsay@berkshireeagle.com @BE_DLindsay on Twitter.
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Senator Elizabeth Warren gives a presentation on the American economy and the middle class to a packed auditorium and additional overflow room at Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield on Saturday. (Stephanie Zollshan — The Berkshire Eagle | photos.berkshireeagle.com)
Hundreds fill the auditorium and an additional overflow room at Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield for a presentation by Senator Elizabeth Warren on the American economy and the middle class on Saturday. (Stephanie Zollshan — The Berkshire Eagle | photos.berkshireeagle.com)
Hundreds line up outside at Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield waiting to hear a presentation by Senator Elizabeth Warren on Saturday. (Stephanie Zollshan — The Berkshire Eagle | photos.berkshireeagle.com)
Before her main event, a presentation on the American economy and the middle class, Senator Elizabeth Warren visits an overflow room filled with those who could not get a seat in the auditorium at Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield. She thanks them for coming, shows them the screen that they will watch her from. Though she will be in the other room, she entreats them to "still laugh at my jokes though, I need the encouragement!" (Stephanie Zollshan — The Berkshire Eagle | photos.berkshireeagle.com)
'She gives us hope that things can change': Warren invigorates BCC crowd
Sen. Warren invigorates crowd of hundreds with speech at BCC
By Derek Gentile, The Berkshire Eagle, 8/27/2016
PITTSFIELD - The message was, at it's core, very simple: Get involved and we can make the country better.
But U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Saturday morning galvanized an overflow crowd at Berkshire Community College with an hour-long discussion of economics, history and political policy that had the audience standing and cheering at its conclusion.
"She was exhilarating," said Karen Andrews of West Stockbridge after the event. "I really love everything she stands for."
"You can tell she was a teacher," observed June Wink of Sandisfield after the presentation. "She's just so clear. I think she should be president. Obviously not this time around, but maybe four years from now."
Warren has been a professor at Harvard.
Warren explained to the audience that Saturday's talk was a "preview" of the economic position and points she would present to the rest of the country.
The audience filled the 500-seat Robert Boland Theater at the college's Koussevitzky Arts Center. In addition, according to Director of Marketing Christina Barrett, about 100 more attendees were settled into the smaller theater across the hall from Boland.
A Warren staffer explained that the senator stopped in to visit that contingent before she spoke in the main theater.
If there was one frustration, it was that the crowd was so big that, prior to opening the doors, the line of attendees waiting to enter snaked down the main concourse into the "quad" common area. Several in line complained of excessive exposure to the heat.
Warren's discussion was, for the most part, bipartisan. Her basic position was that for the first part of the 20th century, the country and it's leaders invested in the middle class.
She used as an example her own family experience. When she was a young girl in Oklahoma, her father suffered a heart attack, leaving her mother to support her and her three brothers.
Warren's point was that although her home life was financially difficult, her mother managed to support herself and four children on a minimum-wage job.
"That would be impossible now," she said.
Warren said she believed the decline of the middle class began in 1980, "when we stopped investing in the middle class and began investing in the wealthier members of our country — with the expectation that their prosperity would trickle down to the middle class."
Warren was clearly referring to the country's immersion in Reaganomics — but she did not mention the term.
"And while this was a Republican idea," she said. "There were many Democrats who bought into it, as well."
The various legislative initiatives, said Warren, included tax loopholes for huge corporations, less regulation on Wall Street and various laws deregulating commerce in the country.
All this, said Warren, led to the richest 10 percent of the country's population accruing literally all the new wealth in the United States since 1980. This situation makes it nearly impossible for middle class families to do anything but live paycheck to paycheck and accrue crushing debt.
The irony, said Warren, is that the economy is soaring, but only for those at the top.
"But there is hope," she said. Warren urged those in the audience to "raise your hand. Get involved. Nothing is inevitable. It's about choice. If our government has been taken over by the rich and powerful, we can take it back. They have money. We have numbers."
She suggested an emphasis on investing in education, infrastructure and research.
"We need a government that works for all of us," she said. "That's the point here."
Following the event, Warren posed for selfies with several dozen members of the audience, patiently chatting with each person with whom she posed.
"She's my idol," said Eileen Lawlor of Great Barrington. "You listen to her, and you can see why she was such a great teacher. She's very clear. I wish I had taken one of her classes."
"I just want to see her up close," said Lisa Hawkins of Pittsfield, who was standing nearby, not in the selfie line. "She gives us hope that things can change."
Contact Derek Gentile at 413-496-6251. dgentile@berkshireeagle.com @DerekGentile on Twitter.
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Letter: “Farley-Bouvier a part of BIC, PEDA failures”
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/22/2016
To the editor:
John Krol's radio mini-debate with the candidates for state representative the other day was illuminating. The incumbent, Tricia Farley-Bouvier, while trying to act more qualified and mature than her opponent, Michael Bloomberg, was pretty condescending toward her 26-year-old challenger. Suggesting he get a job and come back later is kind of laughable. The current (retiring) state senator, Ben Downing, was but 24 years old when he ran for the seat he now occupies. Ben has done yeoman's work, and his youth has been an advantage, not a liability.
As I listened further, I had a double-take moment as Ms. Farley-Bouvier suggested we need to get the Berkshire Innovation Center (BIC) started. We have $6 million in funding and bids totaling $9 million. Is starting a project we don't have all the money to complete responsible? Would you start a home renovation if you were 33 percent short on the known costs? And if you would, should we vote for you to manage our affairs? To claim the state will have to kick in the difference is not only naive, but irresponsible.
The BIC, taken together with the Waterstone proposal for retail on a site we all believed would house industrial development, represents the failure of PEDA and our state rep. to move anything forward on that site. She takes credit for much in the community by telling us she is a "partner" with city government. Well if there is failure, was she a partner in that?
One would think that if the BIC planning process was a quality job, the bids would have pretty much aligned with what PEDA sold to the state. That the bid was off by about 50 percent shows someone really didn't know what was going on and the contractors who bid saw the true costs as they put pencil to paper.
Pittsfield taxpayers should not presume the state will come through with the additional funding. This shortfall may give the state a good reason to ask the question many of us ask: What does PEDA DO anyway?
I say don't dig an inch into that polluted soil until 100 percent of the cost is in hand. If the BIC needs to be built at all, we need to wait. If Walmart is all this site can attract, and businesses in the nanotech industry are fully aware of the site, why have they not come here to build? The answer probably lies in the former use of the property on the one hand and the constant "what have we found now?" nature of the surprises which keep popping up on the other. The place is destined never to be re-used as promised.
He may be young, but how could Bloomberg do any worse for our community than the folks who have brought us this hot mess?
Dave Pill, Pittsfield
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Letter: “Farley-Bouvier is there for community, constituents”
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/22/2016
To the editor:
The job of state representative isn't only about the number of times your name appears first on legislation. It's how available a representative is to help a constituent who is having a challenge. It's how well that person cultivates and sustains relationships with colleagues and community leaders and it's demonstrating a proven commitment to improve Pittsfield for all its residents.
Tricia Farley-Bouvier brings this and more to the table through her years of public service, and that's why she will be getting my vote on primary day, Thursday, Sept. 8.
Pamela Knisley, Pittsfield
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Letter: “Farley-Bouvier always rises to the challenge”
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/22/2016
To the editor:
I first met Tricia Farley-Bouvier when we were in high school volunteering for Special Olympics. She shared her spirit of service with me and asked me to join her as a volunteer tutor aid at school with the special needs students. We became fast friends.
High school ended and the college years happened. We took different paths but still ended up back in our hometown. We reconnected when our children were very young sharing play dates. When those children started school, she was back at volunteering again. We worked together on many events for Egremont Elementary School.
When an opportunity presented itself for a bigger challenge, Tricia ran for a City Council at large seat. It was easy to support her as she was a natural choice, and her huge victory as the top vote-getter both times she ran proved Pittsfield thought so too.
When another opportunity to become our representative in Boston came up, she again rose to the challenge and assembled a team. I was proud to again be a part of her team as I am now. Again, the people of Pittsfield spoke and again she was their first choice.
Tricia has always been involved as a positive light for our fine city. A lifelong resident and someone who has always contributed her time and her many talents to serve others, Tricia has a way of bringing people together for a greater good. She is approachable and she will take the time to listen to anyone's concerns. She has been our voice and our advocate in Boston since 2011. She works as a team member to bring about change that benefits us all.
It is because of that team spirit, that caring for the city that has always been a part of her entire life, that I ask you to join me on Sept. 8 and once again vote for Tricia Farley-Bouvier so that she can continue to be that strong and positive voice for Pittsfield.
Karen A. Winslow, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Farley-Bouvier listens, works hard for community"
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/25/2016
To the editor:
Over the last six years, we have had the opportunity to observe the exemplary work Tricia Farley-Bouvier has done on behalf of Pittsfield residents, both in her role as our state representative and as the public affairs coordinator for the mayor's office. Without exception, she has always made an extraordinary effort to listen to the concerns of her constituents and work with them to identify and develop effective solutions to address their challenges.
She possesses an inclusive and collaborative leadership style, which makes her ideally suited for serving as a representative of a community with a diverse range of interests and concerns. Without fanfare, she has worked to garner a better understanding of the underlying economic needs of our community and to create greater opportunities for educational attainment, living wage employment, and stable, decent housing.
Her substantive and deliberative style may not be flashy enough for some, but it has proven to be tremendously effective. It is our hope that you will join us in supporting Tricia Farley-Bouvier for state representative in the upcoming election.
Brad and Kristen Gordon, Pittsfield
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Letter: “Farley-Bouvier is a proven education advocate”
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/23/2016
To the editor:
I am an educator and volunteer who supports Tricia Farley-Bouvier with enthusiasm. Tricia is steadfast, reliable, energetic and works hard to get things done. For example, using teamwork and collaboration, Tricia connected the dots to advocate to rebuild Taconic High School and to bring in tax dollars to make it happen.
Tricia has worked with parents and other concerned citizens to avoid massive layoffs in the schools. Tricia supports caps on charter schools.
Every vote counts. Please join me at the polls. Remember, the primary is on Thursday, Sept. 8. Vote for Tricia.
Marietta Rapetti Cawse, Pittsfield
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Letter: “A hard-working, dedicated state rep.”
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/26/2016
To the editor:
Pittsfield needs Tricia Farley-Bouvier to keep doing what she is doing for our city, our neighborhoods and our future. Her indefatigable, optimistic commitment to our city is matched only by her tireless determination to make things happen.
As new downtown residents in 2008, our paths crossed and I am so glad they did! Tricia is one of the most talented, hard-working, caring leaders of this city's revitalization. Her advice and support as a member of the Gateway Cities Caucus has been invaluable to help establish and gain progress on the Tyler Street District Transformative Development Initiative (TDI). Those of us involved in the initiative seek her advice and counsel often.
Her breadth of knowledge, willingness to listen to both sides of an issue, find common ground and win-win solutions has placed our city in a stronger position on Capital Hill in Boston. Because Tricia knows "State government happens right here, in our community."
From education to the environment, child welfare to charter schools, equal rights to gas leaks, mental health and substance abuse, and more, Tricia is here working for us, with us, on the challenges facing our city and our commonwealth.
Our community is fortunate to have such a dedicated public servant representing our city in Boston. Please join me in voting for Tricia Farley-Bouvier for re-election on Thursday, Sept. 8 and again in the November general election.
Suzanne Engels, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Farley-Bouvier instrumental to St. Mary endeavor"
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/26/2016
To the editor:
Eight years ago my parish, St. Mary Morning Star, was scheduled to close. I had a sense of the fine example of Romanesque architecture that existed inside and outside of the church but it was only when I became the author and historian of the booklet, "St. Mary the Morning Star Parish, 1915–2008" that I realized the significance of its parishioners.
At the August, 1941 Silver Jubilee Celebration, 500 people marched from Park Square to the Tyler Street lawn party grounds. The celebration's purpose was to help fund the building of a new church for St. Mary's. Amongst the parishioners who were important contributors to this endeavor were several members of the Nesbit family. George Nesbit was an advisory board member and John Nesbit served as a lawn fete worker.
One of the advertisements in the jubilee booklet was Nesbit Bros, Inc., "Where You Get That Real Personal Service." It described the Nesbit grocery store that was located at 770 Tyler Street. I know many people who are reading this letter will fondly remember that store. In 1963, when I became a parishioner of St. Mary's, there was always a Nesbit serving in some capacity.
When the announcement in Sept., 2014 came that the Diocese of Springfield had a purchase agreement with Dunkin' Donuts through Cafua Management to purchase the St. Mary campus and Dunkin' Donuts planned to raze the church, 1,500 people protested via a Facebook page almost overnight. The Friends of St. Mary's ad hoc committee was formed to try to save and re-purpose the church.
Over the last two years. another member of the Nesbit Family, Tricia Farley-Bouvier, continued the Nesbit service to St. Mary's. In her quiet way, she supports and is informed about our preservation activity. She is always available to help and I personally feel secure knowing that if there is anything that can be done out of Boston she will be there to help. Through a state-funded transformative district initiative, Tyler Street is finally receiving the attention and funding it deserves.
Our efforts to save St. Mary's church building have not been achieved yet but I feel we are on the cusp of some exciting things for the campus. We need a representative who will not need a learning curve to help us achieve our goals.
Please vote to keep Tricia Farley-Bouvier as our state representative in the primary on Sept. 8 so she may continue her strong support for helping to re-purpose St. Mary Morning Star Church.
Dianne DiNicola, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Farley-Bouvier has succeeded for Pittsfield"
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/26/2016
To the editor:
I support re-electing Tricia Farley-Bouvier as our state representative in the 3rd Berkshire District.
Tricia has remarkable energy, as evidenced by her attendance at the meetings of various organizations and her willingness to work to improve the lives of all Pittsfieldians. She recognizes that education holds the key to successful futures for our citizens and works with parents, teachers and administrators to assure access to education for all.
Tricia has the ability to bring people together to work for the common good. Working with others, she's done much to move Pittsfield forward, never seeking to take credit for her accomplishments. As a resident of Morningside, I was delighted that Tricia obtained grants establishing a fellowship for the Transformative Development Initative project. Once again she accomplished this without fanfare.
I urge you to vote for Tricia Farley-Bouvier in the Sept. 8 primary and the general election in November.
June C. Stewart, Pittsfield
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Letter: “Bloomberg exemplifies youth Pittsfield needs”
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/26/2016
To the editor:
As a lifelong resident of Pittsfield, I am a woman who has raised her children here, sometimes by myself, but always surrounded by the goodness of our community. That community includes some of the most devoted family members: health care providers, educators and public servants who care deeply about Pittsfield.
We have health care in Pittsfield, equal to, and in so many ways, better than the care you have to travel 50 and sometimes 150 miles to receive. These providers choose to work here, to educate their children here, and serve our community here, a place where you receive care from people who know your name.
Our children are taught in a school system by a host of dedicated individuals. These educators are the force that keep our schools open, our children safe, and teach our children beyond the classroom, in a grand way, with a restricted budget.
We know our firemen, our policemen, and EMTs, dedicated first responders who are our neighbors and friends. We know our political leaders and city officials. Pittsfield is all about community, but it's a community that needs new energy.
On Sept. 8, I'll be voting for Mike Bloomberg for state representative. Mike is a product of this very community, a success story who has gained experience around the country and has returned to breathe fresh life into a tired city. We need this.
There isn't one of us who doesn't wish the young would stay or come back to Pittsfield to raise families. Now, here we have an opportunity on Sept. 8 to take action on these conversations.
So to the parents and grandparents who are reading this, this letter is for you. If we want Pittsfield to be a great place for young families, the Pittsfield we grew up in, that attracts smart young adults, let's start by electing one on Sept. 8. Let's elect Mike Bloomberg.
Bernadette C. Kennedy, Pittsfield
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"State rep. is vocation for Farley-Bouvier"
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/26/2016
To the editor:
I support Tricia Farley-Bouvier for election to represent us in the Massachusetts Statehouse.
I am committed to her sense of leadership because of her commitment to us. A recent David Brooks column in the New York Times distinguished the types of politicians by those who have a vocation — a calling — and the careerist. The ones with a vocation believe that they must bring their abilities, energies and talent to serve the public good, and are committed to serving that long-term ideal. Tricia has that vocation.
Quite simply, it is sacred work they do, and that she does: helping address our social, economic and health problems. Look at Tricia's work with the opioid bill. Our sense of community — look at her work in bringing funding for our amazing Commons Park. Have you seen the city's children in the sweltering heat, laughing in the delights of that splash pad or met a neighbor at the next booth at the Saturday farmers market, or stretched out in a lawn chair for Shakespeare in the Park? This is the heartbeat of our community, in a park brought to us by the vision of Deval Patrick and the work on funding of Tricia and our City's Park Commission.
Look forward toward the future, there is the building (and funding) for a new Taconic High School, and growing our city's economy. Consider her amazing work for Pittsfield as a designated Gateway City to bring money to our schools, fund the Innovation Center, and help our most precious resource, our children, with The Shannon Grant that benefits children at risk.
She explores creative ways to improve our future, an example of which is the Tyler Street development for new businesses and a revitalization of that neighborhood. She takes joy in this work, and is always accessible to us, and open to listening.
Examine her record, ask her about your concerns. She will be there, with an open heart and mind, guided by her sense of commitment to action.
Sheila E. McKenna, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Now more than ever, city needs Farley-Bouvier"
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/28/2016
To the editor:
For the past year, I've been fulfilling a family commitment in the Albany area. Being removed from the center of the vortex, so to speak, has given me a unique perspective on the race for state representative in Pittsfield.
It's concerning to see a candidate who is encouraging people to "listen to my great ideas" without the substance to back it up. Yet even more concerning when there are clear indications that candidate's actions do not sync with the wonderful, larger-than-life, philosophies being professed.
Recently, State Representative. Tricia Farley-Bouvier's opponent in the Democratic primary, Mike Bloomberg, has been spinning himself as "the positive candidate". Yet on Aug. 8, he fired an ugly, inaccurate attack on Rep. Farley-Bouvier's record, stating that she had an 0-25 record of legislative history in the Statehouse. This would be laughable if it weren't part of a scary pattern of destructive political strategy that we are seeing spread across the nation — say anything negative, even if it is untrue, and then smile and pretend like you are pure as the driven snow. This is a red flag that reflects on the integrity of any candidate who employs these tactics.
I won't belabor the point, but I think it's helpful to mention a few of Rep. Farley-Bouvier's accomplishments. She has been a sponsor of the following bills that are now law: the omnibus opioid bill; the Equal Pay Act; the transgender public accommodation bill, and the gas leak protection bill. She filed and successfully navigated through the House multiple bonds and funding bills that have had a direct impact on our city, bringing real dollars home to her district. She got our new city charter approved.
All of this takes a seasoned, skilled, and respected elected official who is dedicated and committed to the people of her district. The reason that Rep. Farley-Bouvier is so successful is that she has always put Pittsfield first, allocating resources to maintain a visible and accessible office here and showing up for events, meetings, and bake sales in every corner of our community to listen to her constituents. She not only has her own brilliant ideas, but she listens to our ideas, our needs, and our expectations of a state representative.
Is there more work to do? Absolutely. Now more than ever we need Rep Farley-Bouvier, who is held in high regard by her colleagues in Boston, who has put Pittsfield on the map in a positive way through her leadership role at the Democratic National Convention, to continue to represent us and get our voice heard at the Statehouse.
Judy Williamson, Castleton, N.Y.
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Letter: “Bloomberg's 'attacks' were truthful statements”
The Berkshire Eagle, 9/5/2016
To the editor:
I am writing this letter in response to Judy Williamson's recent letter in support of Rep. Farley-Bouvier.
Rep. Farley-Bouvier has certainly been a co-sponsor on many bills, but that's just signing your name onto someone else's work. The point Mike Bloomberg was making is that she has never successfully been able to get a bill that she originated to pass.
Rep. Farley-Bouvier's "accomplishments" are for the most part the fruits of other legislators' labors which she was then able to attach her name to. His "attack" was a truthful statement and completely consistent with how Mr. Bloomberg has run his campaign; backing up his opinions with firm, factual evidence. Trying to link Mr. Bloomberg's campaign with the vitriol and negativity that dominate national politics is completely disingenuous. Scrutinizing Rep. Farley-Bouvier's record is not only appropriate, but how voters should act with any incumbent candidate.
Mr. Bloomberg is a young person and many supporters of Rep. Farley-Bouvier seem to find that as a negative. I seem to remember someone else with boundless energy and big ideas who happened to be fairly young during his first election; his name was Ben Downing and he worked out pretty well for our community. In fact, with the aging population and flight of youth from the area, who better to understand what it will take to retain and bring back the young people of Pittsfield than someone who is one? With his valuable financial background and more importantly, his experience studying urban revitalization, Mr. Bloomberg finds himself well-positioned to be a leader in the effort to reinvigorate our city.
Rep. Farley-Bouvier is a wonderful person and has done her best, but she simply falls short of what our community needs. Being among the people and attending local events is important to staying in touch with constituents, but it is meaningless for an elected official if they cannot provide those constituents with the voice they need in Boston. On Thursday, I'm voting for an effective voice in Boston: Mike Bloomberg.
Joan Grossman, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Rep. Farley-Bouvier is great at her job"
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/29/2016
To the editor:
I have known Tricia Farley-Bouvier for 19 years since having the good fortune of moving into a house on the street where she lived. At that time she was the most understanding, caring and tireless mom I'd ever met. I have no doubt she always will be.
When her children got older and she decided to run for Pittsfield City Council, it didn't surprise me because, again, she cares so much. I knew she was a woman with honor and seriously hard-working and that the city would be better for having her ideas, reasoning, diplomacy and energy!
She has retained these qualities in implementing her job as our state representative from the 3rd Berkshire District. Do you remember Rep. Silvio Conte, Rep. John Olver and Sen. Ted Kennedy? They were amazing at their jobs and got re-elected time and time again. Tricia Farley-Bouvier is amazing at her job and should also be re-elected. We're all lucky to have her!
Denise Billow, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Bloomberg is choice to lead in tough times"
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/29/2016
To the editor:
Those of us who understand the history of Pittsfield know that we're a far cry from our heyday. We're clawing back, but we need the help of our next state representative, Mike Bloomberg.
Tricia Farley-Bouvier has generally voted the way I would on most topics. I've spoken with her many times, she's a wonderful person, and I think she would be well suited as a state rep. if the times were better. But she has taken a passive role in Boston. Others generate ideas, bring bills to a vote, and if somebody else in the state wrote something that benefits Pittsfield, Pittsfield benefits. She is treading water and we're ebbing and flowing with the tide.
No more passive voice. No more treading water. No more "quiet way." We need an active voice in Boston.
Pittsfield has an income problem and we've maxed out our property tax revenue. I bought a house two years ago (the second time I've bought a home in Pittsfield) and the property tax increased $150/month immediately after I closed. If I had sent that $150 as an extra principal payment, I'd have saved $38,000 in interest and paid off my house six years sooner —but I got a tax increase.
We don't need clever ways to add taxes to existing citizens and businesses (like the proposed mileage tax and discussions on taxing non-profits the incumbent has been supporting). Pittsfield needs to increase revenue by growing the tax base.
Mike Bloomberg has a background and education in urban economics — he's studied cities, how their economies work, how they grow and collapse. He understands how the energy costs in Massachusetts hurt us in our competition for businesses with neighboring New York state. He knows that to address crime we must address the poverty that breeds it. And he knows how to give something for our educated sons and daughters to return to after college.
He understands the national models for revitalization like Asheville, N.C., and how to bring that model here. A strong, walkable city core full of local businesses with a sense of place, a sense of Pittsfield.
We need positive language, we need new energy, we need action. We need Mike Bloomberg. On Sept. 8, I'll be voting Mike Bloomberg for state rep. I hope you will too.
Evan Hickok, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Bloomberg represents future of Pittsfield"
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/29/2016
To the editor:
I grew up in Pittsfield and have lived through the good times and the bad. I have served this country, spending four years in the Navy, and I have served this city, spending 30 years as a member of the Pittsfield Fire Department.
When it comes to politics I've seen it all. (Actually, I thought I did until I saw Donald Trump.)
It's no secret that our city is hurting, but if you are like me, you have seen it before. More politicians selling the same old song and dance every year.
A few weeks ago I met a young man, Michael Bloomberg, who is running for state representative. He looked me in the eye as he shook my hand and told me that Pittsfield will never be the city it once was, but that doesn't mean we can give up. He's right.
I just turned 81, but I gladly agreed to go knock on doors with Michael in my neighborhood, and I would gladly do it again. I think it is high time we've passed responsibility to the younger generation as it is their generation who will be living and working in Pittsfield for much longer than I'll be around.
Michael's character makes it clear that he respects his elders, his veterans and his community. On Thursday, Sept. 8th, I will honor his respect with my vote, and I hope you will too.
John Amuso, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Farley-Bouvier supports youth and needed programs"
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/30/2016
To the editor:
Throughout our development, we as youth, require support and encouragement to reach our goals and strive for excellence. Tricia Farley-Bouvier provides this and more.
Tricia supports youth and their futures by acknowledging the important moments in their lives and always offering the opportunity for guidance when asked for help. She uses her leadership role to not only support programs promoting positive youth development but to inspire youth firsthand to be the best that they can be. She did it for me and has done it for many others.
As I head off to my top choice college in a week, Tricia is at the top of the list of people I credit with helping me to achieve my most difficult goals thus far. She supports our community, she supports our future, and she supports us. Thank you Tricia!
Jeter A. White, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Apolitical Bloomberg is right choice for rep."
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/30/2016
To the editor:
There are 160 state representatives in Boston. We get one. I've supported our current representative, Tricia Farley-Bouvier since she was part of the WHEN group that helped Pittsfield shake the cloud of indecision of the '90s.
However, this Sept. 8, we have the right candidate, at the right time, to take the next step for Pittsfield. Mike Bloomberg has a background in finance, technology, and in building a business. He has visited and studied cities that have faced many of the same hurdles we face now. He has gone outside of the box that is Pittsfield and is bringing fresh ideas back.
There are two parts of politics, one I enjoy and one that's not my bag. I like the part of politics where people think together, pool resources and visions and make decisions that support people to try and strengthen communities. The second part of politics is the "politics" part of the process that leaves a bad taste in our mouth. It's about who you know, where you worked or what you did for someone in the past.
This summer I have heard Mike Bloomberg get into the details of redevelopment at the William Stanley Business Park and offer tangible solutions. This summer I have heard Mike stand up for the small businesses on North Street who are getting the raw end of the deal when it comes to tax rates compared to big box stores.
I've listened to Mike stand up and talk about the drugs, the crime and the blight in our neighborhoods, he didn't offer a fluff response, like more police. He dives into the root cause, poverty, and can walk you through the fundamentals of what can bring cities back.
A state representative's job is to create legislation and bring funding back from Boston so that local groups who understand local issues can make effective changes that help grow our community. This is where I draw a major distinction between the two candidates. Rep. Farley-Bouvier has exercised her political clout to support bills such as prescription eye drops legislation and a vehicle mileage tax. These are not the priorities of Pittsfield, and not a single bill she has proposed has passed in five years.
On Sept. 8, I'm voting for Mike Bloomberg because his #1 priority is economic growth, and that's what we need.
Nicholas Watroba, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Bloomberg has local roots and outside experience"
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/30/2016
To the editor:
I am fortunate enough to have lived in Pittsfield many years ago and I continue to visit the city often. This year my trip coincided with the August 11 state representative debate, held at BCC, which I eagerly attended. The spirited and timely debate was well attended, the amphitheater filled to capacity.
I was impressed with the poise, energy and fresh ideas offered by candidate Michael Bloomberg. He held his own and then some against the incumbent, who has not passed a bill in her tenure in the House. Bloomberg has done his homework, speaking with local and state experts on pressing issues facing Pittsfield. Equally important, Bloomberg looked beyond the city boundaries, investigating similar struggling towns across the nation to glean lessons learned and bring them back to the area.
I was stunned that the incumbent used her closing speech as an attempt to paint Michael as a well-heeled outsider. For the record, Bloomberg graduated from Pittsfield High School and UMass and returned specifically to put his shoulder to the grindstone here, after experiencing other pursuits. Ms. Farley-Bouvier's comments were not only unkind, they were untrue and exhibited a whiff of desperation.
Though he shares a name with a well-known former mayor of New York City, it's clear that he is a distant relative without access to Bloomberg's wealth. His mother, Nancy Shulman, is a life-long resident of Pittsfield and raised Michael and his brother in a modest home.
Pittsfield can only benefit from those who are knowledgeable about the city, passionate about its future, and able to weave new ideas into the fabric of the community.
Alan Schiff, Wyncote, Pa.
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Letter: "Pittsfield has change-agent in Rep. Farley-Bouvier"
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/30/2016
To the editor:
What Pittsfield does not need right now is a change in the state representative position. We will already have a new state senator replacing Ben Downing. Tricia Farley-Bouvier will provide the support and contacts to help the senator learn the ropes.
To those that suggest we need change, I say Tricia is the change-maker. She was a part of a group of women who changed the Pittsfield City Council by electing three women to a formerly all-male council and she served us very well in that role. She is the first woman state representative from Pittsfield. She has made representing families the focus of her political career before it began popular.
She is a member of important committees — Committee of Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities and the Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse, where change has happened in the way we treat children in state custody, individuals with substance abuse issues, victims of sexual assault and transgender individuals. Tricia has worked hard on the Equal Pay Act and raising the minimum wage because she knows changing the wage structure supports families.
When we talk about political change we want an honest, smart, hard-working representative who does not make decisions based on electability but on sound understanding of the issues, a representative, who can listen to both sides and find a win-win solution and a representative who is respected by her peers.
In re-electing Tricia Farley-Bouvier on Sept. 8 we will have a representative who has proven she can make change happen and be an honest and respected elected official. As Rep. Benjamin Swan (D-Springfield), a 22-year veteran of the House said in a recent trip to Pittsfield "Why would you change when you have one of the best representatives in the House?"
Marjorie Cohan, Pittsfield
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State Representative incumbent Tricia Farley-Bouvier listens to her opponent Michael E. Bloomberg during a State Representative debate at Berkshire Community College on Monday, August 29, 2016. Gillian Jones — The Berkshire Eagle | photos.berkshireeagle.com
“Beacon Hill hopefuls trade barbs at Berkshire Community College debate ahead of Democratic primary”
By Dick Lindsay, The Berkshire Eagle, 8/29/2016
PITTSFIELD — Michael Bloomberg finds Tricia Farley-Bouvier ineffective on Beacon Hill, while the incumbent state representative feels her challenger might be better suited for a seat on the Pittsfield City Council, not in the state Legislature.
The two Democratic hopefuls in next week's primary exchanged several barbs Monday night over who would best serve the 3rd Berkshire District — nearly all of Pittsfield — for the next two years.
The candidates vying to face an independent candidate, and current Ward 4 Pittsfield Councilor Christopher Connell in the Nov. 8 general election squared off in the first of two political debates on the Berkshire Community College campus.
Bloomberg took Farley-Bouvier to task on her inability to get a single bill passed she spearheaded.
"Many bills have co-sponsors, but the lead sponsor writes the bills; as lead sponsor none of your bills passed," he said.
Farley-Bouvier fired back to explain it's all about collaboration in the Statehouse, not who has the best batting average.
"He's used this 0 for 25 over and over, he doesn't understand the process," she said. "I have been part of a team to get legislation passed."
The five-year veteran state representative cited her 30 years of experience in the public and private sector helping the city grow such as being a Pittsfield city councilor and director of administration for former Mayor James Ruberto.
Farley-Bouvier is glad her opponent has returned and wants to improve his hometown, but he should start at the local level, such as running for a ward council seat.
"State representative is not an entry level position," she noted.
Bloomberg countered with his financial experience gained working in New York City and elsewhere in the country as the kind of resume Pittsfield needs for its next state representative.
The Pittsfield native says he understands the issues.
"This city hasn't seen private economic growth in 30 years," he said.
Both candidates agree Massachusetts has a revenue problem, not a spending problem, but Bloomberg says new taxes won't solve that problem.
"How can we spend state tax dollars to create economic growth," he said.
Farley-Bouvier deemed the current state budget a responsible one that could see improvement on the revenue side.
"We had a rough spring with revenue down, but things have started to look up," she said.
The pair of Democrats differed on the Massachusetts Turnpike switching to a E-Z Pass system only for motorist paying the tolls on the 125-mile stretch of Interstate 90.
Bloomberg worries about the jobs lost as the state invests very little money in job retraining. Farley-Bouvier says the elimination of toll booths in favor of overhead transponder readers will reduce highway congestion and be a time-saver for motorists.
On a crucial local issue, Bloomberg stands by his earlier statement denouncing the latest Wal Mart Supercenter plan for the William Stanley Business Park claiming it won't help revitalize the Tyler Street area.
Farley-Bouvier refused to pass judgement on the project until it is formally presented to city officials and properly aired out in public meetings.
Contact Dick Lindsay at 413-496-6233. rlindsay@berkshireeagle.com @BE_DLindsay on Twitter.
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Letter: "New ideas, new energy needed in Statehouse"
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/31/2016
To the editor:
Mike Bloomberg is the right choice to be state representative for Pittsfield.
At a time when the rhetoric nationally has poisoned the world of elections, Mr. Bloomberg has conducted his campaign responsibly and respectfully.
Whenever he has criticized his opponent, Rep. Farley-Bouvier, he has done so by citing her record and using facts that can easily be verified. It is not a simple task to conduct a campaign that can be critical of an opponent while remaining civil, and Mr. Bloomberg should be applauded for doing so. He points out areas in which Rep. Farley-Bouvier has fallen short, such as her inability to get any of the more than 20 bills that she was the lead sponsor on, passed; while at the same time acknowledging how clearly she cares for our community.
I urge the residents of Pittsfield to visit the websites of both candidates and compare them. Rep. Farley-Bouvier lists bills she has co-sponsored, which is simply adding her name to a bill that was written by someone else. She lists endorsements, and she lists her voting record, which contains no bills that she actually wrote. Rep. Farley-Bouvier's website lacks a section expressing new ideas; there is nowhere on her website that she speaks about plans for the future.
Mr. Bloomberg's website is full of ideas, it offers solutions, and it has the facts to back them up.
Rep. Farley-Bouvier is a good person, but being a good person doesn't mean you will be a good rep. Just look around the city, or look at the data, either way you can see that we clearly need change.
We need new energy and new ideas, we need Michael Bloomberg in the Statehouse.
Scott Steinman, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Farley-Bouvier is a positive force as state representative"
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/31/2016
To the editor:
I'm adding my support for Tricia Farley-Bouvier, state representative from the 3rd Berkshire District, in the Sept. 8 primary.
I trust her work ethic, values and ability to get things done and see no reason why she shouldn't be returned to the position she holds. Tricia is a positive force as our state representative.
Elaine J. LaPierre, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Farley-Bouvier went above and beyond in wake of Orlando"
The Berkshire Eagle, 8/31/2016
To the editor:
A few hours after the shocking massacre of 49 human beings in Orlando, I sent an email out to a group of people, searching for others who felt called to do something in response to this terrible tragedy. The first person to respond that Sunday morning was our state representative, Tricia Farley-Bouvier.
Together we and a small group of other community members, in particular Ed Sedarbaum of Berkshire Rainbow Seniors, organized a public vigil to express our profound grief and our fierce resolve to work together to prevent future mass shootings from happening and to end homophobia.
Tricia went above and beyond in those 48 hours when we put the vigil together. Always responsive, she helped ensure we had the necessary permits in hand to gather in Park Square and then spoke directly and powerfully at the vigil itself.
That's what it means to be a leader. That's what it means to be a responsive and committed member of this community. That's what it means to be an outspoken advocate for positive change.
I'm proud to be voting to re-elect state Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier on Thursday, Sept. 8, and I invite you to join me.
Megan Whilden, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Farley-Bouvier is a proven state representative"
The Berkshire Eagle, 9/1/2016
To the editor:
"The only source of knowledge is experience." This quote by Albert Einstein is a reflection of State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier.
She is a strong, independent woman who understands family values and the value of the community. She should be re-elected as state representative because she is active in the community, but most importantly she shows compassion and love for what she does.
Since becoming state representative in 2011 she has successfully been the representative for our families, for education, and on many other more issues that we face today.
Jack A. Quattrochi, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Farley-Bouvier on team that has boosted Pittsfield"
The Berkshire Eagle, 9/1/2016
To the editor:
Before Tricia Farley-Bouvier first served as an at-large councilor on the City Council, there was little or no growth in downtown Pittsfield. Our downtown wasn't a destination. Since then, Pittsfield has been experiencing a revitalization that would be the envy of any small city. We now have the Colonial Theatre, the Beacon Cinema, Barrington Stage Company, a downtown farmers market, and a new high school under construction.
The process of bringing each of these projects to Pittsfield required long hours and years-long collaboration. In each case, Tricia was a part of the leadership team that navigated the many obstacles that could have sidelined any one of these projects.
When it comes to state representative, we need someone who has demonstrated the ability to work with others to get the job done. We need someone who is here and has been here for the long haul and has invested time helping our community.
We need Tricia. Please join me in voting for Tricia Farley-Bouvier on Thursday, Sept. 8.
Kevin Winslow, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Bloomberg will bring youth, leadership"
The Berkshire Eagle, 9/1/2016
To the editor:
I grew up in Pittsfield and now, 55 years later, I am back. It troubles me greatly to see how much economic decline the city has suffered since I left. The loss of GE in the 1980s was critical, but many years later, Pittsfield continues to struggle.
I have followed the primary race for state representative closely, as it is clear to me that the flight of youth for better opportunity elsewhere and poverty are critical issues here in the heart of the Berkshires.
Collaboration in state government is important but even more important to the fate of Western Massachusetts is leadership. Mike Bloomberg has returned to Pittsfield to try to make a difference. He did not wait 55 years, but instead returned just a few years after he graduated from UMass and gained experience in business, technology, and urban economics before his return. He studied cities that have transformed their economies like Saratoga Springs and Lowell. He came back, prepared not just to follow, but to lead.
Pittsfield needs the energy of youth, fresh ideas and the commitment of a born leader. Yes, he is young, but how soon we forget that one of our most effective legislators, Ben Downing, was just 24 years old when he first ran. Mike will collaborate when the opportunity arises, as all legislators do, but he is prepared to lead by introducing legislation that will bring needed resources to Pittsfield.
Pittsfield needs this kind of leadership. Mike's opponent has served 2 1/2 terms and has failed to sponsor a single bill that has passed, and has yet to hold a committee chair or vice-chairmanship. I urge you to watch the Aug. 29 debate between the candidates on PCTV, or on the internet, as there is a clear difference in priorities for our city.
Mike has my vote on primary day, Thursday, Sept. 8. I hope he will have yours.
Virginia E. O'Leary, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Buying into Bloomberg's enthusiasm for city"
The Berkshire Eagle, 9/1/2016
To the editor:
I grew up admiring people like Mike Bloomberg. I never understood their enthusiasm, or their drive to make a difference, but I admired that they did have it. I used to think that I grew up in a different Pittsfield than people like Mike. I used to think that they were born on the right side of town, or with the right parents, and that was why they were able to be optimistic about this city.
I didn't grow up optimistic about this city at all. I grew up in the Wilson projects, where over half of the kids were from single parent homes like mine. I grew up watching drug deals go on in my back yard, and guys get taken to jail for beating up their girlfriends. I always wondered why no one ever did anything about it. Where were all the "grown ups?" Finally, I just gave up too, and resigned myself to what I thought was the inevitable decline of this city.
My attitude started to change a few years back when I met my wife. We have since had two amazing children, and today I am working to open my own business which provides healthy meals to the people of Pittsfield. My renewed desire, to see a city that I want to raise my son and daughter in, is how I came to meet Mike Bloomberg.
We met in June as a group of us took a walk down Tyler Street. Where I stood and saw empty buildings, Mike saw shops and restaurants. I watched, listened, and questioned him, as he explained the rise and fall of not only our city, but cities around the country, and what we can do to come back. He walked me through tax policies that hold back real estate development and introduced me to people who can help me with my business.
Mike's enthusiasm for Pittsfield is contagious. He has changed the way I look at our home, our problems, and all our potential. He has made me see Pittsfield as a place where I want to raise my family. I hope you will join me in voting for him for state representative in the Democratic primary on Sept. 8.
Zachary Durso, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Farley-Bouvier a leader on local, state issues"
The Berkshire Eagle, 9/2/2016
To the editor:
We would like to join with many others in our community in voicing our support for re-electing Tricia Farley-Bouvier as our state representative.
For us, she exemplifies what is best in the label "Democratic." She displays the values and the activism that make the Democratic Party, at its best, representative of the interests of the majority of our citizens. She understands, as does Sen. Elizabeth Warren said this past Saturday at Berkshire Community College, that the progressive agenda is, above all, an American agenda. And she takes seriously Sen. Warren's dictum, "you can't win what you don't fight for."
Tricia is not just someone who votes the right way. Her record in the House reflects her commitment to fighting and winning for us legislation that will level the playing field and make the commonwealth a better place in which to live, even when it means she has to buck the leadership to do so. As chair of the House Progressive Caucus, she has worked with her colleagues to champion the causes that she ardently believes in, raising the minimum wage, equal pay for equal work, preserving our Article 97 conservation land from corporate overreaching and protecting us from dangerous gas leaks. Equally important is what Tricia and her caucus has saved us from: permission in energy bills for utilities to tack on a tariff to consumers to pay for pipelines that would not benefit them.
Tricia's election to the co-chairmanship of the Progressive Caucus is indicative of the respect she has earned among her colleagues. She has also become a respected voice within the state Democratic Party, not least of all because she goes to bat for progressive legislators in other districts to preserve their seats from Republican challengers. As a result, Tricia was appointed deputy whip at the Democratic national convention in Philadelphia this past July.
What's also remarkable about Tricia is that she does not wear blinders. She speaks out forcefully and knowledgeably on momentous national issues as well as local ones. So when the Pittsfield City Council was considering a resolution calling for the overturning of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, she spoke to the Council about the importance of adding its voice to the movement to reinstitute limits on campaign financing. Her advocacy helped move the needle and in the end the council voted overwhelmingly for the resolution.
She exemplifies the mature leadership we need to deal with the economic, educational and energy challenges Pittsfield and the Berkshires face in the coming years. We urge you to vote on Thursday, Sept. 8 to return Tricia Farley-Bouvier to the Massachusetts House.
Louise and Frank Farkas, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Bloomberg offers a positive vision for Pittsfield"
The Berkshire Eagle, 9/2/2016
To the editor:
I grew up in Pittsfield and have lived here all my life. I'm a proud graduate of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and love every day I get to spend in the Berkshires, whether it's at work, or on the golf course.
I'm writing this letter in support of Mike Bloomberg for state representative because he represents a vision for Pittsfield that I want to see.
We've grown increasingly tired as a community. Less people are working and less people are really living. While the resurgence of the arts community has made for some great shows, there is still much to be desired in the way of community engagement.
Parks that were once full every day of the week, are now largely empty, as the youth turn to video games, and adults so often to drugs and alcohol for entertainment. We've been watching this for years, seemingly helpless and just trying to deal with the consequences of the change.
I support Mike Bloomberg because his vision for the city brings the community back together, not in the boardrooms for another "task-force," but in the parks and coffee shops, in the neighborhoods and in the community centers. He is focused on what we need right here in Pittsfield, not distracted by special interest groups in Boston.
We've got a long way to go as a city, but that doesn't mean we can just give up. Mike Bloomberg has the energy and the vision to be our voice in Boston. I'm voting for him on Sept. 8 in the Democratic primary and I hope you will too.
Shane Ortega, Pittsfield
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“Campaigns spar over finance reports”
Money related to charter schools, climate change spark criticism
By Jim Therrien, The Berkshire Eagle, 9/2/2016
PITTSFIELD - Both legislative races in Berkshire County are producing campaign finance-related disputes as the House and Senate contests move closer to the Sept. 8 primary election.
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield and Michael Bloomberg, her Democratic challenger for the 3rd District House seat, traded barbs Friday over what the incumbent said in a press release was the introduction of "dark money" contributions in support of her opponent.
Farley-Bouvier said in her statement: "On Aug. 30, the organization Democrats for Education Reform, an organization tied to hedge fund executives in favor of lifting the charter school cap, reported spending $3,830 in support of Mr. Bloomberg's campaign."
She noted that Bloomberg has said he opposes the Nov. 8 ballot question aimed at lifting the cap on new charter schools and the number of student placements, saying, "Mr. Bloomberg has repeatedly told the people of Pittsfield that he is against lifting the cap on charter schools; meanwhile, he has taken substantial support from a group whose main mission is to lift the Charter cap. This group invested serious dollars into getting Question 2 on the ballot, they are pouring millions into marketing to get it passed and they are now interfering in local elections."
Bloomberg responded in an email to The Eagle, "I am against lifting the charter cap. I see this is becoming an issue because one of the pro-lifting groups has decided to support me in the race. I believe (have not confirmed) it is just because they see me as more in favor of overall [education] reform than [Farley-Bouvier]."
He said in a subsequent interview that it is important to note that the group did not directly contributed to his campaign, but decided to support him in the race through its own mailing. He added that when he filled out a questionnaire sent by the group on his positions on education, he stated, "I do not support a lifting of the charter cap given the current funding model for education ... I do support working to bring charter-like benefits to the local school districts through Innovation and Horace Mann schools and through cooperation of currently existing Commonwealth charters."
Farley-Bouvier, who has spoken against raising the charter cap, said she refused to participate in the group's questionnaire process.
Contact Jim Therrien at 413-496-6247. jtherrien@berkshireeagle.com @BE_therrien on Twitter.
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“Incumbent Rep. Farley-Bouviver, newcomer Bloomberg ready for Sept. 8 Democratic primary faceoff”
By Jim Therrien, The Berkshire Eagle, 9/4/2016
PITTSFIELD - The Democratic Primary in the 3rd District House race in Pittsfield pits incumbent state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier against Michael Bloomberg of Holmes Road.
The winner in Thursday's voting will face independent candidate and City Councilor Christopher Connell.
In the Democratic race, the candidates have clashed over how effective Farley-Bouvier has been in five years in office in passing legislation to benefit the district and in securing state funding for Pittsfield.
She has pointed to their comparative resumes, noting the many jobs and positions she has held and the "gaps" in the 26-year-old Bloomberg's resume since college.
He has called for a fresh approach on the issues and renewed energy in dealing with the Legislature, which she contends her "team approach" has greatly benefitted the city during her terms.
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG
Michael Bloomberg knows he faces a tough challenge in trying to defeat incumbent Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier.
But the 26-year-old city resident said he senses momentum building behind his candidacy and he believes he is better addressing the issue voters are most interested in — economic development.
"My priorities are the No. 1 difference," he said during an interview. "I am not big on sweeping progressive issues," which he said has been a principal focus of the incumbent.
Citing such issues as GMO labeling and a bill to allow residents to obtain licenses regardless of their immigration status, Bloomberg said he would likely vote for those proposals but believes reps. from wealthier districts can and should provide leadership on those issues, while the important issues in Pittsfield revolve around jobs and economic development.
Bloomberg, who has worked for investment firms in New York and has an educational background in economics and technology, said he could have an immediate impact on local development by "bringing attention to Pittsfield" among innovative business people from outside the area.
He said he would ask to be appointed to legislative committees like the Joint Committee on Revenue, the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing, the House Committee on Technology and Intergovernmental Affairs, or similar committees where he believes his familiarity with finances and technology would benefit the district.
The candidate also notes that Farley-Bouvier is active in the Legislature's Progressive Caucus, saying he would focus on the much larger Gateway Cities Caucus, which represents small- to medium-size cities in the state that, like Pittsfield, face economic development challenges. That group of representatives could be an effective lobbying force for additional state funding and resources for those cities, he said, adding that he would seek a leadership role in the caucus.
Bloomberg said one of his principal reasons for running for the House is to help the city as it approaches its Proposition 2 1/2 levy ceiling, after which override votes would be required to raise local tax revenue. Sluggish growth and overall declining real estate values here since the recession of 2008-09 have been cited as the reason the city's tax levy total has risen close to the override ceiling level.
On specific issues, Bloomberg said he would push for more workforce development funding, noting that Massachusetts spends on worker training at a level well below the average in other states. That's one reason, he said, that hundreds of open jobs typically go unfilled in the Berkshire region.
Bloomberg also said that, while Farley-Bouvier "is well liked around Pittsfield," she "hasn't passed a bill" she proposed in five years as a lawmaker, and did not obtain budget amendment funding for local projects until this year. He said the other three House reps in Berkshire county have obtained more than her total "in this year alone."
He said some local officials have told him that when they hoping for state funding and looking for "who to lean on, it hasn't been Trish."
Unlike Farley-Bouvier, Bloomberg also has taken a strong stand against the proposed Walmart Supercenter for a William Stanley Business Park site, saying a retail project there instead of industrial development "is the antithesis of smart development."
The other key to development, he said, is in finding ways to work in collaboration with businesses. "Incentivizing the private sector is what really works," he said.
After college, Bloomberg worked in New York City with a startup hedge fund and also with a large financial institution with the firm's technology and recruiting teams.
He is a 2008 graduate of Pittsfield High School and 2012 graduate of the University of Massachusetts.
For information: bloombergforpittsfield.com
TRICIA FARLEY-BOUVIER
The incumbent said she is getting mostly positive feedback while going door-to-door in Pittsfield's 3rd House district. But one issue which generates some negative comments, she said, is the new Taconic High School project, for which the city will borrow about $44 million.
"But I stand very firm on the school," she said. "It is the key to economic development." She adds that, after the City Council unanimously approved borrowing for the new school — which also will receive $76 million in state funding — "people could have taken it to a ballot vote, started a petition. The option was out there, but there was no movement to do it."
Farley-Bouvier said she believes most voters understand the vocational component of the new high school will be one of the driving forces behind future economic development in the city, which most believe is dependent upon advanced manufacturing and similar businesses and the necessary work force training.
In responding to criticism from her opponent that she has been unable to pass any bills she originated and that she has brought home fewer budget amendment items for smaller projects than the other Berkshire lawmakers, Farley-Bouvier said Bloomberg doesn't really understand the legislative process because "being a legislator means being part of a team; that's how it works ... There isn't a piece of legislation that passes because of one person."
She added, "If look at bills I have [co-sponsored] and worked very hard on, such as gas leaks, pay equity, public accommodations for transgender people — those bills that I put a lot of time and energy on have become law."
As co-chairwoman of the Progressive Caucus in the Legislature, Farley-Bouvier said that group "had a primary role in all those bills." In addition, she said, the caucus has learned to work well with House Speaker Robert DeLeo toward getting the most progressive measures possible through the House and signed into law.
"Budget amendments are a very small part funding," she said, although she noted the $75,000 she put in this year for the George B. Crane Memorial Center in Pittsfield.
But the major funding to a municipality, she said, includes big ticket items like the $76 million in school construction, which she worked on for many years along with city officials and other local lawmakers; $1 million in a state environmental bond for an turf athletic field planned for the Berkshire Community College campus; and the last two phases of state funding for The Common and downtown Streetscape work.
"That happened because of good relationship with [former] Gov. Deval Patrick" and work by her and many other officials in Pittsfield and in the region, she said.
State funding for the Tyler Street Transformative Development Initiative is another project she worked hard to bring about, Farley-Bouvier said. "TDI is a really big deal," she said, "and again it was teamwork."
She said lawmakers in the Gateway Cities Caucus pushed to create the enabling legislation and got the Pittsfield project and others funded. She said she is "a very, very active member of the Gateway Cities Caucus. I have gotten to know most of the members; we work together, and some of them are my closest colleagues."
On the Walmart Supercenter plan for the William Stanley Business Park, Farley-Bouvier said Bloomberg's quick opposition reflected "a difference of approach" from her own.
"Within an hour he came in and said this is a terrible idea," she said. "My approach is that the first job of a legislator is to listen."
She added that she reserved comment before talking to city officials, small business people and residents. "When I go door to door, by far more people want this," she said, "and this also is not a Legislature decision; it will be the city's choice."
Her job resume compared to her opponent's is something else Farley-Bouvier said she wants voters to consider.
That includes teaching special education students in Central America with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, which is similar to the Peace Corps; working with the city's Adult Learning Center; serving as a city councilor for four years, followed by a stint as director of administration in former Mayor James M. Ruberto's office, and then first winning election to the House seat in 2011 in a mid-term election.
For information: triciafarleybouvier.com
jtherrien@berkshireeagle.com @BE_therrien on Twitter.
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Incumbent State Representative candidate Tricia Farley-Bouvier introduces herself at an event for candidates for the State Senate and State Representative offices to gather and introduce themselves and meet members of the LGBTQ and senior communities on Saturday. (Stephanie Zollshan photos — The Berkshire Eagle | photos.berkshireeagle.com)
“Beacon Hill candidates stake out turf on health care, business and other issues at LGBTQ, seniors forum”
Where do they stand?: Candidates discuss equality, health care, business and more
By Derek Gentile, The Berkshire Eagle, 9/4/2016
PITTSFIELD - The seven local candidates for contested public office in Berkshire County tried to carve out their own respective positions on the progressive platform in a candidates' forum at the Berkshire Athenaeum on Saturday afternoon.
A total of 52 people attended the event in the library's auditorium.
The event was co-sponsored by the Rainbow Seniors of Berkshire County and the Age-Friendly Berkshire Task Force. The event was open to the public, although it was populated, for the most part, by older residents, most of whom were from Pittsfield.
Rainbow Seniors organizer Edward Sederbaum, who co-moderated the event with Age Friendly organizer Bobbi Orsi, explained that he and Orsi wanted to get some sense of where all the candidates stood on senior issues and issues concerning to the LGBTQ community.
All seven candidates attended the event. This included state Senate candidates Andrea Harrington, Adam Hinds and Rinaldo del Gallo, all Democrats, and Republican candidate Christine Canning.
In addition, the three candidates for the state representative race attended, including incumbent Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier and fellow Democrat Michael Bloomberg and Independent candidate Chris Connell.
For Democrats Harrington, Hinds, Del Gallo, Farley-Bouvier and Bloomberg, the Democratic primary is Sept. 8. The winners there will meet Canning and Connell in the general election Nov. 8.
Not every candidate answered every question. But all seven candidates, in different ways, indicated their support for LGBTQ causes.
Canning, the lone candidate representing the GOP on the panel, described herself as a "progressive Republican" when it came to most issues, including those directly affecting the LGBTQ community, adding that she was "tired of labels" and that the needs of the LGBTQ community were as valid as any.
"The first thing you learn as a legislator is to listen," said Farley-Bouvier, who admitted that before she was elected, she did not know many members of the LGBTQ community. She suggested that medical professionals in particular needed training in dealing with that strata of individuals.
Hinds said he believed the LGBTQ community is statistically more vulnerable as it ages than other senior citizens, in part because they tend not to have children as caregivers.
Harrington said she would like to see more education about LGBTQ issues in school, particularly younger children.
Bloomberg suggested that improved health care for seniors and the LGBTQ community was a "basic right."
Regarding spiraling drug costs, all seven hopefuls were in favor of some way to cap costs. Connell suggested improved transparency in how drug companies set prices would be a way to keep the costs reasonable.
"It's very simple," said Del Gallo. "Single-payer health care system. That's it. Single-payer system."
It was a sentiment to which Bloomberg agreed.
Farley-Bouvier said she believes the way drug companies set costs "is a crime, and should be treated as a crime."
Harrington suggested that "taking Big Money out of politics" would solve this and many other issues.
In a more general discussion, six of the seven candidates were not wild about the new planned Super Walmart at the Stanley Business Park.
Connell, who is also a member of the Pittsfield City Council, said he had not made up his mind yet. A survey he took of the seven businesses that would potentially surround the Walmart saw six owners in favor of the store, he said.
"This is not what will bring people to Pittsfield," said Bloomberg.
Del Gallo took it a step further.
"I think it would be the end of the Stanley Business Park," he said.
Contact Derek Gentile at 413-496-6251. dgentile@berkshireeagle.com @DerekGentile on Twitter.
Rainbow Seniors Executive Director Ed Cedarbaum introduces the candidates for the state Senate and state Representative offices at the Berkshire Athenaeum in Pittsfield on Saturday.
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Our Opinion: “Farley-Bouvier earns primary endorsement”
The Berkshire Eagle, Editorial, 9/4/2016
Races for state representative in Berkshire districts or portions of them don't happen that often, and the race for the Democratic nomination from the 3rd Berkshire District has been a good one for the county.
The contest between incumbent Tricia Farley-Bouvier and challenger Michael Bloomberg has been a lively one. Issues confronting the district, which is essentially Pittsfield, have been brought to the foreground. The winner will meet independent candidate Chris Connell in November.
Mr. Bloomberg argues that Ms. Farley-Bouvier has been too passive and failed the city by not getting bills passed into law, but the Legislature is a collaborative body and Ms. Farley-Bouvier is a proven team player. There is no disputing her role in getting funding for important city projects like the new Taconic High School, the turf field for BCC and the last two phases of streetscape.
Her work on the Gateway Cities caucus helped Pittsfield become one of the 10 cities, out of 26, to receive a Transformative Development Initiative (TDI) grant, in this case, targeted for Tyler Street. Her fingerprints are on legislation increasing the minimum wage and assuring equal pay for women, among others. She is strong on constituent services in Pittsfield and has been a leader on working for diversity within the city. Her background as an educator, city councilor and director of administration in the mayor's office prepared her well to become a state representative.
Mr. Bloomberg has run an aggressive campaign based on his background in finance and technology, which he maintains will prepare him to explore ways of boosting the local economy. Pittsfield needs young people like him involved in city politics and his work outside the city, along with his insights into urban economics, enabled him to bring a fresh perspective to the race.
Mr. Bloomberg, however, hasn't made the case for turning out a proven incumbent. Should he not win the primary, he will ideally remain in his native city and get involved with groups that could use his enthusiasm and provide him with experience in city affairs.
Ms. Farley-Bouvier has that experience, and it shows in the team approach she encourages in addressing Pittsfield issues and in advocating for the city and for progressive statewide causes in Boston. The Eagle endorses Ms. Farley-Bouvier in the Democratic primary on September 8.
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Tricia Farley-Bouvier: “A shared progressive agenda”
By Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Op-Ed, The Berkshire Eagle, 9/2/2016
PITTSFIELD - Sen. Elizabeth Warren recently came to Pittsfield to deliver her "American Agenda" presentation to an overflow crowd at our own Berkshire Community College. The message she conveyed is that changes in public policy in the last three decades have led to growing income inequality and that big money is having far too much influence on policies that benefit only the top earners, at a great cost to the rest of us. Sen. Warren calls for all of us to get involved to change that trajectory.
I was pleased to see that some of the policies she calls for to level the playing field are ones Massachusetts is already enacting. The Massachusetts Legislature, led by the Progressive Caucus, has passed a strong minimum wage law, raising it from $8/hour to $11/hour over three years. Earned Paid Sick time is also the law in Massachusetts and we will continue to fight for paid family leave.
This year, we passed the Equal Pay Act, a historic law that not only calls for equal pay for equal work, but includes specific provisions to address the gender pay gap. Making it illegal to ask for salary history in pay negotiations or to fire workers for discussing their pay will help solve the unacceptable fact that women in Massachusetts are still making 79 cents to the dollar compared to what a man makes for the same work. This legislation is serving as a model across the nation.
Sen. Warren is a strong voice for getting big money out of politics. The fact that we have gone from $200 million being spent by lobbyists in 2002 to a staggering $3.3 billion today demonstrates how effective it is for corporations to invest in trying to buy Congress.
A recent example is that of the company Mylan, which cornered the market on the EpiPen, while intensely lobbying for all schools to stock them (at taxpayers' expense). The company then jacked up the price by 600 percent, while corporate executive salaries rose 400 percent simultaneously.
The obvious solution to this problem is overturning the horrendous Citizens United Supreme Court decision that allows unlimited, unreported money in politics. Our Legislature has taken steps to stem the tide in Massachusetts through strong disclosure laws and strict contribution limits.
EARLY EDUCATION KEY
The senator also presented data that shows that families are struggling daily with significant increases in transportation, health care, college costs and especially a staggering 935 percent increase in the cost of child care. Addressing the access and affordability of early education is a critical, but often overlooked, issue in economic development.
It has been proven that access to quality early education is the best way to ensure that children are reading properly by third grade, which in turn is a great predictor of future school success. We have had excellent work done locally through the Berkshire United Way's Pittsfield Promise Campaign, bringing together many stakeholders to promote early education and school partnerships. I have taken this fight to the Statehouse, where I championed funding for expanded access to early education so that more children have opportunity.
We also learned that a staggering 30 percent turnover rate in the field of early education is the result of unacceptable poverty level wages. Over the years we have called for raising the educational and professional standards for these teachers, but increases in earnings have not kept pace. It would be impossible for many families to cover any more of the cost. Unless and until state government plays a more active role in paying for this essential service, this problem will continue.
It's estimated that we have over 500 jobs in early education here in Pittsfield. Did you know that many of these teachers earn just over minimum wage and often qualify for food stamps? This needs to change. I look forward to returning to the Legislature to continue the fight for Universal Pre-K, particularly in Gateway Cities.
Protecting workers, investing in early education, and getting big money out of politics. These are critical policies to protect working families, and I ask for your vote on Thursday, Sept. 8 so that I can continue effectively representing the people of Pittsfield in this critical work.
Tricia Farley-Bouvier is the Democratic state representative in the 3rd Berkshire District.
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Mike Bloomberg: “A path forward for Pittsfield”
By Mike Bloomberg, Op-Ed, The Berkshire Eagle, 9/2/2016
PITTSFIELD - As I walk through the neighborhoods of our city, the one message I hear more than anything — more than the need for jobs, more than rising crime — is that voters are fed-up with politics. They are fed-up with empty promises and the reality show-like nature in which candidates are portrayed and operate, fed-up with catchphrases and buzzwords like "progressive" and "collaboration."
Pittsfield, I want you to know that I hear you loud and clear. That is why I want to use this final op-ed to cut through the noise and plainly state what I will do as your state representative. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out anytime at 413-212-9386.
Fifty years ago, the city of Pittsfield was home to almost 60,000 people with a median family income about 10 percent above the state average. This prosperity was built on top of one company, a dependency that would eventually hurt us. Today we have a population of 42,000, with a median family income more than 37 percent below the state average.
When we add together the costs of maintaining our infrastructure, providing a 21st century education to our children, and paying our municipal employees, we get our city budget. While that number goes up every year, the basis for how we pay for it, property values and income, does not. Instead, over the past 10 years, we have seen a 41 percent increase in our single-family tax bills, and for seniors, a 0% increase in their Social Security benefits.
As a city, we have now reached an unfortunate point known as the "levy ceiling": under Massachusetts state law, we can no longer increase our property taxes to pay for these critical services unless we see growth in our property values and growth in our local economy.
STUDIED OTHER CITIES
In my time working in finance in New York City, I had a front-row seat to how the private sector analyzes economic trends to make smart investing decisions. In the past two years, as I have gone around the country to study cities like Detroit, Cleveland, and Baltimore, I have seen what struggling communities are doing at the grassroots level to solve many of the same problems we have in Pittsfield.
We need leadership on Beacon Hill. The rubber always hits the road at the municipal level, but state laws, state organizations, and state funding play an integral role in transforming a community. My number one approach as your state representative will be to examine what has worked elsewhere and help make it happen here in Pittsfield.
Investing in the urban core pays big dividends. This is much more than just tearing up and replacing roads, and it goes beyond North Street. What we see from analyzing tax receipt data is that downtown buildings often return between three times and 10 times the value per square foot than large suburban shopping centers like the Allendale Plaza or Walmart. We can continue to support this growth by raising the cap on the state's HDIP funding, which provides tax credits to developers who build market rate housing in the urban core. The more people downtown, the more business becomes sustainable.
I will be focused on boosting access to education and job training. As a state, we only spend one percent of our federal welfare funding on job training, which is eight times less than the national average. Such funds can and must be redirected into programs that actually provide a pathway out of poverty.
The best institution for managing those programs is Berkshire Community College. I will work to speed the growth of BCC's downtown campus at the Silvio Conte Federal Building on Columbus Avenue, because bringing classes and job training closer to downtown increases the accessibility of education to our community and trains our workforce for the 21st century.
We need to aggressively pursue repairing our property tax system. A child's education should not be determined by their street address and a business looking to grow must not be faced with a $25,000 tax bill before they even open their doors.
We can be a 21st century sustainable city, but we cannot wait for change to happen, we have to make it happen. On Sept. 8, I hope to have your vote.
Mike Bloomberg is a Democratic candidate for state representative from the 3rd Berkshire District.
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Letter: “Dedicated to education and to community”
The Berkshire Eagle, 9/6/2016
To the editor:
We are happy to lend our voices to the list of supporters encouraging people to get out and vote for state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier in the primary election Thursday.
The Marilyn Hamilton Sports and Literacy Program is a vital summer support program for children on the west side of Pittsfield that engages youth in a fun, safe, structured, experience that maintains and enhances their literary skills while giving them an outlet for their boundless energy, exposing them to all kinds of wonderful community opportunities. As directors of this important community resource, we have worked closely with Tricia for many years as a valued education mentor for our program. She is truly dedicated to promoting literacy.
Tricia didn't just show up for photo opportunities and award ceremonies. She frequently showed up to listen to our children read, noting and celebrating our children's progress, and made connections with families and the entire West Side community. Her presence had a real impact on our children's lives.
She also linked us to other community resources to support our program's success in so many ways. We have a beautiful relationship with Superintendent Jake McCandless thanks to Tricia's facilitation. She finds ways to make win-win situations at every level of community and government to benefit all the citizens in her community.
Through state Rep. Farley-Bouvier, we are truly all being represented. This is why it is so important to return her to this office. Please vote on Thursday.
Manfred Slaughter, Vannessa Slaughter, Pittsfield
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Letter: “Bloomberg will focus on Pittsfield's real needs”
The Berkshire Eagle, 9/6/2016
To the editor:
I grew up in Pittsfield, work two jobs, pay my taxes, and am currently saving up to buy a home. I'm constantly out and about in the community and because of that, I've seen Rep. Farley-Bouvier many times. She would show up, listen to people for a bit, pose for a few pictures, and I never thought much of it. Honestly, I barely knew anything about what a state representative does.
As I've gotten older and begun paying more and more taxes, I've finally started paying attention. I've tried to do my homework, learning as much as I could about all of the issues. While I've educated myself, I realized that a lot more of what happens in Boston affects me than I thought.
Our state representative is supposed to make laws on our behalf, and get funding on our behalf (after all, it's our tax dollars anyway). I get that money is hard to come by in Boston. I get that laws take time to pass too. But what I don't get is why our representative isn't focusing on the biggest needs of Pittsfield?
Prescription eye drops, vehicle miles tax, GMO labeling? These bills help some people, but in a city that is losing jobs left and right, and where I see my tax bill double, those just aren't our priorities. Not every bill needs to help me, but these bills don't help the people who work hard every day just to scrape by. They don't help the seniors who see their taxes go up, but not their Social Security. They don't help our kids, our teachers, our police, or our firefighters. It's just fine that our representative wants to fight for some unique issues, but if you want to do that, how about we make sure we have a city that's in good shape first? Pittsfield isn't; we're broke and we need leadership.
I'm supporting Mike Bloomberg on Thursday because he's focused on fixing the basics. I can understand if my representative struggles to gain traction in Boston, but at least struggle for what we need to help this community.
Jacob Rand, Pittsfield
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Letter: “A successful history of working for city”
The Berkshire Eagle, 9/6/2016
To the editor:
I first met Tricia Farley-Bouvier some 14 years ago. We were both running for four at-large-seats on the Pittsfield City Council. Tricia surprised me with her knowledge of Pittsfield and its people. (She also surprised me when she received more votes than I did.)
I became the City Council president and appointed Tricia as chair of the Public Building Subcommittee of the City Council. I also served on that committee. Tricia learned that there were funds left over from the account used to renovate the two middle schools and a number of elementary schools. The funds were dedicated for school improvements only. PHS, Taconic, Conte, Morningside and Crosby had received no improvements.
Tricia scheduled a meeting with her committee, not in the Council chambers in front of TV cameras, but at each school while they were in session. Yes, the meetings were posted but the press seemed to have little interest.
The principal and staff at each school told us what their #1 request was. Two schools requested improved security systems for the safety of staff and students. Two needed repairs to the gym floors, and the last school needed windows replaced. All of that was accomplished without fanfare, thanks to Tricia.
Tricia Farley-Bouvier proved she was an effective city councilor for four years. She was an asset when she was on Mayor Jim Ruberto's director of administration. As Tricia has gained experience, she is even better as our state representative.
The last time Tricia and I were on the ballot for councilor at Large, she received more votes than I did, again. I won't hold that against her.
Please join me in keeping Tricia Farley-Bouvier on Beacon Hill.
Gerald Lee, Pittsfield
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Letter: “Bloomberg offers hope for Pittsfield's future”
The Berkshire Eagle, 9/6/2016
To the editor:
I knew Mike Bloomberg had my vote within the first hour of meeting him. At the same time I walked into his campaign office in early June, I was planning my escape from Pittsfield once and for all. As a first generation and recent college graduate, I couldn't wait to thrive in an unknown place and leave this perceived area of political and economic decline.
Now, I believe in the future of Pittsfield for the first time in my life. Now, I envision settling down and starting a family in the Berkshires. Right now, Pittsfield and the Berkshires need people like myself to think this way for its long-term survival and growth.
Now, our beautiful city needs a transformation. Mike Bloomberg is a component of this transformation. As I sat down in his office that sunny day in early June, Mike listened and engaged with issues such as Black Lives Matter: its misconceptions and importance. He listened to my concerns about drug addiction in the Berkshires. He listened to my ideas about creating a thriving start-up and entrepreneurship culture that's energizing cities across the U.S.
I don't believe anyone has the ability to confront challenges, fight for the oppressed, and reinvigorate our community quite like Mike does.
We need a dedicated individual with measurable results in Boston. We need politicians to actually listen and engage with our community, especially those of color and socio-economically disadvantaged individuals.
Our votes truly count and create results when we elect the right people. If our leadership continues to fail us, my generation will be forced to leave and miss out on our families, natural beauty, and cultural vitality.
Jordan Wood, Pittsfield
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Letter: “Why I like Mike”
The Berkshire Eagle, 9/6/2016
To the editor:
I want to tell you why I'm voting for Michael Bloomberg for state representative.
I've known several of Mike's friends and members of his family for years, but before this election I hadn't met Mike. Not long after he announced he was running, he sought me out and we met for lunch at Teddy's Pizza. I was impressed by his vast knowledge on every issue relevant to the city of Pittsfield and the state of Massachusetts that I asked about, as well as his knowledge of national issues.
When I asked him about dealing with poverty in Pittsfield, I was surprised by how easily he was able to provide statistics and reference studies, then describe how he used that information, along with input from people who deal with poverty daily, to formulate concrete plans to improve our community. I soon learned that he was as equally diligent with every issue. Still, while I left our meeting impressed, I knew how involved Rep. Farley-Bouvier has been in the community and I was still conflicted on who to support.
As a few weeks passed I noticed that no matter how late it was, there was always a light on in Mike's campaign headquarters. He was always in there working, often as late as 11 p.m. Once, after midnight and while on an emergency grocery run, I saw him in the office, still working, still educating himself on the issues. I realized then that he was my guy and in every conversation since I have only come away more impressed at the depth of his knowledge and commitment to improving the lives of all of Pittsfield's residents. He even read the entire Consent Decree to make sure he was as well informed on every issue as possible!
Mike's campaign has typified a grassroots effort; you will often see him around town, riding his bike and knocking on doors. He doesn't just listen to the concerns of residents, he will ask what they think about his suggestions and when he discovers new information from them, he updates his ideas. When he learns of a new problem, he throws himself into finding a solution with incredible energy and studies to make sure he understands every angle. That's what we need in Boston and that's why I'm voting for Mike.
Dan Johnson, Pittsfield
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Letter: “Farley-Bouvier's bold stance on mileage tax”
The Berkshire Eagle, 9/6/2016
To the editor:
Much has been made this primary season about Rep. Farley-Bouvier's support, and Gov. Baker's subsequent veto, of a federally funded pilot program to investigate if a mileage-based tax is a viable alternative to the state's current gasoline tax. Now, I cannot objectively say if our community would be better served paying taxes by the mile or the gallon; and, thanks to Gov. Baker, that question will go on unanswered.
This is what I can say: inflation-adjusted gas tax revenues have been on a broad decline for decades. Our roadways aren't getting any shorter. Many of us seem content to ignore this problem, or attack any perceived change to the status quo.
Tricia Farley-Bouvier chose to confront unsustainable revenues head on, diving into the details, instead of chasing a cheap sound bite. It is that focus and dedication which has earned her my vote this Thursday.
Tom Swanton, Pittsfield
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Letter: “Elections are a chance to vote out GOB-SIGs”
The Berkshire Eagle, 9/7/2016
To the editor:
Taxpayers of the city of Pittsfield, we can definitely make Pittsfield a better city for all who love here. The first thing we can do is rid ourselves for state representatives and senators who refuse to do the bidding of taxpayers.
Topping the list is state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, a stalwart of the Pittsfield Good Old Boy, Special Interest Group (GOB-SIG) network who led the charge to build the new and unneeded Taconic High School. Taxpayers were never given an opportunity to vote on this project even though a poll indicated taxpayers were against it by a 4-1 margin.
The other individual who needs to go in November is City Councilor Chris Connell, who is as taxpayer unfriendly as any councilor can be. We have to insure that he is not elected as a state representative in November and we must get rid of him again in November of 2017 as a city councilor, along with the majority of the individuals sitting on this council.
I ask that all registered voters in Pittsfield take this election seriously, as well as all other future elections, in the city of Pittsfield. When you go into the voting booth, think carefully as to which politicians have listened to you the taxpayer. Those that haven't can be outed with the stroke of your pen on election days. Let's elect people to public office who have the taxpayers' interest at heart. That means the majority of the individuals on the City Council must be replaced, as well as Rep. Farley-Bouvier.
Let's come out in full force and elect individuals who will work for the taxpayer and not against them. Let's break up these broken houses we call the City Council and School Committee. Follow me on my TV show that airs four times on Fridays on Channel 16. Let's rebuild Pittsfield as a city who is concerned for all its residents and not just for the GOB-SIGS.
Craig Gaetani, Pittsfield
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Tricia Farley-Bouvier is greeted by her supporters at her campaign headquarters at Crawford Square in Pittsfield following her win on Thursday night. (Gillian Jones — The Berkshire Eagle | photos.berkshireeagle.com)
“Farley-Bouvier clinches Democratic nomination for rep. seat race; Hurley tops race for gov. council seat”
Mary Hurley essentially clinches 8th district seat on gov.'s council
By Dick Lindsay, The Berkshire Eagle, 9/8/2016
PITTSFIELD - A battle-tested Tricia Farley-Bouvier moves onto November after winning a hard-fought campaign in Tuesday's state primary.
The 3rd Berkshire District Representative held off a hard-charging Michael Bloomberg, 2687-2305 to capture the Democratic Party nomination and the right to face independent candidate and Pittsfield City Councilor Christopher Connell in the Nov. 8 general election. The district covers all but one of the city's 14 precincts as Ward 1B is part of the 2nd Berkshire District where Paul Mark is running unopposed.
Farley-Bouvier slowly, but surely, built a lead she never relinquished, sealing the deal by winning Wards 4 and 5 by a combined 248 votes.
Despite the verbal sparring during several political debates, the incumbent and challenger are expected to show a united front in trying to defeat Connell.
"Mike and I will combine forces to make sure we have a Democrat representing the 3rd Berkshire District," Farley-Bouvier said. "We have an excellent team and we'll start [on Friday]."
Bloomberg says he will be in Farley-Bouvier's political corner for the next two months as, after all, he is a Democrat.
"There's a 'D' next to my name for a reason," he said.
Farley-Bouvier is a five-year veteran state representative with 30 years of experience in the public and private sector helping the city grow such as being a Pittsfield city councilor and director of administration for former Mayor James Ruberto.
The first to announce his candidacy in January, Connell has had to take a back seat to the Democratic primary as no other challengers emerged. He has said the city needs someone to more effectively advocate for funding for infrastructure repairs and for the school system.
While Farley-Bouvier hopes to pull in the Bloomberg supporters, she knows Thursday's 20 percent voter turnout is just the tip of the electorate iceberg, especially since the race for the White House is at stake.
"It's really a different race on Nov. 8 with a different turnout," she said.
If anything, the primary, her first since winning 3rd Berkshire as an open seat in 2011, got people talking about the issues, according to Farley-Bouvier.
"The issues that were very concerning are the economy and opioid [addiction,]" she said.
Bloomberg's pounding the pavement and knocking on doors the past few months found many people wanting to revitalize the city, including the younger generation.
"The exciting part was meeting young people who started their own business in the city," he said at his post-election gathering. "What was once a tired city is showing signs of life."
Bloomberg hopes to be a part of the Pittsfield revival.
"What I want to do the rest of my life is urban revitalization," he added. "It's no secret the city is at a crossroads."
Meanwhile, Berkshire County was a big influence in the 8th District Governor's Council race between Mary Hurley and Jeff Morneau. Hurley carried the 32 cities and towns by nearly 4,000 votes, more than half the approximately 7,000-vote lead she had when the Associated Press called the race just after 10:30 p.m.
The two Springfield-area candidates were vying for the Democratic nomination, with Hurley essentially becoming the newest councilor as the political race lacks a Republican or third-party candidate in the Nov. 8 general election.
Hurley will succeed Michael Albano, who is stepping down after two terms dating back to 2012 to run for the Hampden County Sheriff's position.
The Governor's Council is an eight-person panel with the 8th District representing Berkshire, Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties and one town in Worcester County. The more high-profile duties included voting on gubernatorial appointments such as judges, clerk-magistrates, public administrators and members of the Parole Board.
Contact Dick Lindsay at 413-496-6233. rlindsay@berkshireeagle.com @BE_DLindsay on Twitter.
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Our Opinion: “A welcome political debate moves to final stage”
The Berkshire Eagle, Editorial, 9/9/2016
The stage is set for the November elections for Pittsfield state representative and Western Massachusetts state senator, and the continuation of a good debate on the issues.
Incumbent State Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier held off a formidable challenge from Mike Bloomberg to win the Democratic primary. Incumbent legislators traditionally win primary challenges handily, but two incumbent state legislators in Eastern Massachusetts were defeated and Ms. Farley-Bouvier won a hard-fought race.
Mr. Bloomberg impressed with his aggressive campaign and hard work on the campaign trail. He says he wants to dedicate himself to urban revitalization and ideally he can do this from Pittsfield, where he would be a positive contributor.
Adam Hinds, who established him as an active member of the Berkshire community in just a few years, won the Democratic primary for state senator over Andrea Harrington and Rinaldo Del Gallo, III. Ms. Harrington polled well after a solid campaign and, like Mr. Bloomberg, established herself as someone to watch on the political scene in the years ahead.
Ms. Farley-Bouvier will now take on independent candidate Christopher Connell while Mr. Hinds meets Republican Christine Canning for the seat to be vacated by the retiring Ben Downing. While voter turnout was predictably low for the primaries, that shouldn't be the case on November 8, when a presidential election will be decided and four ballot questions, including questions on charter schools and legalizing marijuana, will go before voters.
The primary season debate on critical Berkshire and Massachusetts issues was healthy for the region. We look forward to that continuing in the weeks ahead.
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“Challengers present choices: Independent Connell takes on Farley-Bouvier....”
By Jim Therrien, The Berkshire Eagle, 9/10/2016
PITTSFIELD - With the dust settling from the Democratic primary races for state House and Senate, independent 3rd District House candidate Christopher Connell and Republican Senate candidate Christine Canning are gearing up for the final push to the Nov. 8 election.
Connell, a Pittsfield city councilor, is challenging incumbent Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield in that race.
CHRISTOPHER CONNELL
"I have been going door-to-door every weekend since April," Connell said Friday, "and I will now switch to every night as well."
Connell acknowledges he is likely to be far outspent by a regular party candidate for the House seat, who also is an incumbent. But he does plan a few campaign events and at least one mailing, and he is focusing on meeting voters on an individual basis and in small groups.
His work on the council also has given him visibility in the district, Connell said. That is particularly the case, he said, in residents being aware he has consistently pushed for efficiencies in government and to reduce unnecessary spending.
The issue of creating a more efficient government that can meet the demand for city services is especially important, he said, in light of the city's fiscal concerns as annual budgets approach the Proposition 2 1/2 levy ceiling — possibly necessitating override votes in the near future to raise taxes.
"A lot of people have said they like what I've been doing," Connell said.
Getting a bigger share of state aid for education and other needs also is a key for the city, he said, and Connell believes he could do that more effectively than Farley-Bouvier. "We need someone who is aggressive," he said.
Connell said he would like to debate the incumbent at least two or three times before Nov. 8. One debate is now scheduled, he said, and will be held at Berkshire Community College.
Connell also praised Michael Bloomberg for his effort in challenging Farley-Bouvier in the primary. The 26-year-old first time candidate was defeated by the incumbent in the Democratic Primary by a margin of 2,687 to 2,305, with Bloomberg taking just under 47 percent of the total vote.
"Mike ran a very good campaign," Connell said. "He brought a lot to the table and did a fantastic job. He reminded me a lot of myself at that age. I probably would have supported him if I wasn't running."
When announcing his run for the seat as an independent earlier this year, Connell cited his accomplishments on the council as working with former Assistant City Solicitor Darren Lee to help prompt the city's first-ever tax lien sale, which recouped more than $2 million in back taxes owed, along with his efforts to spur a study of city water and sewer operations and of the municipal airport operations, both with the goal of finding efficiencies to reduce costs.
Contact Jim Therrien at 413-496-6247. jtherrien@berkshireeagle.com @BE_therrien on Twitter.
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Letter: "Allow Farley-Bouvier to continue good work"
The Berkshire Eagle, 10/14/2016
To the editor:
It is with pleasure that I support State Rep. Tricia Farley Bouvier for re-election.
I have known Tricia my entire life and I respect her work ethic,, her effectiveness, and her determination to make this district better. Through political and personal investments, Tricia has had a long-term commitment to Pittsfield and has proven that to seniors, families, teachers, and our youth in countless ways.
Tricia, along with the School Department, led the Taconic High School project from its inception. She worked hard to make sure that we received our fair share, not only providing Pittsfield with a new school but the best investment we can make in economic development.
She is a strong supporter of the cultural economy and advanced manufacturing, and collaborates with her colleagues in the House and Senate and with the governor to be sure that Pittsfield's needs are a top priority. In this race, particularly, Pittsfield needs a skilled negotiator and someone who has the experience to lead us. Pittsfield needs to send Tricia back to Boston to fight for us.
Debra Guachione, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Farley-Bouvier backs early childhood education"
The Berkshire Eagle, 10/19/2016
To the editor:
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier works hard for Berkshire County's children and families. She supports early childhood education, which is the best investment our state and country can make.
Tricia has established herself both locally and at the Statehouse as a leader in the fight to increase access to early childhood education and to raise the standards of the profession and the salaries of early childhood educators. She was successful in her efforts to increase early childhood teachers' salaries but the governor later vetoed them.
In addition to fighting for early childhood education, Tricia was a strong advocate for paid sick leave, which is now law in Massachusetts. Now, along with her colleagues, Tricia is working on paid family leave. She knows that families are their strongest when parents can take time to care for their children without fear of losing their job.
Our children need someone who will fight for their future. Our children need Tricia Farley Bouvier.
Julia Sabourin, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Connell is an ally of disabled citizens"
The Berkshire Eagle, 10/19/2016
To the editor:
As a disabled citizen who tries to live as independently as possible, it is very important to have heavily trafficked areas safe for all citizens.
The intersection in Pittsfield at Elm, East, and Fourth Street is filled with traffic coming from every direction and nearly impossible to navigate if you are confined to a wheelchair.
City Councilor Chris Connell, a candidate for state representative, has dedicated himself to making this intersection ADA compliant and safer for all. He has worked on this project and does not take no for an answer when it comes to fighting for our safety, and continues to look for ways to fund this project.
I have spoken with Chris a number of times and helping the disabled have better road conditions is very important to him. He will bring awareness to the state of our local needs for ADA compliance if he is elected to represent us in the commonwealth.
I am writing this letter to ask Pittsfield citizens who care about safe roads for disabled citizens to please consider voting for Chris Connell for state representative.
Ken Keefner, Pittsfield
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Letter: "A Rep. Connell won't be same old, same old"
The Berkshire Eagle, 10/20/2016
To the editor:
As a life-long resident of Pittsfield, I've seen our town go from good times to bad times and then struggle to make a comeback and improve.
Sometimes, I worry that our locally elected officials keep doing too much of the "same old, same old" and it is not surprising that we are getting the same results for our community. Pittsfield needs new ideas and new energy and I believe that by making Chis Connell our state representative, we will gain much needed improvements for our city.
Chris first came to my attention five years ago when he was running for Ward 4 city councilor. At that time he was going door to door and listening to what his neighbors felt needed to be improved. As soon as he was elected he went to work on the things that his constituents needed.
Over the years I have watched Chris work hard to make things happen for our city. Collaborating with our former mayor, Chris initiated a tax lien sale that brought in millions of dollars of much needed revenue for our city.
Chris knows the needs of the city and what funding will be necessary to complete projects that will better our life in the city and create jobs. He will go to the Statehouse armed with specific dollars and cents plans and he will fight to bring in dollars to help revitalize the city and the region.
I encourage voters in this city to support Chris Connell for state representative rather than settle for the same old, same old.
William D. Barry, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Farley-Bouvier takes strong stance on sexual, domestic assault"
The Berkshire Eagle, 10/24/2016
To the Editor,
The board, staff and clients of the Elizabeth Freeman Center thank Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier for her leadership in sponsoring House Bill 4364 from its inception to its enactment. This new law requires that sexual assault evidence be preserved for at least 15 years, the statute of limitation for prosecution of rape cases. This replaces the old law that evidence from sexual assaults not brought to court need only be held for six months, unless the survivor files a formal request that the evidence kit be held longer.
We know from recent disclosures in Berkshire County and in our country that it may take months, even years, before a rape survivor discloses the crime to family and friends, never mind law enforcement. There are many reasons for this, including fears for personal safety, the trauma caused by this horrific crime, concerns about whether they will be believed or blamed, fear of being ostracized, fear of being seen as a victim, the fear of going to court and being judged.
It takes time and help to heal from rape. Rape survivors should have the maximum amount of time to come forward and decide to prosecute and if they do, they should have the full amount of evidence available. This new law not only takes a significant burden off of survivors who are dealing with the aftermath of sexual violence related trauma, it may also help hold rapists accountable.
This change becomes even more critical to survivors in Berkshire County. In November 2016, Berkshire Medical Center finally became a SANE hospital after years of advocacy by many, including our own District Attorney David Capeless. As a SANE hospital, rape survivors going to the hospital will be seen by a specially trained nurse examiner and have access to a trained sexual assault counselor. Since BMC became a SANE site, our counselors have been called and responded 35 times, compared to five times during the same period last year.
Rep. Farley-Bouvier does our community proud with the strong stances she takes for survivors of sexual and domestic violence.
Jane B. Lawless, Janis Broderick
Jane B. Lawless is president of the Board of Directors and Janis Broderick is executive director of the Elizabeth Freeman Center.
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Tricia Farley-Bouvier: "Key step in changing rape culture"
By Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Op-Ed, The Berkshire Eagle, 10/24/2016
PITTSFIELD - This is been an extremely difficult presidential campaign season and the rhetoric seems to have hit an all time low recently. There may, however, be a silver lining. The bragging about sexual assault by one of the candidates has broadened the conversation about its prevalence and many survivors are coming forward and speaking up. This new wave of awareness and advocacy can lead to real change.
For too long, we have had a culture that allows, sometimes even encourages, sexual abuse and assault in this country. Why? Among the many reasons, there is the issue of how survivors are treated after the assault.
We have all heard the statistic that 1 in 5 women are assaulted, but did you know that only 1 in 5 of those survivors report the assault to authorities? Often the criminal justice process and victim-shaming from the community re-traumatizes the victim. What did she do to bring this on? Wear the wrong clothes? Be out after dark? Drink alcohol?
In addition, some recent high profile cases demonstrate that even in the very rare occurrence that a case is taken to trial resulting in a clear conviction, there is a tendency for ridiculously light sentences because the judge is concerned about ruining this otherwise fine young man's life. As if the victim's life hasn't been severely altered by the trauma.
It is hard to blame the survivor for not coming forward under current circumstances, but let's remember when crimes are not reported, assailants strike again. This makes our community much less safe.
I am proud that Massachusetts has taken a small, but important, step in the direction of further ensuring the rights of survivors. We are on our way to make reporting and pursuing charges against assailants more bearable with the goals of both protecting the rights of survivors and encouraging more reporting.
Last week, Gov. Baker signed into law H4364 — An Act relative to preservation of evidence for victims of rape and sexual assault. This will ensure the preservation of forensic evidence collected from sexual assault survivors for the statute of limitations, regardless of whether or not a crime has been charged.
In the past, sexual assault survivors in Massachusetts had to endure repeated cycles of trauma even after being raped. Under the prior laws, "Jane Doe" survivors were required to undertake their own investigation and ensure law enforcement preservation of this important evidence by calling state crime laboratories every six months in order to prevent destruction of their rape kits. I have worked with survivors over this legislative session to alleviate the burden of evidence retention from their shoulders.
MET WITH SURVIVORS
The incredible accounts of sexual assault survivors and allies from the organization RISE spurred me to introduce this bill. I spoke with many survivors who described their experience with the criminal justice system as re-victimizing; these survivors felt unsupported and betrayed by the very system tasked with their protection. They spoke of how traumatic it was to be reminded of their rapes every six months, and they told stories of friends whose rape kits had been destroyed without notice or knowledge.
Throughout my time working with them, these survivors and allies demonstrated the need to change this system. The volunteers at RISE worked tirelessly to push this bill forward, collaborating with members throughout the Statehouse, and reaching out to allies from across the state.
With the passage of this bill, victims in Massachusetts will no longer bear the burden of ensuring the retention of their rape kits. Each kit will automatically be held for 15 years or the length of the statute of limitations before being destroyed.
Earlier this month, President Obama signed a Survivor Right's Bill, a resolution passed by Congress encouraging states to consider comprehensive protection for sexual assault survivors. Since the great majority of sexual assaults are prosecuted at the state level, these reforms have to be enacted by state legislatures. I see Bill H4364 as the first step towards ensuring those rights for survivors here in Massachusetts and hope that state legislators across the country will take up the mantel and pass similar laws to help turn the tide in our efforts to end the culture of sexual assault in our country.
Here in Massachusetts, we have more work to do in the education, prevention and response to sexual assault, including the alarming number that happen on our college campuses. I look forward to working with community partners and my colleagues to make those further reforms a reality.
Tricia Farley-Bouvier, a Democratic state legislator from the 3rd Berkshire District, is seeking re-election.
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"Pittsfield needs advocate as state representative"
By Chris Connell, Op-Ed, The Berkshire Eagle, 10/24/2016
PITTSFIELD - Nine months ago I began a campaign for state representative for the 3rd Berkshire District. My decision to run was based mainly on the financial state of the city of Pittsfield.
We as a city can no longer fund large projects for the foreseeable future due to the city hitting our tax levy limit. Large projects such as a new police station and major infrastructure repairs such as dams, roads, ADA complaint streets, sidewalks and intersections as well as specialized educational needs will be unattainable due to our heavy debt burden unless we can get our fair share of tax revenue from the state. That's why the city of Pittsfield needs a much stronger representative with years of business and municipal experience who understands the needs of the city if we are going to continue to grow.
My background varies from working in the corporate world managing millions of dollars in sales to owning a small business to owning and managing rental property. I moved to Pittsfield 14 years ago to take care of my mother who has lived in the same house on Pomeroy Avenue since 1979.
ACTIVE IN CITY
In 2009, I decided to run for City Council because I was frustrated with things going on in city government, and no longer wanted to complain without being part of the solution. I was defeated in my first attempt, but I didn't give up and became involved in the city by serving on the traffic commission. In 2011, I was elected to my first term on the council and have been serving ever since.
All of the time I have served on the City Council I have tried to be an independent voice echoing the needs of the residents. I have always tried to find new ways in which the city could run more efficiently, thereby saving the residents an unnecessary tax burden. I have had some success as well as some failures. But I have continued my quest to find new and innovative ways to help the city.
I am running as unenrolled or independent for state representative position because I represent the hard-working people of Pittsfield. From the dishwasher to landscaper to contractor, I understand your needs because I have worked at all of these positions in my life, at times holding two to three jobs at one time. I want to represent the residents of Pittsfield regardless of political party to ensure that all of your voices are heard.
This race between myself and the current state representative comes down to basically two things: Performance and priorities. In their five years in office my opponent has not passed any legislation she has sponsored. That represents 25 bills. In fact, two pieces of legislation that were sponsored, if passed, would have severely affected the citizens in a very negative way.
House bill H1590 would have made all of the veterans agents become employees of the Dept. of Veterans services and the department would appoint the agents regionally. This would have meant that veterans services would be consolidated to approximately 25 locations and our veterans would have to travel great distances in order to receive guidance on their benefits. Is this how we reward our veterans who have protected our way of life?
House bill H3142 which was sponsored by my opponent requested a pilot study to investigate the effect of a vehicle mileage tax. If enacted, this would have severely affected the residents of Pittsfield and Berkshire County who by our geographical location have to drive further distances because of anemic public transportation. The residents of the eastern part of the state would have shouldered much less of the tax. Is this true representation?
Over two years ago, the police advisory committee asked for an increase in the fines for jaywalking from our state representative as they currently are only $2 and not being enforced because of the low amount. This request fell on deaf ears. This is a quality of life issue here in the city especially on our thoroughfares. This did not seem like a large request as home rule petitions have been passed on other issues for the city fairly easily by former state representatives.
CHANGE IS NEEDED
It is clear that we need a change in representation. This has been the common theme in the hundreds of conversations that I have had with residents and business leaders since I started my campaign. I represent that change. My performance and my priorities serving the public on the City Council have always been for the public good. I encourage everyone to view my website at www.chrisconnell.org to learn more about me as a person and as a candidate.
This city needs help and we will not get there by re-electing the same person. Elect Chris Connell on Nov. 8.
Chris Connell is an independent candidate for state representative.
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State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, listens while Pittsfield City Councilor Christopher Connell speaks during a State Representative Debate for the Third Berkshire District in the Koussevitsky Arts Center at Berkshire Community College on Monday. (Gillian Jones — The Berkshire Eagle)
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, speaks during a State Representative Debate for the Third Berkshire District with City Councilor Christopher Connell in the Koussevitsky Arts Center at Berkshire Community College on Monday.
“Connell vs. Farley-Bouvier: BCC hosts debate House hopefuls”
Debate: Connell vs. incumbent Rep. Farley-Bouvier
By Dick Lindsay, The Berkshire Eagle, October 24, 2016
PITTSFIELD - Two weeks left in their campaigns, candidates for Pittsfield state representative ramped up their political platforms Monday night during a debate at Berkshire Community College.
The economy, state wide ballot questions and their philosophy of how to represent the constituency highlighted each 50- minute, televised event.
In Pittsfield, all but one precinct have a battle for 3rd Berkshire District between incumbent Tricia Farley-Bouvier and Pittsfield Ward 4 Councilor and independent candidate Christopher Connell.
If re-elected state representative, Farley-Bouvier vow to keep her constituents in mind when at the Statehouse.
"Accessibility, collaboration, advocacy, put those things together and great things will happen."
Her challenger believes he can do a better job of getting the city's fair share of state funds.
"The funds are there; the state representative has to go get them," Connell said.
Both candidates vowed to secure additional funding for the refurbishing of the Columbus Avenue parking garage and Berkshire Innovation Center.
However, revenue was a problem this year, forcing state budget cutbacks and the elimination of the sale tax-free weekend in August, popular with consumers and retailers.
Should the tax free Saturday and Sunday return for 2017? Yes, but ...
"This year wasn't a good idea," Farley Bouvier said. "We must make a determination each year."
Connell suggested it should be a one-day event, but felt the loss of sale tax money is part of a bigger issue.
"What it comes down to is the whole budget, not one event," he said. "We have a revenue problem, not an expense problem."
The state representative hopefuls did join the senate candidates in opposing Question 2. Connell urged voters to show their support for the Pittsfield Public Schools and vote against increasing the number of charter schools across the commonwealth.
"I think [Pittsfield] is head and shoulders above charter schools," he said.
Farley-Bouvier opposes the referendum citing outside money is funding the "yes" vote and that charter schools are a money drain on traditional public school systems.
"The [charter] schools aren't bad, it's the way they are funded is bad," she said.
Starting Friday night when Berkshire state lawmakers and their constituents travel to Boston and points in between on the Massachusetts Turnpike the highway becomes an entirely electronic toll road.
Farley-Bouvier says her local office has done all it can to make sure people get their transponders, otherwise pay higher tolls without one.
"Online is the most efficient way to [get one]," she said.
Given the trouble some people have had with their transponders, both candidates called for the waving of stiff penalties for faulty dashboard devices.
"We have people getting $30 and $50 fines for bad transponders," Connell noted.
Nevertheless, the political opponents agree electronic tolls is the way to go on the MassPike.
rlindsay@berkshireeagle.com @BE_DLindsay on Twitter.
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Letter: "Return hard-working Farley-Bouvier to office"
The Berkshire Eagle, 10/25/2016
To the Editor:
I am a voter, volunteer and educator who supports Tricia Farley-Bouvier with increasing enthusiasm. Tricia is steadfast, reliable, energetic and works hard to make things happen. For example, thanks to her patient and tireless leadership, House Bill 4364 passed. This new law requires sexual assault evidence to be preserved at least 15 years to be compatible with the statute of limitation for prosecution of rape cases. Tricia's strong stance advocates for survivors of sexual and domestic violence.
Tricia's collaborative style used teamwork to bring tax dollars to rebuild Taconic High School. Tricia works with parents and other concerned citizens to avoid massive layoffs in the schools. Tricia supports caps on charter schools.
Please join me at the polls on Nov. 8 and vote to re-elect Tricia for state representative!
Marietta Rapetti Cawse, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Farley-Bouvier responds to needs of constituents"
The Berkshire Eagle, 10/26/2016
To the editor:
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier has been so responsive to the needs of the people here in Pittsfield. I have experienced that myself.
When I needed help, I called Tricia's district office and she responded right away. It's great to know that we have someone we can count on to help us with state issues and pays close attention to the needs of the residents.
I appreciate that she has a full-time office right here in our downtown that I can call or drop in anytime. Pittsfield benefits greatly from Tricia's dedication to her constituents. I'm voting for Tricia and I hope you do too.
Margery Light, Pittsfield
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Letter: "No need to change our state representative"
The Berkshire Eagle, 10/26/2016
To the editor:
The suggestion that we need a "new face" to represent us in Statehouse will be fulfilled by a new senator to replace Ben Downing. We do not need two freshmen representatives.
Tricia Farley-Bouvier will provide the support and contacts to help the new face learn the ropes. She humbly admits that it took almost two years to learn the job and be appointed to committees, where she can make change.
To the suggestion that we need change I say look how Tricia has made change. She was a part of a group of women who changed the Pittsfield City Council by electing three women to a formerly all-male council. She is the first woman to represent Pittsfield and only the second woman to represent Berkshire County in the House. She has made representing families the focus of her political career before it became popular.
She is a member of important committees like the Committee of Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities and the Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse where change has happened in the way we treat children in state custody, individuals with substance abuse issues, victims of sexual assault and transgender individuals. Tricia has worked hard on the Equal Pay Act because she knows changing the wage structure supports families.
When we talk about political change we want an honest, smart, hard-working representative who does not make decisions based on electability but on sound understanding of the issues, a representative, who can listen to both sides and find a win-win solution and a representative who is respected by her peers.
In electing Tricia Farley-Bouvier on Nov. 8 we will have a representative who has proven she can make change happen and be a honest and respected politician. As Ben Swan, representative from Springfield, said at Tricia's campaign kick-off "Why would you change when you have one of the best representatives in the House?"
Marjorie Cohan, Pittsfield
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Our Opinion: “Farley-Bouvier, Hinds, for state Legislature”
The Berkshire Eagle, Editorial, 10/27/2016
Contested races for the state Legislature are relatively rare in the Berkshires, and voters have benefited from the issue-oriented dialogue triggered by campaigns for state representative and state senator.
Tricia Farley-Bouvier, the Democratic state representative from the 3rd Berkshire District, was tested in the party primary by Michael Bloomberg and again by independent candidate Chris Connell in the general election. Ultimately, however, neither made the case for ousting an accomplished legislator.
Ms. Farley-Bouvier has worked successfully for Pittsfield in advocating for the new Taconic High School and pushing for a development grant for Tyler Street in Pittsfield, for example. She has made her mark on state issues, such as minimum wage legislation and most recently on a new law making it easier for survivors of sexual assault to navigate the legal system. She is a consistently strong progressive voice and has earned a reputation for providing constituent services.
Mr. Connell has shown his dedication to Pittsfield in a variety of ways, including as a Ward 4 city councilor who effectively serves his ward and the city as well. He promises to emphasize economic development for Pittsfield and would bring a background in business to the job.
If elected, Mr. Connell will continue to serve as a city councilor, and it will be a considerable challenge even for someone as hard-working as Mr. Connell to do both jobs as effectively as Ms. Farley-Bouvier fulfills her position as state representative. As an independent, he would be free of political allegiances but he would also be invisible to leadership of the majority Democratic Party. Ms. Farley-Bouvier has earned committee positions and tenure that the isolated Berkshires can't afford to sacrifice. The Eagle endorses Tricia Farley-Bouvier for re-election.
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Letter: “Devoted son will be dedicated state rep.”
The Berkshire Eagle, 10/28/2016
To the editor:
My son Chris is running for state representative and I want to share with you that my son is dedicated to the people and the well-being of the city of Pittsfield. I think that he's a great person to represent Pittsfield.
He grew up in a small town, Bennington, Vt., lost his father when he was 8-years-old, and has done wonderful things on his own. Chris is a self-made man. He attended St. Michael's College and received a BS in business administration. He paid for his own education and received merit scholarships.
He has been successful in business managing large regions for national retailers and he has also built a business in rental property management. Despite all of his success, Chris has remained humble and dedicated to helping others.
He always thinks of older people first. If he sees an old person struggling, Chris is the first person to help them cross the street. This stems from the fact that Christopher was taken care of as a child by his great-aunt when I was working all day.
They say you can judge a man by the way he treats his mother. Chris never forgets his mother. When I was diagnosed with cancer over 14 years ago, Chris was the most helpful son with constant visits and moral support. He recently gave me credit for working so hard to survive cancer and that he was very grateful. This touched my heart deeply.
I moved to Pittsfield 36 years ago. Even though I am Chris's mom and you might perceive me as biased, I feel that I am being objective when I express that Chris has demonstrated the knowledge and ability to do what is right for the city of Pittsfield. I think that if people look at what he's accomplished as city councilor of Ward 4, they will feel very good about voting for him and knowing that he will do an excellent job as our next state representative.
Loretta Connell, Pittsfield
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Letter: “Help Farley-Bouvier help us”
The Berkshire Eagle, 10/28/2016
To the editor:
Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier is going above and beyond to help us get EZPass transponders for the Turnpike. The new system is confusing for some, and many of us have resisted getting the transponders. Now that the deadline for getting them is here, I'm glad to have the help. With her office right near City Hall, it is easy to stop in and fill out the form needed and her staff is so helpful.
It is this kind of service that makes her a great state representative. She knows that some things in government can be confusing and she advocates for all of us. Let's all of us vote for her so she can continue her great work for us.
Robert Coakley, Pittsfield
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Pittsfield City Councilor Christopher Connell is running against incumbent Tricia Farley-Bouvier for state representative for the 3rd Berkshire District.
3RD BERKSHIRE DISTRICT
"Connell looks to unseat Farley-Bouvier"
Dick Lindsay, rlindsay@berkshireeagle.com - The Berkshire Eagle - November 5, 2016
PITTSFIELD - Unlike the Berkshire, Hampshire, Frankin and Hampden state senate race, the two candidates in the county's lone state representative contest on Tuesday didn't have far to travel to get out the vote this fall.
The 3rd Berkshire District, which Tricia Farley-Bouvier has represented the past five years, spans the city of Pittsfield, with the exception of Ward 1B. The Democrat won a hotly contested four-way special election in 2011 to fill the seat vacated by Christopher Speranzo.
She has since captured two full, two-year terms in 2012 and 2014.
Prior to working at the Statehouse in Boston, Farley-Bouvier was a city councilor from 2004-08 and served as the director of administration for former Mayor James M. Ruberto.
Challenger Christopher Connell is a relative newcomer who has quickly gained experience in the municipal government arena. Ward 4 Councilor since 2012, the independent candidate has served on several City Council subcommittees, spent a year on the Pittsfield Conservation Commission and has been on the local traffic commission for the past six years.
Connell says he will work harder to attract jobs and being an independent, he plans to reach across party lines to get things accomplished in the state Legislature.
Farley-Bouvier believes her proven track record on the local and state level should convince voters to give her two more years.
TRICIA FARLEY-BOUVIER
As a Massachusetts Gateway City, Pittsfield has managed to help secure funding for a variety of projects to improve the quality of life during Farley-Bouvier's tenure, including The Common on First Street, a new Taconic High School, and funding toward developing the William Stanley Business Park.
Yet, the incumbent has found many city residents struggling to "keep their head above water, financially.""Some are struggling with student debt, many young families, even those with good paying jobs, have had a hard time paying for child care," she said. "We have a surprising number of individuals and families who, though they work full time, still rely on SNAP benefits and/or food pantries to put food on the table."
For those reason, the state representative says she will fight to boost the state investment in early child education, find relief for student debt and work to increase wages. The lawmaker also will advocate for paid family leave.
"These initiatives are concrete steps we can take to level the playing field for families and spur economic development," she said.
A special education professional by trade who taught locally and overseas, Farley-Bouvier sees workforce development key to filling skilled jobs as well as attracting new businesses in search of a well trained workforce.
The incumbent also cites her collaboration with state and local leaders to secure $9 million for the Berkshire Innovation Center at the William Stanley Business Park, but she realizes more money is needed to close the funding gap to get the facility up and running.
Farley-Bouvier's most recent success was Gov. Charlie Baker signing into law a bill she spearheaded to passage that requires all forensic evidence in rape cases to be automatically kept for the entire 15-year statute of limitations on prosecuting sexual assault cases in the commonwealth.
"This is just one step in what will be a robust roll out of legislative initiatives to change the sexual assault culture in which we have to acknowledge we live in," she said.
If re-elected, Farley-Bouvier vows to follow through on projects well under way, such as the Tyler Street Development Initiative.
The state-sponsored TDI will be the blueprint for the future look of the city's Morningside area in terms of housing, job opportunities and development of vacant or underutilized properties.
While rural Western Massachusetts has been the focus of high-speed internet expansion, Farley-Bouvier still finds remote areas of the city unserved by better a broadband network.
CHRIS CONNELL
As a property manager and a ward councilor, Connell gets to see first-hand how district residents are living and working.
Should Connell get elected to the state Legislature, he has vowed to do double duty, remaining on the council until at least his term expires in January 2018.
"I made a commitment to the community," he said of keeping both elected positions. "I don't want to shortchange the city and I don't want to short change the state."
High atop Connell's priorities, if he becomes a state representative, is better paying jobs for his constituents.
"I'm going to be keeping my ear to the ground for companies looking to expand here," he said.
Connell would like to see Tax Increment Financing, or TIFs, along with money from the Pittsfield Economic Development Fund be used to entice new businesses to the city. Using those funding mechanisms ultimately requires City Council approval.
Keeping or luring employers with skilled, well paying jobs depends on whether the local workforce is qualified to fill those jobs. according to Connell. He says that's where workforce development comes in.
"If elected, I will be talking to businesses in the eastern part of [Massachusetts] that are looking to expand. I will promote Pittsfield to these businesses," he said.
Connell cited how one local, successful company near the Richmond town line is eager to boost its payroll.
"Interprint is hiring and training from the bottom up," he noted. "Young people need to know they must put in the work."
Economic growth is also dependent on cheaper, more reliable energy, deregulation and the need to lower the corporate tax rate without impacting state revenue, he said.
As Connell has campaigned across the city, he's surprised there's been little talk of public safety.
"I wasn't hearing about crime, especially given what's been happened here the last year or two," he said.
Connell's campaign platform also includes working to get a more balanced formula for Chapter 90 funds, the local state funds for roads and bridges.
In addition, he will work for amendments to public bond bills for large infrastructure projects.
A more equitable distribution of Chapter 70 money for public school systems is also on Connell's agenda, if he reaches Beacon Hill.
Incumbent Tricia Farley-Bouvier seeks to retain her position as state representative for the 3rd Berkshire District. (Photo by Ben Garver of The Berkshire Eagle.)
Independent Christopher Connell, a Pittsfield City Councilor, is running for state representative for the 3rd Berkshire District. (Photo by Ben Garver of The Berkshire Eagle.)
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State Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier celebrates her re-election with her father, Tom Farley, behind her at J. Allen's Clubhouse Grill in Pittsfield. Tuesday, November 8, 2016. Stephanie Zollshan - The Berkshire Eagle.
"Farley-Bouvier fends off challenge for 3rd Berkshire House seat"
By Derek Gentile, The Berkshire Eagle, November 8, 2016
PITTSFIELD - Incumbent state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier was returned to office on Tuesday, cruising to victory over challenger Christopher Connell.
Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, who was elected to the state House of Representatives in 2011, was declared the winner at about 9:10 p.m. on Tuesday.
Farley-Bouvier secured 11,695 votes to Connell's 5,942. She won every ward in the city, most by a 2-to-1 margin.
"I'm looking forward to continuing the work I've started for the 3rd Berkshire District," she said at a reception in her honor at the J. Allen Clubhouse Grille on North Street. "The voters made a really close choice, and I want to thank them.
"It's all about teamwork here, and I'm proud to be a part of team Pittsfield," she said.
She added that her opponent, Connell, called her a few moments before she got to the restaurant to concede the election.
"He was very gracious," she said. "I appreciated his response."
Connell confirmed a few minutes later that his conversation with Farley-Bouvier was cordial.
"I called her and congratulated her and that was it," he said. "My main reason for running was because I believe the city of Pittsfield is in a financial crisis, and I wanted to do something about that."
Connell remains a city councilor in Ward 4. He said last night that he has not decided if he will run for re-election after his term expires next year.
"I will make that decision sometime next year," he said.
Connell, 57, of Dawes Avenue, announced in January his intention to run for Farley-Bouvier's seat
His principal platforms included an emphasis on infrastructure improvement and repair, as well as a more coordinated approach to school funding. That stance included looking at sharing services and potentially regionalization with schools in other communities.
Along with a host of Farley-Bouvier's supporters and family members, Mayor Linda Tyer was also in attendance at the reception on Tuesday night.
"I'm very pleased with the result and with the turnout," Tyer said. "I'm looking forward to working with Tricia. I was happy to support her candidacy."
Farley-Bouvier said there were several items on her to-do list in the coming term, including a comprehensive paid family leave policy and criminal justice reform. The latter issue, she said, would be an attempt to try to reduce the time accused criminals spend in jail before they are tried.
"It's a drain on the taxpayer," she said.
In addition, she said, she wanted to introduce "aggressive" legislation to address sexual assault in the city.
"We're looking to make our streets safer," she said.
Reach staff reporter Derek Gentile at 413-496-6251.
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“Berkshire legislators earn spots in leadership”
By Patricia LeBoeuf, pleboeuf@berkshireeagle.com - The Berkshire Eagle, February 16, 2017
Berkshire County legislators will fill leadership positions in various committees this legislative session, according to information released Thursday.
"The whole Berkshire delegation did very well today in their assignments," said 3rd Berkshire District Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield. Farley-Bouvier will act as vice chairwoman of the House's Labor and Workforce Development Committee.
"There's a lot of important policies that make a different to families [in this committee]," she said. "I'm just really thrilled."
That committee will handle several issues of importance to Farley-Bouvier and her constituents this session, including raising the minimum wage and paid family leave. She is also part of the Technology and Intergovernmental Affairs and the Ways and Means House standing committees, along with the Children and Families joint standing committee.
Other Berkshire County legislators have also been assigned to House or joint committees in the Legislature. Rep. Gailanne M. Cariddi, D-North Adams, will chair the House's Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Committee. Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli, D-Lenox, will act as vice chairman of the House's Post Audit and Oversight Committee. Pignatelli is also a member of the Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure, the State Administration and Regulatory Oversight and the Education joint standing committees.
On the Senate side, Sen. Adam Hinds, D-Pittsfield, will serve as chairman of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development and as vice chairman of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies.
Reach staff writer Patricia LeBoeuf at 413-496-6247 or @BE_pleboeuf.
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Letter: “Attend workshops on active citizenry”
The Berkshire Eagle, March 30, 2017
To the editor:
Being an American citizen comes with rights and responsibilities. Some of the responsibilities are to know what your government is doing, let your representatives know what you want them to do, and try to get people elected who will work to do what you think is best for your community, state, and nation. Many people complain about government, but all too few do something active and positive to make government what they want it to be.
To help people in our community be more active citizens, the Four Freedoms Coalition and Berkshire Community College are offering a day of workshops to give people tools to effect change. Civic Participation Workshops will be held Saturday (April 1), from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at Berkshire Community College on West Street in Pittsfield. We are offering 10 different workshops to give people concrete skills to go out and act.
Workshops include: Writing effective letters to the editor, calling your legislators, door to door canvassing, what is cultural competence and how it can make you a more effective activist, conversations across the political divide, running for local office (or helping someone else to), and social media basics. In addition we will offer three separate workshops on Civics 101 for the local, state and federal levels.
Congressman Richard Neal will give an opening address at 9:30 and state Sen. Adam Hinds will make the closing remarks at 4. Our workshop leaders all have extensive experience in the areas they are presenting and include: state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Pittsfield Mayor Linda Tyer, and Pittsfield city councilors John Krol and Donna Rivers, among others.
To register, go to http://4freedomscoalition.org/events. Come on Saturday and get out there and "Act Now!"
Becky Meier,
Canaan, N.Y.
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Pittsfield Mayor Linda Tyer leads a workshop on local politics and how she got her start in government during Act Now! A series of civic participation workshops at Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield. Stephanie Zollshan - The Berkshire Eagle.
“Lessons in local democracy in The Berkshires: Day of workshops tackles organizing, talking about politics”
By Derek Gentile, dgentile@berkshireeagle.com – The Berkshire Eagle, April 1, 2017
PITTSFIELD — Running for local office. Canvassing door-to-door. The basics of social media. The basics of local, state and federal politics. Volunteering.
Topics, that, on their face, seem fairly basic. Pretty self-explanatory. Yet more than 200 people showed up at Berkshire Community College on a stormy Saturday to hear local activists and politicians show them the political ropes in a series of workshops on civic participation.
The event was sponsored by the non-partisan Four Freedoms Coalition in partnership with BCC, according to organizer Becky Meier of Act Now, one of the coalition groups.
Meier did not dispute that many of topics seem to be basic ones, but added that "Americans don't like to disagree. People in other countries are much more comfortable discussing politics. But we have to talk to have a more viable democracy."
She said that many people have been polarized by the most recent election, "They want to do something, but they don't really know where to begin."
The event, she said, was planned as a non-partisan event.
"We're people helping people," she said.
Throughout the day, a host of facilitators presented workshops. Meier said she was pleased with the turnout, but said she was most pleased with the participation of a number of local politicians who gave of their time and expertise to the event. These included U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, who spoke at the beginning of the event; state Sen. Adam Hinds, who spoke at the end of the event, Pittsfield Mayor Linda Tyer; state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier and City Councilors Donna Todd Rivers and John Krol.
There were many other volunteers who helped out, noted Meier. Farley-Bouvier said she was most impressed with the amount of people and the energy.
"I think the turnout was great, and I was really impressed with the quality of the questions people asked me," she said. Farley-Bouvier talked for about an hour on state politics.
Jack Quattrochi is a student at BCC who attended the event to educate himself about the local political process.
"I'm appreciative of events like this," he said. "I think young people need to understand how the political system works."
As powerful as Saturday's turnout was, there was a question from some quarters as to its sustainability, that while things are humming along four months after the election, can people remain energized?
"I think every day there are reasons to be energized about this subject," said Sherwood Guernsey, one of the founders of the Four Freedoms Coalition. One of the reasons for an April seminar, he said, is to prepare for the next election season.
"It's important to start now," he said.
Reach staff writer Derek Gentile at 413-496-6251.
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“Berkshire delegation on board with single-payer health legislation in Mass.”
By Eoin Higgins, ehiggins@berkshireeagle.com – The Berkshire Eagle, April 9, 2017
PITTSFIELD — Berkshire lawmakers are helping to push consideration of a single-payer health care system in Massachusetts.
"I believe that changes like this are more likely to start in a state than in the federal government," said state Rep. Tricia Farley Bouvier, D-Pittsfield. "Just like universal coverage started here, so could single-payer."
Farley-Bouvier, who represents the Berkshires' Third District and is the co-chairwoman of the House Progressive Caucus, is not alone in thinking the future of the American medical system is on the left, not the right.
The entire Berkshire delegation to the Statehouse, all Democrats, supports a single-payer system. And each member is co-sponsoring legislation to that effect this session.
In a single-payer health care system, government facilitates the provision of care to the public. Detractors claim that state-run health care leads to long waits and increased costs.
The United States is one of the only industrialized countries without such a system. Instead, private insurance companies provide coverage through employer or individual plans, while the government offers programs, including through the Affordable Care Act, to reach others.
But that may be about to change, said Ture Richard Turnbull, director of MassCare, a health care nonprofit. The political tide is turning toward single-payer, he told The Eagle, and he's seen that across Massachusetts.
"When we go across the commonwealth and attend local events," Turnbull said, "Health care and especially single-payer is a topic at all of these meetings and gets the largest applause."
D.C. DEBATE
At the federal level, U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, have introduced legislation to provide a single-payer system to Americans.
Their bills aim to establish a Medicare for all system, expanding the health program from only covering those over 65 to the entire population. This year the legislation is getting more attention and support from fellow Democrats in the House and the Senate.
That follows a failure last month in Congress to pass the American Health Care Act. The legislation would have repealed the signature Obama-era legislation, the Affordable Care Act, which itself was modeled on Massachusetts' health care system.
That failure has resulted in a surge in public support for universal health care.
That rise in popular support should be turned into action, said state Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli, D-Lenox.
"We want serious talk on the national level," said Pignatelli. "People are talking about it, sure. But they have to get something done."
Massachusetts isn't waiting for Washington.
A number of bills advocate a single-payer system at the state level and each one has Berkshire support.
In the Massachusetts system of government, the House and Senate run joint committees in the General Court, or state Legislature. Members of either branch can cross over to sponsor each other's legislation.
That's why S.619, a bill introduced by state Sen. James B. Eldridge, D-Marlborough, to establish Medicare for all in Massachusetts, is co-sponsored by both Pignatelli, who represents the Berkshires' Fourth District, and state Sen. Adam Hinds, D-Pittsfield, who represents the Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden Senate District.
The House version of the bill, H.2987, is co-sponsored by state Rep. Paul Mark, D-Peru, and state Rep. Gail Cariddi, D-North Adams. The bill was introduced by state Rep. Denise Garlick, D-Needham.
Farley-Bouvier has co-sponsored H.596, introduced by state Rep. Jennifer Benson, D-Middlesex, which will evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a single-payer system before instituting the policy.
"It's taking it step by step," Farley-Bouvier said.
With support across the region and the state for a single-payer system, Cariddi said, the legislation will move forward one way or another.
"We just need to get everyone on the same page," she said.
Hearings on the bills will begin later in the session.
Turnbull said he's hopeful that Massachusetts will move forward on single-payer. It may not happen this year, he said, but could within the current two-year session.
Mark told The Eagle that Massachusetts can lead the way on health care once again at the state level.
"I think this is a great time for Massachusetts to lead, as it has done so often in the past," Mark said, "and make single-payer universal health care coverage a reality."
BERKSHIRES ROLE
That process could start in Western Massachusetts.
Turnbull told The Eagle that the entire Berkshire delegation has provided consistent support and leadership on the issue for years. The region has "great leadership," he said, singling out Pignatelli and Farley-Bouvier.
Pignatelli is a "solid leader," Turnbull said, while Farley-Bouvier's new ascendancy to the leadership of the House Progressive Caucus has led to positive changes for MassCare and other left-leaning organizations. It's easier to approach the group now, said Turnbull.
Farley-Bouvier said she has some hesitation in supporting single-payer after living in Uruguay. But she said that even discussing universal health care is a positive move.
"Just saying we want single-payer is a big leap forward," Farley-Bouvier said.
Mark, who represents the Berkshires' Second District, watched the debate last month over health care repeal at the federal level with concern.
"It was clear that we would have lost over one billion dollars in federal money to our state level health care services" if the GOP plan had gone through, he said. The cost of health care, even with Massachusetts' system, is one of the drivers of his support for a single-payer system.
"Our government already spends more per person on health care than any nation that does have a single-payer system," Mark wrote in an email, "and it is time to recognize that basic health care coverage is a utility that needs to be open to all residents as a matter of good fiscal policy, good social policy, and good public health policy."
Hinds described the health care system in Massachusetts as "unsustainable" due to cost — the commonwealth spends 40 percent of its annual budget on health care. That's burdensome for both the private and public sectors, said Hinds, and he hopes to find a solution.
"That is why I have looked at efforts that can start to address efficiencies and cost, including a single-payer system," Hinds wrote in an email. "I look forward to this continued conversation this session."
Legislation must figure out how to cover the cost of single-payer.
"I have supported single-payer as general concept for many years," said Cariddi, who represents the Berkshires' First District. "It's a more efficient funding mechanism for health care."
But Pignatelli, the delegation's longest-serving member, urged caution on that front. Single-payer, he said, will cost money.
"That's the unknown," Pignatelli said.
The Berkshire County branch of the Republican Party did not respond to requests for comment.
Reach staff writer Eoin Higgins at 413-496-6236 or @BE_EoinHiggins.
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“As Berkshire delegation moves for single-payer, local voices weigh in”
By Eoin Higgins, ehiggins@berkshireeagle.com – The Berkshire Eagle, April 9, 2017
PITTSFIELD — "It just makes me sick."
That's how Gail Garret, town clerk and Select Board member in the town of Mount Washington, feels about the cost of health care in Massachusetts.
Garret wants to push the state to adopt a single-payer system for health care.
Supporters say a publicly funded and run health care system will decrease costs and provide medical services to all. Detractors counter that the policy could spur cost overruns and increase state bureaucracy.
Each member the Berkshire state congressional delegation, all Democrats, supports some form of legislation to ensure a single-payer system this session.
The Mount Washington Select Board has adopted a resolution calling on the state to fund a single-payer system. To the north, Stockbridge will ask voters at the annual town meeting to approve a resolution calling on the Legislature to act "at its earliest possible convenience" to adopt a single-payer system across the state.
Garret says she was prompted to act because of the cost of coverage for town employees.
"It's mind boggling that a working person should be paying $1,800 a month for a family plan," Garret said.
Yet that's what a town employee can expect to pay, she said. The town pays half of that cost, but for an employee on the Highway Department, where the base pay is $850 a week, that's a little more than one paycheck a month.
According to Garret, that insurance doesn't even cover everything — some portions of care are left out of the plan.
Compounding her frustration are bonuses paid to Blue Cross Blue Shield executives and the administrative waste she sees in the private insurance industry.
"I just don't see how we couldn't do better," Garret said.
Berkshire Health Systems Chief Financial Officer Darlene Rodowicz said a single-payer system could increase administrative efficiency by instituting one main procedure for claims from the hospital.
"Having said that, these new programs could come with more reporting," she cautioned. "The benefit potential could be offset by the more information that could be needed."
Michael Leary, the facility's director of media relations, said Massachusetts is in a unique position, compared to the rest of the country, because of the four-year head start it got on health care reform.
"We already went through the growing pains," Leary said.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney signed health care reform into law in 2006, four years before former President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act — which was modeled on the Massachusetts system — into law in 2010.
Nobody wants to go back to the way things were before the state and federal bills, Rodocwicz said.
"We can't return to patients using the emergency room as primary care," she said.
Reach staff writer Eoin Higgins at 413-496-6236 or @BE_EoinHiggins.
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“Rep. Farley-Bouvier co-sponsors bill regulating driverless cars”
By Carrie Saldo , csaldo@berkshireeagle.com – The Berkshire Eagle, April 16, 2017
PITTSFIELD — State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier doesn't want the law chasing technology, again. But proposed legislation aimed at the autonomous car industry has some saying it puts the brakes on innovation.
Farley-Bouvier, a Pittsfield Democrat, co-sponsored legislation with Jason M. Lewis, D-5th Middlesex district, that would require that most autonomous — driverless — vehicles be zero-emission, limit how far they could drive without a passenger present, and collect data about the number of passengers and length of trips, among other things.
"This is really going to be a new dawn in the era of transportation," she said. "My point is that there is urgency here, we shouldn't wait a couple of terms before we do this."
Farley-Bouvier said she believes driverless cars will be on the roads within five years and she wants laws in place in advance of that.
"We don't want a repeat of what happened with Uber and Lyft," she said.
Ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Lyft connect drivers and passengers in real time by pinpointing a phone's location and the nearest driver. Uber hit the streets first in 2009 and others have followed. But the state's first regulation of its drivers rolled out in January.
Earlier this month more than 8,200 drivers, of about 71,000 in the state, were taken off the road after it was found they had failed the state's new background check, according to the Boston Globe.
Her bill is one of several proposed laws about driverless vehicles discussed at a Joint Committee on Transportation hearing earlier this week at the Statehouse.
"Early efforts by Massachusetts have created a patchwork of inconsistent standards and frankly some very burdensome regulations," Damon Porter, director of state government affairs for Global Automakers told the committee.
Farley-Bouvier said she disagreed with that.
"You can't put out this brand new technology and have no regulation to it. It does not make sense at all," she said.
Farley-Bouvier explained the data collected under her proposed bill would help the state understand driving habits, which could inform future transportation policy decisions, such as the gas tax.
"The gas tax worked for decades, but we need to find a different way to do it," she said adding that if more people embrace electric vehicles the gas tax won't be as effective a way to put money in state coffers. Moving forward, Farley-Bouvier said zero-emission vehicle drivers would likely be charged based on the amount of driving they do — starting at 2.5 cents per mile.
Without any state laws related to driverless cars, Gov. Charlie Baker formed a working group that will consider laws and regulations. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the city of Boston have authorized nuTonomy to conduct testing in the city's Seaport neighborhood.
Reach staff writer Carrie Saldo at 413-496-6221 or @carriesaldo.
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“Three bills headed to hearings this week have the attention of the Berkshire delegation”
By Eoin Higgins, ehiggins@berkshireeagle.com – The Berkshire Eagle, June 5, 2017
Progressive legislation in the Statehouse is moving the commonwealth forward in an uncertain time — and three bills in particular have caught Berkshire attention.
"There's a growing sense that you need to engage in politics to change what's going on in the country," said Ken Terry, publicity director for the Sheffield Democratic Committee.
Terry told The Eagle that two bills in the Legislature have the organization's support — one would effectively designate Massachusetts as a "sanctuary state," and the other would ban the practice of gay conversion therapy on minors.
A third bill, which would ban Native American mascots from public schools, also is attracting local awareness.
All three bills will be heard in joint committees this week.
In the Massachusetts Legislature, the House and Senate run joint committees for hearings and deliberation on legislation and other matters of interest. Bills introduced by any member of the Legislature can attract sponsorship from their peers in either chamber — legislators regularly cross the bicameral divide to co-sponsor legislation.
State Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli, D-Lenox, who sits on the committee, told The Eagle that the practical realities the mascot bill were a concern for him. The bill, formally named "An Act to prohibit the use of Native American mascots by public schools in the Commonwealth," will be presented to the Joint Committee on Education for a hearing at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
"Beyond the scope of the law, what's that going to do financially?" Pignatelli asked.
The bill would affect two area schools, Wahconah Regional High School in Dalton and Taconic High School in Pittsfield. Both Wahconah's mascot, the "Warrior," and Taconic's mascot, the "Brave," are represented by a Native American man with a headdress.
Wahconah Principal Aaron Robb told The Eagle that the school has not made any movement toward changing their mascot — at least not in any formal way.
"Every once in a while, you might have someone mention it," Robb said.
The new bill, Robb said, might change that. But the community is attached to the name, he added.
"This may cause more conversation around the name," Robb said.
Taconic High School has a new school building under construction with a projected opening for 2018. It's unclear if the school will keep the "Braves" mascot with the transition to the new space.
School officials did not return requests for comment.
Terry told The Eagle that putting energy behind progressive legislation is an important step forward to resist what he views as a state and national turn for the worst. He found the idea of gay conversion therapy particularly noxious, he said.
"The whole concept runs counter to science and morality," Terry said. "They're trying to change people from who they naturally are into someone else."
The bill, "An Act relative to abusive practices to change sexual orientation and gender identity in minors," will have a hearing in front of the Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities at 1 p.m. Tuesday.
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, who sits on the committee, strongly condemned the idea that children could be "converted" from their sexual orientation.
"I consider it child abuse and a form of torture," she said.
Farley-Bouvier and state Sen. Adam Hinds, D-Pittsfield, have signed onto the legislation, designed to protect minors from the practice."
"I find it shocking that the conversion therapy is being practiced in the state," Hinds said.
The safe communities act is headed to the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security on Friday for hearings.
The bill would protect all residents in the commonwealth, said Hinds. He co-sponsored the legislation, "An Act to protect the civil rights and safety of all Massachusetts residents," as did state Rep. Gailanne Cariddi, D-North Adams.
Cariddi also co-sponsored the House version of the bill, "An Act relative to sanctuary cities and towns," as did Farley-Bouvier, Pignatelli, and state Rep. Paul Mark, D-Peru. Both bills will be the subject of Friday's hearing.
"It's a policy based on taking a basic stand on who we are as a state and as a country," Hinds said.
Terry agreed. That stand is why he's pushing for more involvement from not only Democratic committees but other left leaning organizations in the area.
"I know that we're part of this evolving network in South County," Terry said.
Hinds added that recent developments in the federal government — in particular in the administration of President Donald Trump, have made such acts necessary.
"There are too many examples of this president putting forth a vision of America that's not compatible with the ideals of this country," Hinds said. "That's why we need to push back hard where and when we can."
Reach staff writer Eoin Higgins at 413-496-6236 or @BE_EoinHiggins.
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Letter: “Another costly mandate for small businesses”
The Berkshire Eagle, June 16, 2017
To the editor:
If Massachusetts lawmakers approve proposals to enact an employer-funded family leave and temporary disability leave program, small business owners could be looking at another costly mandate. This would come on the heels of a recent voter-approved paid sick leave law that required all workers be allowed to earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked.
Under the proposed program, employees would be able to take 26 weeks' paid leave for a personal illness and 12-16 weeks' paid leave for the birth or adoption of a child or to care for a relative, including a spouse, parent, grandparent, in-law, child, or grandchild. Massachusetts's small businesses do not need an additional costly mandate as they deal with rising health care costs, increased wages and highest in the nation energy bills. Additionally, this leave law would be on top of a variety of other laws already on the books, mandating paid sick leave, domestic violence leave, and parental leave, as well as the federal family and medical leave law. Adding another mandate to the mix would be expensive and unnecessary, particularly for small business owners.
Under the latest proposal, funding for the benefit and for the new state bureaucracy created to administer the program would come from a new tax assessed on small business owners, although employers at their option, may shift half the cost to their employees. That means workers are also being mandated to cover up to half the cost of these programs.
One more expensive, mandated state benefit will do nothing to help the modest wage growth experienced by many in the Bay State. This proposal may even lead to less revenue for Massachusetts widening the current budget gap. If paid family leave becomes law and small businesses are forced to fund a new paid family leave benefit over increasing worker wages, more money will be allocated for a non-taxable benefit, and less revenue will be collected from state income tax receipts.
For Massachusetts small businesses to thrive, they cannot be saddled by mounting state mandates and constant government overreach. It is important to note that the average NFIB member has roughly five workers. If one worker utilizes the maximum level of time off under this proposal, it means 20 percent of a small businesses' workforce could be out for half a year's time. That reduction in staff no doubt impacts a Main Street business' productivity and ability to compete. Even the Legislature requires a quorum to conduct business; small businesses are no different.
Christopher Carlozzi,
Boston
The writer is the Massachusetts state director of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).
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July 25, 2017
iBerkshires has another interesting news article about State Rep Tricia Farley Bouvier's vote for a 40% pay raise for Speaker (for life) Bob DeLeo and Senate Prez Stan Rosenberg that costs state taxpayers about $18 million per year. In addition to the "leadership" pay raises, Tricia Farley Bouvier supported a $20,000 allotment for her travel and office expenses, which factors into her future state pension.
I would like to note that the entire Berkshire delegation, including "Smitty" Pignatelli, Paul Mark, and Adam Hinds, all voted for this secretive measure, which included retroactive pay raises, that had no public hearings. It was a backroom deal. Indeed, it was top-down, self-serving, government at its worse!
- Jonathan Melle
http://www.iberkshires.com/story/55195/Boston-Nonprofit-Sets-Crosshairs-on-Farley-Bouvier-In-Mailer.html
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Our Opinion: “Political flyers invite skepticism”
The Berkshire Eagle, Editorial, July 30, 2017
When something political arrives in the mail — whether it is a mailbox or an email — it is best regarded with a healthy dose of skepticism. An example would be the mailers sent to Pittsfield households criticizing state Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier for her vote earlier this year in favor of pay raises for legislators, executive branch officials and the judiciary.
The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance sent out 24,204 glossy flyers encouraging recipients to call the Pittsfield Democrat and urge her to change her position on the pay raises. The flyer claims as fact that the legislator voted for a 40 percent pay increase, leading voters to believe that she received that pay hike.
In fact. Ms. Farley-Bouvier received a pay increase of 9.4 percent (Eagle, July 30.) The vote resulted in a 40 percent average increase in pay, with the House speaker and the Senate president getting the largest hike.
The flyer also criticizes Ms. Farley-Bouvier for approving a raise in legislators' expense allowance from $7,200 to as much as $20,000 per year. The Pittsfield representative told The Eagle that her most recent travel and office costs were $18,200, so she will receive only $1,800 in benefits from the vote. She added that she spends about $24,000 per year in travel and office expenses.
The members of the Berkshire legislative delegation must pay substantial travel and lodging expenses so they can participate in votes and committee meetings in Boston while also meeting with and serving their constituents back home. Boston-area legislators do not have this same burden.
As a nonprofit, the Boston-based Fiscal Alliance must be nonpartisan to protect its tax-exempt status. The organization, however, which The Boston Globe reported last year is "run by former GOP operatives," predominantly focuses its campaigns against Democrats.
Alliance spokesman and board member Paul D. Craney's statement to the Eagle's Larry Parnass that the group does not disclose the source of its donations should set off alarms among voters. Ms. Farley-Bouvier's finances are a matter of public record — those of the Fiscal Alliance are not. As part of its mission statement, the Alliance says it promotes "transparency and accountability" in government, but by not disclosing its donor list it provides neither.
The pay raises approved on Beacon Hill are certainly fair game for criticism. Lawmakers' pay raises are adjusted every two years based on changes in median income, a provision that was designed so raises would no longer be determined by the vote of those receiving the raises. The argument that the leadership's salaries had long been stagnant and should be raised is sound but the increase was too dramatic. The pay raise measure was largely determined in secret before being sprung on voters with little debate. The increases were also tied to pay increases for the judiciary which were far easier to justify than those for lawmakers.
All that said, however, criticism should be made on the facts, not upon political spin or flyers that don't offer full context for the pay increase votes.
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July 30, 2017
Re: Open letter to the Berkshire Eagle Editorial writers
The Eagle editorial regarding Pittsfield State Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier’s vote for a second legislative pay raise of up to 40 percent should have been denounced as yet another backroom deal that define Beacon Hill governance.
Moreover, the entire Berkshire delegation voted for this inequitable bill that did not allow for any public input. The main beneficiaries of the pay raise bill were Speaker (for life) Bob DeLeo and Senate President Stan Rosenberg. Furthermore, the pay raise bill increases the state pensions of every state Legislator.
Massachusetts has a recurring budget deficit that is currently estimated at $900-million. The Governor, Charlie Baker, and the highly paid Legislative “leaders” have increased state spending, but refuse to increase state revenues. In fact, Massachusetts is the number one per capita debtor state government in the nation. Neither casino gambling nor legalized marijuana will solve the commonwealth’s fiscal woes!
While the state government has serious financial problems, the “iron rule of Oligarchy” wins once again by the political hacks taking care of themselves at the expense of the hard working taxpayers! During my time in the U.S. Army, true leaders stood in the front lines of battle. They took the heat and made the sacrifices. The opposite is the case on Beacon Hill!
- Jonathan Melle
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Letter: “Farley-Bouvier can't deny the money grab”
The Berkshire Eagle, August 4, 2017
To the editor:
In response to The Eagle article of July 29 in which State Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier defended herself on the way she voted for large increases for pay, office expenses and a travel stipend: I want to make a few of my own comments on my observations and findings.
Whatever way anyone, including Rep. Farley-Bouvier, wants to spin it, she did vote for all those additional costs and increases to the hard-working Massachusetts taxpayers. Just look at her voting record on these bills as well as others. It looks as though she's not denying these votes she took, though now that the cat's out of the bag on how she voted she looks like the cat that has swallowed a canary.
The more concerning fact is the travel stipends. She, like other state representatives who receive money for travel expenses, receive more because of distances from Boston. The bigger issue is that they do not have to justify any of their travel stipends. Also, it is tax-free. So Rep. Farley-Bouvier is wrong — it is a money grab when you don't need to prove where it's been spent. It doesn't get any sweeter than that.
The leaders of this state, such as Farley-Bouvier, are trying to decide on how to tell their constituents that the state can't afford that potential sales tax-free holiday that we deserve. I'm asking everyone to remember that she and the other representatives are taking that hard-earned money right out of our wallets and purses to line their own nest.
Philip W. Carroll
Pittsfield
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Letter: “Attack on state rep the work of cowards”
The Berkshire Eagle, August 4, 2017
To the editor:
I've known Tricia Farley-Bouvier for a number of years, and I have to say Mary O'Brien's August 3 letter supporting her was right on target: The glossy flyers sent to Pittsfield residents accusing the representative of improprieties contain the kind of flat-out lies and fake news that have become all too common in this shameful era of dark money and Trump.
Clearly, the cowards funding this attack on Rep. Farley-Bouvier thrive in the dark corners and shadows. Like Trump hiding his tax returns, the people bankrolling the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance fear the sunlight of exposure. And as with Trump, we must ask: "What are you hiding from us — and why?"
Lee Harrison,
Williamstown
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Letter: “Pay increases show lack of trust in constituents”
The Berkshire Eagle, August 7, 2017
To the editor:
The Eagle in its opinion pages, Mary O'Brien in her letter letter, and Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier in her statement, all ignore the most important issue regarding the legislative pay increases. The issue is not so much the increases, although generous, but the way they foreclosed the voters' right to a ballot initiative. A ballot initiative would have allowed the voters the opportunity to decide on the merits of the pay raise. They took this right away from the voter by including judges' salaries in the pay package, which, under the constitution, prohibits the voters' right to repeal the increases thru a ballot initiative.
In addition, no public hearings were held for public input and the governor's veto of the bill was overridden by both the House and Senate. Talk about dark money. Additionally, Representative Farley-Bouvier was not satisfied by the proposed increase to $20,000 for office expenses, and filed an amendment to increase the amount to $25,000. She was the only Democrat to file an amendment. Representative Farley-Bouvier finds it discouraging and disheartening that the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance has picked on her. "Discouraging" and "disheartening" are my exact feelings on how the House and Senate could not bring themselves to trust their constituents.
Wayne Lemanski,
Lenox
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Chabot: “Pols bank $67G from eliminated travel perk”
By Hillary Chabot, The Boston Herald, August 7, 2017
Summer break-bound Beacon Hill lawmakers, who failed to pass a popular sales tax holiday last week, collected $67,000 in taxpayer-funded travel stipends this year despite eliminating the perk when they voted themselves a multimillion-dollar pay increase in February.
Legislators immediately began pocketing their pay hike — and they can still take the so-called per diems until 2018, thanks to little-known rule that gives them a full year to collect.
“This is the reason why the public is skeptical of elected officials. First legislators rushed to approve this pay raise and then they continue to collect this taxpayer-funded stipend,” said Republican state Rep. Marc Lombardo, who refuses to take per diems. “It’s insulting and voters should be outraged.”
Fifty-eight state representatives and senators pocketed $67,000 since January, according to state records. The largest payouts went to state representatives Joseph Wagner (D-Chicopee), who took $7,440 and Rep. David T. Vieira (R-Falmouth) who collected $4,700. Sen. Marc Pacheco (D-Taunton) put in for nearly $4,000 and Senate President Stan Rosenberg got $600.
The stipends are meant to reimburse legislators for travel, meals and lodging, with amounts varying depending on how far the elected official lives from the State House. But lawmakers eliminated per diems when they voted to give themselves their $18 million salary package, which increased the stipends most lawmakers receive for “leadership roles” on top of their $62,500 base salary.
“This clearly demonstrates that lawmakers have very little regard for taxpayers,” said Paul Craney, executive director of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance. The right-leaning advocacy group has targeted lawmakers who voted for the pay hike, which boosted the salaries of Speaker Robert DeLeo and Rosenberg from $97,547 to $142,547. The measure also raised the pay of Gov. Charlie Baker and other constitutional officers — the governor, the AG and treasurer declined to accept the hike — as well as the judiciary.
“Just recently legislators scuttled any attempts for a sales tax-free weekend because the state needs the revenue. But given the opportunity to save taxpayers money by sacrificing their own perks, they choose to take as much as they can,” said Craney.
Lawmakers left the State House Friday, kicking off an unofficial break without taking up legislation that would give Bay State shoppers a sales tax-free weekend on Aug. 13 and 14. It’s the second year in a row without a sales tax holiday, and disgruntled small business owners have responded by pushing to establish a permanent tax-free weekend in Massachusetts.
Meanwhile, the MassFiscal Alliance is blanketing communities with flyers that slam at least 10 lawmakers for approving “a 40 percent pay raise.”
The tactic appears to be working.
Several lawmakers declined to comment when reached about the per diems. One lawmaker shrugged off the issue of the stipends, but then asked not to be named.
“They’ve been around for so long, and they were a part of state law,” he said anonymously.
Craney plans to make sure Bay State residents remember the pay grab come Election Day.
“Those lawmakers are going to have to question if they really want to run for re-election, because you’d be hard-pressed to find any voter who believes this is the way to conduct themselves,” he said. “If they are that concerned about enriching themselves, there’s plenty of private jobs out there.”
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Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier speaks during a petition drive kick-off by Raise Up Mass on the steps of City Hall in Pittsfied on Sunday, September 17, 2017. photo credit: Gillian Jones - The Berkshire Eagle
Ward 6 Councilor John Krol speaks during a petition drive kick-off by Raise Up Mass to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour and for paid family medical leave, on the steps of City Hall in Pittsfied on Sunday, September 17, 2017. Gillian Jones - The Berkshire Eagle
“Berkshires-based Raise Up Mass backs $15 minimum wage, paid leave ballot effort”
By Dick Lindsay, rlindsay@berkshireeagle.com – The Berkshire Eagle, September 18, 2017
PITTSFIELD — A small, enthusiastic group of community leaders has kicked off the Berkshires effort to get a $15 minimum wage and paid family and medical leave in Massachusetts.
Local/state politicos, labor leaders and civic groups got the county's petition drive going on the steps of City Hall, backing the coalition Raise Up Mass's effort to get both issues on the statewide ballot for the November, 2018 election.
If approved, the current state minimum wage of $11 per hour would increase $1 a year until it reaches $15 in 2021, according to Raise Up Mass. Passage of the Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program would provide up to 16 weeks of employer-funded, job-protected pay to deal with a family member; 26 weeks of paid medical absence for workers recovering from their own illness or injury.
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier wholeheartedly backs both proposals.
"We have a lot of people with jobs that if they don't show up, they don't get paid," she said.
However, the Pittsfield Democrat wants the state Legislature to do it's job and take the lead on these two socioeconomic issues.
"I actually don't want them on the ballot. I want my colleagues to work together to get [the proposals] passed before they go on the ballot," added Farley-Bouvier.
Pittsfield City Council Vice-President John Krol Jr. joined in the rousing support for both measures, urging state lawmakers to do their job with voters ready to step in if they don't.
"While I trust the Legislature, I don't want to rely on that and we should move forward to get these signatures," he said.
The $15 minimum wage and paid family/medical leave are among the 21 petitions Attorney General Maura Healey has initially certified for the ballot. Supporters need at least another 64,700 registered voters to sign petitions for clear passage to the 2018 ballot.
Certification does not guarantee a slot on the ballot, nor does meeting the signature deadlines. Last year, Healey signed off on a question to end the state's use of Common Core learning standards, but the Supreme Judicial Court later ruled it ineligible.
While Massachusetts' $11 minimum wage far exceeds the federal $7.25, Frank Farkas representing the Berkshire Chapter of the NAACP believes Massachusetts has some catching up to Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, New York City and New York state who've passed or are pushing for the $15 minimum wage goal.
"As a progressive state, we should be up there," he noted. "People who work full-time shouldn't experience poverty."
The Central Berkshire Labor Council agrees, saying $11 minimum wage just doesn't cut it for families struggling to make ends meet over the course of a calendar year.
"The $22,800 gross pay for a 40-hour work week is not enough to raise a family — not enough to raise yourself," said council member Liz Recko-Morrison. "The $15 will not create a truly living wage, but it's a start."
The council, Massachusetts Teachers Association, Berkshires Brigades, local NAACP are among the organizations who will help gather the necessary signatures in the coming weeks for the pending ballot questions.
Reach staff writer Dick Lindsay at 413-496-6233.
Pay It Forward
Key points, according to Raise Up Mass, to the $15/hr minimum wage and paid family leave/medical proposed referendums for the state's November 2018 election.
Minimum Wage:
• A $15/hr hike would boost the state's minimum wage by $1 each year over four years until it is $15 an hour in 2021. The minimum wage would then be adjusted each year to rise along with increases in the cost of living.
• If approved, the measure would raise the wages of roughly 947,000 workers, or 29 percent of the state's workforce.
- As the Massachusetts minimum wage has risen over the past three years, the state's economy has added more than 150,000 jobs.
Paid Family/Medical Leave
• Employees taking paid leave would receive partial wage replacement equal to a percentage of their average weekly wages, with a maximum weekly benefit of either $650 or $1,000.
• Paid leave would last up to either 12 or 16 weeks to care for a seriously ill or injured family member or to bond with a new child and up to 26 weeks for an employee's own serious illness or injury.
• The question prohibits employer retaliation against workers who take time off under these conditions. Benefits would be funded through employer contributions to the new Family and Medical Leave Trust Fund and employers could require employees to contribute up to 50% of the cost.
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Letter: “Museum plan fits city's cultural development”
The Berkshire Eagle, September 26, 2017
To the editor:
The Berkshire Museum, our community museum, is at the center of what has become a bitter controversy. After years of financial struggle, the museum's leadership has made a big decision, a difficult decision, but one that will guarantee the museum's sustainability long into the future.
During my years as mayor, I worked closely with the nonprofit cultural organizations in our city, and I understand all too well the challenges they face. Here in Pittsfield, the changing environment for business has meant a changing environment for philanthropy, with fewer corporations to support cultural partners. And we all know about the changes in state and federal support.
A critical part of the job was to set a vision for the community. At the Berkshire Museum, they have set a vision, that of a thriving museum that supports our students and teachers and offers exciting educational opportunities for everyone in the community. The museum has a proven track record of service to children and families over the years — in fact, demand for its educational programs increases all the time. The number of kids who experience the museum on field trips and in outreach programs just gets bigger.
What I see as most exciting is the possible economic impact that a financially healthy anchor institution in the heart of Pittsfield could have. Imagine the possibilities of year-round super-charged programs and activities, and the opportunities to collaborate with their cultural neighbors. And it is clear that the museum leadership listened to the community when it included an increased emphasis on science in its plans — a move that will differentiate our museum, making it an exciting destination we can all be proud of. And by staying true to its mission, the museum will integrate its increased science emphasis with history and art. Plans also include increased attention to artists living and working in the Berkshires today, with a gallery devoted to showing local artists and other people who make and create.
When my administration took the stand that cultural development would be a key to revitalize Pittsfield, we met with opposition from many quarters. The museum's plans are a perfect fit for what Pittsfield needs now, a truly "next big thing" in cultural development, while striving to transform lives.
I fully support the leadership of the museum's board of trustees and Van Shields, who faced the fundamental stewardship question: Given the Berkshire Museum's important role in our community, how do we ensure it will not only survive, but thrive?
James M. Ruberto, Pittsfield
The writer is the former mayor of Pittsfield
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“Pittsfield mayor backs museum's 'new vision'”
By Larry Parnass, lparnass@berkshireeagle.com – The Berkshire Eagle, October 14, 2017
PITTSFIELD — Opinions about the Berkshire Museum's plan to sell 40 works of art keep coming in, pro and con, a month before hammer time.
Pieces are scheduled to be auctioned Nov. 13 at Sotheby's in New York City. But the legality of the transaction is being reviewed by the public charities division of the state attorney general's office.
In a statement Friday, Pittsfield Mayor Linda Tyer said she supports the 114-year-old museum's "bold transformation" to an institution focusing on science and natural history. To achieve that, and to address a continuing financial deficit, the museum arranged with Sotheby's to sell some of the most valuable works in its collection, starting with American pieces, including two paintings given to the museum by Norman Rockwell.
Tyer noted that the museum's plan has sparked many conversations, locally and nationally, in which people have exchanged "vastly different perspectives."
Though she doesn't address the issue of the deaccessioning of art, the mayor stands firmly with the museum.
"My belief in the Berkshire Museum has always centered on my assertion that the museum has been, and is, vital to Pittsfield," the mayor said, in response to a question from The Eagle.
Tyer said the museum "has engaged and inspired generations of Pittsfielders, as well as many others throughout Berkshire County and beyond. As a place that has impacted so many, I recognize the Berkshire Museum's desire to continue this work through bold transformation to inspire and engage a new generation."
Museum officials plan to channel about $40 million from the sales into an endowment and use $20 million for renovations and building improvements.
Other public comments this past week were less supportive.
Leaders of the Peabody Essex Museum said in a commentary published Friday that they believe the sale would violate a public trust and have an impact beyond Pittsfield.
"Museum collections cannot be considered as a slush fund that trustees and administrators can tap anytime a museum needs money," Dan L. Monroe and Robert N. Shapiro wrote in a post on ARTery, a blog run by public radio station WBUR in Boston.
Monroe is director and CEO of the Peabody Essex Museum and former president of the American Alliance of Museums. Shapiro, an attorney, is the museum's board president.
They noted that national museum standards prohibit selling art to cover operational expenses.
"The board's present plan of action represents a fundamental and egregious violation of public trust and fiduciary duty and responsibility," they wrote.
The art collection in Pittsfield, Monroe and Shapiro said, is "the single part of the Berkshire Museum that makes it special."
In an opinion column published Saturday in The Eagle, Alan Chartock, president and CEO of WAMC Northeast Public Radio, questioned the suitability of the sale on financial and moral grounds.
"Nonprofits are supposed to go to their communities and raise money the old-fashioned way," he wrote. "We know that Norman Rockwell wanted his neighbors in Berkshire County to have his paintings and, to that end, he gave them to the Berkshire Museum."
Elsewhere in the column, he wrote: "Sometimes, bad things happen because people just won't stand in the way of a bad idea. It seems likely that is what is happening right now."
Staff writer Larry Parnass can be reached at 413-496-6214 or @larryparnass.
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“Call To Pause Berkshire Museum's Art Sale Divides Community”
By JD Allen, WAMC Northeast Public Radio, September 25, 2017
The Massachusetts Cultural Council is urging the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield to halt its planned art sale.
The Massachusetts Cultural Council called the Berkshire Museum’s plan to sell 40 objects – including two Norman Rockwell works – from its collection to support an expansion and endowment fund a violation of public trust.
The Council says it may withhold funding to the museum, pending review from the state attorney general’s office. The museum’s plans have drawn criticism from other cultural organizations and Berkshires residents.
Council Executive Director Anita Walker said in a statement that the museum should take all necessary measures to curtail the sale. She spoke with WAMC in August.
“I can tell you that we have been talking to all parties involved, that we are very, very interested in the future, and the success, and the sustainability of the Berkshire Museum,” Walker said.
The Berkshire Museum responded to Walker’s statement, saying it won't stop its plan. The museum contends the Council’s move is “disappointing and betrays” its mission to help art institutions grow.
Museum leadership says the council has not “put forth a concrete or viable alternative” to the auction. The decision comes ahead of a scheduled meeting next month to discuss the museum’s financials.
State Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier, a Pittsfield Democrat, told WAMC Friday she backs the museum’s leadership.
“I think the tone has been divisive. And I think the attacks on the professionalism and the character of the board and the staff is inappropriate and unproductive,” Farley-Bouvier says.
Pittsfield Mayor Linda Tyer could not be reached for comment Monday, but made similar remarks earlier in September. Tyer has said funding from the Massachusetts Cultural Council is crucial for the city’s growth.
In August, an anonymous group offered the museum a $1 million donation to pause the sale. Board of Trustees President Elizabeth McGraw said it wasn’t a “realistic, viable financial offer.”
Sotheby’s estimates the works could go for up to $68 million.
Speaking before a recent rally against the sale, Carol Diehl argued the move was inappropriate.
“These are the works that were – a lot of them given to the museum in its founding,” Diehl says. “These are essential to the history of Pittsfield and the Berkshires. And the idea is that museums are in charge of taking care of these works. That’s what curator means – someone who takes care of the works. They were given by donors to be there for the enjoyment and the education of the people. They were not given to fund a new wing or a new program.”
Norman Rockwell’s “Shuffleton’s Barbershop” and “Shaftsbury Blacksmith Shop” could fetch up to $40 million alone. Again, Representative Farley-Bouvier.
“Those Rockwells aren’t right now helping the children, the youth and the families of Pittsfield,” Farley-Bouvier says. “And in the new vision that the museum has [an interactive, high-tech approach to science and history education], it is something that will make the lives of children, youth, and families in Pittsfield better.”
The auction is expected to start in November [2017].
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“Rep. Farley-Bouvier backs Berkshire Museum board, calls for civil debate”
By Larry Parnass - lparnass@berkshireeagle.com – The Berkshire Eagle, September 22, 2017
PITTSFIELD — The city's state representative said Friday she backs both the Berkshire Museum's planned art sale and the people who shaped it.
"I stand firmly with the board of the Berkshire Museum," said state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield. "I do believe it's the right course."
She is also calling on opponents of the museum's planned sale of 40 artworks to avoid personal attacks on those guiding the 114-year-old institution, who she said are among "the most professional and capable people" she knows.
"I trust their ability to make professional decisions," she said of members of the museum's volunteer board. "I stand with them because I believe they stand with the children and the youth and the families."
Farley-Bouvier added she knows and respects people on both sides of the issue, among them friends of hers since childhood.
Her remarks came a day after the Massachusetts Cultural Council urged the museum's board to halt the planned auction, part of a financial and programming reboot the museum outlined July 12. Among the pieces to be sold are two paintings by Norman Rockwell that are expected to fetch tens of millions of dollars at auction. The pieces were given to the museum by the artist.
The museum's leaders say the sale will allow them to address a long-standing financial problem that, combined with a decline in big-dollar donors, threatens the South Street institution's continued operation, a conclusion others have challenged, including the Cultural Council.
Farley-Bouvier said she respects the fact that others disagree with the museum's plan to sell the works to improve its financial condition — a move that runs counter to accepted museum practices.
But she urged those posting online and writing letters to the editor to keep their comments civil, and to avoid deepening what she sees as a worrisome community divide.
"What I can't respect, and can't abide, is attacks on the professionalism of members of the board," she told The Eagle. She did not cite examples.
Farley-Bouvier had helped convene an Aug. 30 meeting between Anita Walker, the Cultural Council's executive director, and museum officials about the sale, which is to begin in November and continue into next year at the Sotheby's auction house in New York City.
In an interview Friday, she criticized Walker and the council for speaking out against the sale before getting more information that the museum planned to provide at a meeting next month. She also said she believes Walker should have informed board members in advance of the Aug. 30 meeting about the nature of her questions concerning the sale.
Farley-Bouvier said she expressed support for the museum at that meeting, also attended by Mayor Linda Tyer and state Sen. Adam Hinds, D-Pittsfield.
Walker said Friday she remains committed to helping the museum deal with its financial issues.
"While we disagree about the wisdom of the museum's deaccession plans, we share a desire to help the institution turn itself around and put itself on firmer financial footing," she told The Eagle. "We have had candid, ongoing dialogue with the museum's leadership that we hope will continue despite those disagreements."
Walker also said she appreciates Farley-Bouvier's support for the museum "and her willingness to listen to all points of view."
On Thursday, Walker met with representatives of the attorney general's office, which is reviewing the legality of the sale of artworks.
Walker called that meeting "productive" and "thorough."
"We reiterated our concerns with the museum's plans, as expressed in our statement" issued Wednesday, Walker said.
Taking stand
Speaking up in support of the museum board could be risky politically, Farley-Bouvier acknowledged when asked if that is a concern. But she said she believes most of the criticism of the museum's planned sale of artworks is coming from outside the city.
"I'm willing to take the stand," Farley-Bouvier said. "You have to do what's right [as an elected official] and what's right is to stand up."
As she's tracked public opinion on the issue, Farley-Bouvier said she's come to believe that millenials, as a group, tend to support the sale and the museum's planned "New Vision" proposal. Older residents of the county, she said, tend to be against it.
She said she bases that on phone calls she's received, street conversations, letters in The Eagle and posts on social media.
"There's definitely an age split there," she said.
Farley-Bouvier said she believes everyone concerned about the well-being of the museum has a right to reach his or her own opinion about the advisability of the art sale.
"The tone is the problem," she said, without identifying specific comments that she felt were inappropriate.
Farley-Bouvier said she believes that people who oppose the deaccession of the art should be helping the museum find another solution.
The goal laid out by the museum isn't deaccession in itself, she said, it is putting the institution in a "viable, secure" position.
"If we can meet that goal in a different way, then of course everyone would be in favor of that," she said.
"It's all about trying to come to a solution. There hasn't been a lot of that," Farley-Bouvier said. "There's been some. There's been a lot of attacks."
She said she opposes what she termed a "piling on of criticism of the board. I'm 100-percent sure it's the wrong way to go about doing it."
"This board is made up of highly capable, highly professional individuals," she said. "They know what they're doing."
Reach staff writer Larry Parnass at 413-496-6214 or @larryparnass.
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Letter: “Museum's art sale will hamstring future funding”
The Berkshire Eagle, October 4, 2017
To the editor:
My background is in finance in the banking, foundation and nonprofit venues. My work at The Foundation Center in New York and my study of art history compel me to protest the Berkshire Museum's sale of 40 works of art, ostensibly to save itself financially.
I looked at the public record financials of the museum, with a particular focus on funding from grants, membership and programming. For many years, including the past five, the museum has lost more than $1 million annually, with no matching funding that even came close to its expenses. Why not membership and capital/endowment fundraising from members and patrons? Operationally, no business, not even nonprofits, should be run without matched funding.
My greatest concern is that the museum has failed to focus on those operational deficits, and instead seeks the quick fix of selling its most culturally valuable holdings. Now, with the impending sale of the artworks, the museum has shot itself in the foot for future funding from basic sources — membership, capital campaigns and foundation grants.
Linda Gunderson, Pittsfield
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Letter: “The museum's vision is in need of re-vision”
The Berkshire Eagle, October 8, 2017
To the editor:
There has been of late much discourse regarding the vision of the Berkshire Museum trustees and Van Shields. To have vision is laudable. Not so laudable, however, is the conscious decision of Mr. Shields and museum leadership to fund this vision by selling off our inheritance and presenting the plan to the public as a fait accompli.
While we were not surprised to read letters to the editor by Rep. Farley-Bouvier and former Mayor Ruberto in support of Mr. Shield's vision, we were disappointed that neither letter addressed either the cost of bringing the project to fruition or the right of the people to have a voice in the issue. Ms. Farley-Bouvier, who stands on the side of museum management, has called for civil debate while, on the other hand, museum management wants no debate at all.
As Linda Kaye-Moses so rightfully points out in her excellent op/ed (Eagle, Sept. 30), if sold these works will disappear from public access forever and join losses like the classic architecture of Union Station and similar "visions" in "a canyon lined with regret," for it is unlikely that they will be purchased by any reputable museum in the wake of such controversy.
We, the citizens of Berkshire County, have been denied the right to register an opinion on the sale of these precious works of art, as if we were unlanded serfs in some banana republic. As Timothy Cahill's thoughtful op-ed (Eagle, Oct 1) pointed out, "an alternate vision would save the museum from failing its highest calling as the keeper of Berkshire cultural memory." Regretfully, museum leadership apparently believes that success of their vision trumps its highest calling and the rights of the people.
Referring to the treachery and undue influence of officials and politicians in late-1st century Rome, the political satirist Juvenal asked: "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" Literally, "Who will guard the guardians?" If, as Ms. Kaye-Moses so rightfully reasons, the museum has "violated its responsibility to maintain the museum and its art for the public," we, the people, cannot remain silent.
Lance Hopkins,
Kathleen Hopkins,
Pittsfield
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Letter: “In her support of museum, Farley-Bouvier is divisive”
The Berkshire Eagle, October 9, 2017
To the editor:
I am disappointed with Representative Farley-Bouvier's position on the Berkshire Museum matter, contained in an Eagle interview of Sep. 23 ("Rep. Farley-Bouvier backs Berkshire Museum board, calls for civil debate").
I believe her support for the "New Vision" is misguided since it is not so much the strategy that should be the issue but the lack of transparency in pursuing that strategy. Despite Farley-Bouvier's claim, the articles and letters in the Eagle, on balance, seem eminently civil. But that is not to say that objective criticism may not be aimed at individuals.
Larry Parnass' exhaustive research and article about the museum director's previous posting in South Carolina (thank you, new Berkshire Eagle!), is illuminating and germane ("Van W. Shields' South Carolina museum quest foundered," Sept. 10). The museum's board of trustees is accomplished, committed and well-intentioned, but, after all, they are volunteers, and, I should think they would not likely describe themselves as "professionals" in dispatching their museum duties. Professional more properly describes the credentials of the museum director (whose stewardship I have come to question) and others, such as Anita Walker and Stephen Sheppard, making their arguments in favor of delaying deaccession.
The representative's description of the public breaking into two factions, "younger versus older," and her support for the "younger" support of deaccession, is divisive (which she argues against) and appears to devalue the support of the "older" faction. I think this does not well serve the museum's needed constituency.
Finally, a personal observation about one source of change: From the architectural model in the museum lobby, it is apparent that the bas relief panels facing South Street will all be replaced with windows, along with some other general streamlining of the face of the museum. I am adamantly opposed to any such expensive and destructive alterations.
Thomas R. Hardy, Pittsfield
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Letter: “Save-the-Art doesn't mean scrap 'New Vision'”
The Berkshire Eagle, October 10, 2017
To the editor:
In response to the 195 neighbors who have written to The Eagle to endorse the Berkshire Museum's New Vision plan ("A bold step forward for Berkshire Museum," Oct. 7), I would like to respectfully point out that that many of us who vehemently object to the sale of the museum's important and historic art collection specifically do not object to the merits of the New Vision program or the museum's architectural redesign plans. It is essential to note that we passionately object to the liquidation of the art to fund these projects, not the projects themselves.
We may have doubts about why this initiative would cost $40 million to $60 million, which would require selling off all 40 pieces. We may have concerns that the initiative has been merely outlined in its design and never been fully substantiated in a business plan that would require such a fortune. We may have serious concerns about the current director's history of misleading the public, which The Eagle has so carefully documented. We may wonder why the museum retains a publicist but not a curator. We may be uneasy that the museum has been secretive and manipulative in its development of this program and its approach to publicizing the program, which has resulted in so much acrimony that is hurtful and a liability to the museum.
Over 1,300 people have signed an online petition asking that the Sotheby's sale be paused. The petition is not directed to the New Vision initiative.
In response to Tricia Farley-Bouvier's unfair accusations regarding the actions of the people behind the Save the Art effort ("Rep. Farley-Bouvier backs Berkshire Museum board, calls for civil debate," Sept. 23), these people are neither uncivil nor discourteous but rather sincere and informed. They, too, are neighbors and friends. And, in fact, the necessity of the sale itself and the museum's finances have been professionally challenged by respected authorities in the museum field.
Those of us involved in the Save the Art movement are not opposed to the New Vision plan, and we ask that its supporters support us.
Barry Lobovits, Pittsfield
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Letter: “On museum, state rep. fails leadership test”
The Berkshire Eagle, October 13, 2017
To the editor:
Dear state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier:
I am disappointed at the stand you took supporting the sale of the 40 works of art to fund the new vision at the Berkshire Museum. And I am angry about your divisive tone and shallow understanding that squandered an opportunity for true leadership.
You only repeated the sound bites that have been pushed by the museum, addressing none of the real and crucial questions that have been raised by so many from within this local community and from the community of museums across the nation.
Obviously you care about the local community. You should also care that the museum's plans have alarmed professionals state- and nation-wide. The destabilizing effect of the deaccession on all other museums will ricochet back onto our museum and community.
It has been amply demonstrated that the museum's finances are not as dire as the museum portrayed them. Even if you believe that the other analyses are only "opinions," the sources are credible and need to be acknowledged. Failing this manufactured emergency, there is no good reason not to pause the sale. Better solutions can be found, ones that incorporate the basic intent of the new vision — to serve the community well in the world of the future from a place of financial solvency — AND save the art.
That you and others continue to promote the sale as the only way to re-envision the museum demonstrates a severe lack of vision. It makes me and many other people suspect that there is something deeper and more troubling amiss. What could possibly explain the museum's and our leaders' stubborn refusal to engage?
It is unforgivable for leaders like you to avoid the work of embracing all constituents and the risk of calling for solutions that respond to the whole community. You have already noticed and felt the pain of the great divide between us, the citizens. You called for civility, but blamed the lack of it on Save the Art supporters, as though our mere objection was unwelcome and divisive, while completely ignoring the mean, puerile, damaging invective spewed by many art sale supporters and encouraged by "likes" from museum board members and other prominent Pittsfielders.
And now we have the recent op-ed by Phil Coleman that likened the people in Save the Art to the southern racists who hide behind "heritage" to conceal their racism. How about coming out against those inflammatory insinuations?
Many of us are troubled and concerned about that aspect of things as well as the museum sale itself. You are in position to really make a difference here, not by being for or against the sale, or moralistic about people's rage and frustration, but by opening the way toward a solution that we all can live with. What steps do you think are necessary to create a future that brings honor, prosperity, and peace to the museum and the community?
Rosemary Starace, Pittsfield
The writer is an artist and writer, active in the Berkshire arts community for nearly 30 years.
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Letter: “Questions about Sotheby's, contractors unanswered”
The Berkshire Eagle, October 17, 2017
To the editor:
As a longtime member of the Berkshire Museum's Collections Committee, a longtime curator at the Clark and the curator of two exhibitions at the Berkshire Museum, I ask some simple questions:
What are the financial arrangements with Sotheby's, the auction house handling the sale of as much as $70 million of Berkshire Museum art? What is Sotheby's take?
Mark Gold, the Williamstown attorney working for the Berkshire Museum, is a very fine lawyer. The museum could not have done better in engaging him. Are his fees pegged in any way to the sales price at Sotheby's?
The Berkshire Museum has engaged consultants to help it plan its New Vision project. Do these consultants have two-part contracts, one part governing strategic planning before the sale and another part governing implementation after the sale?
The works of art are held by the museum in trust for the people of Pittsfield and Berkshire County. The public deserves to know how much money auction houses and outside contractors are making on art held to benefit them.
Brian Allen, Arlington, Vermont
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Our Opinion: “Berkshire Museum, halt the art auction”
The Berkshire Eagle, Editorial, October 31, 2017
Imagine if Berkshire County didn't care about its museum.
If anything, this season of tumult for the Berkshire Museum has proved the folks in these hills very much care for their oldest museum, established by Zenas Crane Jr., a son of the Berkshires whose curiosity about nature and art created a "window on the world" through which this community has been looking for 114 years.
On July 12, the museum's leadership announced a plan to sell 40 artworks to fund a $60 million New Vision plan that builds a massive endowment and renovates the building.
Rolling out the New Vision, the museum rang alarm bells it hadn't sounded before. Two years ago, when the museum announced it was entering a process to create a master plan for the future, it did so declaring publicly that its financial picture was healthy. It emerged from that secretive process promoting a dire narrative that the museum would close in six to eight years, but that its $60 million New Vision would save it. The museum's cry for help was a startling turnabout.
At the time of the New Vision announcement, The Eagle's editorial board supported the museum's plan, believing that course necessary to ensure its survival and redefine its purpose.
But since then, reporting and investigation by this newspaper have raised serious questions about just how distressed is the museum's financial situation. We now know the New Vision has been from the start a fait accompli, a process that composed a grand, but flawed, solution for a simpler problem. Indeed, the attorney general's office believes this deaccessioning warrants further legal review.
The deaccessioning is not a survival plan; it's a perilous gambit.
In polite terms, the New Vision is nebulous; the museum has not articulated this plan in sufficient detail. Outside of a few renderings of what the museum might look like in the New Vision, this particular venture has not inspired the confidence to justify either the $20 million renovation or the $40 million endowment, even if the sale was an acceptable path.
All of this has caused us to revise our original endorsement of the Berkshire Museum plan. We urge the trustees to halt the sale of the artwork.
The extent of the proposed sale — including two Norman Rockwell paintings, a significant collection of Hudson River School paintings, including works by Albert Bierstadt, William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Frederic Church, as well as two sculptures by Alexander Calder — set off a vibrant discussion of its propriety and necessity, much of which has appeared in this newspaper. The Massachusetts Cultural Council, under the leadership of Executive Director Anita Walker, calls this sale "a violation of the museum's public trust." The Berkshire Museum's deaccessioning plan cost it long-term relationships with well-respected national arts organizations, including the Smithsonian.
Experts, including those at the Cultural Council, have disputed the severity of the museum's proclaimed financial distress. Undoubtedly, the museum could use millions more dollars to add to its endowment, but the method chosen to get this money resembles throwing out the baby to save the bath water.
Fundraising is difficult, but necessary and achievable: The museum already has $5 million pledged toward its renovation, an amount experts say is at least what the museum needs to recompose its endowment. Offers — real offers — of expertise and financial safety nets have been made to the museum to clear a different path forward without having to sell the art. The trustees rejected them.
The long-term success of the museum can only be assured by the continued support of the larger Berkshire community, and for that to occur, the community needs transparency from museum leaders.
The intense public attention now being paid to the museum might prove to be an unexpected benefit — provided the sale does not come to fruition. The museum has time to explore various forms of fundraising, both conventional and innovative, that might obviate, or substantially reduce, the need to sell its art to build an endowment and carry out a renovation. The spirited debate that has occurred might assist such fundraising.
The brief filed Monday by the Massachusetts attorney general's office finds clear fault with how the museum's leaders have handled this sale. The attorney general's office has joined a pair of lawsuits calling for a halt to the sale. In its filing, the attorney general's office cited its "significant concerns about the board's decision to sell the 40 pieces of art that warrant further consideration and investigation." In contrast, the museum leadership continues to assert its "strong legal grounds to move forward and secure the future of the Berkshire Museum as an invaluable asset to the educational, cultural and economic life of our community."
One would be hard-pressed to find anyone in this county who doesn't want a secure future for the Berkshire Museum. That's not the disagreement; the argument is over the path being proposed.
If the Berkshire Museum's best art is sold under this cloud of questions, it will be gone from the community forever. The decision is irreversible.
Today, a Berkshire Superior Court judge will hear arguments for and against a pause to the sale as the clock ticks toward a Nov. 13 auction date for the first batch of artworks. The decision will be eagerly awaited on both sides.
The Berkshire Museum's deaccessioning breaks a covenant with the citizens of Berkshire County. The Berkshire Museum — and this collection of art that rivals the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. — is this community's "window on the world," as the Berkshire Museum itself puts it. It's a window that must not be broken.
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“State Rep. to speak at autism collective”
By Berkshire Eagle Staff, November 10, 2017
PITTSFIELD — State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier and the Massachusetts Families Organizing for Change group will speak at the Autism Collective of Berkshire County's monthly meeting on Friday, Nov. 17. The meeting takes place from 10:15 a.m to noon on the third floor of 2 South St. suite 370..
The Pittsfield Democrat will speak about her experiences in the world of disabilities and what's on the horizon at the State House. MFOFC will discuss ways people can empower themselves and their families to advocate for change.
ACBC runs monthly community meetings to discuss autism and services available in the Berkshires. The collaborative is sponsored by Autism Connections, AdLib, Hillcrest Educational Centers, College Internship Program, and Berkshire County Arc.
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Letter: “Lawmakers must revisit stance on museum”
The Berkshire Eagle, November 21, 2017
To the editor:
I am distressed to say that I am unable to convince our state senator, Adam Hinds, my state representative, Smitty Pignatelli, and Pittsfield's state representative, Tricia Farley-Bouvier, that they should publicly support the preservation of the Berkshire Museum, which serves all the Berkshires and beyond, by preventing the sale of its most financially valuable holdings, which are also among its masterpieces most beloved by the community.
The representatives and senator are concerned about respecting the wishes of those who want a science/tech museum, but they appear deaf to the notion that science/tech interests are met in other venues in our community, and that, if a need exists for more science/tech, that need can be met without destroying the Berkshire Museum building and its art. The refusal to consider the many other alternatives that have been offered suggests that something other than the needs of the community is afoot.
It was obvious from the start that there was something to hide in an undertaking transacted in secrecy, something that could not withstand public scrutiny. Larry Parnass's outstanding reporting in The Eagle on the behind-the-scenes self-dealing of the museum's board and executive director has borne out what has felt suspicious all along.
Are our representatives and senator too naive to pick up on this? Or are they unconcerned? Their assurances that they are working behind the scenes become less and less convincing. There's no way to know if what they say is true because it, too, is secretive; if it's true that they're working behind the scenes, then they are ineffective against the museum leadership's wall of resistance to public questions and objections. If they are not in fact working behind the scenes but going along with the museum's preposterous blind "vision," then they don't understand the public good that a museum serves, though as public servants it's their obligation to serve the public good.
I would love to know what their experiences with the museum were as children and with their own children, what they would experience as they walk galleries of the museum now, with knowledgeable guides, as they view and take in the harvest of skill and real vision that the museum's collection offers.
Roberta Russell, Lenox
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Tricia Farley-Bouvier 6th Anniversary Celebration!
Thursday, November 30, 2017 at 05:30 pm
Framework, Pittsfield Coworking, 437 North Street, Pittsfield
Join us in celebrating Tricia Farley Bouvier's six years serving as our progressive, community and family-oriented, hard working Democratic state representative!
Come together to re-affirm our shared commitment to making Pittsfield, the Berkshires and Massachusetts a safe, successful and welcoming place to live, work and visit.
Plus check out downtown Pittsfield's awesome new co-working space, catch up with friends, and hear what is happening in the 3rd Berkshire District and the State House.
We hope to see you there! Donate online or contribute at the door.
Sliding scale: $25/$50/$100 or whatever you can afford.
Source:
https://allevents.in/pittsfield/tricia-farley-bouvier-6th-anniversary-celebration/129800904365541#
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Letter: “Support Farley-Bouvier and our nation's ideals”
The Berkshire Eagle, December 13, 2017
To the editor:
The MASS Fiscal Alliance, backed by dark money, is delivering misleading information again about Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier.
I applaud Representative Farley-Bouvier for supporting H.3269, a bill that reflects the very same immigration policy adopted by our Pittsfield Police Department. Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier opposes racism and discrimination. Her track record in the community as an educator, city councilor and representative consistently demonstrates visible action to our immigrants as friends, neighbors, co-workers and students.
Massachusetts is a leader in education and human rights for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier is a leader who values our national, state and local laws. She is thoughtful and weighs the pros and cons of issues. Each human being has a right to pursue the opportunities available. Whether we are immigrants, naturalized citizens or American citizens by birth, our Pittsfield, Berkshire County and Massachusetts community benefits from the energy, motivation, initiative, commitment, achievement and dreams of our immigrants.
H.3269 will protect the civil rights and safety of all Massachusetts residents. Join me to support Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier.
Marietta Rapetti Cawse, Pittsfield
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Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier
“Farley-Bouvier pushes back against bullying' Mass Fiscal Alliance 'mailer”
By Amanda Drane, The Berkshire Eagle, December 13, 2017
PITTSFIELD — The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance has once again targeted state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier with an eye-catching flyer that arrived in city mailboxes in recent days.
The issue this time? Her support for the Safe Communities Act, which would prohibit local law enforcement from detaining undocumented immigrants for federal immigration violations. It would also bar state officials from participating in the kind of Muslim registry President Donald Trump called for in his campaign.
The mailer displays a roadway sign that reads: "Pittsfield welcomes illegal immigrants," and "sanctuary state next exit."
Farley-Bouvier said it's the second time in the past six months she's been singularly targeted for an issue that enjoys widespread support from colleagues near and far. She said that despite the fact that her fellow local legislators — all men — also support the bill, she is the only one to receive this type of attention.
Farley-Bouvier said she was also the only one targeted by Mass Fiscal in Berkshire County for voting in favor of legislative pay raises.
"They disproportionately attack women," Farley-Bouvier said Monday, asserting Mass Fiscal is a dark money group funded by "millionaires trying to protect their bottom line."
Paul Craney, executive director of the agency, says his team is targeting legislators who sponsored the bill, of whom there were about 80.
"We intend to work our way through the list until we've educated people who live in every district represented by someone who promotes this bad idea. We're prioritizing based on a number of factors, including overall voting records of individual legislators," Craney told The Eagle. "We have mailed to the districts of 14 lawmakers so far, and five of those are women."
Despite noticeable disdain for Democrats, the leaders of the nonprofit have said it has no partisan slant. Officials, including those at the state's Office of Campaign and Political Finance, have tried in vain to get Mass Fiscal to release information about its donors.
"This cost them a lot of money," Farley-Bouvier said of the mailings. "This cost them as much money as a whole campaign is for me."
Craney has said the organization respects the privacy of its donors, and said disclosure attempts are a way to distract from the issues.
"It's a classic bullying tactic, and we won't stand for it," he said.
Farley-Bouvier said her support for the Safe Communities Act comes mainly because the federal immigration system doesn't work and it shouldn't be up to local officers to enforce it.
"It's not fair to local taxpayers to have to enforce a really broken system," she said. "Our taxpayers in Pittsfield are really maxed out."
The flyer also says Massachusetts taxpayers spend $1.8 billion annually on illegal immigration, citing the Federation of American Immigration Reform. The Southern Poverty Law Center recognizes this agency as an "extremist" group with racist tendencies.
Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the federation, stands by the cost estimate and disputes that characterization of the organization. He said the quotes the law center uses to discredit the organization were taken out of context and are not reflective of FAIR's policies.
Farley-Bouvier said immigrants give more than they take, citing a report from New American Economy showing undocumented workers in Massachusetts generated some $381.4 million for the tax base in 2014. Undocumented residents do not qualify for public benefits like SNAP, she said.
The thrust of the Safe Communities Act serves to separate local officers from enforcing laws they get no funding to enforce, she said — laws that most agree need fixing at the federal level.
By leaving immigration enforcement to the federal agencies funded for that purpose, she said it frees up local officers to keep the Berkshires safe. That way when an undocumented immigrant witnesses a violent crime, they are more likely to trust local officers won't hand them over to federal officers and offer a statement.
"That's the kind of trust that law enforcement is looking for in a community," she said.
She said the bill in no way offers safe harbor for criminals, which bears repeating given the oft-used term, "sanctuary." The bill would codify a policy already practiced in Pittsfield, which is to honor criminal detainer requests, but not administrative ones, from outside agencies.
Pittsfield Police Chief Michael Wynn has said the department sees very few administrative detainer requests and declines them because the department has no long-term lockup facility.
Officials aired the legislation in a hearing in June, and it remains in the Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security.
Farley-Bouvier said the bill has less to do with offering so-called sanctuary and more to do with good policy — a point she said is often lost in the terminology.
"I think we need to get away from the whole `sanctuary city' thing," she said. "It's confusing."
Reach Amanda Drane at adrane@berkshireeagle.com, @amandadrane on Twitter or at 413-496-6296.
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Tricia Farley-Bouvier: “Time is right in state for paid family leave”
By Tricia Farley-Bouvier, op-ed, The Berkshire Eagle, February 11, 2018
PITTSFIELD — Twenty-five years ago, on Feb. 5, 1993, President Clinton signed into law the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which allows certain workers to take up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave to deal with a serious health condition, have a baby, bond with a newborn or adopted child, or take care of a seriously ill relative.
The FMLA was a major stride forward for the rights of workers and their families, but after a quarter-century the program's major gaps are clear. FMLA does not cover about 40 percent of the workforce, including workers at smaller companies and those who have recently changed jobs. And many workers who are eligible for FMLA can't afford to take unpaid time off from work in an emergency. They're often left to choose between taking care of a child they love or keeping the job that puts food on the table.
Now, 25 years after the FMLA was signed, a grassroots coalition of community organizations, faith groups, and labor unions is advancing a pair of policies that would help fix these problems and strengthen our Commonwealth's economy. This fall, the Raise Up Massachusetts coalition collected over 274,000 signatures from registered voters across the Commonwealth to place two questions on the November 2018 ballot: paid family and medical leave and an increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022.
Over the next five months, the Legislature has the opportunity to pass these policies ourselves and avoid the need for an expensive ballot campaign. As co-chair of the House Progressive Caucus, my colleagues and I will be fighting for strong paid leave that covers all workers, and that doesn't hurt any single group or leave vulnerable families behind.
Sets up new trust
The bills I co-sponsor, H.2172 and S.1048 would make employees eligible for job-protected paid leave to recover from a serious illness or injury, to care for a seriously ill or injured family member, or to care for a new child. The bills prohibit employer retaliation against workers who take time off under these conditions.
Employees taking paid leave would receive partial wage replacement equal to a percentage of their average weekly wages, with a maximum weekly benefit of either $650 or $1,000. Paid leave would last up to either 12 or 16 weeks to care for a seriously ill or injured family member or to bond with a new child (family leave), and up to 26 weeks for an employee's own serious illness or injury (medical leave).
But won't this cost employers too much money? No. Benefits would be funded through small employer premium contributions to the new Family and Employment Security Trust Fund or to private insurance plans. It would allow employers to require employees to contribute up to 50 percent of the cost of premiums. It would phase in over a few years, create a waiting period before employees can receive benefits, use existing agencies for administration and enforcement and allow companies to keep existing plans, all of which reduce costs. Employers tell us they are looking for a straightforward plan with low administrative costs and offers a level playing field. This bill meets those needs.
When it comes to paid family and medical leave, the example of the FMLA shows how important it is that a paid leave program cover all workers. Family and medical emergencies can happen to people who work for small companies, those who just started new jobs and independent contractors. This legislation program should make sure they are covered.
I am proud to work alongside my colleagues in the Legislature, advocates, and most importantly you, my constituents, to advance this important policy change that protects families and builds a stronger workforce.
Tricia Farley-Bouvier is the Democratic state representative for the 3rd Berkshire District.
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Lynn Villency Cohen: “Assessing AG-museum accord”
By Lynn Villency Cohen, op-ed, The Berkshire Eagle, February 12, 2018
STOCKBRIDGE - As the uniquely contentious legal dispute draws to a close, what are we to make of the settlement negotiated by Attorney General Maura Healey and lawyers for the Berkshire Museum? By allowing all of the 40 works to be sold, the attorney general has heedlessly opened the door to selling art for purposes of clearing a deficit, renovating a gallery or strengthening an endowment, long regarded by professional museum associations as unethical policy.
Considering the Berkshire Museum's most troubling ethical lapses in handling the excessively large deaccessioning of art work, just how do we put this in its proper perspective? Perhaps it is largely akin to a divorce whereby the parties negotiate the partitioning of the assets and their destinations; in this case, the entire 40 works that make up the corpus of the art collection will be sold and dispersed to private collectors. They may all leave Berkshire County, a heartbreaking loss for all who value these works.
In light of the Berkshire Museum's ethical breaches that had been extensively outlined in previous legal battles by the Commonwealth's top lawyer, it is a weak and wholly unsatisfactory denouement. And yet in a stunning recent development, Maura Healey inexplicably backed away from any concrete punitive action.
But lest we label this a mere slap on the wrist; seen in the context of state courts overall restraint in interfering with museum autonomy, particularly with regard to collection policy and management, the attorney general's stipulation of an arranged sale of Norman Rockwell's "Shuffleton's Barbershop" to a public museum, may be looked upon as slightly beyond the expected norm of nonintervention. Courts are generally reluctant to craft laws governing self-regulating nonprofit boards and tend to shy away from legal reforms for museum stewardship.
With this in mind, given that one of the Rockwell paintings is protected from disappearing into private hands, the negotiated compromise is one small victory for the community. Nonetheless, the attorney general's controversial decision to allow 39 works to be sold with no restraints on the use of the proceeds arouses speculation about pressure from local and state politicians to back down and tow the line. A gift to the neglected Pittsfield of a neat $50 million economic boost benefiting bank and construction coffers will doubtlessly be flaunted by its politicians.
A precedent established
Naturally, it begs the question of to what degree will this open the floodgates for museums with appreciated art work to head to auction and use proceeds to fund endowments, renovations and operating expenses? Well, most assuredly this decision will have a resounding effect on institutions, given the strength of the global art market, the sheer number of museums, the challenges of yearly and capital fundraising and the migration of wealth to regions of the country, set against the backdrop of economically struggling areas that were prosperous decades ago. Public institutions, whether they be museums, historical societies, libraries, or universities with appreciated art that have no restrictions on their sale, will risk disapproval and condemnation to shore up balance sheets and embark on building projects. Some planned sales could well mushroom into protracted Berkshire Museum-like debacles.
While major deaccessioning cases have appeared in wealthy cities such as New York and Boston, they are likely to appear in areas of the country that socioeconomically are most at risk. Museums are predictably tied to their communities and we have witnessed many cities, once prosperous, decline in areas such as the rust belt, the Midwest and upstate New York.
By contrast, the wealth centers of Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles and the San Francisco bay area have new flourishing museums, art galleries, and many wealthy collectors and donors to ensure a vibrant art scene. Not so with cities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New England and upstate New York where museums that were once prosperous entities founded and supported by wealthy 19th and early 20th century industrialists have experienced a wealth migration over many decades. It is likely these struggling museums will be more inclined to operate outside of the parameters of ethical deaccessioning.
But rather than seeing this as a muddied compromise by lawyers and judges entrusted with museum oversight, what is important here is to recognize the unified, organized response by a grass roots coalition firmly opposed to the sale of an art collection with paintings and sculpture interwoven into the emotional fabric of the community for generations. It is their herculean, hard fought efforts that brought this to the attention of the public, and the local and national media. Their actions inevitably spared the Rockwell painting from disappearing into private hands. And along the way, these efforts resulted in a template of action for communities faced with similar scenarios.
While there will be no homecoming parties planned for these beloved works of art, there is some comfort in knowing that one Rockwell painting will be better cared for, exhibited and preserved by an institution that will value it in a way it deserves. Regrettably, after many Berkshire Museum blunders and legal roller coaster rides, this may just be as good as it gets.
Lynn Villency Cohen is an art historian and writer.
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Letter: “A great day for museum and for city of Pittsfield”
The Berkshire Eagle, February 16, 2018
To the editor:
Congratulations are in order for the Berkshire Museum and for the city of Pittsfield, which will continue to have a thriving museum downtown, serving our children and families for many, many years.
The museum's leaders stayed the course and reached an agreement with the attorney general that will allow the museum to move forward, making plans for a bright future. That the Berkshire Museum will exist in Pittsfield, serving as one of the cultural anchors of our city for generations to come, is great news for our community.
During my years as mayor, I was well aware of the economic challenges that our local nonprofit organizations face, and I am gratified that the museum will now be able to fulfill its mission by operating as a financially healthy organization. The importance of the museum as an economic anchor cannot be overstated, and I am excited to look forward to the collaborations and partnerships that will now be possible.
My dream for the city was to create a place where culture and the arts are available to all our citizens; now we can feel assured that the Berkshire Museum will continue to play its part, welcoming thousands of schoolchildren to participate in exciting educational experiences for decades to come.
This is terrific news for the city of Pittsfield and I hope that our friends and neighbors will join me in looking ahead to a great future for the Berkshire Museum.
James M. Ruberto, Pittsfield
The writer is a former mayor of Pittsfield.
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Letter: “Firing, house-cleaning is a better 'new vision'”
The Berkshire Eagle, February 20, 2018
To the editor:
I was saddened to read former Mayor James M. Ruberto's letter in support of the Berkshire Museum's unethical deaccessioning plan (Eagle, Feb.16). It has been determined that the fiscal problems the museum faces are not as imminent, grave or unsolvable as stated, and it will be a fool's errand to gut a beautiful building for a sketchy "new vision."
Ruberto states that: "I am excited to look forward to the collaborations and partnerships that will now be possible." Ha! The Berkshire Museum has become a pariah in the art world; the Smithsonian has already severed ties.
Ruberto also states: "My dream for the city was to create a place where culture and the arts are available to all our citizens." Well, we might as well scratch "the arts" out of that statement, as the loss of such significant and irreplaceable works of art robs the citizens of the Berkshires and denies the possibility of Pittsfield ever becoming a world-class arts destination.
I have a dream, too. My dream is that the board of directors of the museum see the errors of its ways, feel appropriate shame and resign, realizing that the ill will they have created will not be easily remedied. A new board, one that recognizes the value of the treasures at stake, and one that has the vision and experience to do what it takes to make the museum once again a viable and cherished part of our community (by bringing the art home), and will take charge — their first task being the firing of Van Shields.
I'm also excited at the notion of a children's/science museum being created in Pittsfield. Maybe some of the disgraced board would like to work on that project. It could be a venue for "welcoming thousands of schoolchildren to participate in exciting educational experiences for decades to come."
Flavia Mastellone, Williamstown
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Letter: “Sale would devastate potential cultural corridor”
The Berkshire Eagle, February 28, 2018
To the editor:
The importance of culture to the Berkshires is well-documented in the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission December 2017 study. While Pittsfield purports to create a cultural corridor, it will relinquish its greatest asset with the devastating liquidation of an exceptional art collection at the Berkshire Museum.
The recently proposed agreement between the Berkshire Museum and the office of the attorney general (AGO) does not "save the art." Instead, it sanctions the net proceeds (after Sotheby's fees) of $50 million or more without any fundamental restrictions. This sale is unprecedented and highly publicized.
The AGO factually documents the Berkshire Museum's deaccessioning actions in its Jan. 16th report. In 2015, at the behest of the Museum, Sotheby's and Christie's appraised 585 of its most valuable art objects worth an average of $64 million. Sotheby's selected 40 objects to sell, representing 90 percent of the value of the collection, even though the museum's hired strategic consultant stated only one-third of the amount was needed. Regardless, the museum laid plans to spend proceeds, incorporating the New Vision plan. The AGO report states, "But the New Vision does not solve that problem. Instead, the New Vision proposes more ways to spend money, without identifying savings."
Further, the museum contracted with Sotheby's in May 2017 which violated its own bylaws, ignored restrictions and notified the AGO after committing to Sotheby's.
The proposed agreement moreover violates the public trust. Beginning with Zenas Crane, generations have contributed to the museum for the study of art, nature and culture. How can this museum ignore creative solutions, change its mission and sell its most valuable works? Saving the building amounts to gutting it for a completely different purpose.
How can our public officials who have promoted this devastation, believe it will promote a cultural corridor? Wouldn't it be more sensible to use the geographic centrality of the museum and its exceptional collection as a magnet? Has it reached out to the wider region for fundraising or only concentrated on the allure of new, easy money? The proposed North Adams Extended Railroad & Architecture project cost is $65 million, yet the Berkshire Museum needs $60 million for its New Vision? Is North Adams a more creative, stronger fundraiser?
How can the Massachusetts Attorney General capitulate and reward wrongdoing with a completely unrestricted use of $50 million-plus? Hopefully, the state Supreme Court Justice will reject the proposed agreement. Only then, will the community be able to reunite and plan a realistic future for the Berkshire Museum.
Sharon Gregory, Great Barrington
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Letter: “Community must demand end to museum art sale”
The Berkshire Eagle, March 5, 2018
To the editor:
The people of every city and town in Berkshire County should be outraged that the trustees of the Berkshire Museum are selling artworks meant to be held in trust for them.
The very valuable art being sold by the trustees, including the two Norman Rockwell paintings given by the artist himself, were meant for the benefit of every citizen in Berkshire County.
Yet the trustees did not call a single public meeting before deciding to auction off 40 of the most beloved treasures in the museum.
The sale of tens of millions of dollars worth of art from the collection will decimate the value of the museum forever. This situation is serious and should alarm every Berkshire County citizen.
The real financial asset of Berkshire Museum is its art collection given by many Berkshire County families over more than a century. The building has very little relative value.
Trustees and museum directors come and go. Many of the trustees serving on the museum's current board were not born in the Berkshires. They may not know how important the art is to those who were. Therefore, it is up to the citizens to let them know how much the art means to them and to their children.
Selling the fine art collection is selling the heart and soul of the museum. It is selling the wonderful gifts from Norman Rockwell to the Berkshire community he loved so much. It is selling the history of many Berkshire County families!
Instead of selling the art, the trustees must be required to carry out traditional forms of fund-raising. If they are in need of more support, they should let the public know and ask for help. They should not be allowed to sell the most valuable parts of the museum's collection which they were actually meant to care for!
The people must demand an end to the sale of the art before it is too late.
Linda Lykkebak, Orlando, Florida
The writer was born and grew up in Pittsfield.
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Letter: “Museum's 'new vision' not what youth need”
The Berkshire Eagle, March 10, 2018
To the editor:
I recently received a request to renew my membership at the Berkshire Museum. The leaflet stated, "Our Mission: Bringing people together for experiences that spark creativity and innovative thinking by making inspiring educational connections among art, history, and natural science." I am not sure what this muddle of words means, but I am sure that the museum will be able to educate people about the connection between stripping a museum of its art and making money. I don't think this is the kind of innovative and creative thinking we should be promoting.
The new vision described on the website states: "The mission of the museum stays the same, and fine art remains an important part." Except all the really fine art will be gone. Perhaps they will exhibit digital images of it.
Over the past few months we received lots of communication from the co-directors of the museum: the chief experience officer, and the chief engagement officer — not from a curator of science, or a curator of art. These new positions sound more suitable for Disney World, or maybe a Kafka play, than for a reputable museum.
The website talks about an operating deficit of about $1 million per year. That doesn't seem like a huge amount for a county with many residents with resources. If there are people willing to pay $55 million to grab the art there are probably some who will pay a small fraction of that to keep the art.
I have been a member of the museum for six years and never saw any sign of aggressive fundraising. It is the board's and executive's job to do the hard work of soliciting grants and looking for patrons, rather than finding ways and excuses to cash in on former patrons' generosity. About that $55 million — how many millions will Sotheby's and others associated with the sale get? How much is being wasted on seller's fees, buyer's fees, catalog and exhibit costs? None of that will be helping the museum.
As for the museum's "new vision" for multimedia education: the last thing our youth need is more time spent looking at screens, interacting by pushing buttons or speaking to computer/robots and being treated to superficial infotainment. What our kids need is more time observing real objects of art; more pigment and fewer pixels; more making contacts with people and less making contacts on push buttons. My observations as a teacher and scout leader are that spending time in virtual reality saps initiative and reduces the ability of young people to distinguish between the real and the fictitious.
The few worthwhile changes vaguely described in the new vision discussed on the website would not cost anywhere near $55 million. In contrast, the conceptual drawings I saw posted at the museum show lots of empty space and architecture reminiscent of shopping center food courts. Enhancing the aquarium, setting up a few rooms where people could actually build things or perform experiments and hiring some dedicated presenters would be far more effective and require a lot less money than creating yet another soon-to-be-outmoded electronic environment.
Robert Cherdack, Ashfield
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Letter: “Those who trash museum don't grasp harsh reality”
The Berkshire Eagle, March 13, 2018
To the editor:
Like everyone else who cares about Pittsfield and our Berkshires, I have followed closely the saga of the Berkshire Museum with great hope and trepidation. I have the highest respect for the majority of people on both sides of the issue who want nothing more than to see our Berkshire Museum thrive. What has been the most troubling, although predictable, are the mean-spirited letters and comments from people who are not only ill informed but have no basis to make judgments without facts to back them up.
Unless you have served on a volunteer board, particularly one in the cultural arena, you cannot appreciate how difficult the job is. You battle every day just to survive. Ticket sales and other revenue generate maybe half of the income required. Fundraising must fill the gap. It's the only business I know of that starts each year knowing it will be a loss. After cutting expenses to the bone, you then must go out hat in hand and raise the required dollars to keep the doors open.
Those who criticize the museum for not having a curator never bothered to think it maybe could not afford one. Paying employees, the electric bill and other critical obligations takes precedence. To those who have been the most critical: Have you been at a board meeting where, unless directors wrote a personal check, the doors would not open? Well, I have. It is not a pleasant experience. To criticize trustees for this level of commitment is most disheartening.
Early in the discussion, Mass MoCA Director Joseph Thompson wrote a letter (July 29, 2017) in support of the Berkshire Museum's decision. You should read it again. He was right on target. Why? Because he has had to walk the walk. He was the one who had to pay the bills to keep the lights on and staff in place with very limited funds. It took a lot of difficult times for Mass MoCA to get where it is today.
Those cultural organizations that managed to survive did so for one basic reason: They have had one or more benefactors who stepped up to balance the ledger. The Berkshire Museum would have been in this position years ago if it were not for the largess of the Crane family. The same is true for those organizations that have benefited from the extremely generous support of families like the Fitzpatricks, Feigenbaums, Millers, Cranes and Englands.
And another reality for those who think raising money will be easy: Most of these individuals and businesses we have relied on are gone. Yes, others have stepped up, but how do you replace GE, KB Toys, Sheaffer Eaton, ED Jones, Sabic, First Aggie Bank and the countless other companies that have closed or moved their corporate headquarters? We should be applaud those that have assumed some of the load, but realize that raising even $5 million locally, a home run by many standards, still would not begin to bridge the $55-million gap that even the attorney general concedes is real.
Many have opined on what would be the reaction of Zenas Crane and Norman Rockwell. I would suggest that, knowing how much they both loved the museum and were vested in its future, they would look at the facts and support this decision to guarantee the Berkshire Museum's future.
So where do we go from here? Fortunately, determined people persevered. They provided a solution for which we could only hope. This has never been a winner-take-all situation. To succeed, there had to be trade-offs, compromise and people willing to make hard choices for the good of the Berkshire Museum. No one wanted to sell paintings. But it was the only realistic solution. Now is the time for all of us to get on board as a community and support our Berkshire Museum.
Gary Scarafoni, Pittsfield
The writer is former president of First Agricultural Bank and of the Colonial Theatre.
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Letter: “Crane gifts to museum would be painful loss”
The Berkshire Eagle, March 13, 2018
To the editor:
I am saddened by the potential loss of Berkshire County's cultural assets, those being the gifts Zenas Crane made during his lifetime to his Berkshire Museum. Often overlooked in the press are those gifts associated with former Massachusetts governor and senator Winthrop Murray Crane, subject to being deaccessioned for cash. Governor (1900-1903) and senator (1904-1913), Winthrop Murray Crane and his family also donated works that are among the 40 to be sold, acquired over the last century as his heirs wanted to honor their direct ancestors and the mission of the Berkshire Museum. A native son of Dalton, both businessman and statesman, Winthrop Murray Crane is equally revered as part of this area's proud heritage.
Sen. Crane's wife, Josephine Boardman Crane, and daughter, Louise Crane, gave art treasures either directly or through their nonprofit foundations. Louise Crane had no descendants.
Works include: William-Adolph Bouguereau's "La Bourrique/The Horseback Ride;" Girolamo Troppa's "Apollo and Satyr;" Thomas Wilmer Dewing's "Two Ladies in a Drawing Room/The White Dress;" George Henry Durrie's "Hunter in Winter Wood;" Adriaen Isenbrandt's "Adam and Eve/The Temptation;" Augustus Saint-Gaudens' "Diana of the Tower; " Henry Moore's "Three Seated Figures;" Edward Vuillard's "Deux femmes dans un interieur;" and Edwin Lord Weeks' "Indian Prince, Palace of Agra."
The Josephine and Louise Crane Foundation, now located in Falmouth., has assets of over $70 million and gave $500,000 during the 2007 Berkshire Museum Capital Campaign. Attempts to reach out to the Winthrop Murray Crane ancestors regarding their feeling towards the Berkshire Museum's intended renovation plans and deaccessioned artworks have gone unanswered.
As an aside, I thank Josephine Boardman Crane for also establishing the Junior Naturalist Program at the Berkshire Museum, which was an important part of my childhood learning experiences growing up in Pittsfield during the 1970s with Woody Bousquet and Thom Smith. My experiences, enhanced by visits to the Berkshire Museum as well as later hiking excursions through the hills of the Catskills and Berkshires with Woody, compelled me to study art history in college at Tufts University. Memories of the paintings by Hudson River School artists' depictions of our beloved mountain ranges remain clear.
Science, nature, history and art interconnected through paintings — treasures "once" known at the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield.
David Peter Moser, Panama City, Florida
The author is a former resident of Pittsfield.
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“Museum ‘compromise’ is a bad deal for Berkshire County”
By Donald A. MacGillis, op-ed, The Boston Globe, March 14, 2018
Since July of last year, the bonds and traditions that have been the foundation of America’s art museums have been shaken by the decision of the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield to auction off its 40 most valuable art works. Throughout the country’s history, museums have benefited from the generosity of donors who could be certain their gifts were safe in the hands of grateful museum directors.
That trust has been shattered by the Berkshire Museum’s planned sale. The sale has been opposed by the American Alliance of Museums, the Association of Art Museum Directors, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. The proposed deal has forced a severing of the relationship the museum has had with the Smithsonian Institution. If the sale is not stopped in the courts, museum directors and curators throughout the country recoil at the prospect that their boards will take the Pittsfield museum’s easy way to a balanced budget over the harder work of fund-raising and putting together attractive exhibits that bring in needed revenue.
This week, the legal dispute over the sale will be under review by a single justice of the state’s Supreme Judicial Court. The issues raised are significant enough to warrant a hearing by the full court.
A grass-roots group, Save the Art, Save the Museum, quickly organized protests against the sale, and two groups of citizens in Berkshire County have sued to stop it. The office of the state attorney general, which has authority over the state’s nonprofit institutions, made a filing in January to the Massachusetts Appeals Court that was highly critical of the museum’s decision-making, providing evidence the institution’s finances could be solidified with new funds far short of the tens of millions the sale is expected to yield. Yet inexplicably, the attorney general agreed last month to a compromise in name only, allowing the museum to sell the planned 40 pieces with no restrictions up to an amount of $55 million, after which there would be limitations.
The one stipulation was that the museum would sell one of the paintings, “Shuffleton’s Barbershop,” which Norman Rockwell painted and had personally donated to the museum, to an unnamed nonprofit US museum and that for a period of 18 to 24 months it would be exhibited at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge. The painting, considered one of Rockwell’s best, would not end up in a billionaire’s den, or at least not until the unnamed museum decided it, too, had to “monetize” the painting.
The attorney general’s deal allows Berkshirites a chance to bid farewell to the Rockwell but not to works by Frederic Edwin Church, Albert Bierstadt, Henry Moore, and Alexander Calder, which are already in the hands of Sotheby’s. Both Rockwell and Calder spent parts of their lives in Berkshire County.
The museum board wants to use the sale’s proceeds to buttress its endowment and fund what it calls a “New Vision” for the museum, focused more on history and science and less on art. Such an institution, museum officials have argued, could help county schools in bringing these subjects to life for their students. But in their attempt to sell a skeptical public on the merits of their vision, they have not been able to point to a single small-city, general-purpose museum like Pittsfield’s that has successfully navigated this kind of transformation.
Granted, Berkshire County has other first-rate art museums, from the Rockwell in Stockbridge to the Clark in Williamstown and MassMoCA in North Adams. But none of these is a short walk from Pittsfield’s inner-city neighborhoods and none offers the Berkshire Museum’s sheer variety of art and sculpture to inspire young minds and hands. That inspiration can work in many ways, much as Hudson River school paintings by artists like Church and Bierstadt inspired wilderness conservation, and turned couch potatoes into hikers. No county in America, not even one richly endowed with art like Berkshire, needs less of it.
The Supreme Judicial Court should take a close look at a deal that sets a precedent for allowing museums to violate the trust placed in them by the donors who have graced them with their works and by the public that has supported them with memberships and contributions.
Donald A. MacGillis is a member of the Berkshire Museum and a coplaintiff in one of the local groups opposed to the sale.
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Letter: “Expert provides voice for museum donors”
The Berkshire Eagle, March 26, 2018
To the editor:
Thank you museum consultant Martin Gammon for finally providing a clear, mature voice speaking for ancient donors, reminding those entrusted with the family jewels that to sell priceless treasures intended for posterity for present gain is to "break a compact with donors" ("Art expert files last-minute amicus brief," Eagle, March 23).
Among those donors are Zenas Crane, Norman Rockwell and Alexander Calder. These great, gifted, generous donors intended their gifts to be an everlasting reminder to us that they walked our beloved Berkshire hills and vales just as we do now, that they met with success here, and in gratitude they are presenting us with these fruits of their labor.
These "fruits" link us not only with them but with the cultural world beyond our hills. They lift us up and give us permission to hold our heads high because, in these humble hills, greatness was born and flourished.
Margaret M. Roussin, Hinsdale
Martin Gammon also wrote an opinion piece on the Berkshire Museum for The Eagle on March 17, 2018.
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“SJC ruling clears Berkshire Museum to sell art works”
By Larry Parnass, The Berkshire Eagle, April 5, 2018
PITTSFIELD — The Berkshire Museum can sell works of art and raise up to $55 million to keep its doors open and to pursue a new approach to the use of its collection, a justice with the state's top court ruled Thursday morning.
Justice David A. Lowy of the Supreme Judicial Court of Suffolk County approved the petition submitted in February by the museum and backed by Attorney General Maura Healey.
The sales can now proceed without any of the additional independent oversight sought by one group of sale opponents.
"Based on the Attorney General's investigation into the sale and her assent to the requested relief, the Museum has satisfied its burden of establishing that it has become impossible or impracticable to administer the Museum strictly in accordance with its charitable purpose," Lowy wrote, "thus entitling the Museum to relief."
Lowy's decision arrived a day before the museum faced a deadline to supply promotional materials for a May auction at Sotheby's in New York City.
The timing allows a first group of works to move to sale, to the disappointment of members of the Save the Art-Save the Museum group, as well as two groups of Berkshire County residents who sued to halt the sales.
The chairwoman of the museum's trustees applauded the decision.
“This is great news for the people of Berkshire County and everyone who visits the Berkshire Museum," Elizabeth McGraw said in a statement.
She went on to recognize divisions in the community over the museum's push to sell art, and called for healing.
"We recognize this decision may not please those who have opposed the museum’s plans," McGraw said. "Still, we hope people will be able to move forward in a constructive way to help us secure and strengthen the future of this museum, at a time when our community needs it more than ever."
An opponent of the sales, Lynn Villency Cohen, said she regretted that Lowy did not decide to appoint a financial monitor or overseer in addition to Healey's office.
"At the very least, given the Berkshire Museum’s glaring indifference to the groundswell of community opposition ... Justice Lowy should have appointed an independent special master to ensure that sales proceeds are handled responsibly," she said.
"This independent overseer may have served as a small deterrent to museums contemplating sales to erase deficits and bulk up endowments," Cohen said. The decision caps five months of litigation watched nationally by museums and the art world.
The decision caps five months of litigation watched nationally by museums and the art world.
The road to the justice's ruling wound through two lower courts, months of probing by the attorney general and street protests in Pittsfield, Cambridge and New York. Disagreement about the sales divided museum supporters. National museum organizations called the plan unethical, as did the executive director of the Massachusetts Cultural Commission.
After years of behind-the-scenes planning, the museum announced last July that it planned to sell two paintings by Norman Rockwell and 38 other works in a drive to raise more than $60 million.
Without an infusion of money, leaders said, the 115-year-old institution risked closing due to recurring deficits.
In early February, after months of legal skirmishing with Healey's staff lawyers, the museum won that office's backing to sell art.
On Feb. 9, the museum petitioned the SJC for permission to allow it to sell up to $55 million worth of works from its collection under certain conditions.
Lowy's decision follows the conditions set forth in that petition. It does not endorse a call from attorney Michael B. Keating for the court to appoint a special master to provide additional supervision of how auction proceeds are used.
Though the move was backed by Healey's nonprofits and public charities division, that state agency and the museum continued to disagree about whether any of the works were legally restricted from sale.
By going to the high court, the museum stood to clear away any such barriers under a process known as "cy pres."
Under the agreement reached with Healey's office, the museum won its support to sell up to $55 million, nearly $30 million more than an internal consultant had once said was needed to stabilize its finances.
In a March hearing before Lowy, Assistant Attorney General Courtney Aladro said her office determined late in its inquiry that the museum needed $55 million.
As concessions, the museum agreed to apply $5 million of the allowed proceeds to care of its collection and pursuit of its New Vision. It also agreed to sell works in several distinct lots and provide reports on the status of sales.
It also agreed to sell Rockwell's masterwork, "Shuffleton's Barbershop," to an unnamed museum through a private transaction handled by Sotheby's. Terms of that sale call for the painting to be displayed at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge for at least 18 months.
A separate statement from Lowy spells out precise terms of sales.
Larry Parnass can be reached at lparnass@berkshireeagle.com, at @larryparnass on Twitter and 413-496-6214.
Supreme Court Judgement: Trustees of Berkshire Museum vs. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey by The Berkshire Eagle on Scribd
SJC : Berkshire Museum Memorandum of Decision by The Berkshire Eagle on Scribd
https://www.scribd.com/document/375630098/SJC-Berkshire-Museum-Memorandum-of-Decision#from_embed
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Tricia Farley-Bouvier: “Bill will help colleges take on sexual violence”
By Tricia.Farley-Bouvier, op-ed, The Berkshire Eagle, April 13, 2018
PITTSFIELD — April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), an annual campaign to raise public awareness about sexual assault and educate communities and individuals on how to prevent sexual violence. Sexual assault on college campus is a national public health crisis. Statistics show that 1 in 5 women and 1 in 16 men are sexually assaulted while in college nationally. During their time at college, 43 percent of women report experiencing violent and abusive dating behaviors and 13 percent of women report being stalked.
To put things in perspective in our state, more than a half a million students are enrolled in a Massachusetts institution of higher education. In 2014, there were 283 reports of rape on Massachusetts campuses, yet only 7 percent of rapes were reported to school officials. The actual number of incidents is likely much higher. What can we do about this?
Secure safety, well-being
The lack of sexual violence education and prevention throughout students' primary education contributes to the large number of sexual violence incidents on higher education campuses. We must give these institutions the tools to assist their students, provide resources to victims, and have a clear understanding of the policies and reports of sexual violence on all campuses. In our current climate where Title IX policies are being rolled back by the federal administration, and the discussion of gender-based violence is prevalent in mainstream media, we in Massachusetts are in a position to secure the safety and well-being for our students.
Currently, all public and private higher education institutions must have a campus security policy. I filed House Bill 632, "An Act relative to sexual violence on campus" to take these policies further and require all institutions of higher education in Massachusetts to create and communicate policy on sexual and gender-based violence. This bill would also require schools to include trauma-informed policies on dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking that are developed in consultation with the Title IX coordinator. Providing students with the details on how to report an incident, where to seek medical treatment and counseling and how to request protective measures will create a safer environment for victims and all students.
The act also requires awareness and prevention programming through training for students, faculty, and staff. Furthermore, relationships will be established with local rape crisis centers and domestic violence programs. These policies and resources, along with sexual violence data, will be made publicly available on the campus website — which is important from a safety and consumer perspective. If a student or parents can easily look up which campus has the best dorm rooms, they should also be able to access statistics on campus safety and sexual violence.
Assure fair proceedings
One of the most important aspects of the bill is the outline of how proceedings shall be conducted when an incident of dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking is reported. Both the reporting party and responding party are given equal rights, notices and opportunity for representation throughout the proceeding. These procedures mirror those that were outlined in the federal Dear Colleague Letter of 2014 that was recently rescinded by the current Trump administration. This section helps clarify proceedings for higher institutions of learning as well as protecting the rights of both parties.
We have the ability to tackle this crisis of sexual assault at our colleges head on. No student should ever lose their opportunity for an education due to harassment, intimidation, violence, or an environment that allows these behaviors.
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier represents the 3rd Berkshire District.
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Letter: “Legal system has spoken in favor of museum plan”
The Berkshire Eagle, April 17, 2018
To the editor:
I was under the impression that we were a nation of laws. The opponents of the sale of 40 pieces of art from the Berkshire Museum's collection of 40,000 such pieces went to the state judicial system to present their objections. They were told that they had no standing. They are outraged by the decisions of the attorney general and the courts; Berkshire Superior Court as well as a sitting justice of The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. I think that they believe if they screech loudly enough, their tantrums will change the outcome. Sunday's screed, presented twice in the April 15 edition of The Eagle, stated that the trustees of the Berkshire Museum decided to pursue " a massive selloff of much of its irreplaceable public art collection."
This whole piece is hyperbolic, but the quote given here is truly over the top. The collection of the Berkshire Museum numbers, to quote The Eagle, constitutes 40,000 pieces. The museum trustees initially planned to sell 40, or if my math is correct, one tenth of one percent of the entire collection. Subtract 40 from 40,000 and you are left with 39,960 pieces of art.
Moreover the selling will stop when the museum has $55 million. The sale may amount to less than the 40 pieces originally proposed for sale. Do the protesters think the remaining 39,960 are junk?
If the museum cannot afford repairs, remodeling and renovation, what will happen to the pieces of art that they have? They could sustain great damage, which would be very costly to repair.
If the museum closes, what happens to the art? My own paranoia starts to activate at this juncture. I have a suspicion that some of these protesters would like to see this happen. Then a museum or museums that they support or they themselves could pick up favorite pieces. And so what if ordinary Berkshirites lose their museum? Let them go and pay unaffordable amounts for young families and public school groups to the Clark, Mass MoCA, the Rockwell, etc.
As for those of us who would like see the Berkshire Museum continue to fulfill the vision and purpose Zenas Crane had when he founded it, let us support the work done by the trustees of the museum, one of whom is actually a member of the Crane family.
Barbara Crochiere Roberts, Pittsfield
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Letter: “Museum disgrace must lead to resignations”
The Berkshire Eagle, April 17, 2018
To the editor:
We would like to commend The Eagle for devoting its entire Letters section (Sunday, April 15) to critics of the Berkshire Museum's decision to betray its mission and gut its collection in pursuit of profit.
We all make mistakes, but in this case it is hard to see how those who aided and abetted this move can make amends. They are a disgrace to the Berkshire community, and also to the community of nonprofit museums all over the United States. If they have any shred of self respect, their only course of action is to resign.
But who can be induced to replace them? That's a tough question. Even if it is too late, we want to add our names to the 400 who have already signed the petition to "Save the Art, Save the Museum."
Michel Paul Richard, & Peggy Richard, New Marlborough
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James Moore: “Museum's violation of trust will have far-reaching impact”
By James Moore, op-ed, The Berkshire Eagle, April 30, 2018
ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico — Forty-one years ago, the American Association of Museums published a book by Helmuth Naumer, "Of Mutual Respect and Other Things: An essay on museum trusteeship." A guide to relationships between trustees and staff, this small book stimulated discussion in museums across the country and it soon became required reading for everyone.
We quickly learned that respect and trust are linked, but this book implied a broader range of thinking beyond interpersonal relationships. Collections and donors, of course, had long been respected and this was well understood, but as the profession progressed we saw that respect and trust were overarching concepts that encompassed the relationships between museums and their publics. We realized that these values impact everything we do and that they are central to the sustained operations of museums.
As we moved into a mode of conducting studies of audiences, one of the things researchers sought was to weigh the comparative trustworthiness of institutions of information and learning, museums included, for they are defined in our tax code as educational institutions. Such studies have been undertaken for some time now, and they always come back with the same results. Museums sit at the top. This is widely known among museum staff and trustees and is a lobbying point in budget discussions locally and nationally. The American Alliance of Museums summarizes these data on their website:
Museums Are Trusted:
- Museums are considered educational by 98 percent of Americans, across all ages, races, and geographical locations.
- Museums are considered the most trustworthy source of information in America, rated higher than local papers, nonprofit researchers, the U.S. government, or academic researchers.
- Museums preserve and protect more than a billion objects.
- Museums are considered a more reliable source of historical information than books, teachers, or even personal accounts by relatives.
Individuals, not abstractions
This is more than a point of pride for museum personnel, paid and volunteer; it is central to their work, for the loss of trustworthiness imperils both individual museums and the profession as a whole.
We speak of "trustees," and the "public trust," but these are abstractions. In reality, it comes down to assessing whether a museum is trustworthy by evaluating whether the people managing and governing it are themselves trustworthy. This is the basis for ethical behavior among people, both internally with employees and externally with the public. Indeed, the discussion and formulation of museum Codes of Ethics evolved out of Helmuth's thoughts on respect and trust among individuals, not abstractions.
Many things have the potential to break down trust in the eye of the public but, in museums, two stand out: financial mismanagement and unethical deaccessioning of collections. The first can result from ignorance, inexperience, or deliberate manipulation; the latter is driven by the concept of legality trumping ethics. "It's not ethical, but it's legal," is a statement we never discussed in the 1970s, but it has now become commonplace.
There are counter arguments to deaccessioning to "save" a failing museum, and those arguments can be made without undermining the fiduciary duties of trustees as stewards of a collection and representatives of a public which has placed trust in them. Such arguments need to be taken seriously, heard more loudly, and pursued more thoughtfully.
Unfortunately, the Berkshire Museum has come to represent a model of untrustworthiness. Surely that was not the intention of the trustees, but it is a collateral result. In the wake of their legal "success," they have, perhaps unwittingly at the beginning, set a precedent of substantial magnitude. Other museums will undoubtedly follow, and each one that "succeeds" will undermine the trustworthy reputation of the whole because of the national media coverage now trained on this issue.
The Berkshire Museum trustees probably gave no thought to how widespread the effect might be as a result of decisions made within the parochial view of their own situation. Ironically, they seem to have now evolved to a point where all of their perception is internal, yet their actions remain astonishingly wide-ranging. Regrettably, they can't put the genie back in the bottle.
Helmuth's wisdom, decades of thoughtful deliberation in museum policy-making, trust, and respect, are left in the wake.
James Moore is a trustee, Wichita Art Museum; coordinator, Art History program, Toledo Museum of Art; lecturer, Adjunct Faculty, Honors College, University of New Mexico; Collections Committee, National Hispanic Cultural Center; Director Emeritus, The Albuquerque Museum of Art and History.
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Democratic Massachusetts State Representative Tricia Farley Bouvier.
Facebook: Tricia Farley-Bouvier
“Pittsfield Politician Backs Berkshire Museum Through Leadership Change”
By Josh Landes • June 28, 2018
Pittsfield Democratic State Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier says she stands by the Berkshire Museum following the resignation of Executive Director Van Shields Thursday. Shields joined the museum in 2011.
Farley-Bouvier told WAMC that her support of the museum through its controversial art sale has not wavered and the board’s choice of David Ellis as interim director validates her stance.
“His vast experience in museums that are so engaged with the community that they’re in is going to put him in a great positon to take the Berkshire Museum to its next step,” said Farley-Bouvier.
She says Ellis will usher in a new era at the Museum as it continues to pursue its fundraising goal of $55 million in sales from its collection.
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This billboard along South Street in Pittsfield is visible near Guido's as motorists drive north. Gillian Jones - The Berkshire Eagle
“Foes of continued Berkshire Museum art sales ramp up message”
By Larry Parnass, The Berkshire Eagle, July 2, 2018
Pittsfield — Roadside billboards normally encourage sales. Not the one that went up Monday on Route 7 in Pittsfield, a stone's throw from the Lenox line.
"No More Sales!" reads black text on a red sign, under this full-width statement: "NO TRANSPARENCY = NO TRUST."
Puzzled travelers have to read down to two Twitter hashtags at the bottom to get the full picture: #savetheart and #BerkshireMuseumWatch.
The sign is the work of Save the Art-Save the Museum, a citizens group that formed after museum trustees announced last July they would sell up to 40 works of art and use proceeds both to bolster the institution's endowment and to make repairs and renovations to their 39 South St. building in Pittsfield.
The museum sold more than a dozen works in private sales and auctions in April and May, including two paintings by Norman Rockwell, netting $47 million in proceeds.
On June 25, the museum said it will solicit buyers for another nine works from its collection, as it seeks an additional $8 million in proceeds. If successful, it would take in the full $55 million the Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk County says it can raise, after the museum went hand-in-hand with Attorney General Maura Healey seeking permission from the Boston court in February.
Hope Davis, a member of Save the Art, said the group has been pressing for answers about the sales and urging the museum to preserve its collection. She said members decided to invest roughly $2,000 to keep the billboard up through July.
"We have no more transparency despite the promise of it," she said of the group's contact with museum leaders. "That extra $8 million? What is that going to do? I think the community deserves answers."
A spokeswoman for the museum defended the institution and cited steps its leaders have taken to build trust.
"The museum leadership and board have consulted hundreds of people in our community and continue reaching out as we move forward," Carol Bosco Baumann said in a statement, in response to questions about the billboard.
"We've continued to share information through months of legal action and beyond," she said.
The billboard is visible to north-bound travelers on the west side of Route 7.
It joins messages in two groups of billboards that typically advertise the region's top museums.
The Clark Art Institute uses space on an adjoining billboard to promote a current exhibition called "The Age of Iron." On the other side of the Guido's Fresh Marketplace parking lot, another billboard refers to Mass MoCA as "A wildly ambitious dream."
The past year has more resembled a nightmare, as far as the Berkshire Museum and its critics are concerned. Trustees and staff of the museum fought off two lawsuits and a monthslong investigation by Healey's office. That probe ended in early February with an accord approved April 5 by the SJC.
Members of Save the Art called unsuccessfully in months of street protests, rallies, private meetings, op-eds and letters to the editor for the museum to alter its course.
Today, that appeal is to drop plans for further sales.
Of the nine works listed last week, seven will be sold in private transactions, the museum said, in an attempt to place them with owners willing to keep them in the public realm. Two other pieces will be offered for sale at an Asia Week auction in September at Sotheby's in New York City.
All are from the original list of works the museum's collections committee agreed on July 11, 2017, to remove, in the process known as deaccession.
While not uncommon in museum practice, this deaccession became international news because trustees planned to apply proceeds to operational costs, a use viewed as unethical in the profession.
Sale opponents, including the leader of the Massachusetts Cultural Council, called it a dangerous precedent that could lead to widespread art sales from public collections. Nonetheless, the museum won its effort to break that ethical logjam, adopting a position articulated by Pittsfield attorney Mark S. Gold and by Van Shields, who served as the museum's executive director from September 2011 until his retirement last week.
Borrowed words
The billboard's references to "transparency" and "trust" borrow words museum trustees used in a May 31 open letter.
In that 1,200-word message, posted on the museum's website, trustees conceded that community trust had been strained by what they termed "a bitter debate" over art sales — and called for a fresh start.
"We are committed to doing so, transparently, cooperatively, and thoughtfully, to regain public trust and confidence where it has been lost," the open letter said.
On Monday, Bosco Baumann added that leaders believe people who care about the museum need to "move forward together."
"We believe it is time to move beyond what has been a contentious and sometimes bitter debate to truly take up the critical work of securing the future of the Berkshire Museum," she said.
Members of Save the Art have said they hoped that after promised new outreach into the community, trustees might relent from further sales.
Roughly three weeks later, when trustees announced continued sales, Save the Art issued a statement condemning the decision.
"In light of the Museum's recent call for healing and promises of transparency, it is distressing that they have chosen to sell the most important of the remaining art," the group said June 25.
"This reflects the Board's disregard of a substantial segment of the community who respect the integrity of the Museum's original mission — the study of art, natural sciences and the culture of mankind. This is clearly a violation of the public trust."
Davis said Monday the billboard space became available unexpectedly. She said it is a coincidence the message, designed by the group itself, is grouped near those of other area museums.
"Our hope is to make an impact on the wider community," she said, reaching visitors as well as those who have followed the story over the past year. "Certainly at the height of the tourism season. We're looking for maximal impact."
"We're here and we're keeping watch," Davis said. "Continuing the pressure and demanding answers."
Larry Parnass can be reached at lparnass@berkshireeagle.com, at @larryparnass on Twitter and 413-496-6214.
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Letter: “Questions persist about Berkshire Museum”
The Berkshire Eagle, July 6, 2018
To the editor:
I'd like to know where the Berkshire Museum trustees came up with the magic number of $55 million? What urgent repairs and renovations must be done to the South Street building, and how much will they cost? Will any more half-million-dollar, no-bid contracts be given to a trustee? How much of an endowment does the museum believe it must have compared to the Albany Institute of History and Art, which gets by on much less? How have they budgeted for their new programing, whatever it may be?
After removing the costs of repairs and the establishment of an endowment, how much money will be left? Doesn't the museum need another $8 million, or do the trustees just want it because it's dangling in front of their faces?
Is any of that money earmarked to hire a real art expert and art conservators in place of the "collections experience office," whatever that means? What does it mean? Is there anyone in the building who knows about art and history? Or technology?
How much money is being given to Van Shields to disappear? How much will a search cost (they're not cheap)?
How many pledges were made to the museum on the assurance that the New Vision would be built? How much money have current and past trustees donated to the museum — one of the obligations of serving on a board. Do any of the board members have art credentials?
These are straightforward questions to which the new interim director, or the paid-spokeswoman (how much was she paid?) can provide early and straightforward answers.
Sally White, Williamstown
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Judith Knight
Andrea Harrington
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield
“State Rep. Farley-Bouvier floated idea of single challenger to incumbent DA”
By Larry Parnass, The Berkshire Eagle, August 13, 2018
Pittsfield — As trial balloons go, this one didn't lift off.
But a state representative asked the two women running for Berkshire district attorney if they would consider talks that could result in only one of them challenging the incumbent, winnowing the field to a single "progressive" alternative.
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, said she met separately last month with both Andrea Harrington and Judith Knight for wide-ranging conversations about politics, campaigns and elective office.
The fact that a conversation was even considered brought a sharp rebuke from the sitting district attorney.
The two women and Paul J. Caccaviello are on the Sept. 4 Democratic primary ballot. The winner goes on to an expected win in the November general election, unless a successful Republican write-in candidate emerges.
In those sessions, Farley-Bouvier said she brought up the question of whether the two women's candidacies will have the effect of splitting the vote among those who want change in the office — in effect aiding the incumbent.
Caccaviello, a former 14-year first assistant district attorney, was named to the post this winter by Gov. Charlie Baker, after David F. Capeless decided not to seek re-election.
"I did make a suggestion that we might get these campaigns together to see if there could be a conversation," Farley-Bouvier said, when asked Monday about her role in the meetings.
The lawmaker said she did not have a particular candidate in mind — Harrington or Knight — who might agree to drop out of the race. And she said her overture about having the campaigns discuss the question was not sweetened by any promise of work in the other's administration, if elected.
"They both had a clear response that it was not of interest to them," Farley-Bouvier said. "That was the end of it. A big thing is being made out of a thing that was very small."
When sitting for about an hour with Knight in Pittsfield, Farley-Bouvier said the topic of possibly meeting with the other campaign was broached briefly.
"It was an extraordinarily small part of that conversation," she said.
`Ludicrous' suggestion
Knight confirmed that she met with Farley-Bouvier, joined by a member of Knight's campaign.
She said Farley-Bouvier asked her if she would be open to discussing the question, which she took to be about narrowing the field.
Knight was not.
"The idea that I would step out of the campaign or work in Ms. Harrington's office is ludicrous to me — a nonstarter," she said. "If Andrea Harrington wanted to drop out, fine, but I didn't want to do that."
She added, "I'm a candidate. If you want progressive change, I'm the candidate."
Harrington also confirmed Monday that she too met with Farley-Bouvier, after getting an invitation. She said the lawmaker wasn't the only one involved with county politics to raise the question of whether dual challenges to a sitting district attorney would split any anti-incumbent vote.
Harrington said she had also met earlier with Knight, one of her two current rivals.
"At that point, it was having a progressive candidate, period," Harrington said. "Tricia is not the only person who has offered to have a conversation."
Like Knight, Harrington said she declined to explore the idea of having one of the two challengers step aside.
"I just put my head down and work as hard as I can," she said of her campaign.
At no point in her campaign, Harrington said, has she talked about making a position available in her office, should she be the victor in November.
"I have not discussed jobs with anybody," she said.
Wanting a `progressive'
Farley-Bouvier declined to say whether she is opposed to seeing Caccaviello retain his seat, which he assumed March 15 after working in the district attorney's office for 28 years.
Caccaviello was recommended for the post by Capeless. His appointment by Baker gave him the advantage of running as an incumbent.
"I'm looking for a progressive district attorney," Farley-Bouvier said. "I am for the full implementation of criminal justice reform."
Asked whether she expects Caccaviello to back reforms, Farley-Bouvier said, "It's too short to have a record on that."
Caccaviello, meantime, challenges the notion that he isn't reform-minded.
And he sharply questioned whether an elected official should be a party to any conversation that might reduce voter choices.
"I think it's more than a bit stunning that this actually happened," he said of Farley-Bouvier's idea, expressed in meetings with Knight and Harrington, of discussing a change in the field. "It seems more than a little inappropriate, in an attempt to influence the outcome of an election. It's obviously an attempt to win the election by getting the two to merge."
Caccaviello said Monday he would be happy to speak with Farley-Bouvier about steps he said he has taken to put into practice the criminal justice reforms the Legislature approved this year.
"It's the law," he said of the reforms. "I've already done things that the crime reform package dictates."
Since taking office, Caccaviello said, he has run a training on implicit bias for staff in his office. He said he has spoken in support of "diversion" programs, which seek alternatives to incarceration.
"I never talked to Tricia about any of my platforms," Caccaviello said. "I'd welcome an opportunity to speak with her about my ideas and vision and qualifications."
The candidates for district attorney next meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday for a forum at the Becket Town Hall.
People registered as Democrats or unenrolled can vote in the Sept. 4 primary. Wednesday is the deadline for any registered Republicans who wish to participate in the primary to change their party affiliation to Democratic or unenrolled.
Larry Parnass can be reached at lparnass@berkshireeagle.com, at @larryparnass on Twitter and 413-496-6214.
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Letter: “Progressives engage in dirty DA politics”
The Berkshire Eagle, August 19, 2018
To the editor:
Dirty politics are in full play in the district attorney race. I am of course referring to Rep. Farley-Bouvier's blatant attempt at getting the district attorney election thrown into the hands of a single candidate opposing Mr. Caccaviello. There are multiple takeaways if you really study The Eagle's Aug. xx article.
First, Harrington is the obvious political choice of the progressives. That conclusion is easily reached from the statements in the article. It was in the discussion with Ms. Knight that Farley-Bouvier floated the possibility of a job for Knight with Harrington as DA. There's no mention of the same offer to Harrington. However, Harrington states that she hasn't considered offering jobs to anyone. Logically, these meetings were meant to benefit Harrington as her statements imply that she would be the beneficiary of a decision by Knight to terminate her campaign.
Second, the battle cry of Harrington has been that former DA Capeless attempted to manipulate the outcome of the DA election by appointing Caccaviello, ignoring the fact that Gov. Baker and Capeless wanted Caccaviello to take the job to maintain continuity in ongoing criminal cases. Fast forward and here we are with Farley-Bouvier attempting to set up the party's chosen progressive to hopefully win the DA race by convincing Knight to bow out. I don't hear any statements about hypocrisy from either Harrington or her supporters about this attempt at manipulating the election's outcome.
Apparently, we've moved from the good old boys cutting deals in smoke-filled backrooms to the good old progressive women cutting deals in purified air backrooms. There is a huge problem with politicizing the DA's office in the same way Trump and the Republicans are politicizing the Department of Justice, and it is a dangerous precedent. It sets up the district attorney as a prosecutor of only those select cases that fall within the purview of a progressive political agenda in order to meet its goals. That puts the citizens of this county at risk, and raises the potential for ignoring victims' rights for the sake of an agenda.
I would hope that all of us are too smart to fall for these shenanigans. When it comes to the office of district attorney, experience matters — politics do not.
Dave Leja, Williamstown
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Tricia Farley-Bouvier: “Galvin works for state, region”
By Tricia Farley-Bouvier, op-ed, The Berkshire Eagle, August 20, 2018
Pittsfield – As the Sept. 4 primary approaches, there is an important statewide race that is flying under the radar for those of us in the Berkshires: the race for secretary of state.
I have known and worked with Bill Galvin since entering the Legislature seven years ago. I know who he is, what he stands for, and how deep his commitment runs to applying his expertise to keeping our elections secure, his role as chief financial regulator for the Commonwealth, historic preservation, public records, and every single one of the 16 enormous responsibilities that come under the purview of the secretary of state.
This is not a job to be undertaken lightly. Before he even ran for secretary of state, Bill Galvin was an exceptionally qualified and capable elections attorney. Today, he oversees our entire elections system and given the current very real threat of election hacking, I wouldn't have it any other way. Make no mistake: he has kept our elections system secure. We have not been hacked, and that is not because we got lucky.
Long before there were issues in Florida, Secretary Galvin banned punch cards. He also banned all electronic voting systems. Remember when Pittsfield switched from our old lever voting booths to our paper scanning machines? That was because of Bill Galvin. He kept Massachusetts on a paper ballot only system and he kept our elections system offline. Pittsfield has had a high number of recounts since that time due to close results and the paper system has given us a high level of confidence in the process.
Attorney General Maura Healey recently restated what was said after the 2016 election: Massachusetts' election system was secure. We need to keep it that way, and Secretary Galvin is making sure that we are. He has used state money to hire additional cybersecurity personnel and to run frequent tests to make sure we maintain our security, and he was one of the first in the nation to apply for federal funding to maintain elections security.
Yet that is far from the only reason I am writing to let you know I have the strongest confidence in Bill Galvin to continue to serve as our secretary of state. Much has been made of the word "progressive" lately to describe candidates, so I want you to know that when you hear people talk about the progressive agenda, Bill Galvin has been working and step by step implementing it over time.
Strong on women's rights
It was his bill for automatic voter registration that I voted for in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. It was his work to expand voter registration through mail-in, online, and pre-registration for 16-year-olds that give us record turnouts. His experience with the Legislature makes him by far the most effective to continue to push for the reforms we need, including same day voter registration, expansion of early voting to include primaries and municipal elections, and ranked choice voting.
His support for women has made the critical difference for a lot of women and children. He created the Address Confidentiality Program to give victims of domestic abuse and stalking an extra layer of protection in knowing that they could get a driver's license, register to vote, and do all the things that require an address without risking that their abuser would find out where they live. Right now, I am the only woman legislator who represents the Western Mass. counties. I know we need to have someone in every office of government who will protect women's rights, and I trust Bill Galvin to continue to do that.
But there's another issue for Western Mass. that we need to look out for. Trump is trying to sabotage the census so that fewer people in the Commonwealth are counted. If he succeeds we could lose a seat in Congress and it would in all likelihood be one in Western Mass. Bill Galvin was the first person in the country to call attention to that, and now Massachusetts has joined other states in a federal lawsuit to stop Trump from sabotaging the census.
For so many reasons, I have confidence in Bill Galvin's work as secretary of state, but I am also motivated to write because I am quite troubled by the stance of his opponent, who has stated repeatedly that he believes the secretary of state's office should get involved with political and social issues. This is alarming. It is critical that the chief election official in the Commonwealth be completely neutral on such issues in order for us to have confidence that the office is not in any way favoring one candidate over another.
Imagine, if you will, our own city clerk campaigning on issues such as the school budget, the garbage toter system or paid parking. However you feel about any one of those issues, you want the city clerk to conduct an election that is 100 percent above reproach without worrying that her views influence the outcome in any way. The same is true for the office of secretary of state. The only issues he should be running on are his view on voter access, the census, financial securities regulations, historic preservation, and management of all 16 important functions of the office.
That's the kind of yes, progressive, leadership we need in our secretary of state. There is truly no one more qualified to serve in that office than Bill Galvin, and as I urge everyone to vote every election, I ask all of you to get to the polls for the primary on Tuesday, Sept. 4, and cast your vote for Secretary of State Bill Galvin.
Tricia Farley-Bouvier is the Democratic representative for the 3rd Berkshire District.
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Letter: “Re-elect Galvin, a friend to Berkshires”
The Berkshire Eagle, August 29, 2018
To the editor:
This year's Democratic primary for secretary of state is perhaps one of the most important contests for this office in recent memory. For the past 24 years, Bill Galvin has served with distinction as our secretary of state. During his tenure he has proven himself to be a true public servant in every sense. I have witnessed firsthand the effectiveness of his office in so many ways.
As secretary of state he has brought professionalism and transparency to the office. The secretary of state's office today is state-of-the-art and easily accessible to all who visit its website. Bill Galvin supported automatic voter registration which this year became law, making it easier for people to register to vote. Perhaps his greatest attribute to us in Berkshire County: he knows where we are.
There are many historic preservation projects that never would have come to fruition without the help of Bill Galvin. During my tenure as mayor of North Adams I often turned to him and the Massachusetts Historical Commission for assistance to help save a historical building from the wrecking ball. There are many historical buildings in Berkshire County that have been saved and brought back to life through the efforts of Bill Galvin. He has been an excellent secretary of state and a good friend to the people here in Berkshire County.
I hope you will join me in voting for Secretary of State Bill Galvin in the Democratic Primary on September 4.
John Barrett III, North Adams
The author is the state representative for the 1st Berkshire District.
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Tricia Farley-Bouvier: “Walk a Mile is fun, benefits good cause”
The Berkshire Eagle, September 4, 2018
To the editor:
Between our idyllic hills, we in the Berkshires are not removed from a serious problem hurting people, especially women, everywhere. This problem is domestic violence.
The Berkshires have experienced two domestic violence homicides in 2018. One of these was the first domestic violence homicide of a trans person this year nationwide. Our per-capita issuance of restraining orders is higher than the state average. Fortunately, we are not silent in proactively addressing these issues.
We are so lucky to have one agency designed exclusively to provide services to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. The Elizabeth Freeman Center provides essential help and support to survivors of domestic and sexual violence. It is crucial for our community to step up and support them too.
This September's Third Thursday, the Elizabeth Freeman Center will be having their 8th Annual Walk a Mile Fundraiser to benefit the organization. In helping to confront a serious issue with invaluable resources, this is a fun event! Our community will put their best heeled foot forward to walk and help save lives. This amazing community event raises both important funds and awareness to combat sexual and gender bias.
This is a major fundraiser for Elizabeth Freeman Center, so it is vitally important to come out and show our support, as well as raise money from personal circles. This year, participants are encouraged to form teams to keep with the "Strength in Unity" theme of this year's walk. The more who take part, the better for our community.
At this September's Third Thursday on Sept. 20, register at 5 p.m. and step off the curb at 6 p.m. More information can be found at elizabethfreemancenter.org.
Thank you for supporting this critical cause.
Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Pittsfield
The author is the state representative for 3rd Berkshire District.
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Tricia Farley-Bouvier: “'Yes' on Q3 preserves a successful rights law”
By Tricia Farley-Bouvier, op-ed, The Berkshire Eagle, September 23, 2018
Pittsfield — When I was elected to the Massachusetts Legislature, I took an oath to defend the rights of all my constituents and do everything in my power to invest in the future of our great state. It was my honor two years ago to vote in favor of long-overdue nondiscrimination protections for transgender people in public places, ensuring that all residents of Massachusetts are treated with the same dignity and respect as everyone else when going about their daily lives.
It is now up to the voters to say, unequivocally, that Massachusetts supports fairness for everyone, and vote '"Yes" on Question 3 to uphold these protections in November. We cannot give Massachusetts the distinction of being the first state in the nation to roll back transgender protections by popular vote.
History of Unfairness
I advocate for children, women, persons with disabilities and others whose rights have historically been ignored and I'm proud that discrimination against our transgender friends and neighbors has been illegal under state law for the past two years. I care deeply about the safety and freedom of all people, and I am especially committed to lifting up marginalized communities that have historically experienced discrimination and violence.
The very core of these protections are basic civil rights under the law. Thousands of transgender people live and work in our communities. They are our neighbors, co-workers, friends, and family. Despite growing public awareness of what it means to be transgender, they still face disproportionate rates of discrimination, harassment, and violence. That must change.
Opponents of the current transgender nondiscrimination law say they are concerned about safety and privacy in public restrooms and locker rooms. As an advocate for women and girls, I too care deeply about safety and privacy. But these so-called concerns have been proven to be completely unfounded as specifically reported in the Boston Globe. Harassing people in public facilities remains illegal and those who commit crimes are prosecuted, as they should be. The law protecting transgender people from discrimination hasn't changed that, and there have been no increases in harassment, violence, or any other public safety incidents in public restrooms or locker rooms. Prohibiting discrimination has not weakened laws against assault, nor compromised their enforcement.
Anyone who is concerned about safety should be concerned about safety for all of us, including transgender people. Forcing transgender people to use facilities inconsistent with the gender they live every day makes them more vulnerable to harassment and violence without making anyone else safer.
Public restrooms are just a small part of the public accommodation law. Up until this law was passed, transgender people could actually be denied service in a restaurant, told they couldn't be on the bus, and be refused access to retail stores. Is that the kind of community we want to live in? Of course not! We should keep in place basic protections for transgender people because it is the right thing to do for our communities, and harms no one.
Right Thing To Do
I know that this is a new conversation for many people. Many folks still don't understand what it's like to be transgender, and I admit I don't understand everything about the subject. But what I do know is this: at the end of the day, we can all agree that every person deserves equal protection under the law, no matter who you are. I support protecting transgender people from discrimination because it is the right thing to do and the smart thing to do for our state.
I am so proud that a strong bipartisan majority of my colleagues voted in favor of these protections in 2016, and that transgender people have experienced increasing acceptance and understanding in my family, in our city and in our Commonwealth. A "Yes" vote on Question 3 is a vote on behalf of the many hardworking, goodhearted transgender people in our state. On behalf of all of us who are proud to call Massachusetts home. I hope you will join me and other fair-minded and bighearted voters to vote Yes on 3 in November.
Democratic state Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier represents the 3rd Berkshire District.
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Letter: “Current museum board can't restore faith”
The Berkshire Eagle, December 3, 2018
Letter to the editor:
While many of us breathe a sigh of relief that the Berkshire Museum's thoughtless liquidation of its art has been halted and 18 works will be returned to Pittsfield, the most important and relevant paintings and sculptures to the institution's history and intended interdisciplinary mission are now gone. The museum has drawn national attention to a debacle of their own making, set a terrible precedent for unethical de-accessions, and left the state of Massachusetts with a nasty black eye.
This board of trustees has neither understood nor respected the art they are entrusted to protect, and as long as they remain it is difficult to imagine how a professional, qualified director, curator, and staff will be attracted to the museum. More difficult still, and critical to the future, is how community outreach will be extended with any sincerity to affect the healing this once beloved institution sorely needs. It is most unlikely with the current board in place; they simply just don't get it.
With the 22 most valuable works of art gone, the heart of the museum is lost, and Zenas Crane's founding mission violated. Pittsfield and surrounding Berkshires communities now live with the sad consequences.
Hope Davis, Great Barrington
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From left, state Sen. Adam Hinds, state Reps. Tricia Farley-Bouvier and William "Smitty" Pignatelli answer questions from the public following a discussion of Massachusetts legislative agenda for 2019, in the auditorium of the Berkshire Athenaeum in Pittsfield on Monday night. It was presented by Indivisible Pittsfield and the Central Berkshire League of Women Voters. Gillian Jones - The Berkshire Eagle
“Hinds, Farley-Bouvier and Pignatelli outline legislative priorities”
By Amanda Drane, The Berkshire Eagle, January 28, 2019
Pittsfield — Sometimes it feels like policies important to Berkshire County move slowly, said State Rep. Smitty Pignatelli.
And it's because there are far more elected representatives from out east than there are from Western Mass.
"We are outnumbered from the day we enter the building," he said in a reference to Beacon Hill.
But he said legislators representing the Berkshires have made progress in forming a Berkshire bloc, fighting together toward common local initiatives.
Pignatelli, who represents towns in south county, showed solidarity with Pittsfield-based Sen. Hinds and State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier at a table at the Berkshire Athenaeum on Monday. The three leaders outlined their legislative priorities for the new legislative session in an event attended by a crowd of about 75 people, and hosted by Indivisible Pittsfield and the Central Berkshire League of Women Voters.
The legislators all pointed to growing momentum around reforming the funding formula for public schools. Under the current system, Pignatelli said, "there's winners and there's losers."
And he said it's been the case for decades that the state hasn't properly addressed funding mechanisms for regional school districts.
"We're still not adequately funding regional schools," he said.
Hinds said he's zeroing in on education, jobs and transportation during this legislative session. He cited new rail initiatives as something that could bring both enhanced transportation opportunities and economic activity.
"It's an exciting moment for a resurgence in rail," he said.
There's a New York City to Pittsfield trip piloting next year, he said, "and that's on track. Pun intended."
Hinds said he's also playing a role in an effort to reinvent rural transportation, and he's filing legislation requiring district attorney's offices track demographic information about people who are prosecuted.
Farley-Bouvier, who heads up the state Legislature's Progressive Caucus, said she's bringing forward a bill that would allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses. Many are already driving, she said, and because they aren't legal they aren't paying Registry of Motor Vehicle fees. Plus, it's "an issue of justice" against the backdrop of a broken immigration system.
She disagrees with the whole idea of correlating driver's licenses with citizenship, she said.
"They shouldn't have any connection at all," she said.
She also believes something must be done to address the minimum wage for tipped workers, which she said is tied to sexual harassment and missing wages for workers. And she's filed campus safety legislation, which looks to ensure college employees are trained to handle reports of sexual assault and harassment and hold them accountable for responding to those reports.
There are already upwards of 5,000 bills that the legislature is considering at the start of this new legislative session, Pignatelli said. For his part, he's focused on education reform and health care.
Some 300,000 kids never saw a dentist last year, he said, and that's something he'd like to change through a bill that would expand access and attract new dentistry practices. This year, there are six dentists retiring in Pittsfield alone, he said, and that "puts us in a precarious position."
Pignatelli said he'd also like to pass legislation requiring all first responders carry Narcan. Policies surrounding the overdose-combating medicine differ from town to town, he said, and many police officers don't carry it.
"When we have an opioid epidemic on our hands we should be doing everything we can to save lives," he said.
The leaders batted around new and potential revenue streams, like taxes on millionaires, marijuana, Uber and on Airbnb.
"We need to have a new system for the 21st century," Farley-Bouvier said. "We need to find different ways to raise revenue."
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@berkshireeagle.com, @amandadrane on Twitter, and 413-496-6296.
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Letter: “Back driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants”
The Berkshire Eagle, February 12, 2019
To the editor:
I am writing in support of the state bill sponsored by Rep. Farley-Bouvier to allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses in Massachusetts.
As a local family physician, I have cared for many such patients who need a vehicle to go to work, to take children to school and doctor's appointments, and take care of their family members. These people are our neighbors, co-workers and friends. They work in our restaurants, our health care facilities and our multiple tourist establishments. They care for our elderly and our sick, as well as cook our food, tend our gardens and take care of our children.
In the interest of every resident's safety, allowing these members of our community to pay for legal driver's licenses and to have proper vehicle registration, insurance and driver education benefits all of us. This privilege is available in many of our neighboring states as well as in other states. It does not entitle an immigrant to obtain a green card and is not considered a legal federal identification card.
Until we can pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill such as one enacted under President Reagan, and that was in process years ago in the "gang of eight" legislation in Washington, we need to take action on the state level. It is both humane and vital to the safety of everyone in our state.
Melanie Levitan, M.D. Richmond
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Tricia Farley-Bouvier: “Berkshires' domestic violence crisis”
By Tricia Farley- Bouvier, The Berkshire Eagle, op-ed, April 14, 2019
Pittsfield — Facts are stubborn things. Here are some incredibly disturbing facts regarding the crisis of domestic violence in what we like to think of as the idyllic Berkshires:
Domestic and sexual violence is directly responsible for the deaths of six Berkshire County women between 2015-2018. This is in addition to the horrifying and heartbreaking case of the quadruple homicide-suicide in Sheffield last month. According to the Elizabeth Freeman Center, the number of restraining order filings in the county has increased in the last four years. There were 1,107 filings in 2018, a five percent increase over 2017, and 15 percent above 2015, which is 36 percent higher than the state average. Let that sink in. Restraining orders only give us part of the story as most victims do not report and 1,100 of our neighbors, our friends, our family members have taken the brave step of asking for help. And 10 innocent people have actually lost their lives to this scourge. It is high time for action.
IMMEDIATE TRACKING
Thoughtful, bold, research-driven action is what District Attorney Andrea Harrington is taking. The Berkshire County Domestic and Sexual Violence Task Force is bringing together community leaders and resources to confront the growing crisis. The Task Force will identify and secure needed resources to preempt domestic and sexual violence and work with elected officials, law enforcement and medical providers to draft legislation to prosecute abusers and to protect and support victims. It will involve large-scale educational and training components.
Cases will be tracked when complaints are filed rather than when charges are filed. Training in recognizing human trafficking will be provided to police and first responders. Plans will be formulated to develop Domestic Violence Fatality Reviews with the goals of preventing domestic homicides in the future and a High Risk Team will be staffed with prosecutors and victim assistance advocates from the district attorney's office that are specifically trained to recognize victims of domestic violence and handle their legal cases. In addition, an internal DA office team will investigate unindicted cases of sexual assaults from the past 15 years. I am confident there will be lessons learned from patterns in those cases that can be applied to future ones, and perhaps with further probing and a more aggressive approach, some victims will have an opportunity to see justice. I stand ready to do everything possible to support these critically important goals.
The destruction done by domestic and sexual violence not only results in the long-lasting harm and sometimes death of innocent victims, but has a destructive impact on their children, loved ones and friends. Like a pebble tossed into a still body of water, the destruction, radiates outward and sends ripples of pain and hardship in every direction. Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behavior one person uses in a relationship to control, humiliate and hurt another person emotionally, sexually, financially and physically. Studies increasingly show that domestic violence is a primary cause of homelessness and poverty. While domestic violence exists at all economic levels, most victims who leave abusive relationships suffer an immediate drop of income and loss of housing, employment, schooling, family support and child care according.
DON'T SUFFER IN SILENCE
And let me take a moment away from big policies and planning to ask: Are you being hurt? Do you know someone who is? I urge you not to suffer in silence if you are struggling with domestic and sexual violence. You can contact the Berkshire DA's Victim Assistance Advocates at (413) 443-5951. The Elizabeth Freeman Center has offices in Pittsfield, North Adams and Great Barrington as well as a 24-hour toll-free hotline at (866)401-2425. Help is available. Please don't wait.
With so many critical needs to address, I can think of none more important that the debilitating and destructive scourge of domestic violence. We must stand together to create a safer world in which all women, men and children can feel secure in their own homes. Let this April, Sexual Assault Awareness Month, be the time that our effort to reduce violence in our county gains traction and commitment.
We cannot afford to ignore upsetting and stubborn facts, but working together, we can change them.
A Pittsfield Democrat, Tricia Farley-Bouvier is state representative from the 3rd Berkshire District.
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“Farley-Bouvier, Hinds to address energy, environment at town hall-style meeting”
By Dick Lindsay, The Berkshire Eagle, June 15, 2019
Pittsfield — Large solar arrays, state park staffing and climate change.
Those are among the topics likely to surface Monday night, during a town hall-style meeting with state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier and state Sen. Adam Hinds, who will answer questions and address concerns regarding energy and the environment.
The event, sponsored by the Environmental League of Massachusetts, will run from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Berkshire Athenaeum.
The lobbying group has organized similar events across the state to stimulate dialogue between legislators and their constituents, according to its legislative director, Casey Bowers.
"We want a lot of energy around the discussion of climate change, protecting our natural resources and alternative energy sources," Bowers said.
In separate phone interviews with The Eagle, Farley-Bouvier and Hinds, both Pittsfield Democrats, touched on key issues they are addressing with fellow lawmakers on Beacon Hill.
Farley-Bouvier wants to see more full-time Department of Conservation and Recreation employees working in the Berkshires, which has the two largest state parks in Massachusetts: October Mountain State Forest and Pittsfield State Forest.
"We have three DCR rangers in Berkshire County compared to 33 at the Statehouse where they are working security, given the times we're in," she said.
The DCR has proposed trail upgrades across the state, especially at October Mountain and Pittsfield, which are now getting the attention of Gov. Charlie Baker.
"The good news is, the governor's capital plan that just came out has $2 million set aside for trails," Hinds said.
As for climate change, the senator says the state needs to address the impact of cars and trucks on the air quality.
"We need to reduce the carbon output, which transportation accounts for 40 percent," he said.
Locally, the alternative energy hot topic in recent months has been limiting where large commercial solar arrays can be installed.
Several municipalities this year, including Pittsfield, have banned such solar projects from residential areas.
A proposed solar project between Route 20 and Goose Pond in Lee would involve clear-cutting land. The project was submitted to town planners before Lee could adopt a limit or a ban of large commercial solar farms in residential areas.
Farley-Bouvier says a balance must be struck between solar and protecting open space, encouraging more roof-mounted than ground-mounted solar panels.
"We have acres and acres of rooftops across the state we need to use, rather than cutting down trees to put in solar," she said.
Dick Lindsay can be reached at rlindsay@berkshireeagle.com and 413-496-6233.
If you go ...
What: Town hall on energy and environment
When: 6 p.m. Monday, June 17, 2019
Where: Berkshire Athenaeum, 1 Wendell Ave., Pittsfield
Who: Sponsored by the Environmental League of Massachusetts, featuring state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier and state Sen. Adam Hinds
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June 29, 2019
Hi Patrick Fennell,
Do you know where your state reps were last Thursday night (6/27/2019)? They were all attending future candidate for Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey's NoHo (or Northampton) fundraiser where suggested contributions range from $75 to $1,000.
If you don't believe me, please click on the following link.
https://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000016b-9749-d5f3-a1ef-97eb328e0000
State lawmakers listed on the fundraiser invitation included Sen. Adam Hinds, Rep. John Barrett III, Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Rep. Paul Mark, Rep. Smitty Pignatelli; and other attendees included District Attorney Andrea Harrington.
Maura Healey is a high-profile foe of President Donald Trump’s administration, which means she will use anti-Trump sentiments to propel her to high political office.
- Jonathan Melle
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Letter: “No driver's licenses for illegal immigrants”
The Berkshire Eagle, September 6, 2019
To the editor:
Totally perplexed to see state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier wanting to give illegal persons a driver's license in Massachusetts ("Farley-Bouvier renews push to allow undocumented in state to get driver's license," Eagle, Sept. 4).
What happened to the privilege, not the right, of every person living in the state to obtain one?
How can it be safe if speaking English is not there, are they insurable, or do I need more coverage in case of an accident? These politicians have already started to make Berkshire County the No. 1 drug user place to be in the state with all these marijuana sites. So let's add that to the equation, especially when driving.
So if this happens, and I go to get license renewed, I will not need birth certificate, marriage license, Social Security card, first born, etc., I can just say I am here illegally. I cannot believe these politicians care more for illegals than American citizens trying to do the right thing in life. I am all for immigrants coming to America and getting citizenship and starting a new life, but how about doing it the right way?
Maggie Smith, Pittsfield
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Letter: “Driver's license plan a liberal conspiracy”
The Berkshire Eagle, September 15, 2019
To the editor:
Rep. Farley-Bouvier's bill on letting illegal immigrants obtain a valid driver license is absurd. They enter this country illegally by sneaking under and over the border and they drive without a license and insurance. They have broken three laws willingly so let's reward them with a license.
The liberal plan is to have voters show a valid driver's license so illegal immigrants can vote. They pay no Social Security taxes nor do they pay into Medicare. They get free health care on our dollar so liberals keep voting these politicians in such as Rep. Farley-Bouvier because that's what you get in Pittsfield, Berkshire County, Massachusetts and Washington D.C.
Mark Plenzo, Pittsfield
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Letter: “State rep, addresses license snafu”
The Berkshire Eagle, October 21, 2019
To the editor:
I was born in Italy 85 years ago, and my mother brought me to the U.S. via Ellis Island at around 14 years of age. I have lived in Pittsfield for 71 years and have always been a law-abiding citizen. Married my wife 64 years ago and lived in the same house for 53 years. My first job was at Lipton Iron Works where I learned my trade as a welder. After working at General Electric for more than 25 years I opened by own business, Tyler Welding, and ran it for 40 years before retiring.
I also have a US passport that was issued to me in the early '80s. I obtained by driver's license when I was 16 and had renewed it since with no issues. But when I went to renew it in August I was refused because I didn't have my naturalization papers. Unfortunately, over time these papers were either lost or misplaced. I was told that an application for replacement needed to be filled out at a cost of $500.
My wife and I are retired and have medical bills, and this $500 fee was outrageous. My license is important for bringing us to doctor's appointments and getting groceries.
After reading an article in The Eagle about the nightmare of Massachusetts licenses being suspended and state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier coming to their rescue my wife and I turned to her for help and guidance. ("'A bureaucratic nightmare' amid driver's license suspensions," Eagle Sept. 29.) She responded immediately. The application for replacement of my naturalization papers have been submitted and I hope that my license will be reinstated.
I want to thank our state representative and let readers know what a wonderful person she is. If it weren't for her I don't know where we would be.
Anthony D'Agostino, Pittsfield
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Tricia Farley-Bouvier: “Tyer's winning 'How Can We?' approach”
By Tricia Farley-Bouvier, op-ed, The Berkshire Eagle, October 24, 2019
Pittsfield — What a celebration we had welcoming Wayfair to Pittsfield with 300 new, good-paying, career-building jobs. The fact that Wayfair CEO and co-founder Niraj Shah chose Pittsfield for its new call center was not due to luck or magic, but rather a result of strategic, thoughtful and persistent leadership.
Immediately upon taking office, Mayor Linda Tyer brought her trademark "How Can We?" approach to economic development efforts in the city. She noted that, while many talented people were hard at work searching for ways to improve Pittsifeld's economic future and were exploring creative solutions to grow our local economy, we were missing a critical component. Pittsfield needed a point person solely focused on business development. Mayor Tyer managed to take existing resources and repurpose them to create the Red Carpet Team, at no additional cost to the city. This new team, headed by Michael Coakley, the city's business development manager, is singularly focused on supporting both existing and new businesses in Pittsfield to ensure a robust and growing pipeline of jobs in our city.
Working within the Community Development Office under the leadership of Deanna Ruffer, the Red Carpet Team builds relationships, network statewide and beyond, learns about specific incentive programs, and brings together local partners to achieve their goal. They presented a package that made Pittsfield attractive to Shah. His team looked at 25 locations across the country and in only two of those communities did the mayor lead the recruitment effort. Mayor Tyer was one of those two mayors and look how it paid off for our community.
Mayor Tyer is clear that in addition to attracting new businesses, we need to help our local businesses grow and support our entrepreneurs so they have the tools to bring their great ideas to life. After a series of stops and starts in previous years that halted the progress of the Berkshire Innovation Center (BIC), Mayor Tyer re-established the collaboration of leaders in business, education, finance and state and local government to move the project across the finish line. The BIC, a 20,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art facility for advanced manufacturing research and development, is a game-changer for all of the Berkshires. Through the BIC, local businesses can share resources such as training and high-end equipment, all the while increasing the pipeline of highly trained employees in the Berkshires. The BIC will help our local businesses grow and attract new companies.
ENGAGED IN POVERTY FIGHT
Additionally, through EforAll, a nonprofit business accelerator, those with ideas for a new business will have the opportunity to access potential resources and support to take their idea to the next level. Mayor Tyer learned about this innovative program as part of her work with other Gateway City leaders across the state and knew she needed to bring it to Pittsfield. She convened business leaders, philanthropists and experienced entrepreneurs, who have collectively raised private dollars to fund three years of programming. EfoAll is now underway and is working throughout the county, especially with traditionally underserved populations to support new businesses, one of whom may have the next best idea.
Mayor Tyer is certainly comfortable interacting with top government officials and CEOs, but it is not in those rooms that she has made the deepest impression on me. When our Working Cities group sponsored a Bridges Out of Poverty training session in the fall of 2018, I was eager to attend. When I walked into the session, I was pleased to see the mayor also in attendance. She cared enough about learning about the perspective of those living in poverty and how to help them that she spent an entire day in a powerful workshop learning about obstacles that many of our fellow citizens face as they try to make a living for themselves and their families. Even more impressive is that Mayor Tyer asked all of her department heads to attend as well. As the day went on, I quietly observed that the mayor was fully engaged, not slipping in and out of the room, not distracted by her cell phone, but listening and asking questions. And clearly her senior leadership noticed too, because they followed suit.
I observed something similar at a neighborhood meeting after one of the tragic shootings on the Westside. While the rest of the room had mostly divided up into groupings of people chatting with people they already knew, people with whom they had a similar viewpoint, the mayor sat without fanfare with a family who had just lost a loved one and listened. Amid the din of the room, the mayor was working to get to the heart of the matter and find solutions. Thanks to resident input, the Westside Community Outreach Post on Columbus Avenue is a reality.
Truth be told, this idea had been put forth to the previous administration by people in the neighborhood but was met with a wall of reasons why it wouldn't work. The mayor brought her "How Can We?" problem-solving leadership to the table. The outpost, an active partnership between resident volunteers and law enforcement, is now making a difference in the neighborhood.
Thoughtful, strategic, "How Can We" leadership is exactly what Pittsfield needs to continue to move forward.
Tricia Farley-Bouvier is state representative for the 3rd Berkshire District.
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Letter: “Farley-Bouvier fights for social justice”
The Berkshire Eagle, November 13, 2019
To the editor:
We at Berkshire Interfaith Organizing (BIO) want to thank state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier for her unstinting efforts on behalf of all her constituents. Her record as the representative from the state's Third District offers a true picture of her dedication to all her Pittsfield neighbors, always fighting for those whose voices are not heard. This commitment to social justice mirrors BIO's values and purpose.
We especially want to express our gratitude to Rep. Farley-Bouvier for her leadership on immigrant justice, specifically her strong support of the 2014-15 Safe Driving Act providing the ability for undocumented residents to obtain a valid driver's license. Defeat in the legislature and Gov. Baker's promise to veto the act did not deter her. In 2018-'19 she sponsored, along with state Sen. Brendon Crighton, the Work and Family Mobility Act, an even stronger bill that will enable our residents to get to work, to school, to doctor's appointments, to deliver and pick up their children at school. The bill also insures that people who are good, safe drivers are on the road. We can be sure it will be re-introduced in the next session. Farley-Bouvier is a fighter and won't give up on this essential legislation.
We at Berkshire Interfaith Organizing are very grateful to have Tricia Farley-Bouvier as our strong advocate for social justice. Her ability to build coalitions around sometimes thorny issues and keep her focus on those issues so critical to our residents gives us hope for a more just and caring world for all of us.
Martha Congdon, Pittsfield
The writer is president, Berkshire Interfaith Organizing.
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The Decade in Arts: “Berkshire Museum's controversial art sale…”
The Berkshire Eagle, December 29, 2019
Lines drawn locally, worldwide over Berkshire Museum art sale
It was an art sale that was watched by museum officials and art enthusiasts around the world.
The attraction wasn’t a single high-priced work of art, but rather 40 artworks from a single museum collection, including two highly prized works — “Shuffleton’s Barber Shop” and “Shaftsbury Blacksmith Shop,” by Norman Rockwell, both donated to the museum by the artist. Additional works, by Alexander Calder, Albert Bierstadt, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Frederic Edwin Church and other masters, were among those scheduled for sale by the Pittsfield-based museum.
Berkshire Museum officials announced the impending auction in July 2017, as part of a $60 million “reinvention plan,” including a $20 million renovation and the establishment of at least a $40 million endowment. Officials touted returns of over $50 million from the Sotheby’s auctions, much of which they planned to put into the endowment.
What seemed like a simple plan raised the ire of museum organizations around the country.
Protests were held by Save the Art, a local group formed to oppose the art sale. Lawsuits and subsequent appeals were filed. Director Van Shields, a driving force behind the plan, abruptly left after nearly seven years in his post.
In the end, the Berkshire Museum dropped its controversial renovation plans and sold 22 of the 40 items, including both Rockwells and two Calders, raising $53.25 million — just short of the $55 million cap put in place by the courts.
— Jennifer Huberdeau
Van Shields, the director of the Berkshire Museum, led the effort to deaccession art works from its collection. Norman Rockwell's "Blacksmith's Boy - Heel and Toe (Shaftsbury Blacksmith Shop)" was among 13 artworks the Berkshire Museum sold at auction. Artist Tom Patti, one of the original plaintiffs in a court case to attempt to stop the sale of art by the Berkshire Museum, holds up a parody of Norman Rockwell’s “Shuffleton’s Barbershop” painting at a protest outside of the Pittsfield museum. About 40 people protested the selling of artwork by the Berkshire Museum to fund their expansion and create an endowment, in front of the museum on Saturday, August 12, 2017. Proceedings begin in Berkshire Superior Court on Wednesday on efforts to block the upcoming sale of Berkshire Museum artworks. Judge John Agostini presides.
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June 29, 2020
Re: Beacon Hill still wants to hike taxes and fees
Pittsfield (Mass.) State Representative Tricia Farley Bouvier and more than 3 dozen of her legislative colleagues wrote a letter to the State Senate requesting they vote on the tax-and-fee bill raising new revenues for transportation. I believe her priorities are wrong. Raising taxes and fees on transportation during the 2020 economic recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic would hurt the working class who pays to commute to work every workday. I fail to see how raising $612 million in taxes and fees on small businesses and their workers is progressive.
Beacon Hill should pass its fiscal year 2021 state budget that is due by this Wednesday, July 1, 2020. The Massachusetts State Legislature should take responsibility for the around 100 deaths at Holyoke Soldiers Home. They should also take responsibility for the RMV debacle that allowed a driver who was on drugs to kill seven Marine Corps Veterans in Randolph, New Hampshire. They should be asking Governor Charlie Baker why millions of dollars are unaccounted for in the state’s unemployment compensation account. They should suspend their five-month recess from August 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020, and instead pass bills that would help the over one million workers in Massachusetts who have filed unemployment claims this year.
I hope that Pittsfield State Senator Adam Hinds tells his counterpart in the State House, Tricia Farley Bouvier, to “stuff it” on her $612 million transportation tax-and-fee hike bill. People or taxpayers are hurting, and the last thing they need is for Beacon Hill to add economic pain to their distressed personal finances.
- Jonathan Melle
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“House progressives urge Senate to act on stalled tax bill”
By Michael P. Norton and Katie Lannan, State House News Service, June 29, 2020
Boston (SHNS) – With about a month remaining for formal sessions, more than three dozen House Democrats have grown tired of waiting for the Senate to take up a tax-and-fee bill raising new revenues for transportation, and are demanding action from their colleagues.
The House in early March approved new ride-hailing fees and new taxes on gas and corporations, but the House’s roughly $600 million plan has stalled out in the Senate, where Senate President Karen Spilka has raised concerns about boosting taxes while there is so much economic suffering occurring due to the pandemic.
In a letter Monday, 37 House members led by House Progressive Caucus Chairs Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier of Pittsfield and Jack Lewis of Framingham said they have “grave concern” that the House bill is idling. The letter was addressed to Spilka, Senate budget chief Michael Rodrigues and all senators.
The representatives said new revenues are still needed for transportation investments, but now are also needed to help the state plug the gap between spending and tax revenues caused by the pandemic.
“The Commonwealth is now facing a staggering $6-7 billion revenue loss and the prospect of laying off thousands of teachers, social workers and human service workers if we cannot find a way to address this fiscal crisis,” the lawmakers wrote. “We must instead explore a menu of options including tapping the Rainy Day Fund, maximizing federal aid, raising targeted progressive revenue, and possibly even borrowing.”
In response to the letter, Sen. Adam Hinds, the Senate’s Revenue Committee Chair, said a working group he is leading “remains focused on the revenue picture and potential action” and pointed to several Senate-passed bills that have not surfaced for votes in the House.
“As a member of the Senate Progressive Caucus, I’m proud of the Senate’s track record of action on progressive causes,” Hinds said in a statement to the News Service. “I appreciate the House members’ legislative advocacy, just as the Senate will continue to advocate strongly for action on lowering the cost of prescription drugs, mental health reform, healthy youth, climate change legislation, and legislation relating to telehealth, surprise billing and scope of practice.”
The House lawmakers said their argument “to raise further progressive revenue” had been weakened because the House’s tax-and-fee bill hasn’t advanced, and they asserted that the state faces negative consequences in its borrowing efforts and with interest rates without the approved new revenues.
“As policymakers, it is on us to find creative answers to difficult questions,” they wrote. “There is never a perfect time to pass a tax increase, but as elected officials, it is our duty to act boldly and in the best interest of our constituents. We respectfully urge the Senate to take the opportunity presented by the House and act on raising revenue needed to fund both our transportation needs, the investments we promised in education and the many needs that the Commonwealth faces as we work our way out of this public health and economic crisis.”
The House passed its transportation revenue package by a 113-40 vote on March 4, before the COVID-19 pandemic had hit Massachusetts with full force. Every House Republican voted against the bill, as did unenrolled Rep. Susannah Whipps and eight Democrats.
The bill (H 4530) seeks to raise up to $612 million a year for transportation needs by raising the state’s gas tax by 5 cents, increasing the corporate minimum tax, raising per-ride fees on transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft, and requiring car rental companies to pay sales tax when they buy vehicles for their fleets.
Spilka has voiced interest in taking up an $18 billion transportation bond bill that the House passed the same week as the tax package, but in April, amid the economic fallout of the pandemic, said “I’m not certain that now is the time to be talking about taxes.”
The status of the tax-and-fee bill was a flashpoint earlier this month in a House-Senate disagreement over the funding level for the Chapter 90 road and bridge program, typically funded at $200 million per year. When the Senate followed the House’s lead in approving an extra $100 million for the program, House Speaker Robert DeLeo and his Ways and Means chairman, Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, questioned how the state would be able to afford the increased transportation spending without related new revenues.
“I don’t think we can take a year off in terms of paying attention to this issue,” DeLeo said on June 12. “Most importantly, as part of the House bill, we had a mechanism, we took the tough vote, in terms of making sure there was financing to back up exactly what we did.”
Though the two branches ultimately settled on a $200 million allocation, Senate leaders had said they thought the higher bond authorization was affordable without new revenues.
Speaking on the Senate floor Thursday, Sen. Joe Boncore, the co-chair of the Transportation Committee, reiterated that stance.
“The FY ’21 capital program stands at $4.798 billion, so a $100 million increase to Chapter 90 would really only represent a mere fraction of that figure,” Boncore said. He added, “How we allocate and authorize our capital spending is really emblematic of the matters that we prioritize as a state and as a Legislature, and we all know the infrastructure needs on the municipal level for roads and bridges, and it’s about time we begin to give them what they need to do while we’re able to do it.”
While progressives in the House are recommending new revenues, members of the Massachusetts Republican Party have been advocating against tax hikes. A memo the party distributed last week — signed by state committee members, GOP activists, Sen. Ryan Fattman, eight state representatives, and state Senate candidates Jay McMahon, Matt Kelly, John Cain and Steve Hall, among others — pledges to “oppose Beacon Hill tax hikes.”
“In the face of great sacrifice on the part of many, our families have been playing by the rules set down by government since the coronavirus forced its way into our Commonwealth,” the memo says. “Working families and small business owners have borne the brunt of state-ordered shutdowns and complicated bureaucratic regulations. We Republicans will not stand idly by when the Beacon Hill Democrats propose tax hikes that target the victims. Those families who have played by the rules of the shutdown must not now be punished with new tax levies.”
Some public health experts have also pushed for Beacon Hill to embrace tax or fee increases rather than rein in spending amid the budget crunch.
Massachusetts Public Health Association Executive Director Carlene Pavlos told senators at a virtual hearing Monday that her group and their allies want to see “progressive revenue solutions over budget cuts” next fiscal year, warning that trimming spending could exacerbate homelessness, hunger and unequal access to public services.
“This is no time for an austerity budget that will only further deepen both the inequities due to structural racism and the inequities due to poverty, and it is no time for that in Massachusetts,” Pavlos said. “So we are going to again be calling for progressive revenue solutions, and we really hope that the Legislature heeds those calls and again, puts money and budgeting where your values are.”
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July 13, 2020
Re: Open letter to Patrick Fennell
Hello Pat,
The Massachusetts State Legislature has around 2.5-weeks left in its 2020 session to pass a myriad of bills, including the fiscal year 2021 state budget, before they adjourn on a 5-month-long recess. The Legislators say the main hold up is that they don’t have any money. Major budget cuts are expected, especially to local governments, while the Legislators sit on a 40 percent pay raise among other lucrative perks that are all factored into their state pensions. Meanwhile, Governor Charlie Baker still hasn’t commented on the hundreds of millions of dollars missing from the state’s unemployment account due to fraud. Some Legislators like Tricia Farley Bouvier want to raise state taxes or fees in the name of funding public education, while others are waiting for U.S. Congress to pass a new economic stimulus bill that would bailout state and local governments. I wonder how it will all turn out? My bet is that Beacon Hill’s elected officials will make out like bandits, while the people they supposedly represent will bear the brunt of a corrupt State House in Boston.
Best wishes,
Jonathan
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“‘Never seen anything like this:’ State lawmakers face multiple crises and a time crunch”
By Matt Stout, Boston Globe Staff, July 13, 2020
It’s so common on Beacon Hill in even numbered years, it’s nearly tradition: the last-minute rush by lawmakers to pass a raft of lingering bills before formal lawmaking ends July 31. But this year, the simultaneous health, economic, and racial justice crises have made the late-session crush like no other.
The Massachusetts Legislature has yet to pass an annual budget for the current fiscal year, one of its primary constitutional responsibilities. A sweeping economic development bill is burbling in the background. Legislation raising more than $600 million in new taxes for transportation appears dead, but a $17 billion bill to borrow money for it is not.
And a recently emerging item on the agenda — to tighten accountability of police — has broad support on Beacon Hill, but a final bill remains tied up in the legislative process.
Absent a vote extending the formal session, state legislators have just 18 days to plow through this unprecedented to-do list, and more.
“In my 30 years, I’ve never seen anything like this,” said state Representative Ronald Mariano, the House’s majority leader. “You can think of all the major stuff [left to do]. The problem is all of them have some cost associated with it — and we don’t have any money. You can’t carry out that intellectual exercise knowing you don’t have the money.”
At the same time, lawmakers are tinkering with a $1 billion-plus COVID spending bill, a version of which ping-ponged back Monday from the House to the Senate. High-profile priorities, such as housing and health care, may also veer dramatically from the more sweeping plans lawmakers envisioned months before the pandemic landed, should they emerge at all.
Legislative leaders have had private discussions about whether, and how, they can give themselves more time to pass it all, a rare consideration even for a body known to regularly suspend its own rules.
That could include extending the legislative session past July 31 or threading a special session into the political calendar, when lawmakers face reelection this fall.
“There shouldn’t be any question about extending the session,” said state Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier, who co-chairs the House Progressive Caucus with Representative Jack Patrick Lewis. The group is also urging legislative leaders to consider raising taxes or fees to avoid deep cuts, particularly to education. “I think it’s a perfectly good rule in normal times: that we finish before campaign season is hot and heavy. But we are not in normal times.”
House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo said in a statement Monday that the House plans to tackle a series of bills “in the coming weeks,” including policing reform, health care, climate change, economic development, and what he called “budgetary matters.”
He also pointed to other bills that have passed the House but remain in the Senate, including a $1.3 billion bill that would create grants aimed at climate resiliency and another requiring the state’s child welfare system to report more data.
The Senate, meanwhile, has passed its own collection of climate change bills, plus three separate health care bills since last year, though it remains unclear what aspects could ultimately emerge in the House or get to Governor Charlie Baker’s desk. (One Senate bill would require insurance companies to continue covering telemedicine, a concept Mariano said the House could pursue.)
And in a sign of the pile of work still ahead, the House and Senate are not engaged in any conference committees, the six-person negotiation sessions that help broker the final versions of complicated legislation.
Senate President Karen E. Spilka said in a statement the Legislature’s “timeline is far from over,” suggesting its work could extend well past the end of the month.
Both chambers appear to be keen on passing an economic development bill, a version of which was reported out of a key legislative committee on Monday, weeks after Baker filed his own reworked, $275 million version in late June. Mariano said a provision legalizing and taxing sports betting would also “probably” be included in the House’s package, potentially giving oxygen to an issue that’s long stalled.
Many of the legislative discussions come down to money. Nearly two weeks into the fiscal year, the state is leaning on a temporary $5.25 billion budget to keep state government functioning, and legislative leaders say they remain handcuffed by two considerations, among many. They face unpredictable tax revenues as the state eases through Baker’s reopening plan amid the COVID-19 pandemic and questions of whether Congress will pass a bill seeding state and local governments with more funds. Without the latter, officials warn, deep cuts could be used to offset a potential multibillion dollar state budget gap.
Senate leaders last week indicated there’s little appetite for exploring major tax increases amid the economic turnout after it swore off raising the gas tax amid other proposals baked into a House transportation financing bill passed in early March.
“You’re not going to see anything like that out of the Senate this session,” Senator Joseph Boncore told the Globe.
At the same time, local officials are urging the Legislature to spare cities and towns painful cuts to direct aid, particularly as districts are still determining how, or whether, they’ll physically reopen schools this fall.
Time, too, is a factor: The later cuts hit municipalities in the budget cycle, the harder they’re felt.
“I think communities have the flexibility to have, as the Legislature has done in the past, two or three months of temporary budgets,” said Geoff Beckwith, executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, which represents the state’s 351 cities and towns. “But after that, what the actual service level that will be provided for the year becomes a more challenging question.”
Meanwhile, lawmakers are scrambling to pass a bill targeting policing in Massachusetts, spurred in recent weeks by the demonstrations against police brutality following the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.
The Senate moved toward passing a version of the legislation on Monday, and Governor Charlie Baker has filed legislation to create a system for licensing police officers and stripping them of their certification for misconduct.
The House, too, has committed to passing a bill, but DeLeo said Monday it won’t come before the House holds a public hearing, perhaps as early as this week.
The truncated, and complicated, discussion around increasing accountability on police has already hit snags. Before it began in earnest Monday, debate in the Senate was delayed on three successive days by Republican Senator Ryan C. Fattman, who used parliamentary tactics to table the bill while criticizing what he said was its rushed passage.
Focus quickly turned to the provision aimed at qualified immunity, the legal doctrine that bars government officials, including police officers, from being held personally responsible for monetary damages in civil lawsuits. The original version of the Senate bill sought to curtail it by setting a higher bar: An officer’s action would only get immunity if “no reasonable defendant could have reason to believe that such conduct would violate the law.”
Police unions have railed against the measure, while Representative Ayanna Pressley and Senator Elizabeth Warren took the rare step of weighing in on state policy, publicly urging senators in recent days to pass it.
It quickly created a linear debate: How much should legislators try to tackle as the clock dwindles?
“There are more things that we know need to be done,” said Representative Russell E. Holmes, a Mattapan Democrat and former chairman of the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus, which has urged legislative leaders to focus on what it called its “core priorities” on the police legislation, including the certification system and retooling standards on use of force.
“We can’t tackle 400 years of systemic racism and white supremacy in four weeks,” Holmes said. “That’s not possible.”
Matt Stout can be reached at matt.stout@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @mattpstout
Reader’s comment:
“MyLucy” wrote on 7/13/2020 - 9:58PM:
Yes, so little time, when you are benefitting from a 40% pay raise and only work part-time and presiding over corrupt politicians and police who are robbing the heck out of the state So little time, yes, so little time, well if you didn't work part-time for full-time salary, you would have more time, would you not?
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July 21, 2020
Tricia Farley Bouvier has an op-ed in The Boston Globe today. I will have to read it later and then post it on my “Tricia Farley Bouvier” blog page on “Jonathan Melle on Politics” blog.
I really think Beacon Hill should pass a fiscal year 2021 budget already. They are 20 days and counting late. Beacon Hill hasn’t passed a state budget yet because they face an up to $8 billion budget deficit. The Massachusetts State Legislature’s formal session ends in 11 days, and then they go on a 5-month recess from August 1, 2020 – December 31, 2020. Maybe Tricia Farley Bouvier can offer to cut some of her taxpayer-funded pay, stipends, perks, and other benefits while she takes her 5-month long vacation!
- Jonathan Melle
OPINION : “Cutting state and local services in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic doesn’t make fiscal sense: While it may seem counterintuitive to talk about new revenue in the midst of an economic crisis, we must recognize that it would be unprecedented not to.”
By Tricia Farley-Bouvier and Jack Patrick Lewis, op-ed, The Boston Globe, July 21, 2020
COVID-19 has presented us with an unparalleled global crisis whose total effect on Massachusetts has yet to be fully felt. The state revenue shortfall is about $6 billion, and local and state leaders have been told to prepare for the worst as they develop budgets for the new fiscal year. Mayors and superintendents are faced with unfathomable decisions over what they are going to cut in order to help their cities, towns, and schools survive the current economic crisis. On the state level, we have been forewarned of the tough budgetary choices and program cuts to come.
There is a better way. Rather than myopically cutting our way out of this dilemma, we must instead make significant investments in our residents and our communities. We call on our colleagues in the Legislature, the Baker administration, and in Congress to commit to these four concrete actions to limit the damage of the current fiscal crisis and equip us for a faster, stronger, and more equitable economic recovery:
▪ We call on our federal delegation to focus, with all urgency, the next federal relief package squarely on bailing out states so that we can fulfill our obligations to education, local aid, and protecting our children, seniors, and our environment.
▪ The Massachusetts Legislature needs to use no less than $1.5 billion of the Massachusetts Rainy Day Fund.
▪ The Legislature needs to raise new revenue through targeted, progressive means, including taxes.
▪ If necessary, the state should borrow to fill state budget gaps.
While it may seem counterintuitive to talk about new revenue in the midst of an economic crisis, we must recognize that it would be unprecedented not to. Massachusetts has raised new revenue following every recession of the last few decades. As outlined in an open letter to Massachusetts leaders supported by dozens of well-regarded Massachusetts economists, “Economic theory and historical experience show that spending cuts are more harmful than tax increases during recessions.” And finally, not everyone has been hurt by the coronavirus pandemic. Billionaires across the country have seen their wealth grow by over $584 billion since March alone, and a number of corporations have seen record profits during this time.
We call not for broad-based taxes but, rather, for progressive revenue that targets existing loopholes and those corporations who have profited handsomely in these last few months. These targeted reforms include recapturing taxes from those who move their income offshore by recoupling with the federal Global Intangible Low Tax Income (GILTI) provision, eliminating the single-sales factor for mutual fund companies, delaying implementation of the state charitable tax deduction, and raising and tiering the Corporate Income Tax. Taken together, these actions will generate an estimated $1.3 billion in revenue for Massachusetts, without economically harming our middle and working-class residents or our small businesses.
If the federal government fails to provide necessary relief for states, Massachusetts should borrow. Ordinarily, borrowing is reserved for capital investments, not to cover operating costs. However, education and other essential services in the midst of a global pandemic is a vital investment in our human capital.
In the Student Opportunity Act, legislators promised to bring transformative educational funding to under-resourced communities. To now deny these students the significant investment that was promised would be a triple blow to low-income residents and communities of color, who have already been so disproportionately affected by both the public health and economic crises of these last few months, both caused and exasperated by the longstanding inequities and injustices facing them. We cannot rob yet another generation of young people from the high-quality education and opportunity to which they are entitled.
Earlier this year, the Massachusetts House showed our willingness to take the necessary votes for the future of our Commonwealth in passing a vital transportation investment bill. We urge our Senate colleagues to approve it, and Governor Baker to quickly sign it into law. However, the revenue it raises will not be enough to meet the needs of our new reality. We must do more.
Now is not the time for harmful, draconian cuts. We see the devastating impacts of this sudden and current crisis on families, and it is imperative that all elected leaders refuse to choose which segment of working-class America to harm and instead require that the wealthiest among us step up and do their part. While this moment of crisis poses a great challenge to all public officials, we are committed to doing what’s necessary to fully fund our essential state and local programs and to provide the support our residents need to weather this crisis.
Tricia Farley-Bouvier represents the Third Berkshire District and Jack Patrick Lewis represents the Seventh Middlesex District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
RELATED: More than 2,000 Massachusetts educators have received layoff or nonrenewal notices
RELATED: Linda J. Blimes: A perfect fiscal storm of revenue shortfalls for cities and towns
RELATED: Editorial: Massachusetts should borrow to avoid big budget cuts
July 21, 2020
I read Tricia Farley Bouvier’s op-ed in The Boston Globe. She is basically arguing that if Beacon Hill doesn’t raise revenues (taxes & fees) and borrow money to balance the fiscal year 2020 state operating budget, then there will be big financial cuts to state and local services. She said that raising taxes and borrowing money are “significant investments in our residents and our communities”. She also wants U.S. Congress to bailout the states in the next stimulus package. She wants the Massachusetts State Legislature “to use no less than $1.5 billion” from the “Rainy Day Fund”. She points out that “Billionaires across the country have seen there wealth grow…since March alone”. She wants the wealthy to pay higher taxes. Nowhere in her op-ed does she offer to cut her own taxpayer-funded pay, stipends, perks, and other public benefits.
- Jonathan Melle
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"Budget, other priorities await extended session in state legislature" By Danny Jin, The Berkshire Eagle, Sunday, August 9, 2020
NORTH ADAMS — The Massachusetts Legislature is a week into its extended session, yet it remains unclear what might get taken up in the added time.
Priorities include a permanent budget and major bills still in conference committees. Beyond that, the Berkshire delegation has some proposals it wants to see go through, but there's less certainty on what leaders will allow in the session that will now continue until Jan. 6, when a new Legislature is sworn in.
"I think we're getting a little mixed signals from leadership," said Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli, D-Lenox. "I think the House kind of left it pretty wide open that I think we could've taken up individual bills. The Senate president has said something just the opposite."
Police reform, transportation, health care, economic development and climate bills remain in conference committees.
All Berkshire representatives voted for the police reform bill, which passed the House by a 93-66 margin.
The budget will be a big project in itself, according to the delegation, although there may still be hope for longstanding goals.
"It is my hope that we are taking up legislation in the extended session that is wide-ranging, that we are not limited in what we take up," said Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield. "We essentially lost four months of working on legislation."
"This is just a messed up year," said Rep. John Barrett III, D-North Adams. "We were moving fairly well in the Legislature, at least on the House side."
Sen. Adam Hinds, D-Pittsfield, said the revenue working group that he chairs is looking at possible taxes in case they are needed, but much of the budget-related work depends on federal aid.
"I think that if the final package is in the area of the CARES Act then the focus for any additional revenue needed starts to shift to fiscal year 2022, so we hope to have an answer soon," he said.
"If the federal government comes in short of that — and the initial proposal from the Senate side was quite a bit short of that — that changes the whole calculation."
It's important to get the budget right because it acts as a "values statement," Farley-Bouvier said.
Berkshire lawmakers celebrated last week's announcement that state funding for schools would be held level from last year, in addition to an increase for inflation.
Beyond that, Farley-Bouvier is pushing primarily for two bills: one that would provide driver's licenses in Massachusetts regardless of a person's immigration status, and one that would give college campuses resources for preventing and responding to sexual violence.
She said she believes the latter would have passed easily if not for the pandemic, and both bills have strong support in the House Progressive Caucus, which she chairs.
Other caucus priorities include the Safe Communities Act, which would prohibit state and local law enforcement and court officials from asking about a person's immigration status, and the ROE Act, which would expand access to abortions.
Barrett highlighted a bill, which he co-authored with Pignatelli, to create a $75 million relief fund for food service and hospitality workers.
"A lot of restaurants are closing in Berkshire County, or have closed and aren't reopening," he said. "And those that are reopening are facing an insurmountable task. Contrary to what the stock market's saying, our economy is very very weak, getting very fragile with each passing day."
Pignatelli is pushing for a dental therapy bill, which would establish a mid-level practitioner to expand access for oral health care, and an acupuncture bill, which would have insurance cover "non-invasive, non-addictive and cost-beneficial" alternative therapies, he said.
Hinds is working to create an office of outdoor recreation, which he said would promote outdoor activities and boost the Western Massachusetts tourist economy.
"I think our strategy is shifting to establish the office through executive action, and maybe it gets reinforced and made permanent through future legislative action," he said.
Rep. Paul Mark, D-Peru, did not provide comment after he said his power came back Wednesday morning.
Changes in COVID-19 case counts may also require lawmakers to respond, especially around testing, Barrett said.
"I think we're going to have to do some things as they arise," he said.
"COVID is rearing its ugly head again in Massachusetts, in New England, so that's going to have to be dealt with."
Pignatelli said that while he'd like to see action taken on his bills, he's fine with waiting until next session if they don't receive widespread support. He supports the session extension but recognizes why a deadline was set.
"COVID is a different scenario and has thrown us all in a loop," he said. "Lame-duck sessions, night-time pay raises, there's a reason to avoid that. The parameters need to be tight and very focused, and that's what I think we're going to do."
Danny Jin, a Report for America corps member, is The Eagle's Statehouse news reporter. He can be reached at djin@berkshireeagle.com, @djinreports on Twitter and 413-496-6221.
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Letter: "On the ethics of elected officials"
The Berkshire Eagle, September 25, 2020
To the editor:
Why are our locally elected officials displaying such a lack of ethics? Is it a side effect of taking office?
Case 1: I sent an email to Pittsfield Councilor at Large Yuki Cohen, and never received a response. I felt that I, one of her constituents, am owed at the minimum, a response email, especially since the email was a warning that someone was (potentially) using her name in vain.
Case 2: Ward 6 (the ward in which I reside) Counselor Dina Guiel Lampiasi made a campaign promise to resign from the Licensing Board. Period. She made a commitment in a public forum, and should have kept that promise. The fact that it was determined to not be a conflict of interest months after she should have acted is irrelevant. I realize that some campaign promises, such as lowering taxes, crime and unemployment, cannot be kept; but it is inexcusable to not keep a promise over which she has complete control, immediately upon taking office.
Case 3: Our Berkshire County district attorney had derogatory information about her released to the media, and she blamed the integrity of the person who released it. No matter the intentions of the person who brought out the information, it is true, and it is unconscionable to blame the person who brought the truth to public attention.
Case 4: Speaking of unconscionable, this brings us to our 3rd Berkshire state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier. Over the years, I have sent our solon two emails expressing my opinion on bills she has proposed. Based upon the lack of response I received from these two emails, let alone the misguidance behind the proposed bills, she does not deserve to be in office, and I urge everyone to please vote her out of office.
More than any other qualification for office, I strongly feel that ethics are the first priority, and all of these elected officials have shown a severe lack of it, and no longer deserve to be in office.
Roger Mullen, Pittsfield
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October 9, 2020
Per Danny Jin's news article, below, concerning Beacon Hill not even proposing a fiscal year 2021 state budget after over 3 months and counting, I take Pittsfield State Senator Adam Hinds, Pittsfield State Representative Tricia Farley Bouvier, and Lenox State Representative Smitty Pignatelli's statements as nothing but hot air. Rather, I believe Beacon Hill not even proposing a state budget as a financial shell game. They don't even know how big the state budget deficit is. Moreover, they have yet to close the books on fiscal year 2020, which ended on June 30, 2020. Furthermore, they are supposed to be planning on for fiscal year 2022. Nothing has been done by Beacon Hill's do nothing state Legislators!
If and when Beacon Hill raises taxes, and/or cuts funds, and/or borrows money to close its multi-billion-dollar state budget deficit, it will cause additional economic losses for taxpayers. Raising taxes on millionaires and closing corporate tax loopholes will only go so far, while making other states more attractive for the wealthy to do business in. Cutting funds after over 3 months and counting will compound the funding cuts higher on a prorated basis. To illustrate, a 10 percent cut would actually be a 20 percent cut at this point in the fiscal year on a prorated basis. After another month or two, a 10 percent cut would actually be a 30 to 40 percent cut on a prorated basis to local government and their public school districts. Borrowing money to close the huge budget deficit will hurt taxpayers over the next decades.
Hinds, Farley Bouvier, and Smitty all voted themselves a 40 percent pay raise over 3.5-years-ago. Their legislative pay raise vote cost state taxpayers over $18 million. They should lead by example and vote to rescind their legislative pay raise vote, and then they should pay back all of their taxpayer loot, including their padded state pension benefits.
Beacon Hill has not held even one formal legislative session since July 31st, 2020, which means that all of the state's legislative business has been done in secret for over 2 months and counting. No one has any idea what is going on under Boston's "Golden Dome". In closing, it is state government at its very worst!
- Jonathan Melle
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Danny Jin: "Three months into fiscal 2021, state budget remains in limbo"
By Danny Jin, The Berkshire Eagle, October 9, 2020
Massachusetts lawmakers opted to start the fiscal year that began July 1 with an interim budget, claiming that uncertainty over state revenues made it impossible to plan a full year ahead.
They expected to know more about a possible federal aid package by mid-July. But, three months later, they still are waiting on that answer, and the size of the state’s pandemic-induced budget hole remains unclear.
“The next federal package remains critical for bolstering our economy and supporting individuals and communities, and yet the status of that changes literally daily,” said state Sen. Adam Hinds, D-Pittsfield, who chairs the Senate revenue working group.
The $2.2 trillion proposal from the Democrat-led House would cover Massachusetts’ budget gap, Hinds said, yet how close to that number Republicans will be willing to go remains a question mark.
Comments from Republican leaders have done little to provide clarity.
President Donald Trump, in a Tuesday tweet, had appeared to rule out passing a package before the Nov. 3 election, but he later reversed course, calling stimulus talks “very productive” on Thursday before raising his offer to $1.8 trillion Friday.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, however, on Friday called a stimulus package “unlikely” before the election.
Whether voters choose Trump or Democrat Joe Biden in November might also have long-term implications for state budgets, which often depend on federal aid.
“It’s a very different picture if Joe Biden is the president and Democrats control the U.S. Senate,” Hinds said. “That’ll indicate longer-term support to states.”
Massachusetts, nevertheless, already has made some assurances. Unrestricted aid to cities and towns will be funded at least as high as last year’s levels, and Chapter 70 school aid will increase by at least $107 million to account for inflation, lawmakers and the Baker administration agreed in July.
“I think it stabilizes the municipalities’ budgets, but we still have a big hole to fill,” said state Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli, D-Lenox.
Budget forecasters at a Wednesday roundtable projected that the state would collect $25.92 billion to $29.8 billion in taxes this fiscal year, well short of the $31.15 billion estimate Gov. Charlie Baker and Statehouse lawmakers agreed to in January. The state took in $29.60 billion the previous fiscal year.
Those projections indicate a gap of up to $5.23 billion, reigniting an age-old debate over whether governments should respond to downturns by raising taxes or cutting spending.
Proponents of tax hikes say spending cuts are harmful to economic recovery, while those who favor spending cuts say taxes hurt people who already are struggling.
During the Great Recession, Massachusetts raised its sales tax to combat a budget shortfall. Sales tax, however, widely is recognized to be regressive, meaning it takes a greater portion of the income of lower earners, and does not seem likely to be considered this year.
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, has called for taxes aimed to get corporations and individuals who made money during the pandemic to “pay their fair share.” Such an approach would target businesses that profited without hurting those that lost money, she said.
The Massachusetts High Technology Council, a prominent group backing business interests, has suggested it might support temporary tax increases, although it has wanted against a “tax-first” approach to the budget shortfall.
Yet, the budget picture is subject to change with the status of the pandemic, and many expect the recession to last beyond this year. It likely won’t be until lawmakers get a better sense of what they’re working with before we start to see what strategies they’ll take.
“We keep reiterating the phrase that ‘everything’s on the table,’” Hinds said.
Danny Jin, a Report for America corps member, is The Eagle’s Statehouse news reporter. He can be reached at djin@berkshireeagle.com, @djinreports on Twitter and 413-496-6221.
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October 16, 2020
Hello Pittsfield State Senator Adam Hinds, Pittsfield State Representative Tricia Farley Bouvier, and Berkshire area State Representatives Smitty Pignatelli, Paul Mark, and John Barrett III,
I read the news article about your respective thoughts on Baker's belated budget proposal:
https://www.wamc.org/post/berkshire-legislators-evaluate-baker-s-latest-budget-proposal
I wish to tell you that Governor Charlie Baker and your colleagues on Beacon Hill are playing financial shell games with the Governor's revised fiscal year 2021 state budget proposal for Massachusetts. Baker expects the revised budget to be passed by Thanksgiving of 2020. He raised state spending by 3.8 percent, while there is a multi-billion-dollar budget deficit. He ruled out broad based tax increases. How does any of Baker's revised budget proposal make any financial sense? The only answer I can think of is that the Governor is using Matt Kerwood's infamous creative accounting methods to cook the books.
Baker added 118 policy proposals to his revised budget proposal. Isn't it your job as lawmakers to propose public policies? Shouldn't there be public hearings and public input when the state Legislature considers new laws? Why hasn't Beacon Hill done nothing this year? Is Baker usurping your legislative authority?
Is the November 3rd, 2020, state election a factor in Baker's revised state budget proposal? Is he offering false financial promises to get his handpicked candidates elected to Beacon Hill? After the state election in 18 days, will Beacon Hill switch Baker's proverbial roses to deep funding cuts that smells like a skunk?
In closing, I believe Beacon Hill's state government leadership is state government at its very worst!
In Truth!
Jonathan A. Melle
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"After Globe Revelations, Farley-Bouvier Calls On Baker To Reform State Police"
By Josh Landes, WAMC, October 23, 2020
After a Boston Globe report revealed that dozens of Massachusetts State Police troopers with past incidents of illegal conduct remain on the force, a Pittsfield state representative says Governor Charlie Baker is responsible.
The Globe’s review of State Police internal affairs files showed that troopers with connections to organized crime, OUIs, sexual harassment charges and more remain on the force today. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, the Democrat who represents the 3rd Berkshire District in the statehouse, says Baker, a Republican, must take action to reform the department.
“Well the state police fall directly under the governor, and the governor has failed at this," she told WAMC. "He has to take full responsibility for what’s happening with the state police, and make sure it gets fixed.”
The Massachusetts State Police are also embroiled in a scandal involving dozens of troopers who submitted fraudulent payroll records to collect overtime for hours they didn’t work.
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October 24, 2020
Tricia Farley Bouvier is calling on Governor Charlie Baker to reform the Massachusetts State Police after the Boston Globe reported that dozens of troopers with past incidents of illegal conduct remain on the force. Why doesn't TFB look in the proverbial mirror instead and work to reform the do nothing state Legislature on Beacon Hill? They haven't held a formal legislative session in nearly 3 months, which means that all of Beacon Hill's legislative business has been done in secret. They have yet to pass a fiscal year 2021 state budget in nearly 4 months and counting. The Speaker for Life named Bob DeLeo is a de facto dictator who receives nearly unanimous votes on his legislation. TFB voted for her own 40 percent legislative pay raise in early-2017, which factors all of her pay, benefits, and compensation into her future taxpayer-funded state pension. TFB writes op-eds arguing for tax increases on the upper class residents and wealthy businesses alike to close a multi-billion-dollar state budget deficit. Yet, TFB never offers to cut her own taxpayer-funded pay, benefits and compensation she collects as a career politician. TFB blocks and/or doesn't reply to emails or other correspondences if people don't agree with her do nothing public record.
- Jonathan Melle
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October 25, 2020
Hello Patrick Fennell,
Pittsfield State Representative Tricia Farley Bouvier should be focused on her legislative duties on Beacon Hill. She should be working towards passing a belated fiscal year 2021 state budget. She should be calling for formal legislative sessions so the taxpaying public may know what is going on under Boston's Golden Dome. She should actually do her job instead of doing nothing all day.
Tricia Farley Bouvier blocks and/or refuses to respond to her constituents' correspondences. I read letters to the editor of the Dirty Bird (Berkshire Eagle) saying that she ignores the people she supposedly represents. Her public record shows she doesn't get anything accomplished over nearly one decade in Boston. She is a rubber stamp for Speaker for Life Bob DeLeo. She only cares about political power in state and local government.
Tricia Farley Bouvier supported the Berkshire Museum's selling of historic pieces of art, including two Norman Rockwell paintings the late artist gifted to the people of Berkshire County, for tens of millions of dollars. Many people protested the Berkshire Museum's selling of valuable art, but she did not listen to her constituents.
Tricia Farley Bouvier voted for her own 40 percent legislative pay raise bill in early-2017 that cost taxpayers over $18 million. The average working class resident of Pittsfield (Mass.) struggles to earn a sub-living wage, but she did not care about the financial struggles of the hard hit working families in Pittsfield.
Tricia Farley Bouvier sends her children to upper class Lenox public schools because her children are too good for Pittsfield public schools. She takes care of herself first, while the average Pittsfield resident is ignored.
Tricia Farley Bouvier voted for casino gambling, which is yet another form of regressive taxation to fill Beacon Hill's corrupt coffers with money from the uneducated or financially illiterate working poor state residents. She is calling for tax increases on the upper class taxpaying citizens and wealthy corporations to put even more taxpayer dollars into Beacon Hill's corrupt coffers. She is not calling for cuts in Beacon Hill's insider's gravy train. She is not calling to cut her own pay, benefits, and compensation.
In closing, Tricia Farley Bouvier does nothing for nearly one decade, but if she ever looked in the proverbial mirror she would not be so quick to criticize everyone else out there.
Best wishes,
Jonathan Melle
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"Worcester-area officials voice concern over pot delivery plans"
By Cyrus Moulton, Telegram & Gazette Staff, October 26, 2020
WORCESTER - Marijuana advocates say delivery licenses, including wholesale marijuana delivery licenses, will increase opportunities for those without the capital of corporate dispensaries.
But several area legislators, city and police officials, and the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce are asking the Cannabis Control Commission to slow down and reconsider such wholesale delivery licenses, saying municipalities’ tax revenue and control over the industry are at risk.
“While we agree that social equity must play a role in this new burgeoning industry, we must also be appreciative of the substantial amount of capital and time our brick and mortar facilities have spent to open and operate,” Alex Guardiola, director of government affairs and public policy at the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, wrote in a letter.
“If these amendments are passed, deliveries from warehouses far outside the city could do business in Worcester and the city would be unable to collect any tax revenue on the transaction. This undoubtedly would end up creating a conglomerate-like corporate takeover of the Commonwealth’s cannabis industry, which is counter intuitive to the original goal of bringing new revenue to our towns and cities and would eliminate the social equity aspect all together,” he wrote.
Guardiola’s letter was one of scores of comments received by the Cannabis Control Commission as it weighs regulations to allow recreational marijuana delivery licenses.
“Last time I saw a tally, on Friday, we had over 80 comments from individuals and organizations,” CCC Chairman Steven Hoffman said in a meeting last week. “We have read all those comments. They were well-reasoned, compelling arguments and, unsurprisingly, not all aligned.
“I want to acknowledge this is a very important issue, it’s a very contentious issue, it’s a very difficult issue, and certainly the public comments that we received reflected that,” Hoffman said.
Last week, commissioners approved policy changes to draft regulations that would allow two types of delivery licenses.
Marijuana-delivery operator licenses (previously known as a wholesale delivery license) would allow an operator to buy marijuana wholesale from cultivators and manufacturers, store it in a warehouse, and sell it directly to consumers.
Limited delivery licenses (renamed last week as a marijuana courier license) would allow an operator to charge a fee to make deliveries from CCC-licensed retailers and dispensaries.
In a unanimous vote last week, commissioners also set a cap on the licenses, ruling that an entity can have no more than three retail and/or delivery operator or courier licenses at a time and, of those three, no more than two can be a delivery operator or courier license.
Delivery is available for medical marijuana, and advocates see it as a way to diversify the recreational industry by providing entry for those with limited capital or those who have been disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs.
In fact, draft regulations include that delivery licenses be available exclusively to participants in the CCC’s Social Equity Program - a free technical assistance and training program focusing on those most impacted by the war on drugs, marijuana prohibition, and disproportionate arrests and incarceration - and certified economic empowerment applicants for the first three years.
But delivery licenses - specifically, the wholesale allowing marijuana-delivery operator licenses - have become contentious.
In a letter to the CCC, 19 state lawmakers said this type of license was not enabled by the governing regulations and that its “potential disruption to the nascent retail marketplace and to local communities has not been fully vetted or realized.”
“The draft regulations create a shadow direct to the consumer marketplace not governed by the licensing requirements and regulations of marijuana retailers,” the lawmakers wrote. “These draft regulations also significantly change the landscape for cities and towns after many had already engaged in intensive community-wide conversations about the number and types of marijuana establishments their communities wished to host.”
State Reps. Hannah Kane of Shrewsbury, Mark Cusack of Braintree, Claire Cronin of Easton, Gerard Cassidy of Brockton, Mathew Muratore of Plymouth, Danielle Gregoire of Marlboro, Stephan Hay of Fitchburg, Jay Barrows of Mansfield, Theodore Speliotis of Danvers, Kimberly Ferguson of Holden, Brian Murray of Milford, Carole Fiola of Fall River; Tricia Farley-Bouvier of Pittsfield, Susan Gifford of Wareham, David DeCoste of Norwell, and Paul Frost of Auburn signed the letter, along with state Sens. Michael Moore of Millbury, Ryan Fattman of Sutton, and Anne Gobi of Spencer.
In addition, several area letter writers expressed concerns that their respective communities might receive less tax revenue if wholesale delivery was allowed.
“By allowing outside operators to deliver to customers in our town, Charlton would be unable to collect any revenue or taxes on these transactions,” Charlton Selectman William Borowski wrote. “This would effectively overturn and violate our preexisting (Host Community Agreement) ... Any reduction in (the local dispensary’s) revenue is a reduction in municipal revenue and consequently, a burden on our residents.”
Worcester Mayor Joseph M. Petty raised concerns about how other local laws and existing HCAs might be affected by wholesale delivery.
“Additional planning, including public safety and economic development plans will be needed,” Petty wrote. “We need time to develop zoning and other by-law changes that will allow us to honor our current agreements with retail licensees while considering this new type of license.”
Bruce Hiorns, president of the State Police Commissioned Officers Association, raised public safety concerns.
“Rather than obtain product from secure dispensaries, they would instead obtain their own stock and use relatively unregulated warehouses, which would pose an additional public safety concern,” Hiorns wrote. “I have grave concerns over the lack of security measures at delivery distribution facilities and the ability of recreational marijuana to permeate cities whose police forces are not prepared for such volume due to an intentional lack of dispensaries in their communities.”
And Frost, who also submitted testimony, raised concerns about the impact on existing retail stores.
“These stores invested large amounts of capital to meet all the regulations and licensing requirements required under law and by all of you,” said Frost, who is also a member of the Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy. “The measure being considered would pull the rug out from underneath them. It is simply unfair.”
Chris Mitchum, CEO of Diem Cannabis, agreed, arguing that wholesale delivery could put his brick-and-mortar recreational dispensary on Grafton Street out of business.
“What we’re going to run into is an Amazon-style approach to marijuana sales in Massachusetts,” Mitchum said. “A company is going to have a couple of hundred fleet vehicles, and deliver to all parts of the state and there’s not going to be a need for brick and mortar shops like mine anymore.”
The final regulations are scheduled to be voted on at the CCC’s next meeting Thursday.
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"Massachusetts House leaders propose $46 billion budget"
By Danny Jin, The Berkshire Eagle, November 5, 2020
House leaders put forward a $46 billion state budget on Thursday that top Democrats said has no “drastic cuts” or broad-based tax increases, but relies heavily on one-time funding from the federal government and state reserves to protect services during the ongoing pandemic.
The House budget proposes to spend about $188 million more than Gov. Charlie Baker has recommended, in areas like education, food security and substance addiction services. Leaders said they will open debate on the bill next Tuesday, and Speaker Robert DeLeo said he hopes to work with the Senate to deliver a budget for fiscal 2021 to the governor by the end of the month. That would be a record turnaround time for the branches, which have been known to haggle for months over budget details.
“This is a budget that pays the bills by concentrating on those who are most in need of ou help,” DeLeo said.
Members of the Berkshire delegation said Thursday they were generally pleased with allocations.
Several expressed approval for the $50 million dedicated to the Rental Assistance for Families in Transition program, an increase from what Baker had proposed. Chapter 70 education funding and local aid were held level from the previous year, as the Legislature and governor had agreed to do in June.
Rep. Paul Mark, D-Peru, noted higher education did not experience cuts, and he said funding for the Opioid Task Force in both Berkshire County and Franklin County would benefit communities during a state of emergency.
“I am quite pleased to see level funding of higher education for all 29 of the public colleges and universities,” Mark wrote in an email. “I took the lead on a letter with Rep. Natalie Higgins, D-Leominster that the entire Berkshire delegation and 55 House members signed on to requesting this.”
State Rep. John Barrett III, D-North Adams, worked on the budget as a member of the House Ways and Means committee, which released the bill.
“There were some areas of expansion, but mainly in areas to help the less fortunate,” Barrett said, citing school transportation for children who are homeless as an example.
“Having been through several of these situations when I was mayor, I can attest that it was a good budget and it didn’t add any fees or taxes or anything.” Barrett said.
Rather than raise new revenue through taxes, the state opted to lean on existing pools, including taking $1.55 billion from its rainy day fund.
Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli, D-Lenox, said the budget makes investments “to help stabilize people” while leaving enough in the rainy day fund to weather future emergencies.
Drawing more than that from the fund, Pignatelli argued, would have been “fiscally irresponsible” because a prolonged pandemic could hamper future years’ budgets as well.
Calling housing “the biggest issue,” Pignatelli said it was also “very important” that the budget included more money for regional school transportation, and he highlighted “key investments” to address domestic violence and substance abuse.
Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, co-chairs the House Progressive Caucus, and she said the caucus had its requests met for rental assistance, as well as $29 million for the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation to represent residents living in poverty.
“Some funds allocated for a lot of that safety net for people living in deep poverty,” Farley-Bouvier said. “I think we can consider it a real win given the financial situation in the state.”
Farley-Bouvier said she was content with the amount the state drew from the rainy day fund but renewed her call “to continue the discussion about raising revenue.”
“The fiscal year 2022 budget is just not that far away, and I think that the landscape for that, the projections on that, are bleaker than what we had for fiscal year 2021,” she said. “We know that people, corporations and very wealthy individuals have only increased their assets during tis pandemic, and we need to make sure we are protecting the most vulnerable in our state, including those who are on the verge or already homeless.”
Pignatelli said he had suggested to DeLeo that the House, which usually debates the budget in April, pass a series of temporary budgets to allocate monthly spending until it became clearer how much revenue the state had to spend. The last of those interim budgets expires at the end of November.
“People criticize us for delaying this budget, but I think it was a smart move,” Pignatelli said. “Revenues have gotten better. I think our big fear is the rise in cases that could destabilize the economy if there’s another shutdown.”
Like Baker’s, the House’s fiscal 2021 budget assumes a $2 billion reduction in tax revenues from fiscal 2020 due to the pandemic. Tax revenues over the first four months of the fiscal year are up over last year.
The House proposes a 5.3 percent spending increase over the $43.6 billion fiscal 2020 budget.
The House budget includes a section that would restrict courts from finalizing evictions if a tenant has an active application for rental assistance pending with the administration.
The House adopted many of the same one-time revenue sources that Baker relied on in his revised budget submission, including a $267 million plan to accelerate sales tax collections from larger businesses that collect and remit to the state more than $150,000 from consumers in sales taxes a year.
The budget also relies on $550 million in federal CARES Act money and $834 million in enhanced Medicaid reimbursements for MassHealth.
The withdrawal from the rainy day fund is $200 million more than recommended by Baker, and would leave slightly less than $2 billion in reserve.
Unlike the governor’s budget, the House plan does not rely on any anticipated revenue from sports betting, which is not yet legal, and excluded the governor’s proposal to increase per-ride fees on Uber and Lyft.
While the budget is expected to change through the amendment process, DeLeo said the House must be “careful” to consider the limited resources available.
The House budget also puts more money into food security programs, community day and work programs, substance addiction services, domestic violence and sexual assault prevention and legal assistance.
While leaders admitted being unable in the budget to fully fund the Student Opportunity Act, DeLeo said the House bill would spend $80 million more on educational support programs, including a new $50 million COVID student support fund to help districts with low-income students.
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November 18, 2020
Hello blogger Dan Valenti,
The entire Berkshire delegation to Beacon Hill's State House (Tricia Farley Bouvier, Smitty Pignatelli, John Barrett III, and Paul Mark) and State Senate (Adam Hinds) voted for abortion as state law via a budget rider. Their vote is veto-proof if Governor Charlie Baker vetoes the budget rider making abortion state law in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I support a woman's right to choose an abortion free of government criminal penalties within existing limited-abortion-rights policies, but I also believe that to make such a major law via a budget rider is wrong. Beacon Hill should not make laws via budget riders, especially big women's health issues like abortion. Instead, the Boston-based lawmakers should have to hear public input and hold public hearings. Laws impact people's lives. It is important for state Legislators to communicate with their constituents and the news media about the laws they pass. I dissent against the process of passing major laws via budget riders!
Best wishes,
Jonathan Melle
Here are the links I used to find out how Adam Hinds, Tricia Farley Bouvier, Smitty Pignatelli, John Barrett III, and Paul Mark voted on making abortion state law in Massachusetts via a budget rider.
https://www.wbur.org/news/2020/11/18/mass-senate-approves-abortion-access-amendment
State House of Representative vote:
https://capecodwomenforchange.com/2020/11/14/ma-residents-how-did-your-state-rep-vote-on-the-roe-amendment/
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"House overrides Baker veto on abortion bill; Senate expected to follow"
By Danny Jin, The Berkshire Eagle, December 28, 2020
The Massachusetts House voted Monday to override Gov. Charlie Baker’s veto of a proposal to expand abortion access.
The 107-46 tally surpassed the threshold to override a veto by just one vote, and the Senate is expected to override the Baker veto. The bill, which would codify abortion rights, lower the age for abortions without parental or judicial consent to 16 and allow for pregnancy terminations in severe circumstances after 24 weeks, would become law if the Senate follows suit.
All Berkshire County lawmakers voted for the bill.
After Baker attempted to alter the bill, the Senate had voted 32-8 to reenact the bill, a margin sufficient to override his veto.
Baker had expressed concern with the bill’s proposal to allow abortions for 16- and 17-year-olds without parental or judicial consent, and he wanted more restrictive language for when abortions could happen after 24 weeks.
Advocacy groups have backed the expanded abortion access, citing the new conservative supermajority in the Supreme Court as a reason for states to solidify reproductive rights in law.
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"Abortion access policies become law despite Baker veto"
By Katie Lannan, State House News Service, December 29, 2020
Abortion rights will be formally codified in state law, and access to the procedure will be expanded after the Senate on Tuesday joined the House in overriding Gov. Charlie Baker's veto of the legislation.
The Senate reaffirmed its support for the abortion access measures (H 5179) on a 32-8 vote, one day after the House's 107-46 vote. The bill, initially passed within the state budget and then returned by Baker with amendments that lawmakers ultimately rejected, will allow abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy in cases with a fatal fetal anomaly and if "necessary, in the best medical judgment of the physician, to preserve the patient's physical or mental health."
It would also lower from 18 to 16 the age at which individuals can seek an abortion without consent from a parent or a judge. "Beginning today, pregnant people who once faced near-insurmountable barriers accessing abortion care can now seize the right to control their own bodies," said Senate President Emerita Harriette Chandler, who filed one of the bills on which the budget language was based.
She said supporters had been pushing for the changes for two years. The ROE Act Coalition said the reforms mean that "no Bay State family who receives a devastating diagnosis later in pregnancy will ever be forced to fly across the country to access compassionate care and no 16- or 17-year-old will ever be forced to navigate the court system to access the health care they need."
In his veto message last week, Baker said he "strongly" supports the right to access reproductive health care, but could not support sections "that expand the availability of later term abortions and permit minors age 16 and 17 to get an abortion without the consent of a parent or guardian."
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November 19, 2020
Hello Patrick Fennell,
To be clear, I never said that I support the murdering of babies. I do NOT believe murder is O.K.
On the issue of abortion, I believe that politicians do NOT care about the proverbial Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski's reproductive decisions. I do believe that politicians use abortion as a wedge issue in politics that gets everyone out there to go nuts in order to distract us from all of the other political issues.
To be clear, I am pro-choice. I do NOT believe that the government should subject women with criminal penalties when they choose to get an abortion. I also believe that if men, including me, do NOT want women to get an abortion, then men, including me, should NOT have sex with women unless men, including me, are willing to sacrifice at least 2 decades of our lives as men to provide sufficient financial funds and time and care to nurture the baby through at least their teenage years.
Lastly, I do NOT approve of Hunter Biden. He has at least 5 children with at least 3 different women. He is a crack cocaine and alcohol addict who has sex with strippers and sex workers. Hunter Biden even slept with his late brother's widow, who is his sister-in-law. Hunter Biden is worth tens of millions of dollars, as is all of the members of Joe Biden's alleged Crime Family. The MSM has yet to explain how the Biden alleged Crime Family members all have tens of millions of dollars in their personal financial accounts. In closing, I believe Hunter Biden's overseas business dealings and his "bad boy behavior" could bring down the presidency of Joe Biden if the allegations are true.
Best wishes,
Jonathan Melle
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"Holmes sees speaker’s vote in next 48 hours"
By Matt Murphy, State House News ServiceDecember 21, 2020
BOSTON — With the imminent departure of House Speaker Robert DeLeo seemingly assured, questions about the timing of the transition have inflamed some House progressives, while other legislators say they look forward to a smooth hand-off whenever that happens.
DeLeo stayed silent Monday, after filing notice before the start of the weekend that he intended to enter into negotiations with Northeastern University for a post-politics job that would precipitate the first change in power atop the House in 12 years.
The shake-up could come this week, at a time when the Legislature, like other institutions, is navigating life during a pandemic, and trying to finalize major legislation before the end of the session Jan. 5.
“It’s happening Tuesday or Wednesday, is what I’m hearing. Everything that I’m hearing is that they’re trying to get it done before Christmas,” said Rep. Russell Holmes, a Mattapan Democrat who threw his hat in the ring Friday to succeed DeLeo.
Holmes, 51, is running against Majority Leader Ron Mariano, 74, a Quincy Democrat and 30-year veteran on Beacon Hill who, according to supporters, already has enough votes locked up to be elected speaker if DeLeo resigns. The House has formal sessions planned Tuesday and Wednesday, before breaking for the Christmas holiday, and the speaker’s office had no updates Monday on DeLeo’s status.
For some, the changeover can’t happen quick enough, like ripping off a Band-Aid.
“If the speaker leaves, we need to elect a new speaker, and so be it. Let’s do it and get it over with. Let’s move forward and let’s get the things done we need to get done before Jan. 5,” said Assistant Minority Leader Brad Hill.
Hill, an Ipswich Republican, suggested that Republicans aren’t interested in trying to help play kingmaker, which was a role the minority party played when former Speaker Thomas Finneran needed them as a voting bloc in 1996 to overcome his rival for the post.
“The Democratic caucus will elect their new leader and we’ll just continue on as we have been and, hopefully, in a seamless way,” Hill said Monday.
Holmes said he spent the weekend on the phone talking to colleagues, and acknowledged that many House lawmakers already are committed to Mariano. He said he did reach out as well to Republicans, but did not sense much interest in helping forestall a quick victory for Mariano.
“Everything that I’ve heard from them is that they’re still deciding what they’re going to do, but they’re pretty much going to stay out of this fight unless I can roll in with 60 votes,” Holmes said. Asked if he had that many votes, Holmes said, “No, not yet.”
Still, Holmes, who is Black, vowed to fight on.
“This is my lunch counter,” he said. “We’ve come a long way from me not being able to sit at any lunch counter or me not being able to ride on any bus, but in this moment and for my generation, this is what it looks like. This is me getting in your face and saying we’re pleased with the progress that has happened in the past, but we still have farther to go.”
Holmes said the COVID-19 pandemic has only highlighted racial inequities throughout society, and his candidacy is about forcing those issues to the forefront.
Mariano would need 81 votes to become the next speaker. There are currently 158 members of the House, including 126 Democrats, 31 Republicans and one unenrolled legislator. Two seats are vacant.
Another bloc of votes that could complicate Mariano’s path to the speakership would be the Progressive Caucus, a group of 60 lawmakers who, with the Republicans, could prevent Mariano from getting to 81 votes.
The two leaders of the House Progressive Caucus — state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, and Rep. Jack Patrick Lewis — are supporting Mariano, but at least two members of the caucus see that as a betrayal of the values progressive Democrats stand for on Beacon Hill.
Reps. Jonathan Hecht and Denise Provost, both of whom did not seek reelection this year, wrote a blistering op-ed published in CommonWealth Magazine on Monday urging their fellow progressive to band together and prevent the House from electing Mariano speaker before the new session begins Jan. 6.
Likening the possibility of a quick vote to what the Republican-controlled Senate did in Washington to rush through the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, Hecht and Provost called it a “cynical power grab.”
‘Should be calling foul’
“Assuming this ploy goes forward, it would be the culmination of the insider politics that has come to dominate the Massachusetts House. On this ground alone, House progressives should be calling foul,” Hecht and Provost wrote.
Holmes called the arguments laid out in the op-ed “very much in alignment with my beliefs.”
Hecht and Provost described Mariano as a right-of-center Democrat and someone who is politically “well to the right” of DeLeo, who himself is viewed as a centrist.
The two lawmakers accused Mariano of consistently siding with “big business, big finance and big health care,” and noted that the Quincy Democrat was the highest ranking Democrat to vote against the so-called “millionaires’ tax” in 2017, though two years later he supported putting the tax question on the 2022 ballot.
Before joining the higher ranks of leadership, Mariano chaired the Financial Service Committee and has been the go-to lawmaker in the House on health care reform legislation, with a mixed record on compromising with the Senate. He also helped negotiate a landmark criminal justice reform law in 2018, and fought a years-long battle to extend the statute of limitations for victims of clergy sex abuse.
Lewis said he was supporting Mariano because he believed that, at a time of great uncertainty with the coronavirus pandemic, his constituents could benefit from a steady and experienced hand.
”We need a strong leader. We need someone who will be a partner. And for me, that is Leader Ron Mariano,” Lewis said.
Other Democrats said they also would be happy to support Mariano when DeLeo steps aside, describing him as fair and a good listener.
”I’ve enjoyed working with him. I think he’s been a mentor to many people in this building. I believe he’s fair and always open to anyone’s perspective and I have a great deal of respect for him for that,” said Rep. John Lawn, of Watertown.
Rep. Antonio Cabral is a classmate of DeLeo and Mariano’s, entering the House as a freshman from New Bedford in 1991. He said he used to sit next to Mariano in the chamber.
”I think he’s the right person to lead the House at this moment and I think he’ll do an excellent job. He knows the members well, takes time to talk to folks in the chamber, to spend time with folks, and to get to know them,” Cabral said.
Cabral said legislators who think their politics might not align with Mariano’s should not worry about being sidelined.
”I truly believe he’s very respectful of people’s opinions and differences. And I’m sure if and when he becomes speaker, I believe he will conduct his leadership in that manner,” he said.
House Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Aaron Michlewitz serves as a top deputy to DeLeo and is expected to remain in that post under Mariano.
”His leadership and experience is going to prove very vital. So, I’m very excited to see how this goes,” Michlewitz said. “I think that he is ready to take the job on Day One, which is something that is very critically important in these difficult times that we’re facing.”
On his way into DeLeo’s office to give the speaker “a rundown on what we’re doing” with budget veto overrides on Tuesday, Michlewitz said Mariano’s support runs deep among Democrats in the House.
”I think you will see strong support from across the board,” he said. “Every sector of our constituency will be well-represented in Leader Mariano’s attempt to be speaker. ... You’ll see progressive members, you’ll see moderate members, you’ll see newer members, you’ll see longtime members, you’ll see men and women joining.”
Despite the lack of diversity in the top ranks of leadership in the House currently, Holmes said some legislators he spoke with over the weekend suggested that members of the Black and Latino Caucus might fare better in a new leadership structure.
”I believe that they will do better now that I have run,” Holmes said.
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"Activists look to bolster transparency in Massachusetts House come January"
By Danny Jin, The Berkshire Eagle, December 27, 2020
With the Massachusetts House set to enter a new legislative session in January, possibly with a new leader, activists are ramping up efforts to reform what they see as a lack of transparency.
The House adopts its rules at the start of each legislative session, and while it previously rejected similar changes, activists are looking to January as an opportunity for rules reform.
“It’s very, very hard for activists or constituents to follow the process of a bill,” said Sophie Coyne, the Pittsfield coordinator for the advocacy group Act on Mass. “Once it’s in committee, you can’t necessarily see what the committee members are saying or how the committee members voted.”
Powerful committees allow House leaders to control the agenda behind closed doors, critics say, leaving constituents with little knowledge and few opportunities for participation. Act on Mass launched its Transparency is Power campaign in November, and it wants to make committee votes public, ensure that bills are released publicly at least 72 hours before a vote, and lower the threshold for votes on the floor to be publicly recorded.
A 2019 transparency push garnered strong support among Republicans and some among left-leaning Democrats, but only about one-third of lawmakers backed the changes.
For the 72-hour rule, for instance, 103 of the 160 lawmakers voted against the change, although all 32 Republicans were among the 55 who voted in favor.
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, was the only Berkshire County lawmaker to vote for it, but she said she doesn’t see the change — activists say it would give constituents more time to contact their representatives — as a priority.
“I’m really interested in passing progressive legislation and doing what I need to do to help my district,” she said. “And I don’t think a 72-hour rule is going to advance either one of those things.”
Farley-Bouvier lists the bills she has voted for on her website, and state Rep. John Barrett III, D-North Adams, said he will disclose any of his votes, if asked. He believes that many lawmakers would do the same.
“I worked 26 years as a mayor, and everything was open. I never had a problem with any of that,” Barrett said. “I’ll be glad to tell anyone my vote on anything. I don’t see that as a big deal.”
But, lawmakers are not obligated to disclose their votes unless at least 16 representatives request a “roll call” to publicly record votes.
“We just want standardization,” Coyne said.
Barrett and state Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli, D-Lenox, said they see some merit in giving more time between the public release of a bill and a vote.
Pignatelli cited a lack of time when he voted against a police reform bill that was released from conference committee a day earlier. He voted yes, though, on the version the House passed in July, and on a compromise last week, after Gov. Charlie Baker returned the bill with amendments.
“From a secrecy standpoint, I’ve never felt that,” Pignatelli said. “I do believe more time could sometimes help for legislators to understand bills [before voting].”
Act on Mass is looking to build support for its campaign through district teams, and 16 lawmakers have committed to supporting at least one of the three reforms, Coyne said.
Among those 16 is state Rep. Russell Holmes, D-Boston, who is challenging House Majority Leader Ron Mariano, D-Quincy, to lead the House if Speaker Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop, steps down, as expected.
Holmes made transparency a key theme when he announced his bid, although several lawmakers have said Mariano already has enough votes to win a speaker election.
Outgoing Reps. Jonathan Hecht, D-Watertown, and Denis Provost, D-Somerville, also criticized Mariano’s votes on the 2019 transparency reforms when they urged left-leaning Democrats not to support his speaker candidacy.
Yet, activists have said “structural issues” such as rules deserve attention, regardless of who is speaker.
A nonbinding November ballot question asked voters in some Massachusetts communities whether they wanted their representative to support making committee votes public. In the nearby 1st Franklin District, voters supported Question 4 by a 15,411-1,797 margin.
“To have a democratically functioning government, you want citizens to know as much as possible how their representatives are voting, and to have opportunities to provide input,” Coyne said. “Transparency is just generally something that everyone wants.”
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"House Speaker DeLeo, 'a friend to the Berkshires,' departs"
By Danny Jin, The Berkshire Eagle, December 29, 2020
Over the 12 years that Robert DeLeo spent leading the Massachusetts House, he solidified his reputation as “a friend to the Berkshires” among lawmakers from the state’s westernmost county.
State Rep. Paul Mark, D-Peru, has hosted groups from his district at the Statehouse every year since he was elected in 2011, and DeLeo spent time speaking with each group.
When Mark’s district changed after redistricting in 2012, DeLeo accompanied Mark on a visit to each of the district’s 16 municipalities across the 400 square miles from Pittsfield to Northfield.
For Mark, that demonstrated DeLeo’s willingness to listen in an effort to build consensus, a hallmark of his leadership.
“It gave him an insight that he never seemed to forget into our distance from Boston, lack of telecom, and agricultural and environmental issues,” Mark said. “He knew where we were and that we mattered.”
DeLeo, a Winthrop Democrat first elected to the House in 1990, is departing Beacon Hill to negotiate a job at Northeastern University, his alma mater. In his farewell speech Tuesday on the House floor, he expressed gratitude to his colleagues and highlighted legislative accomplishments, including laws concerning health care, gun control, education funding and criminal justice reform.
During DeLeo’s time as speaker, the state had four Senate presidents and two governors, and “this House has passed major legislation with all of them,” he said.
DeLeo has faced some criticisms, from his left and from Republicans, for a leadership style that some describe as tight-gripped, secretive and slow-moving. Yet, Berkshire lawmakers overwhelmingly saw his approach as a strength.
“Despite his critics who will say that he was strong-armed and tough — he was,” said state Rep. John Barrett III, D-North Adams, who also praised DeLeo’s work on education funding and local aid. “He controlled the show there, but maybe that was part of the strength to get through some important legislation.”
Mark said DeLeo “restored stability and integrity” to the House and credits DeLeo’s commitment to building consensus for making him the longest-serving speaker in state history.
“Yes, that was frustrating at times, because it meant some of the ideas I cared most about didn’t take center stage,” Mark said. “But, the benefit was that he never put us into an us-against-them battle; instead, it always required taking the time to educate, inform and persuade others to be sure the needs of my district ended up part of a total product that reflected the entire state.”
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, said DeLeo helped set the tone for what she described as “a very collegial environment.”
“We don’t have in the House that vitriol that you get in other places, and I think it works — we end up getting a lot more done,” she said, adding, “Several of these pieces of legislation have become models for the rest of the country.”
State Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli, D-Lenox, also offered praise for DeLeo on Twitter.
“Thank you Mr. [Speaker] for all your leadership, friendship and support,” Pignatelli wrote. “The 4th Berkshire District wishes you all the best in the next chapter. The [House] is well positioned because of your commitment and steady hand.”
DeLeo’s resignation also makes him the first speaker since 1990 to leave without felony charges looming. The three previous speakers — Charles Flaherty, Thomas Finneran and Salvatore DiMasi — each was convicted after leaving office.
Berkshire lawmakers are similarly supportive of Majority Leader Ron Mariano, D-Quincy, who is running unopposed to replace DeLeo after Rep. Russell Holmes, D-Boston, ended his speaker candidacy.
But, DeLeo’s departure makes Tuesday a “sad day,” Farley-Bouvier said, and one that deserved to be a bigger occasion than the coronavirus pandemic allowed.
Making his speech to a small audience, with others watching an online broadcast, DeLeo left colleagues with some advice.
“If you are invited to your colleagues’ districts, go,” he said. “Go humbly, and listen. Listen to each other. You will learn more than you could imagine.”
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December 30, 2020
The 4 Berkshire County area Massachusetts State Representatives - Tricia Farley Bouvier, Smitty Pignatelli, John Barrett III, and Paul Mark - all praised former Beacon Hill Speaker Bob DeLeo, who resigned his post and elected office of 30 years on Tuesday afternoon, December 29th, 2020. Please tell that to the low to mid-wage workers who are struggling to stay afloat financially while Bob DeLeo will soon collect his $135,000 state pension on top of his 6-figure sinecure at Northeastern University. Please tell that to the families of the 77 deceased Veterans who passed away from the coronavirus in the Holyoke Soldiers Home debacle - among other state government debacles including the RMV oversight that inadvertently led to the deaths of 7 former U.S. Marine Veterans by an intoxicated driver in Randolph, New Hampshire. Please tell that to the over one million Massachusetts workers who lost their jobs and health insurance in 2020 during the economic recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Please tell that to the taxpayers who waited 5 months and 11 days for Beacon Hill to pass its fiscal year 2021 state budget, which increased state spending by 5 percent, into law, while the State Legislature took a 96-day-long taxpayer-funded vacation after July 31st, 2020. Please tell that to the taxpayers who are paying for the State Legislature's 40 percent pay raise they voted themselves in early-2017, which cost taxpayers over $18 million. Please tell that to the bedraggled taxpayers, while Massachusetts state government is the #1 debtor state by population in the entire country. Please tell that to the taxpayers who paid tens of billions of public dollars for Boston's "Big Dig", which has killed innocent people and leaks millions of gallons of dirty water everyday. Please tell that to the state's public school system that is severely underfunded by over one billion dollars per academic year by Beacon Hill. In closing, former Speaker Bob DeLeo's real public record is one of many disservices against the taxpayers and people of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts!
Jonathan A. Melle
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December 30, 2020
Hello Patrick Fennell,
Beacon Hill gotten nothing done all year of 2020. They did pass a very belated fiscal year 2021 state budget that raised state spending by 5 percent, while they are dealing with a multi-billion-dollar state budget deficit. They attached abortion laws as a rider to the state budget that was 5 months and 11 days late. The Massachusetts State Legislature did not want to hold public hearing and receive public input on their abortion law. In 2021, Beacon Hill plans on raising state taxes to balance the upcoming fiscal year 2022 state budget. The Massachusetts State Legislature is not offering to cut their own public pay and/or perks. The Holyoke Soldiers Home debacle where 77 Veterans died of COVID-19 illustrated Beacon Hill's failed leadership. Ronny Mariano was elected Speaker of the Massachusetts State House of Representatives today. He faced no opposition, as he was anointed to the post in yet another political fix. I hope Speaker Ronny Mariano does a good job, but I doubt it because all Beacon Hill does is disservice after disservice against the people they supposedly represent and screw over year in and year out.
On Planned Parenthood and abortion, my mom told me that if state and federal government truly did not want abortion, then they would provide effective social services and public education programs to pregnant women and their children. I agree with my mom because it is wrong for politicians to protest Planned Parenthood and abortion when they do not adequately fund social services and public education for pregnant women and their children. Also, when I talk to women about Planned Parenthood and abortion, most women see it as a women's health issue. My opinion on it all is that men do not have to have sex with women. When a man has sex with a woman, the man should know that the woman may become pregnant. The man should know that he will legally have to pay a lot of his money to the woman and child over around two decades. My hope is that when a man and woman have sex, they are committed to each other's financial future for their own security and peace of mind of their relationship and family.
I do not believe that politicians mean well by society, meaning that politicians are insincere. Also, I do not believe that politicians really care about Planned Parenthood and abortion. Rather, politicians use abortion as a wedge issue to make everyone out there go nuts so that they will vote for them. Lastly, I believe politicians only care about their campaign coffers, public pay and perks, and political careers. People like you and me are just proverbial little guys who can only complain about it all, meaning all we can do is "pound sand" while politicians enrich themselves and their vested and special interest campaign donors.
Best wishes,
Jonathan Melle
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"Mass. legislative leaders to get three pay raises starting Friday"
By Matt Stout, Boston Globe Staff, December 31, 2020
State legislative leaders are entitled to three separate pay raises starting Friday, and the salaries of some of the state’s top elected officials could swell by more than $9,000, thanks, in part, to a controversial law that will help ensure they get a third pay increase in as many legislative sessions.
The round of pay hikes land at an economically fragile time across Massachusetts, when restaurants, bars, and other businesses are struggling to stay open amid the coronavirus pandemic and the unemployment rate stands at 6.7 percent — more than double what it was a year ago.
Each of the state’s 200 senators and representatives is in line for a $4,280 increase to their base salaries, as well as a separate 4.89 percent hike to their office expense accounts, which currently range between $16,245 and $21,660, depending on how far lawmakers live from the State House.
Additionally, dozens of officials in the House and Senate will receive a 4.89 percent bump to their legislative stipends, the lucrative add-ons the Legislature grants its highest-ranking officials, committee chairs, and others.
For Senate President Karen E. Spilka and newly elected House Speaker Ronald Mariano, that means their total compensation could rise to nearly $178,500 — a roughly $9,000 increase from what Spilka and Mariano’s predecessor, Robert A. DeLeo, collected in 2020.
Constitutional officers, too, are entitled to hefty pay bumps. Governor Charlie Baker could take home at least $9,000 more on top of his $250,000 pay package, though his office said the Republican doesn’t intend to take the extra pay. Other constitutional officers could score increases ranging between more than $8,000 and $9,000.
The windfall for elected officials is a confluence of two different pay adjustments — one guaranteed by the Massachusetts Constitution, the other baked into state law starting in 2017. Each is designed to tether the pay of the state’s most powerful leaders to changes in the state’s wage levels every two years.
The first, a constitutional amendment, ties lawmakers’ base pay to household median income. But the language gives the governor wide leeway to set the exact amount of the change. In a letter to state Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg dated Wednesday and released by his office Thursday, Baker ordered a 6.46 percent increase for legislators, pushing their base salary from $66,250 to roughly $70,530.
The pay hike tops the 5.9 percent raise Baker gave lawmakers starting in 2019.
The second trigger is more complicated. In pushing an $18 million pay raise package into law over Baker’s objection in January 2017, lawmakers boosted their own compensation by increasing the stipends they could receive, while also hiking the pay of an array of state officials.
The Legislature also established a separate process, similar to the mechanism in the constitutional amendment, that ties the salaries of the six constitutional officers and lawmakers’ additional pay to changes in state wages over the previous two years.
Goldberg’s office, which is not legally required to perform the biennial analysis but since 2018 has done so by default, determined that constitutional officers are entitled to a 4.89 percent pay raise, starting Friday. That adjustment also applies to lawmakers’ expenses and leadership stipends.
It’s up to each individual legislator and elected official whether to accept the raises at a time when the state economy continues to be buffeted by the impact of COVID-19 and the restrictions in place to slow the virus’s spread.
A spokesman for Mariano said the lawmaker will accept the pay raises. Spilka’s office did not immediately respond to questions Thursday night about whether she will take the increases.
A spokesman for Baker said neither he nor Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito — who makes $165,000 annually — will accept their pay increase. Baker currently makes $185,000, in addition to a $65,000 housing stipend.
Goldberg said she, too, will not take the increase. The Brookline Democrat currently makes just under $190,000.
“Although the law provides for this increase, I feel with so many people hurting, now is not the time to consider something like this,” Goldberg said in a statement to the Globe.
Aides to Attorney General Maura Healey, state Auditor Suzanne M. Bump, and Secretary of State William F. Galvin did not immediately respond to questions whether they will accept the raises.
Currently making $185,377, Healey could collect a $9,000 raise. Bump and Galvin could make about $8,700 on top of their $178,700 salaries.
Legislators and other elected officials similarly got rounds of pay increases in 2019, two years after the pay raise package first went into effect. That law also increased the salaries for the state’s judges and a slew of other officials, including court clerks and assistant clerks and the Suffolk County register of deeds. But it did not create biennial adjustments for them as it did for the constitutional officers and legislators.
Matt Stout can be reached at matt.stout@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @mattpstout.
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December 31, 2020
Happy New Year EVERYONE! I hope our new Prez Joe Biden will do great things for our great country over the next 4 years in the Oval Office. I also hope that the lovely Linda Tyer will lead Pittsfield politics to a better 2021 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and 2020 "K shaped" (the wealthy gained, while the rest of us lost ground) economic recession. The Boston Globe reported that our career politicians on Beacon Hill's state Legislature are going to receive 3 pay raises on January 1, 2021. While Pittsfield State Senator Adam Hinds, Pittsfield State Representative Tricia Farley Bouvier, Lenox State Representative Smitty Pignatelli, and Berkshire area State Representative Paul Mark all voted themselves a 40 percent legislative pay raise in early-2017, I wonder if Hinds, Farley Bouvier, Pignatelli, and Mark will elect to take their 3 legislative pay raises on January 1, 2021, while the people they supposedly represent are struggling to stay afloat financially? Also, I wonder if North Adams State Representative John Barrett III will elect to take the aforementioned 3 legislative pay raises? In closing, our ruling elites are well taken care of, while the people they supposedly represent are not.
- Jonathan Melle
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January 5, 2021
Boston Globe survey -
OPTIONAL: Why should or shouldn't they defer raises, in your opinion?
Please include your first name and hometown.
Beacon Hill lawmakers are de facto part time workers who do nothing but disservices to state taxpayers. They are selfish for taking up to 3 taxpayer-funded legislative pay raises during the 2020 and now 2021 economic "K shaped" (Wall Street at record highs, while Main Street at record lows) recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many Beacon Hill lawmakers earn even more income in their private sector jobs, law firms, and small businesses than they do at the public trough. When Beacon Hill lawmakers retire from being career politicians, many become registered lobbyists who go right back to Beacon Hill. These political hacks receive a taxpayer-funded state pension on top of their 6-figure lobbyist income. My dad was a Berkshire County Commissioner over 2 decades ago, and Beacon Hill lawmakers were mean and retaliatory against him, and then Pittsfield State Senator Andrea F. Nuciforo, Jr. even tried to jail me during the Spring of 1998 when I was 22-years-old and a graduate student at U Mass Amherst for speaking out about how corrupt state government is in Boston. Nuciforo had to step down from the State Senate in 2006 because he chaired the Finance Committee while double dipping as a corporate Attorney for Boston's big banks and insurance companies. Now, Nuciforo owns Berkshire Roots, which is a marijuana business in Pittsfield and Boston. Dan Bosley, Peter Larkin, and Stan Rosenberg are now all registered lobbyists who shakedown Massachusetts' taxpayers on Beacon Hill. I resent living through that nightmare from the Spring of 1996 and forever more. I view Beacon Hill lawmakers as my political enemies to this day. As a disabled Veteran, I view the Holyoke Soldiers Home debacle where 77 Veterans died of coronavirus as one of the biggest failures in Massachusetts state government EVER! Governor Charlie Baker should have resigned in disgrace for it. Then there is Boston's "Big Dig" where innocent people were killed over the years, and millions of gallons of dirty water leak everyday in the most expensive public works project in U.S. history that cost tens of billions of dollars in pork barrel dollars. In closing, I believe that Beacon Hill lawmakers should receive a 50 percent pay cut to their salaries and all of their other public perks. If they vote to raise state taxes in 2021, then they should receive an 80 percent cut!
- Jonathan Melle
https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2021/01/05/heres-why-mass-legislators-could-get-a-pay-raise-during-a-global-pandemic?s_campaign=Email:Extra&SUBID=c3a94996cb&AUDID=24402941
Here’s why Mass. legislators are getting a pay raise during a global pandemic | Boston.com
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January 6, 2021
Hello Patrick Fennell,
I agree with you. Beacon Hill lawmakers only do many disservices to the taxpayers and people of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Governor Charlie Baker failed our fellow brothers and sisters - 77 Veterans died of COVID-19 - in the Holyoke Soldiers Home. He should have resigned his office in disgrace! The many Beacon Hill lawmakers who accept up to 3 legislative pay raises will be complete hypocrites when they vote for state tax increases in 2021 to fund and balance the fiscal year 2022 Massachusetts state budget that begins in less than 6 months from now on July 1, 2021. In closing, I should not have used the word "work" to describe the de facto part time state Legislators in Boston.
Best wishes,
Jonathan Melle
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"House rejects rule change backed by transparency advocates"
By Christian Metzger, Boston University Statehouse Program, February 24, 2021
BOSTON — House lawmakers, including all members of the Berkshire County delegation, rejected a proposed change in legislative rules Wednesday that advocates said would have increased transparency.
The change would have made the details of all committee votes public and required that public testimony on bills be available to the public upon request.
State Reps. John Barrett III, D-North Adams; Paul Mark, D-Peru; Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield; and William “Smitty” Pignatelli, D-Lenox, joined the majority in the 122-36 vote against an amendment that would have aligned the House language on committee votes and testimony with the Senate’s proposal, which advocacy groups such as Act on Mass have said provide constituents with better information. Opponents of the change said making testimony public could dissuade people from providing information that might be sensitive.
Massachusetts is one of four states where the Legislature is exempt from the open records laws and is the only state where all three branches of government claim are not liable under disclosure law.
“To the members, especially the newest members, you may know that over the last several months there has been a pledge that a group was lobbying for folks to take. And I just want to point out that this amendment does not reflect that pledge,” Farley-Bouvier said in a speech before the Legislature.
Act on Mass garnered 20 signatures from House members committing themselves to making their votes and committee proceedings available to the public.
There have been growing tensions between the House and advocacy groups, which have been critical of what they see as a lack of transparency.
“Members and staff should be readily aware of who they are meeting with, which external groups comprise a coalition, and how those groups are funded,” House Speaker Ronald Mariano, D-Quincy, wrote in a January email to House members.
“We live in the land of unintended consequences,” Farley-Bouvier said. “If you think you’re voting to uphold the pledge, you also need to understand that you’re voting to make all committee testimony public with no protections for any sensitive testimony.”
The sensitivity question was a major point of contention for members, who worried that making their proceedings public would intimidate people with sensitive information and dissuade them from coming forward.
“I truly fear that if people were fearful that their testimony would be posted on a public website it would have the opposite effect of bringing people into the process — it would scare them away from the process,” said Rep. Sarah Peake, D-Provincetown. “It would have a chilling effect on people’s willingness to offer testimony.”
Peake said making committee votes and testimony public would also cause confusion among constituents and create a burden on their staffers. “Yes, people need to know where we stand on legislation, but you don’t really know what a bill looks like until it hits the floor,” she said.
Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven, D-Somerville, advocated for the bill on the debate floor, arguing that the amendment did not put testimonies online and could be provided in redacted form on request, to protect the individuals involved.
The first-term lawmaker, making her first official address before the full legislative body, was one of the 20 representatives who signed the pledge with Act on Mass, which Uyterhoeven co-founded in 2018. Uyterhoeven also argued that confusion over committee votes should not be a roadblock to transparency.
“That is something I believe is our job as representatives to educate our constituents on,” she said. “I want to also caution my colleagues around the argument that somehow transparency is somehow going to thwart progressive legislation and what that means. Because underlying that is saying that we have to do our work behind closed doors. I believe that’s an unfortunate and sometimes elitist argument to say that we cannot show our votes to our constituents.”
It is lack of transparency, she argued, that has held up any new significant science-based climate legislation from passing for over a decade in the Legislature since the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2008.
“They’re not elitist arguments,” Peake said in response. “They’re shared experiences from experienced — and yes — effective legislators.”
“Committees are incubators — they’re incubators of ideas. It’s where we vet what is in a bill, it’s where we sharpen our pencils, and we make changes. It’s in the committees where we invite the public into the public hearing process,” Peake said.
Farley-Bouvier expressed a willingness to work to increase transparency through other means, siding with Mariano. She also argued that the issue was a lack of clarity as to where to find information like committee votes, which she said were all posted online on the government’s website.
“I also look forward to the process the Speaker has sped up for a full review of the House rules,” she said, “Let’s see what things that can be changed that will make a real difference. I plan to make my voice heard in that process”.
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February 25, 2021
Hello Pittsfield State Representative Tricia Farley Bouvier, Lenox State Representative William "Smitty" Pignatelli, North Adams State Representative John Barrett III, and Berkshire area State Representative Paul Mark,
I believe you are all wrong to vote against transparency reforms to the Boston State House joint rules with the State Senate. Sunshine laws are the best disinfectant to corruption in state government. I hate to break the news to you, but elected officials are supposed to work for the people. We the People have a right to know how legislation is deliberated. Public policies and laws impact our lives. We should know who the winners are and who the losers are when Beacon Hill passes legislation. We should know why some items are placed on the agenda, while others are not. I am not surprised by Smitty Pignatelli's vote to block transparency reforms because he has spoken out on the public record against Sunshine laws in Boston's State House for nearly 2 decades now. Lastly, three recent Speakers of the Boston State House are convicted Felons. Think about that, please!
In Truth,
Jonathan Melle
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Letter: "Former Berkshire Museum leaders rub salt in wounds for art sale opponents"
The Berkshire Eagle, March 22, 2021
To the editor: Reading Frday’s article “Architects of Berkshire Museum art sale say ‘pervasive meanness’ ... keeps it from meaningful changes” and the comment that the response to the sale of the art was “irrational” is both insulting and deeply upsetting.
It was precisely because the opponents to the deaccessioning of the museum’s finest art care deeply about the Berkshire Museum and the community that provoked such a strong response. As a former director of development and interim director of the museum, at the time I wrote a private letter to the museum’s director of development and director voicing my concerns and offering to help consider alternatives.
My letter was not an attack. Having spent a good part of my career raising money for nonprofit arts institutions in the Berkshires, I am well aware of the competition for contributed income. I received no response from museum leadership.
In my past experience and in my current role as leader of a cultural organization, I know these challenges first-hand and I also know what it is like to feel under siege. I wish the museum well and can only hope that it can continue to serve the community in important ways, but one wonders now where it is going. The “New Vision” that formed the rationale for the sale has been discarded and I would argue that the current renovation plans could have been achieved without the sale of the museum’s finest treasures.
Perhaps I am wrong, but I don’t believe I am mean or irrational.
Susan Bronson, Monterey
The writer is a former Berkshire Museum director of development and interim director, and is currently the executive director of Yiddish Book Center in Amherst.
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"Farley-Bouvier reelected co-chair of Progressive Caucus"
By The Berkshire Eagle, March 30, 2021
PITTSFIELD — State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier has been reelected co-chair of the 60-member Massachusetts House Progressive Caucus for the 192nd legislative session.
Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, co-chairs the caucus with state Rep. Jack Lewis, D-Framingham, who also was reelected.
"It is a great honor to have earned the confidence of my colleagues in being re-elected co-chair of the House Progressive Caucus, a group of highly dedicated public servants representing a diverse set of districts in every area of the Commonwealth,” Farley-Bouvier said in a news release.
“We plan to build upon the work of last session in supporting each other and passing progressive legislation."
The caucus members represent districts from all over the commonwealth. Its mission is “to promote social, economic, and environmental justice for all people of the Commonwealth, particularly those who have been historically marginalized. We work collaboratively to stay informed and to advocate on shared goals,” according to the release.
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"Farley-Bouvier, supporters of driver's licenses for all bill see growing momentum"
By Danny Jin, The Berkshire Eagle, June 26, 2021
Whenever Alicia Lopez, a mother of five, took her kids to sports or to church, she and her kids prayed that police would not catch her driving without a license.
“Every time there was a police officer behind me, my kids would say, ‘I’m going to pray for you so that they don’t stop you, so that they don’t see us,’” Lopez, a New Bedford resident who immigrated to the country in 1988, said in Spanish at a Wednesday legislative hearing.
Lopez is one of more than 200,000 immigrants in Massachusetts that cannot get a driver’s license due to their lack of legal status. While advocates have spent more than a decade pushing the state to allow residents without legal status to obtain licenses, supporters say momentum is growing in the Massachusetts Legislature for the proposal.
The bill would expand immigrants access to insurance and training while also making it easier to get to everyday health- and work-related needs, supporters say. Mayors, union representatives and some law enforcement officials have expressed support for the bill.
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, a lead sponsor of what is known as the Work and Family Mobility Act, said that the early hearing the bill has received is a good sign that it can make it to the floor for a vote in the current two-year session. The bill has reached 21 co-sponsors in the 40-member Senate and 81 co-sponsors in the 160-seat House, although it would need 27 Senate votes and 107 House votes to override a potential veto from Gov. Charlie Baker.
“Our goal has always been to get a veto-proof majority because so far the governor has not indicated his support,” said Farley-Bouvier, who said priorities for the Driving Families Forward Coalition will be to continue “constructive dialogue” with House leaders and to continue building support in areas where it has not received as much.
Baker supports existing laws that allow those able to demonstrate legal status to obtain a license, a spokesperson said in Monday statement. While Baker in the past has said there is no documentation to verify that undocumented immigrants “are who they say they are,” many have other forms of identification, such as a student ID or a passport.
New House Speaker Ron Mariano has said he sees “the value in bringing all drivers under the same public safety, licensing and insurance structures,” although he has not endorsed the bill.
The Joint Committee on Transportation voted last session to advance the bill out of committee, although the proposal never made it to the floor for a vote.
The House Progressive Caucus, which Farley-Bouvier co-chairs, has called the bill its top priority for the legislative session.
State Rep. Mindy Domb, D-Amherst, said at the Wednesday hearing that regional transportation differences make the bill particularly important for Western Massachusetts. In some larger urban areas, Domb said, available public transportation means that some people get to work and medical appointments without driving.
“This is not the case in Western Massachusetts, however, where transportation is routinely listed as a significant barrier for residents to access health care, food pantries or supermarkets, employment, job training, job fairs, higher education, human service programs and/or services for their children and families,” Domb said, noting some small towns have no public transportation at all.
Feedback from law enforcement members has led lawmakers to revise the bill to make clear which documents someone can use to obtain a driver’s license, Farley-Bouvier said. Lawmakers also clarified that immigration officials would not be allowed to obtain data regarding which documents people used when registering for a license.
Many who testified Wednesday referenced the support for the bill offered by Chelsea Police Chief Bryan Kyes, who leads the Massachusetts Major Cities Chiefs of Police Association. Kyes said last year that the bill would help police officers safely identify the driver of a vehicle.
At least 16 states have passed similar bills. In California, a Stanford University study found that the law reduced the number of hit-and-run accidents by 7 to 10 percent in its first year of implementation.
The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center estimated in March 2020 that 41,000 to 78,000 drivers would obtain licenses in the first three years of implementation if the Massachusetts bill passed.
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"Massachusetts House rejects rules changes backed by transparency advocates"
By Danny Jin, The Berkshire Eagle, July 7, 2021
Shortly before 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, the Massachusetts House scheduled its long-awaited rules vote to begin at 1 p.m. the following day.
Lawmakers had until a 5 p.m. deadline Tuesday to review the 115 pages of legislation — much of which was recycled from previous years — and file amendments. A day later, on Wednesday, the House rejected amendments that would have reinstated term limits for the speaker of the House, publicized committee votes and required bills to be released at least 48 hours before a vote.
Advocates have spent months calling for the House to make its legislative process easier for constituents and rank-and-file lawmakers to navigate, and they see the way the past two days unfolded as a case in point for the cause. Rules that allow for quick turnarounds between the release of a bill and a vote, they say, have denied constituents sufficient opportunity to engage with their elected officials before decisions are made on key issues, such as police reform and curbing climate change.
“This vote really became a referendum on transparency,” said Ella McDonald, communications director for Act on Mass, which has led advocacy for transparency. “Some people who have campaigned for, donated to or canvassed for their reps were very disappointed to see their individual reps defer to leadership instead of the voters who elected them.”
While most Republicans supported the measures favored by a coalition of largely left-leaning advocacy groups, the vast majority of Democrats, including all four Berkshire County representatives, sided with leadership to reject the changes.
Lawmakers did approve changes to stream all future sessions online and to allow committee leaders to decide whether to include remote participation in hearings. The rules approved Wednesday are set to take effect Oct. 1, and emergency rules adopted during the pandemic will remain effective until then.
The House also agreed to list the names of representatives who vote against legislation in committee, a change that advocates see as a partial concession to their demands. But, representatives can continue to reserve their rights or choose not to vote without having their names publicized.
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, said she did not find it necessary to make all committee votes public but called the decision to publicize “no” votes “an excellent compromise.”
“I just find it’s my own responsibility to get information about how I vote to my constituents,” she said.
Although Farley-Bouvier voted in 2019 to require bills to be released 72 hours ahead of a vote, she voted with the rest of the Berkshire County delegation Wednesday against the proposal to release bills at least 48 hours before a vote.
State Reps. William “Smitty” Pignatelli, D-Lenox, and John Barrett III, D-North Adams, have previously told The Eagle that they do not feel a lack of transparency in the House exists. State Rep. Paul Mark, D-Peru, did not immediately respond to an inquiry Wednesday.
Representatives who spoke in opposition to a 48-hour requirement Wednesday said that doing so would hurt lawmakers’ ability to pass legislation quickly, although representatives who supported the amendment said that the House could override the requirement as necessary with support from two-thirds of the chamber.
While proponents of term limits for the speakership called the measure a necessary check on power, opponents said the House should be able to elect the person that members believe is best fit for the job. The House had term limits before eliminating them in 2015, two years before then-Speaker Robert DeLeo would have been mandated to leave the powerful position.
The amendments for speaker term limits, public committee votes and the 48-hour requirement were defeated 35-125, 41-117 and 39-119, respectively.
Ahead of the vote, constituents held nearly 100 meetings with representatives and sent around 1,250 emails advocating for the amendments backed by Act on Mass, said McDonald, the group’s communications director. In all, over 4,000 people have engaged with the campaign, McDonald said.
House Speaker Ron Mariano, in a comment to the State House News Service, seemed to acknowledge that advocacy played a role in the House’s decision to publicize “no” votes in committee. Mariano, of Quincy, said the change “answers the issue of transparency that we’re being hammered about.”
Publicizing committee votes was widely supported in 16 districts that faced a non-binding ballot question in November. All 16 districts approved the question, and the closest vote came in the 19th Suffolk District, where 83 percent voted in favor.
Many advocates cite climate change legislation as a priority that has suffered from a perceived lack of transparency in committees, where membership is determined by the speaker. While a bill to shift Massachusetts to 100 percent renewable energy was co-sponsored by 83 of the 160 House members in the 2019-2020 session, that bill “died in committee,” meaning that it did not make it to the floor for a vote.
To “sharply increase transparency” was one of six recommendations made in a January report from Brown University researchers, “Who’s Delaying Climate Action in Massachusetts? Twelve Findings.” Of the 245 climate bills proposed from 2013 to 2018, only 43 advanced out of committee for the entire House membership to vote on the legislation, the report found. The other 202 bills died in committee.
“Nearly every committee that determined those outcomes voted in secret, leaving little opportunity for the public to hold legislators accountable for voting against climate action,” Galen Hall and Trevor Culhane said in the report.
It is the impact that rules can have on legislation, organizers say, that makes it important for them to continue advocating for rules changes.
“It’s an unexpected reason, but it’s why a lot of things haven’t passed,” McDonald said. “It’s clear that this needs to be the beginning of a lot more organizing and not the conclusion.”
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July 8, 2021
The Berkshire delegation to the Boston State House all voted for legislative secrecy on Wednesday afternoon, July 7th, 2021. They are Lenox State Representative William "Smitty" Pignatelli, Pittsfield State Representative Tricia Farley Bouvier, Berkshire area State Representative Paul Mark, and North Adams State Representative John Barrett III. The Boston-based State House of Representatives voted on House Rules over half-way into the year of 2021, and they predictably voted to shut out the public from their corrupt sausage making. Beacon Hill lawmakers give $17.8 billion per fiscal year in state tax breaks to politically-connected businesses, while raising state taxes and voting themselves huge legislative pay raises. That huge sum of money - $17.8 billion - could go to public education, fixing roads and bridges, and so on, but instead the greedy registered lobbyists pay Beacon Hill lawmakers' campaign accounts a lot of special interest money to get huge tax breaks for their wealthy clients and vested interests. The state taxpayers are obligatorily paying for political corruption in Boston, and Beacon Hill lawmakers just slapped the people and taxpayers of Massachusetts in their collective face on July 7th, 2021. Beacon Hill is full of career political hacks who only take care of themselves while only doing DISSERVICES to the people and taxpayers of Massachusetts.
In Truth!
Jonathan A. Melle
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Danny Jin | Beacon Hill to the Berkshires | House rules: Organizers pledge to continue transparency campaign after House rejects changes
By Danny Jin, The Berkshire Eagle, July 9, 2021
In January, as the Massachusetts House faced calls for greater transparency from advocacy groups, Speaker of the House Ron Mariano opted to delay debate over the rules that govern legislative procedures by six months.
Those groups had called for reforms that they said would make it easier for everyday citizens and rank-and-file lawmakers to engage with the legislative process.
Publicizing votes that lawmakers make in committees, they argued, would help constituents hold their elected officials accountable for decisions that currently are often made in secrecy. Releasing bills at least 72 hours prior to a vote, they said, would give residents and advocates greater time to review legislation and contact lawmakers — who themselves would have more time to prepare — before debates begin. Organizers also pushed to reinstate term limits for the speaker of the House, seeking to curb the power that one individual can exert over the body.
The standoff between organizers and Democratic leadership concluded abruptly last week when lawmakers released their 115-page rules proposal on Tuesday and, in a Wednesday vote, rejected the changes backed by advocates. Organizers from Act on Mass, an organization that has pushed for transparency since its founding in 2018, interpreted the less-than-24-hour turnaround between the bill’s release and the debate as a sign that House leadership feared public attention to the showdown.
Erin Leahy, organizing director for Act on Mass, called the “rushed vote” an “attempt to undermine the work of constituent advocates and prevent us from having a seat at the table” in a Tuesday statement. Ella McDonald, communications director for the group, told The Eagle that the proximity of the vote to the July 4 weekend likely hurt the ability for constituents to engage with the issue.
While almost all Republicans voted for the rules changes Wednesday, Democrats — aside from a few who have previously clashed with leadership — overwhelmingly rejected them.
Organizers, however, celebrated an apparent concession from House leaders to publicize the names of representatives who vote against legislation in committees. Mariano himself told the State House News Service that the change “answers the issue of transparency that we’re being hammered about.”
Founded in 2018, Act on Mass is a relatively newer group, and its members are likely to continue organizing for transparency in the near future, McDonald said. Erika Uyterhoeven, one of the group’s co-founders, won election to the House in 2020 and has advocated for transparency from within. Many of those working with Act on Mass played a part in the “Markeyverse,” which many credit with helping U.S. Sen. Ed Markey stave off a 2020 primary challenge from former U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III — a result that some had thought to be an improbable victory when Kennedy first entered the race.
Should Act on Mass continue to grow its campaign, a protracted battle would test the extent to which grassroots groups can sway Democrats typically reluctant to break with House leadership.
If 2020 provides any indication, insurgent candidates seeking to unseat incumbents may make use transparency goals as a campaign tactic in future elections. And organizers will likely continue tying their demands to issues where they believe a lack of transparency has prevented popular legislation from advancing. They say the “legislative graveyard” owing to the rules and power structure in the House includes climate action, health care reform and economic justice.
While legislative rules likely remain an unfamiliar topic to voters who don’t closely follow the Statehouse, a 2020 ballot question on public committee votes suggests that at least one reform sought by advocates is highly popular.
All 16 districts that voted on the question supported it, with the approval rate ranging between 83 percent and 94 percent in those districts.
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Battenfeld: "Gutless Massachusetts Legislature at it again"
By Joe Battenfeld | joe.battenfeld@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald | July 9, 2021
The gutless Massachusetts Legislature is showing its true insides again. Are you surprised?
Democratic lawmakers have rejected real rules reform in the House, instead bending to the wishes of the all-powerful House speaker who has no interest in changing the way business is done.
Term limits for the speaker? Yeah, right.
Giving more time for lawmakers to review complicated pieces of legislation? C’mon, they already have one actual day to do that.
Publishing the individual votes of lawmakers in committee? Ha. Good one.
One lawmaker, Rep. Dan Cahill, D-Lynn, actually claimed that recording all votes in committees would put an “unfair” burden on legislative staff. Because they’re so busy all the time toiling in a part-time Legislature that doesn’t meet on Mondays and Fridays.
Another lawmaker, Rep. Sarah Peake, D-Provincetown, contended that giving lawmakers 48 hours to read legislation instead of 24 hours would “grind things to a halt, slow things down and leave many important pieces of legislation in the dustbin.”
Keep in mind, we’re talking one extra day.
Some good government types were naive enough to think that things would change when longtime Speaker Robert DeLeo stepped down.
They haven’t, of course.
New Speaker Ronald Mariano of Quincy is just as consumed with protecting his own power as his predecessors.
The package of alleged rules “reforms” that did pass was released on Tuesday afternoon, and voted on on Wednesday. That gave legislators less than 24 hours to try to make amendments and other changes that never had a chance of passing anyway.
The eight-year-term limits proposal went down in flames, 35-125. Just three dozen lawmakers, including Republicans, were brave enough to be recorded in favor of the bill by Acton Democrat Tami Gouveia, who obviously doesn’t have any interest in getting choice committee assignments or a coveted window office.
Gouveia is actually running for state auditor, so that explains her sudden interest in rules reform. Just five other Democrats, most of them progressives, voted to restore the term limit for House speaker.
Opponents of the term limit argued that it was undemocratic and would make the speaker a “lame duck,” We’re talking eight years, here, people.
And besides, they argued, they haven’t heard any of their constituents clamoring for a term limit.
Here’s a daring idea — go ahead and put the term limit proposal on the statewide ballot. Then we’ll see what their constituents really think.
And if you want to see lawmakers really quake in their loafers, then make the term limit apply to all lawmakers, not just the speaker.
Of course, that will never happen. Giving the people too much power is dangerous to the health and well-being of the Massachusetts Legislature.
Long live the speaker.
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"The Mass. House dodges on transparency"
By The Editorial Board, The Boston Globe, July 11, 2021
Responding to growing calls for transparency in the way it conducts business, the Massachusetts House of Representatives approved new rules Wednesday — rules that fall well short of meeting those demands. Under the new guidelines, Massachusetts voters still won’t know how their representatives vote in many instances. Democracy, as one newspaper has put it, dies in darkness, and it’s a testament to the arrogance of one-party rule that the Massachusetts Democrats in charge of the House would continue to conceal from constituents such basic information as what laws they support.
Much of the heavy legislative lifting on Beacon Hill occurs in committees or joint committees, where groups of lawmakers hash out new bills on schools, housing, climate, and health care. Voters cannot adequately judge whether their representative is serving their interests without knowing how he or she votes in those committees. And yet, under the new rules, only representatives who vote “no” in House committee votes will be named. Those members who vote yes, or abstain from voting, will remain secret.
It’s an irrational distinction, because voters have just as much right to know what legislation their representatives support as that which they oppose. Publicizing the “no” votes in committee, alongside the overall vote tally, might seem like a half-step in the right direction that at least gives constituents enough information to make an educated guess about whether their representative voted yes. But it could also be a loophole in the making, since yes votes and non-votes are lumped together. The onus will be on the House to show that the new rule provides meaningful transparency.
The House also torpedoed a proposal to restore term limits for the speaker and to ensure that members and the public had 48 hours to read bills before a vote. That change would have prevented the spectacle of lawmakers voting on legislation just hours after it’s been revealed. One of the reasons members gave for opposing the 48-hour rule was especially odd: They were concerned that it could gum up the legislative process in the hectic final days of the legislative session. But the pile-up at the end of the session isn’t a law of nature. It’s the result of the way the Legislature chooses to operate. It’s almost as if lawmakers are using their own poor time management skills as an argument against reform.
The reasons given for opposing transparency in committee votes were even more underwhelming. “A committee vote is reflective of a specific proposal at a moment in time during the committee process and policy development stage of our legislation,” said Representative Kate Hogan. “Support or opposition can, and should, change as the legislation is refined through the committee process, and as members learn more about any given topic from colleagues, experts, and the public.” True as all that may be, shouldn’t voters know how, when, and in response to which “experts” their representatives change their minds? Protecting legislators from the ordeal of explaining to their constituents why or how their thinking evolved is not a legitimate goal in a democracy.
Now, it’s true that final floor votes on legislation are public, which ostensibly should provide a way for voters to hold their representatives accountable. But lawmakers (of both parties) protect one another by routinely approving legislation by unanimous votes. The North Korean-esque vote tallies in the Massachusetts Legislature aren’t fooling anyone: The fact that the House voted unanimously this year on controversial tax rules and the state budget, for instance, does not show that all 160 members of the House — Democrats and Republicans, progressives and centrists — have achieved perfect harmony. It shows only that they prefer to air their disagreements in private, where their constituents can’t see them, and suss out the real divides within the Legislature.
This isn’t the way democracy is supposed to work, and insisting on a Legislature that does its business in the open shouldn’t be a partisan cause. Indeed, opposition to the secretive House rules spans the ideological spectrum, from rank-and-file progressives to fiscal conservatives. More scrutiny may mean that legislators have to explain themselves more — but answering to the public is their job.
Editorials represent the views of the Boston Globe Editorial Board. Follow us on Twitter at @GlobeOpinion.
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Letter: "A better question for new Berkshire Museum boss"
The Berkshire Eagle, July 14, 2021
To the editor: We read with great interest the interview with Jeff Rodgers ("Executive Spotlight: Jeff Rodgers/Berkshire Museum," Eagle, July 3) the current director of the tarnished Berkshire Museum.
When asked if he would consider art deaccession as his predecessor Van Shields did, the question was not answered directly. Instead he replied “… we’re not going to find ourselves in that boat again.”
The question should have been: “Would you, like Shields, have sold off the crown jewels of the collection in the way it was done?”
Of course deaccession is not going to happen again — there is less art left in the building.
Morris Bennett and Anne Roland, Pittsfield
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"With redistricting, federal stimulus decisions, and more on the menu, there could be legislative feast before Thanksgiving"
By Matt Stout, Boston Globe Staff, October 3, 2021
Before Thanksgiving, Massachusetts lawmakers could rearrange their districts for the first time in 10 years, begin tapping potentially billions of dollars of federal stimulus money, and move — again — to reimagine how voters cast their ballots.
That may not be all.
The Legislature is embarking on a crucial six-week stretch of lawmaking, with formal voting in 2021 scheduled to end by mid-November and the chambers’ competing lists of priorities each vying for oxygen in what’s informally considered their fall session.
The Senate opened the door to major legislation last week, teeing up a bill that would make voting-by-mail permanent and institute same-day voter registration for approval on Wednesday. In the coming weeks, lawmakers are expected to release highly anticipated maps redrawing the state’s political boundaries, a decennial effort lawmakers say they must complete before the holiday break.
And months of weighing how to spend nearly $5 billion in American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, funding is likely to begin bearing fruit. Legislative leaders say they’re still discussing where to funnel it — a deliberate process that’s frustrated Governor Charlie Baker, who’s called on lawmakers to move much more quickly.
But House Speaker Ronald Mariano suggested lawmakers could appropriate roughly half of it now, with areas such as housing seeing a significant infusion, according to legislative officials.
“It’s an opportunity to get people to make decisions,” Mariano said of the next six weeks. In the same span two years ago, lawmakers completed a generational change to the school-funding formula, banned drivers from using hand-held cellphones, and set the country’s tightest restrictions on the sale of vaping products, among other laws.
“If we get half of them, we’re doing well,” the Quincy Democrat said of the current legislative agenda. “But you have to have goals.”
To be sure, the self-imposed deadline to wrap formal business by the third week in November is not a bill-killer; any unfinished work carries into 2022, when the Legislature’s full formal session ends July 31. But October and November are widely viewed in the Legislature as a pocket of time for moving major legislation before the next budget cycle begins. For others, it’s also a chance to get in potentially difficult votes well ahead of next year’s election.
House lawmakers, for example, are gauging whether they have enough votes to override a potential veto of a bill allowing people without legal immigration status to get Massachusetts driver’s licenses. It’s a sensitive issue that’s repeatedly failed on Beacon Hill before and has a high-profile opponent in Baker. Mariano, for one, said lawmakers have “a ways to go to solidify the count” of the 107 votes needed in the House to overcome a gubernatorial veto.
“It’s very much a matter of trying to get to consensus, whether something can get done,” said Representative William M. Straus, a Mattapoisett Democrat and House chairman of the transportation committee, where the bill currently sits. “I think members are fully aware the governor’s office has shown a strong antipathy on the issue.”
Yet, it’s also slowly won support among law enforcement officials and within the legislative ranks. Mariano and Senate President Karen E. Spilka, for example, have each publicly expressed interest in it, and it’s considered the House Progressive Caucus’s top priority.
“This bill has matured enough that people who are cosponsors of this bill are going to vote for it,” said Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier, a Pittsfield Democrat and lead sponsor who expressed confidence it could pass. “There are not going to be people who get squirrely.”
The decisions about which bills move, however, likely won’t happen in a vacuum. Both the House and Senate have a variety of their own priorities that are awaiting, or would need, action by the other chamber to advance.
The Senate, for example, is primed to pass its sweeping elections bill this week, which includes elements the House has both supported (making expanded voting-by-mail permanent) and rejected (same-day voter registration). That a temporary measure to extend mail-in voting expires in mid-December makes movement on some type of bill in both chambers likely.
Spilka has also repeatedly said she wants to advance a bill addressing parity in mental health care, including policy changes to help bolster the state’s workforce in the field. The details, however, remain in the works.
“If there’s a really big issue, I think it deserves the attention of the Senate members, the public to see what it’s all about,” Spilka, a Democrat from Ashland, said in a phone interview. “I think it’s a big enough issue.”
The House, meanwhile, passed a bill legalizing sports betting in June, again kicking to the Senate an issue to which chamber leadership has long been cool.
Mariano has signaled he’s also eager to change the requirements for bidding on offshore wind contracts, though that bill, too, remains a work in progress.
Mariano and Spilka have had a largely congenial working relationship since Mariano was elevated to the speaker’s office last December. Many times, the Democratic leaders have moved in public lock-step to, for example, hustle a climate bill back to Baker’s desk or wrestle control of the federal stimulus money from the governor, showing a willingness to coordinate.
Some believe this could provide an opportunity for an issue like sports betting to emerge in the Senate.
“My sense is if or when [sports betting] happens, it’s going to happen as a result of a trade,” said one person with knowledge of Senate discussions. “They’re going to do the voting rights bill. They’re going to do a mental health bill. And then they have ARPA and redistricting, which either have to happen or are a mutual priority. That’s a lot to crowd in. You might see sports betting, for example, pop at the end of that — if the House does move something that the Senate really wants.”
Above all else, redistricting is the Legislature’s most pressing challenge. House candidates must live in their districts for a calendar year before competing in the November 2022 general election, meaning legislators intend to finalize the maps by early November.
In order to do that, and provide up to a week for a public commentary period, draft maps could emerge within two weeks, said Representative Michael J. Moran, the House chairman on the committee leading the effort. On Friday, Moran said that “right now,” it doesn’t appear the redrawn maps will pit incumbents against one other or require them to move, but he also wouldn’t rule it out.
“This is something you can’t push off into the second year of session,” Moran said of juggling the redistricting effort against other bills. “I don’t know why it’s sexy. I don’t know why people want to write about it or read about it. But it gets people interested.”
Matt Stout can be reached at matt.stout@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @mattpstout.
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Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier and Sen. Jo Comerford: "A year after David Almond's death in DCF care, what has changed?"
By Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier and Sen. Jo Comerford, op-ed, The Berkshire Eagle, October 27, 2021
When we learned of David Almond’s death on Oct. 21, 2020, we were heartbroken. Tragically, this was not the first time we had seen a child die while under the supervision of the Department of Children and Families. Yet the report following David’s death, published by the Office of the Child Advocate in March, was largely similar to prior OCA reports regarding deaths in DCF care. It contained oft-repeated recommendations for more training but no real plan for necessary change.
The acute, systemic problems at DCF are well-understood and demand immediate, systemic solutions for the safety and well-being of the children and families involved with the department, and as a measure of respect for its tireless workforce. These solutions must be grounded in independent oversight, transparency and accountability.
DCF is responsible for ensuring the well-being of all children in its care and helping them to thrive and leave the system better off than when they entered — never worse. However, too often the system fails to protect the very children it is charged to serve.
Foster care serves children by providing stability and support. But in Massachusetts, the average placement lasts 23.4 months and 38 percent of children are placed in four or more homes. The time in the system and numbers of placements are significantly higher than national averages and higher than our neighboring New England states.
The size and complexity of the issues facing DCF make small fixes insufficient. That is why we have proposed systemwide transparency and oversight through independent foster care reviews with An Act establishing the Massachusetts Foster Care Review Office (H.211/S.88). These legislative proposals would separate the foster care review process from DCF and ensure that the child is at the center of each decision. Further, the legislation would mandate the foster care review process issue recommendations for case improvement, collect data on care and outcomes for children, and establish an interdisciplinary council to resolve particularly tough issues.
Federal and state law requires a foster care review of every child in a DCF placement with the purpose of measuring progress toward resolving the difficulties that initially led to the child and family’s involvement with DCF. The review should ensure the safety, permanency and well-being of children and youth in DCF’s care. In Massachusetts, these reviews are currently conducted every six months by a unit internal and under obligation to DCF.
Forty out of the 50 states as well as Washington, D.C., have a foster care review process independent of their child welfare department. These states have recognized that it is impossible for a child welfare agency to adequately and objectively assess its own performance, target structural issues, oversee remediation and call attention to the resources needed for the care of the most vulnerable among us.
In the commonwealth, District Attorneys Andrea Harrington, Joseph Early, David Sullivan and Rachel Rollins; the Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts; Massachusetts Law Reform Institute; the Children’s League of Massachusetts and several other prominent Massachusetts organizations and individuals support this critical reform.
In David Almond’s case, DCF held six foster care reviews. Six. That was six times DCF had the opportunity to acknowledge critical, life-threatening issues and intervene to protect David. The last review occurred on Oct. 14, 2020. Despite the family not appearing for this last review, the foster care review panel found “that [the caretakers] were meeting all the children’s needs in the home.” David died seven days later.
“Inexplicable” was how the OCA characterized DCF’s work in the David Almond case.
“Inexplicable” was also at the center of DCF Commissioner Linda Spears’ comments during an initial press conference, as reported in the media.
We must reject an inexplicable status quo. Back in 2019, when we spoke together at a hearing on independent foster care review, OCA Director Maria Mossaides spoke against independent foster care review noting that she needed more time to work with DCF to implement the 2018 proposed changes. Now, again, we have nothing more than incremental changes proposed in the wake of another tragedy. We respectfully suggest to the Child Advocate and the Baker administration that the children of the commonwealth are out of time.
What are we waiting for?
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October 27, 2021
Hello Pittsfield State Representative Tricia Farley Bouvier and Lenox State Representative Smitty Pignatelli,
I read both of your respective op-eds in the Dirty Bird (Berkshire Eagle). Tricia calls for transparency and change at the Massachusetts DCF, but she voted against legislative transparency and change in 2021 with the Boston State House rules votes. Smitty calls for mandatory Narcan for all first responders to Opioid overdoses, but he wrote op-eds supporting GE's proposal to put a toxic waste dump inside of the watershed in Lee (Massachusetts), which poses great health risks to the local people who live in Lee and Lenoxdale. On the one hand, Smitty wants to save lives with Narcan, while on the other hand, Smitty supports GE's proposed toxic waste dump in Lee that would put local residents' lives at risk.
Tricia and Smitty's op-eds are annoying because of their double standards. They should stick to voting themselves and accepting countless legislative pay raises and public perks that have cost Massachusetts taxpayers tens of millions of dollars that could have been instead spent on child welfare and healthcare.
Jonathan A. Melle
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February 4, 2022
Hello blogger Dan Valenti,
The common people and families in Pittsfield & Berkshire County have been systemically beaten down for generations by the state and local ruling elites. Pittsfield politics is run by an incestuous-like group of multigenerational insider families that are sarcastically called the Good Old Boys club/the 4 families that run Pittsfield. When someone like "Jon Melle" speaks out about it or writes to Mayor Linda Tyer, Chrome Dome Adam Hinds, Trippy Country Buffet (- she blocks all of my political emails), Shitty PIG-pen, Paul Marxism, and the career Mayor John Barrett III, there is never a reply. The Dirty Bird (The Berkshire Eagle) never publishes my political letters because I am not part of their provincial agenda. I am invisible to the ruling elites in Pittsfield politics and beyond. When I lived in the beautiful Berkshires many years ago, I experienced retribution when I participated in state and local politics. It is ALWAYS Business as usual with no exceptions!
Prior to Andrea Harrington being elected to the Berkshire County District Attorney's Office in the 2018 election, Pittsfield and North Adams were still always in the 10 ten cities in Massachusetts for violent crime, according to the FBI's annual reports. There were still shootings, over 1,000 local gang members, drugs, prostitution, the ring of poverty around North Street's Social Services Alley, homelessness, Level 5 inner-city public schools, and so on. Andrea Harrington has been in the D.A.'s Office three years, one month and 4 days, and Pittsfield is still a distressed and crime-ridden city with failing public schools, while North Adams is still the poorest city in Massachusetts. Her progressive politics has no correlation to Pittsfield's downward spiral with no bottom.
Trippy Country Buffet has been a Pittsfield State Representative for a little over one decade, and the criticism of her tenure in Boston is that she accomplishes nothing year after year. She literally does nothing at all except being out to lunch. Like Shitty PIG-pen, Paul Marxism and Chrome Dome, Trippy Country Buffet voted for her own 40% state legislative pay raise in early-2017 and happily accepted countless other pay raises and perks over the years. Not leading by example by asking state taxpayers to pay higher state taxes while voting for her own public pay raises and perks, Trippy Country Buffet has published op-eds from Pittsfield to Boston arguing for state tax increases on families and small businesses. In 2018, Trippy Country Buffet led the political push for the Berkshire Museum to sell off its two paintings donated by Norman Rockwell, along with other historic pieces of donated art, for tens of millions of dollars over the protests of a majority of the people in Pittsfield and Berkshire County. Of course, there is much more to write about her, but I will cut it short for now.
Lastly, why is it that the women are always the ones who are criticized, while the men who are no different in politics and society are rarely held accountable for their actions? What about U.S. President Joe Biden and his troubled middle-aged son Hunter Biden, along with former U.S. President Bill Clinton 26 flight logs on Jeffrey Epstein's private jet to pedo-island, Governor Charlie Baker, Maryland Ed Markey, PAC Man Richie Neal, Chrome Dome Adam Hinds, Shitty PIG-pen, Paul Marxism, the career Mayor John Barrett III, Godfather Jimmy Ruberto pulling the strings in Pittsfield politics from Naples, Florida, and the rest of the buffoons who screw over the proverbial Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski?
Best wishes,
Jonathan A. Melle
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February 4, 2022
Hello Patrick Fennell,
Trippy Country Buffet has been in Boston for a little over one decade now and she has accomplished nothing there. She hypocritically writes op-eds in newspapers across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts arguing for state tax hikes while she votes herself huge state legislative pay raises and perks. In Pittsfield, she is part of the incestuous-like Good Old Boys and Girls club that rules by fear by dishing out retribution against anyone who speaks out about their 60 years of failed state and local leadership. She is one of the WORST State Representatives in the over 400-year history of Massachusetts politics!
I am upset when I read about Berkshire County's long history of violent crime, economic inequality and one (Democratic) party politics. District Attorney Andrea Harrington's progressive politics has nothing to do with it all because it was that way prior to her being the county's chief prosecutor in 2019.
There are many regions of our country called "The Rust Belt" where there are little to no living wage jobs for the working-class families to be able to support themselves. If one moves to or near a city such as Boston, NYC or Washington, D.C., purchasing a home in a safe neighborhood will cost them around one million dollars and higher. The Rust Belt swing states hate the limousine liberals on the east and west coasts, so they voted for Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton in 2016. Hillary Clinton snubbed the rust belt swing states and called the people who lived there "Deplorables", while Joe Biden pretended like he was the boy from hard scrabble Scranton, Pennsylvania when he really took in more campaign cash from Wall Street and K Street than any other candidate running for federal office in 2020. The rust belt has fallen behind during Biden's presidency, and the Republicans know that the 2022 midterms are going to be a red wave.
Best wishes,
Jonathan A. Melle
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Editorial: "Give us a break! On taxes"
Boston Herald editorial staff, February 6, 2022
Massachusetts voters are wary of a state Legislature weighed down by Democrats. The only check sits in the Corner Office, but Charlie Baker isn't seeking re-election. So, your tax dollars could fall victim to a rubber-stamping if Healey, Chang-Diaz and Allen -- or whomever else jumps in on the left -- win. Diehl and or Doughty are all that stand in the way.
Taxpayers need a break. Massachusetts couples shell out the highest percentage of their income on taxes in the nation, a new study shows.
Massachusetts took the top spot for couples filing jointly, with couples paying 23.51% of their income in taxes. Close behind is Oregon, at 23.24%, Hawaii, at 23.05%, and Connecticut, at 22.99%. The lowest rate was in Tennessee, with taxpaying couples owing just 15.54% of their income to taxes.
This comes as the state Department of Revenue collected $4.026 billion in tax revenue from people and businesses last month. That was 27% more than expected.
Plus, it places Massachusets nearly $1.5 billion ahead of its end-of-fiscal-year target.
Gov. Charlie Baker is pushing tax-relief proposals that would give breaks for housing and child care costs and eliminate the income tax for hundreds of thousands. Keep on going. The pandemic and President Biden’s policies have driven up the cost of just about everything.
Inflation is a hidden tax that hits everyone. The government needs to put the needs of taxpayers first as we climb out of this mandate-heavy moment in history. We back Baker’s train of thought, but urge he add more coal to the engine.
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"The Massachusetts House will vote on Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier's 'driver's licenses for all' bill next week, speaker says"
By Danny Jin, The Berkshire Eagle, February 11, 2022
PITTSFIELD — The Massachusetts House appears set to vote next week on a proposal to allow residents to seek driver’s licenses without being required to demonstrate legal immigration status.
A spokesperson for House Speaker Ron Mariano, D-Quincy, indicated Thursday that the House plans to vote on the bill next week, adding that Mariano is working to ensure the votes necessary to override a potential veto from Gov. Charlie Baker.
That is big news, state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, said in a Friday interview. Farley-Bouvier, a lead sponsor of the Work and Family Mobility Act, first introduced a version of the proposal in 2013 as “an act relative to safe driving.”
“This is a significant step forward in the process,” she said. “To be really honest, there’s still a lot of work. I feel confident, but we just have to keep the goal focused on making sure that at the end of the day, all drivers in Massachusetts are going to be trained, licensed and insured.”
Massachusetts requires residents to show proof of a Social Security number to apply for a license, leaving an estimated 200,000 undocumented immigrants unable to get licensed. Undocumented immigrants then are forced to choose between driving unlicensed and losing a key source of transportation.
The left-leaning Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center calculated in a March 2020 report that 41,000 to 78,000 drivers would be licensed within the first three years of implementation.
In Berkshire County, a lack of public transportation options means that undocumented immigrants must drive to get to work, health care appointments or even the grocery store.
“If someone walks into our offices, the first question is whether there is any way to legalize status, and the second question is driving,” said Emma Lezberg, a caseworker for the Berkshire Immigrant Center.
Licensing more drivers, supporters say, would improve road safety for all drivers while opening opportunities to undocumented immigrants. The bill has support from organized labor and the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, in addition to some law enforcement officials.
The Massachusetts Major Cities Chiefs of Police Association has supported the bill, although the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association has not taken a position.
Of the 160 members of the House, 84 have indicated their support as co-sponsors. Among the 40 Senate members, 22 have co-sponsored the bill. All state lawmakers from Berkshire County have signed on as co-sponsors.
To become law, the bill would need to pass the House and the Senate, where President Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, has voiced support for the proposal. Baker would need to sign a finalized version that the branches send him, or at least 107 representatives and 27 senators would need to override a veto.
Baker previously has expressed concerns with verifying that undocumented immigrants “are who they say they are.”
“Governor Baker supports existing laws in Massachusetts, enacted on a bipartisan basis, that ensure Massachusetts’ compliance with federal REAL ID requirements and enable those who demonstrate lawful presence in the United States to obtain a license,” Baker spokesperson Terry MacCormack said Thursday.
Pointing to revisions in the bill concerning documentation requirements, Farley-Bouvier said she believes that the redrafted version of the House bill “addresses all of the governor’s concerns.”
“‘Undocumented’ is a term,” Farley-Bouvier said. “It doesn’t mean that they don’t have documents. It means they don’t have federal status. I think we have addressed those concerns in this bill, and I think the governor will be pleased.”
The bill would require residents to provide at least two valid and unexpired documents to obtain a license. One must be a foreign passport or a consular identification document, and the other must be a driver’s license from another U.S. state or territory, a birth certificate, a foreign national identification card, a foreign driver’s license or a Massachusetts marriage certificate or divorce decree.
Sixteen U.S. states and Puerto Rico already allow residents to obtain a license without demonstrating legal immigration status.
“Years ago, we might’ve been the first state,” Farley-Bouvier said. “Now, we’re going to be the 17th state.”
Pittsfield Police Chief Michael Wynn said he supported the proposal shortly after he became chief.
“The backlash and the responses I got from across the country were kind of concerning,” Wynn said. “There are still strong feelings on both sides out there.”
Wynn expects safety to increase as more drivers pass road tests, although the main benefit is that “from an urban police department perspective, it simplifies the roadside encounter,” he said.
“The reality is, we know undocumented immigrants are driving, and as it exists now, sometimes they’re driving with a wide variety of documents that we do not know the validity of,” Wynn said. “So, that makes it very complicated. In many cases, they are written in the language of the country of origin, which makes it difficult.
“The big safety thing from a law enforcement point of view is, it shortens the duration and lessens the tension during a stop,” he added. “And anything that simplifies the roadside encounter is good for the driver and good for the officer.”
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February 11, 2022
The Berkshire state legislative delegation - Trippy Country Buffet, Shitty Pigpen, Paul Marxism, the career Mayor, and Chrome Dome - all openly support Trippy's bill to give driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants in Massachusetts, which the State House of Representatives in Boston will vote on next week.
What about Senior Citizens, the disabled, Veterans, children, low to moderate income families, and so on, struggling to survive during the ongoing pandemic, 40-year-high 7.5-percent inflation, heating bills costing around 30-percent more than last Winter, and so on?
Trippy Country Buffet has been a Pittsfield State Representative for a little over one decade now, and she has accomplished nothing in Boston except voting for and accepting her own countless public pay raises and perks. Governor Charlie Baker said he will veto Trippy's bill because it is difficult to verify if undocumented immigrants are who they say are. What if some of the undocumented immigrants are terrorists, gang members, violent criminals, drug dealers, sex traffickers, and so on, and they use fraudulent documents to obtain driver's licenses in Massachusetts? There is no way to know for sure because they are not here legally.
7 U.S. Marines Veterans were killed in Randolph, New Hampshire by a Massachusetts driver whose license was supposed to be suspended by the Massachusetts RMV, but they did not have proper management and oversight in place. If the RMV couldn't do its job, which would have saved lives, then how are we supposed to trust them to protect the public from undocumented immigrants who are difficult to verify who they say they are.
Jonathan Melle
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Hello Patrick Fennell,
I had Saturday brunch with my dad today (12-February-2022), and I ask him about next week's vote in the Massachusetts State House of Representatives legislative chamber giving undocumented immigrants driver's licenses. My dad said that if he was a Massachusetts State Representative representing the beautiful Berkshires and beyond, he would vote in favor of the bill. My dad said that these people will drive regardless of whether or not they have a Massachusetts driver's license, and at least the state will be able to track their driving records. I asked my dad about the Western Massachusetts driver who has a history of drug and alcohol use, including in his driving record, and that if the Massachusetts RMV did their job and suspended his driver's license then the 7 U.S. Marines Veterans on riding on their motorcycles who he killed behind the wheel of a truck in Randolph, New Hampshire would still be alive. My dad told me that the RMV had piles of envelopes of Massachusetts drivers who should have had their driver's licenses suspended, and that after the aforementioned accident, the RMV reformed itself with an online database so it wouldn't happen again. I asked my dad if the RMV couldn't check the aforementioned driver who is still behind bars in New Hampshire as he awaits his NH trial by jury, then how will the RMV effectively check the thousands of undocumented immigrants who the state (of Massachusetts's Governor Charlie Baker) says it is very difficult to verify who they say they are? My dad said that the RMV's online database will help, but that I made a valid point. I then asked my dad about citizens who have suspended driver's licenses for OUIs, failure to pay child support, and other legal reasons, then how do we know about the legal backgrounds of the thousands of undocumented immigrants who will apply for driver's licenses in Massachusetts? If citizens of Massachusetts have to follow all of the state and federal laws to have the privilege of a Massachusetts driver's license, then so should the undocumented immigrants! Equal Justice Under Law. My dad said that it is true, and that there needs to be a way to verify all of the legal records of the undocumented immigrants (which is very difficult). I told my dad that I respect his opinion on the matter, but I disagree with him on the issue. I felt that we both had valid views on the subject.
Jonathan A. Melle
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February 16, 2022
Hello Patrick Fennell,
I clicked on the Massachusetts State House of Representatives webpage:
https://malegislature.gov/Bills/192/H4461
and I scrolled down to the bottom of the webpage, and I clicked on the .pdf link to see how the Berkshire legislative delegation - Trippy Country Buffet, Shitty Pigpen, Paul Marxism, and the career Mayor - voted. The 4 Berkshire-based State Representatives all voted to give undocumented immigrants driver's licenses on and after July 1, 2023.
Best wishes,
Jonathan A. Melle
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February 16, 2022
The op-ed in The Boston Herald by Lou Murray against Beacon Hill lawmakers giving undocumented immigrants Massachusetts driver's licenses points out the following facts:
* There was/were NO public hearing(s) this year of 2022 prior to today's vote in the Massachusetts State House of Representatives
* There will be more highway deaths and hit-and-runs in Massachusetts way above the number of new illegal immigrant motorists with Massachusetts driver's licenses
* There are an estimated 275,000 illegal immigrants living in Massachusetts
* Illegal immigrants will demand more and more state government benefits in Massachusetts, which has one of the highest growth rates of illegal immigration in the country compounded by the Biden administration's open border immigration policies
* The already overtaxed Massachusetts taxpayers will be paying for it all
Jonathan A. Melle
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February 16, 2022
Hello Patrick Fennell,
I liked your letter to the editor of the Dirty Bird (Berkshire Eagle). What do you think about the fact that the Massachusetts State Representatives who voted for the bill today (2/16/2022) to give illegal immigrants Massachusetts driver's licenses did not hold a public hearing on the legislation this year of 2022? What do you think about the data from the over one dozen other states that gave illegal immigrants state driver's licenses had automobile fatalities and hit-and-runs go up much higher than the number of undocumented immigrant new drivers? Shouldn't have Trippy Country Buffet, Shitty Pigpen, Paul Marxism, and the career Mayor John Barrett III have heard from the experts and the people who opposed the bill before voting in favor of the legislation? What about Governor Charlie Baker's statement that illegal immigrants are very difficult to verify who they say they are? Shouldn't any and/or all of these issues mattered to these banal rubber stamp career politicians in Boston?
Best wishes,
Jonathan Melle
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February 16, 2022
To the Editor.
Thousands of immigrants went through the long and expensive process to become legal US citizens. They work hard and blend in go society well. We all know legal and proud citizens.
Sadly, the Massachusetts House of Representatives voted to allow illegal immigrants to get Massachusetts drivers' licenses on February 16, 2022. Shame on them for spitting in legal immigrants faces. What part of 'Illegal' don't they understand?
To paraphrase Billy Jack, 'When the law disobeys the law it is everyone for themselves.' The MA House of Representatives just passed an illegal law. Can we now go to an RMV without positive IDs too? My guess is NO.
Patrick Fennell
Great Barrington, MA
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March 7, 2022
Did you read the news article in the Eagle that on/after April 1st, 2022, the state will no longer provide free, asymptomatic COVID-19 testing at the Stop the Spread sites in Berkshire County? Other regions of Massachusetts will not have to pay, but unless Berkshire County residents drive to Springfield and points east, they will have to pay either out of pocket or through their health insurance plans, if they are insured. The Stop the Spread sites in Berkshire County ran from December 2020 and will run through the end of March 2022. The state will still provide at-home rapid tests to municipalities to distribute to its residents, and anyone can receive free at-home testing kits from the federal government through the U.S. Postal Service at special.usps.com/testkits. Over-the-counter tests, though less accurate than lab tests, typically cost $10 to $12 each.
Jonathan Melle
Credit: Danny Jin, The Berkshire Eagle, March 7, 2022
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March 9, 2022
What about the state legislative races in 2022? Is anyone challenging Trippy Country Buffet, Shitty Pigpen, the career Mayor of N.A., and/or Paul Marxism in 2022? I wonder how many years combined have Trippy, Shitty, the career Mayor, and Paul Marxism have served enriching themselves at the public trough? The career politicians love collecting their public pay and perks, while the people and taxpayers pound sand.
Jonathan A. Melle
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Gina Divola, 32, of Pittsfield, said that she left her job as a nursing assistant because she felt a COVID-19 vaccination requirement infringed on her medical and personal freedom. Divola, who now runs a business called Maga Cleaning Services, is running as a Republican for the seat held by state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield. Photo provided by Gina Divola.
"'America first' Republican will take on state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier for Statehouse seat"
By Danny Jin, The Berkshire Eagle, April 3, 2022
PITTSFIELD — A self-described “America first” Republican will challenge Democratic state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier for Pittsfield’s seat in the Massachusetts House.
Gina Divola, 32, of Pittsfield, says she is a constitutional conservative who is running because she is concerned with the direction of the state and the country.
Farley-Bouvier, 57, who co-chairs the House Progressive Caucus, has served in the House since 2011 and plans to run for reelection, she said.
The most recent Republican to represent Berkshire County in the Statehouse is Shaun Kelly, a Dalton Republican who represented the 2nd Berkshire District from 1991 to 2005.
“I’m aware this is a pretty Democratic-voting, liberal-leaning area, but I think what’s important is a lot of voters were starting to wake up to the idea that we’re getting misrepresented, being strung along for agendas more than things that actually concern us,” Divola said. “I think with more people waking up to what’s going on, and the politicizing and the woke-ism and the cancel culture, I think that’s going to be drawing more people to vote Republican.”
Divola’s entry into the race means that there is a challenger running for each of Berkshire County’s Statehouse seats, which incumbents often have won unopposed. North Adams Democrat Paula Kingsbury-Evans says she is running as a progressive against state Rep. John Barrett III, D-North Adams. Becket Select Board member Michael Lavery, a Green-Rainbow Party candidate, is challenging state Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli, D-Lenox.
State Rep. Paul Mark, D-Peru, is pursuing the Senate seat that state Sen. Adam Hinds, D-Pittsfield, is vacating to run for lieutenant governor. Mark faces Brendan Phair, a Pittsfield conservative who is running as an independent for Senate.
While Divola’s registration with the Office of Political and Campaign Finance lists the 3rd Berkshire District as the office sought, redistricting would move both her and Farley-Bouvier into the new 2nd Berkshire District.
Comparing herself to Farley-Bouvier, Divola said that she is “more for the America first idea.” Divola expressed opposition to allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses, a bill that Farley-Bouvier worked to push through the House, where it passed by a 120-36 margin.
“I believe that our American citizens come first, so something like that is problematic when we can do other things, because I don’t feel like we owe people that broke federal laws anything here,” Divola said.
Farley-Bouvier said that she welcomes debate on issues leading up to the election, although she stands by what she called “an excellent piece of legislation” that would ensure that all Massachusetts drivers are licensed and trained.
“It is a bill that we have said throughout is a public safety bill, a bill that we know is going to make our roads safer, and it has broad support by law enforcement across the state, including the police chief of the same district that we’ll be representing,” she said, noting support from Pittsfield Police Chief Michael Wynn, Sheriff Thomas Bowler and District Attorney Andrea Harrington.
Divola said that she worked as a nursing assistant for local nursing homes before leaving her job due to a COVID-19 vaccination requirement, which she said conflicted with her religious and moral beliefs. She said that she now runs a cleaning company, Maga Cleaning Services.
Divola cites election integrity and medical freedom as top concerns for her campaign.
“I believe that we are endowed by our creator, which is God, not government,” she said. “I don’t feel it is the duty of the government to pressure us into medical experiments.”
She said that she opposes mail-in voting and voting drop-boxes.
“I think it should just be a one-day process, one ballot, one vote, one day, one count,” Divola said. “It shouldn’t be a week long, a month long, because it just raises too many questions about the election results.”
The Massachusetts Legislature and several state governments expanded mail-in voting for the 2020 election, seeking to make voting easier and safer during the pandemic. Farley-Bouvier praised Pittsfield City Clerk Michele Benjamin and said that she believes “the process in Massachusetts is outstanding” for elections.
While former President Donald Trump and some Republican allies have made accusations of election fraud, prosecutors have found few fraud cases to pursue.
Candidates for state representative must receive 150 certified signatures to appear on the ballot in November.
Danny Jin, a Report for America corps member, is The Eagle’s Statehouse news reporter. He can be reached at djin@berkshireeagle.com, @djinreports on Twitter and 413-496-6221.
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April 5, 2022
Hello Berkshire Eagle Journalist Meg Britton-Mehlisch,
There are a few big facts that you left out of your coverage of the so-called Fair Share Amendment, which would place a surtax on state income tax earnings of over $1 million on Massachusetts residents.
This Beacon Hill shakedown scheme is the single largest state tax hike in the over 400-year history of Massachusetts. Last Spring of 2021, the Boston Globe reported that the corrupt career politicians on Beacon Hill give away $17.8 billion per fiscal year in state tax breaks to their politically connected big business campaign donors. Massachusetts has many regressive taxation schemes in place, including the state lottery, casinos, excise taxes on pot, alcohol, tobacco, and so on. If the corrupt Beacon Hill career politicians really wanted a progressive tax system in Massachusetts, then they would not have grown the state lottery and the other regressive tax schemes to multibillion dollar per fiscal year operations. The last big fact is that this is a big election year of 2022, whereby the corrupt state Democratic Party in Boston is using this huge tax hike referendum as a way to bring out more voters so that Beacon Hill will be an even more one-sided one political party state.
Best wishes,
Jon Melle
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TOP STORY - Fair Share Amendment
"Organizers want Berkshire County to put the Fair Share Amendment on the map. Here's what you need to know about the tax proposal"
By Meg Britton-Mehlisch, The Berkshire Eagle, April 5, 2022
PITTSFIELD — “All good things in the Commonwealth start with 413.”
That’s the claim from state Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli, D-Lenox, who joined a gathering of Berkshire-based advocates and organizers at Berkshire Community College on Monday to officially launch the effort to rally local support for the Fair Share Amendment.
Organizers said they hoped the county would distinguish itself with residents’ support of the amendment, which would increase the taxes collected from state’s wealthiest households after the $1 million mark in the name of income equality, education equity and infrastructure investment.
“We’ve been working hard in the past few months — speaking to city councils, school committees, democratic town committees, select boards and to voters — to explain the Fair Share Amendment and to invite municipal bodies all over the county to endorse it,” Jeanne Kempthorne, chair of the Berkshire County Fair Share Amendment Committee, said.
“We’ve had great success in many Berkshire communities and we will continue this effort,” Kempthorne said. “We also work now to put our ground game in place.”
Here’s what you need to know about the nuts and bolts of the Fair Share Amendment, as the proposal heads towards the ballot box:
What is the Fair Share Amendment?
The Fair Share Amendment is an amendment to the state constitution that would increase the tax on any taxable income over $1 million from the current flat rate of 5 percent to 9 percent.
The amendment applies only to “annual taxable income.” Organizers said that one of their early priorities is making sure voters know that the tax doesn’t apply to them based on something like the value of their home, size of their 401K account or success of their business.
Anticipating fierce opposition campaign, a local movement for 'millionaire's tax' ballot question emerges
This year, the $1 million amount is a hard cap. But as state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, and Pignatelli reassured the crowd at the campaign launch, if you make $999,999 in a year, this wouldn’t impact you. Nine cents out of every dollar after $1 million in income would go to state taxes.
In the years after the 2023 tax year, the $1 million amount will be adjusted to match inflation.
“It’s simply applying a very well-known and well-accepted tax principle,” state Sen. Adam Hinds, D-Pittsfield, said. “If you have the ability to pay a little more, you should pay a little more.”
Where does all that money go?In short, like all other tax dollars it goes to the state and then on to Beacon Hill to decide how to spend.
The amendment is pretty specific about what the money recovered from the additional taxes would be used for: public education and infrastructure.
Farley-Bouvier said that how that money is distributed throughout the state and across those two fields comes down to the work of the legislative delegation.
“Is there something in the question that ensures regional equity?” Farley-Bouvier said. “The answer to that is no. We have to continue to do our work [as a delegation] to make sure that happens.”
How much would it raise?
What the tax would bring into state coffers is a dollar amount that keeps shifting.
When the state was considering this tax years ago, a Massachusetts Department of Revenue analysis estimated in 2015 that the amendment would bring in between $1.6 billion and about $2 billion each year.
A more recent report from the Tufts University Center for State Policy Analysis used data from the Internal Revenue Service and state to estimate how much would be raised by the tax if it went into effect next year. The number they came up with was $1.3 billion.
What would this mean for the Berkshires?
Proponents of the amendment — like the Massachusetts Teachers Association — would say that every additional dollar spent on infrastructure and education is worth it.
Those two purposes are why the amendment is seeing a strong early showing of support from the Berkshire County legislative delegation as well as local school committees, teachers unions and staff and students at Berkshire Community College and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.
Local organizers say the money could increase the budgets of local school districts and colleges, who could in turn use the money to increase staff pay, hire additional support staff, lower tuition rates and expand what are currently considered out-of-school programs.
And when it comes to infrastructure, members of the Berkshire legislative delegation are already prepared to try and push the new funds towards a “West-East” rail extension, as Pignatelli calls it.
What comes next?
For proponents and opponents of the amendment the next several months are key ahead of voting day on Nov. 8, when voters across the state will have the opportunity to vote for or against it.
On April 23, the Berkshire County Fair Share Committee will kick its campaign up a notch. The 23rd marks the launch of the committee’s canvas campaign, when organizers will go door to door to talk with residents about the amendment.
Meg Britton-Mehlisch can be reached at mbritton@berkshireeagle.com or 413-496-6149.
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"Advocacy group seeks transparency ballot question in Pittsfield district of Massachusetts House"
The Berkshire Eagle, April 6, 2022
PITTSFIELD — Seeking greater transparency in the Massachusetts House, an advocacy group is working to put a nonbinding ballot question before Pittsfield voters this November.
Act on Mass, a left-leaning group that has led the pursuit of transparency-minded reforms, wants Pittsfield voters to weigh in on whether they want their representative to vote in favor of making committee votes public.
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, who co-chairs the House Progressive Caucus, represents the district that encompasses Pittsfield and is facing a challenge from Republican Gina Divola.
The House previously has voted down rules changes backed by Act on Mass.
Farley-Bouvier has said that she does not find it necessary to make committee votes public, although she lists her own committee votes on her website.
The measure would not become law if voters approve the question. Rather, Act on Mass says that the ballot question provides “a way for constituents to directly and publicly tell their representative how they want them to vote on an issue.”
The group identified 34 “priority” districts for the ballot question based on where House leaders, contested races and underrepresented communities are.
In 2020, 1st Franklin District voters approved a nonbinding question to make committee votes public with nearly 90 percent support.
The question needs 400 signatures in a district to appear on the 2022 ballot.
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April 6, 2022
Re: How do we know that Tricia Farley Bouvier's word is true?
The Berkshire Eagle's news story about Act on Mass' non-binding referendum in Pittsfield (and elsewhere in Massachusetts) asking voters if they want transparency rules reform on Beacon Hill states: "[State Representative Tricia] Farley-Bouvier has said that she does not find it necessary to make committee votes public, although she lists her own committee votes on her website."
How do we know that Tricia Farley Bouvier's word is true? Is there a way to verify her committee votes?
These were candidate Tricia Farley Bouvier's words back in mid-October, 2011:
Candidates on the issues - Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Democrat:
Open government: I believe that transparency in government is essential so I am in favor of expanding the open meeting law.
Source: "Final push in 3rd Berkshire rep. race", by Ned Oliver, Berkshire Eagle Staff, October 15, 2011
Were Tricia Farley Bouvier's words true? Answer: NO! She voted against State House rules reform as a corrupt career politician on Beacon Hill.
Tricia Farley Bouvier has received many criticisms from people and state taxpayers, including that she has been on Beacon Hill for over one decade now, and she has literally accomplished/done nothing there in all of that time other than always openly supporting state government tax increases. The State House recently passed a bill she sponsored to give illegal/undocumented immigrants driver's licenses, but it hasn't been voted on yet in the State Senate. She voted for her own 40% legislative public pay raise and perks in early-2017 that has cost state taxpayers tens of millions in state government dollars.
Jon Melle
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April 7, 2022
Hello Patrick Fennell,
I agree with you about having ZERO trust in corrupt career politicians on Beacon Hill and in the Swamp. Pittsfield State Representative Tricia Farley Bouvier's campaign promise in mid-October of 2011 for transparency on Beacon Hill was a bald-faced lie. Her public record on Beacon Hill is her voting against rules reform bills for transparency in the Massachusetts State Legislature. Your State Representative, Smitty Pignatelli, has been voting against rules reforms for transparency in the State House of Representatives for nearly 20 years. All that matters to these useless career political hacks is the Almighty Dollar and Power so that they can sit on their fat asses for decades on end enriching themselves at the public trough while doing DISSERVICES to the people and taxpayers they represent in name only.
Best wishes,
Jonathan A. Melle
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To J2S: It is impossible for me to contact Trippy Country Buffet and receive a response from her. She blocks all of my political emails. If I continued to contact her, she would put a call in with the Pittsfield Police Department and have me investigated for harassment. All I can do is write and blog about her failed public record in Boston (and Pittsfield) because I have the right to Free Speech. Thank you for asking if I reached out to her for any answers to my questions and concerns. Her feedback is total silence. Best, Jon Melle
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"Markus Aurelius" posted on Dan Valenti's blog:
Tricia Farley-Country Buffet (D), Smitty, John Barrett, and the rest of the Berkshire delegates, have one order from their masters in Boston. “Carry our jockstraps.” No more, no less.
Farley-Country Buffet (D), does an excellent job of that. She did sponsor a bill to get illegal aliens DL’s. Of course it’s all in the name of “public safety.” But really it’s a preparatory strike if a red wave comes in November, and ID’s are required to vote.
Those democRATS are scrambling to stay in power. With everything horrible going on in the US, they want to make sure we focus on the end all be all, “climate change.”
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Bill Everhart: All 4 Berkshire legislative seats see contests, and regional democracy sees some welcome energy
Op-Ed by Bill Everhart, The Berkshire Eagle, April 16, 2022
A strong democracy is built upon its elections, in terms of both integrity and competitiveness. That integrity is under assault nationally by Trump cultists, and while the Berkshires have remained free of this poison, the lack of competitive races for state offices in the past has stifled the debate that fuels democracy.
That is why it is encouraging to have four races for Berkshire legislative seats this fall for the first time in recent memory. Election campaigns offer the only real opportunity to debate issues, and from health care to education funding to immigration to east-west rail, to name a few, there are plenty of important issues to debate.
Here is an assessment of those races as they currently stand. Because of redistricting, Berkshire County lost one state representative district and is reduced to three.
1st Berkshire
Paula Kingsbury-Evans, an MCLA senior, is running for the seat held by state Rep. John Barrett III
John Barrett III, once the state’s longest serving mayor in North Adams, was out of office for eight years when he decided to run for state representative of the largely Northern Berkshire district in 2017 following the untimely death of Gailanne Cariddi. Three younger, progressive candidates essentially split the anti-Barrett vote and the former mayor won easily.
The 74-year-old Democrat now faces a challenger 52 years his junior in Paula Kingsbury-Evans, a senior at MCLA, in the party primary. Kingsbury-Evans cites her youth, energy and advocacy of progressive causes in making her case. The tempestuous Barrett might not be popular with liberals, but his record as state representative may be difficult for them to find fault with. It will be interesting to see if Barrett’s feud with Tom Bernard, North Adams’ recently departed progressive mayor, will resonate in the campaign.
If Kingsbury-Evans can’t dislodge Barrett — no Republican challenger has emerged — she may nonetheless have a political future in the Berkshires if she decides to remain here.
2nd Berkshire
'America first' Republican will take on state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier for Statehouse seat
Tricia Farley-Bouvier, a liberal Democrat who has served her Pittsfield-centric district (previously the 3d Berkshire) since 2011, has a Republican challenger in Gina Divola, who described herself to The Eagle as a “constitutional conservative.” As Farley-Bouvier is co-chair of the House Progressive Caucus, this sets up an intriguing race.
The county’s moribund Republican Party needs candidates to give it a jolt and provide some semblance of a two-party system here. The last Berkshire Republican to serve in the state Legislature was Rep. Shaun Kelly, who represented the rural then 2nd Berkshire District from 1991 to 2005. The late state Sen. Jack Fitzpatrick, of Stockbridge, and former state Sen. Jane Swift, of North Adams, who went on to serve as acting governor, are reminders of a time when Republicans were key players in Berkshire and Massachusetts politics.
However, those three were old-school, socially liberal, financially conservative Republicans, the kind of Republicans the party is purging in favor of radicals and conspiracy theorists. If Divola is to have any chance of winning independent voters, she will have to campaign as a moderate Republican in the style of that trio and Gov. Charlie Baker.
Instead, Divola is showing signs of following the current Republican playbook. In an interview with The Eagle’s Danny Jin, she decried “woke-ism,” a buzzword Republicans have become overly reliant upon. She is on shaky ground in blaming liberals for cancel culture when conservatives are just as guilty. Florida Republicans’ “Don’t Say Gay” bill provides an egregious recent example of cancel culture from the right.
Divola would be wise to keep her distance from former President Donald Trump, who proved to be demonstrably unpopular in the district in two elections. As a self-proclaimed constitutional conservative, that should be easy enough given the evidence uncovered by journalists and the Jan. 6 Committee that Trump violated the Constitution in his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. She also can’t allow herself to be bullied into extremist positions that won’t fly with voters by the Trump loyalists who dominate the Massachusetts Republican Committee.
3rd Berkshire
Michael Lavery, a Becket Select Board member, will run as a Green-Rainbow candidate against state Rep. Smitty Pignatelli
State Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli, a Democrat who has represented his district (formerly the 4th, now the 3rd) for two decades, has a challenger in Green-Rainbow Party candidate Michael Lavery, a member of the Becket Select Board.
Lavery abandoned the Democratic Party because of his dissatisfaction with the party establishment nationally and statewide. That, and his advocacy of overdue transparency reforms on Beacon Hill, could earn him support.
Pignatelli has run against capable Green-Rainbow Party candidates before. A Green-Rainbow candidate in the Berkshires, however, really needs a Republican to run against. Pignatelli has a solid progressive record and two decades of experience to run on. As a Green-Rainbow Party member, Lavery, if elected, would essentially be an adjunct Democrat on Beacon Hill with no seniority or committee chairmanships.
Lavery told The Eagle’s Jin that he ran in part because “it is healthy for democracy to have choices,” and for that reason alone his candidacy is welcome.
State senator
Redistricting essentially eliminated what was the 2nd Berkshire District, represented since the 2010 election by Democratic Rep. Paul Mark. With Democratic state Sen. Adam Hinds, whose sprawling district encompasses almost all of Western Massachusetts, running for lieutenant governor, Mark is seeking to fill that vacancy.
Mark has a liberal track record and has most recently been in the news for advocating employee-owned businesses. The small towns the Peru resident has represented for more than a decade are included in the state Senate district, giving him a name recognition advantage over his opponent, Brendan Phair, in those rural communities.
Phair, a Pittsfield conservative who emphasizes fiscal restraint and is an outspoken opponent of abortion, is running as an independent. Phair will have no party financing or organizational support behind him, but many of the small towns in the district are conservative, based on voter support for Republicans in recent years. Even though he is not a Republican, Phair may find favor with those voters.
Phair, like all of the challengers in the legislative races, will provide a welcome dialogue that is too rare in state races in the Berkshires. Ideally, this will be the rule, not the exception, in the years ahead.
Bill Everhart is an occasional Eagle contributor.
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May 6, 2022
I turned on the Boston radio yesterday (Thursday, 5/5) afternoon, and the Massachusetts State Senate overwhelmingly voted to give undocumented/illegal immigrants Massachusetts Driver's Licenses with a loud applaud from the gallery. The Boston radio newsman said that both the State House & State Senate chambers have enough votes to override a possible veto by Governor Charlie Baker. When thousands of undocumented/illegal immigrants have Massachusetts Driver's Licenses, will there be more serious and/or deadly auto accidents? If there are more costs than benefits, will the corrupt career politicians in Boston vote to overturn the law that rewards undocumented immigrants who live in Massachusetts, USA illegally? What about the billions of dollars in state government surplus cash and ARPA "Biden Bucks" that Beacon Hill lawmakers are still sitting on? When will they get around to spending the huge amount of surplus state money and ARPA "Biden Bucks"? Most state governments either spent most of their surplus state funds and/or put in place a 5-year ARPA "Biden Bucks" spending plan, but on Massachusetts. Lastly, Mayor Linda Tyer has an electric scooter to sell you, the fictional/proverbial Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski, along with Pittsfield's Level 5 public schools, violent crime and vibrant, dynamic and dangerous downtown. Just don't bring any of it to her Gated Community neighborhood, please.
Jonathan A. Melle
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Letter: "I support state Rep. Farley-Bouvier for reelection"
The Berkshire Eagle, May 11, 2022
To the editor: I am a retired teacher and school counselor in the Pittsfield Public Schools, and I support Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier for reelection as Pittsfield’s state representative.
Tricia is our education champion. She played a key role in passing the 2019 Student Opportunity Act, which has resulted in an extraordinary annual increase for the Pittsfield Public Schools over its implementation. The SOA aims for every student in the state to experience high-quality learning opportunities that lead to success in school and postsecondary success. It strives to close the gaps in outcomes across racial and ethnic groups, economically disadvantaged communities, students with disabilities, and English learners compared to students whose first language is English. With such a substantial increase in funding, we have the opportunity to transform our schools.
It has already begun, with early education classes and family engagement coordinators in every elementary school. Our teachers are also seeing substantial and well-deserved 15 percent raises in this next three-year contract. Let’s encourage teachers to remain in the system in order to continue applying and improving their educational skills for our youth. This greatly helps the superintendent of Pittsfield schools, Mr. Joseph Curtis.
A longtime advocate for high quality education, Rep. Farley-Bouvier has helped to secure a $110 million increased investment in early education in the fiscal 2023 House budget, with $70 million reserved for increases in early education salaries. She believes that high-quality, accessible early education is the secret sauce to overcome poverty.
Rep. Farley-Bouvier is a team worker. She collaborates with parents, guardians and Berkshire County officials to advance the Student Opportunity Act. These include the state Legislature, Reps. John Barrett, "Smitty" Pignatelli and Paul Mark and state Sen. Adam Hinds. Farley-Bouvier is a beacon of light who listens carefully and patiently to all. She understands that government is the eyes, ears and voice of the people. I am grateful for her energy, engagement and eye toward education for our youth. Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier acts to make legislation work for our community.
Let’s continue to support Tricia Farley-Bouvier for state representative.
Marietta Rapetti Cawse, Pittsfield
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Editorial: "Blindness on Beacon Hill"
By Boston Herald Editorial Staff, June 5, 2022
Gas prices have hit a new record high in the Bay State at $4.84 per gallon.
The cost of butter, bacon, meat and poultry is heading in the same direction. Inflation is just hammering family budgets.
And the state Legislature is moving quickly … to override Gov. Charlie Baker’s veto of a bill allowing illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses. That vote is set for Wednesday in the House.
The lawmakers are not, however, doing anything to lessen the hurt at the pump. Connecticut, Georgia, Florida, Maryland, New York, California and Michigan have all moved to help by dropping the gas tax or are discussing how to bail residents out.
Alaska, Illinois, Minnesota and Virginia have all discussed it with no action taken yet.
In Massachusetts? It’s not that important, it seems, but racing to override the Republican governor at every turn seems to be the go-to move of the day. It’s not lost on anyone that this weekend’s Democratic state party convention was the next step in Maura Healey’s front-runner march to the Corner Office.
But, could Democrats be headed for a big surprise come November here? Nationwide there’s no doubt voters are fed up with Nancy Pelosi’s failed leadership of the House with President Biden seemingly tripping over his own dismal poll numbers and looking for excuses.
Bay State Republican gubernatorial candidates Geoff Diehl and Chris Doughty have an opening if the state Legislature continues to ignore just how difficult life has become for taxpayers. A year ago a gallon of regular gas was $2.92 in the state.
With the pandemic easing and more workers being pulled back to the office, the demand for gas is only increasing.
The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance announced Friday they intend to hold lawmakers accountable for the override votes on the driver’s license bill for illegal immigrants. Recording a vote always makes Democrats sweat.
In his veto, Baker said the RMV can’t easily verify identification documents from other countries and that the bill “specifically prevents the RMV from sharing citizenship and immigration status with the state entities tasked with ensuring only citizens register to vote,” MassFiscal added.
“The Governor’s letter stated, ‘this bill significantly increases the risk that noncitizens will be registered to vote,'” the advocacy group added.
It’s just a mess. The RMV, an agency that has never earned the confidence of motorists, is now going to oversee this new program that is sure to help some but hurt others. But that’s what is important to lawmakers these days.
Forget about the elderly living on fixed incomes or young parents trying to juggle bills.
Instead of thwarting Baker at every turn, the state Legislature needs to do what they’ve been elected to do — serve the people.
“Instead of prioritizing a gas tax suspension, or any kind of broad tax relief aimed at the middle class, Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka have used their political capital to appease the special interest groups that dominate Democratic primaries,” said MassFiscal’s spokesman Paul Diego Craney.
Martha Coakley made a similar mistake. She won her primary for the U.S. Senate in the 2010 sap and put her feet up. That allowed Republican Scott Brown to fire up voters.
She was defeated 52% to 47%. Beacon Hill could be on that same track if enough people ultimately say “enough” this fall.
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June 13, 2022
I wish to say thank you to Chuck Vincelette for his kind words. I wish to give praise to Charles Ivar Kronick for fighting for the people and taxpayers instead of rubber-stamping Mayor Linda Tyer's "Business as usual" predictable Pittsfield politics' yearly 5 percent municipal spending increase. I wish to write that Pittsfield State Representative to Boston, Trippy Country Buffet, misled us with her bill - now state law - that gives undocumented immigrants Massachusetts Driver's Licenses. Governor Charlie Baker said similar laws passed in many of the other 16 states give undocumented immigrants state Driver's Privilege Cards that differentiated from legal residents' state Driver's Licenses. The RMV is not able to verify foreign identification documents, nor are they able to differentiate voter registration disparities between license holders of differing legal status, which will lead to increased voter fraud in future state and local elections in Massachusetts after July 1st, 2023. Lastly, I do not know what is worse: The tanking Bond, Stock and relatively new Crypto BEAR markets and Joe Biden's 41-year high U.S. inflation or Mayor Linda Tyer's record setting proposed fiscal year 2023 municipal budget that will be voted on Tuesday night, 6/14/2022, by the mostly rubber stamp Pittsfield City Council who has no regard for the local taxpayers who are trying to provide for their families and shop at local small businesses during these difficult financial times.
Jonathan A. Melle
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Letter: "Work and Family Mobility Act will benefit all in Massachusetts"
The Berkshire Eagle, June 15, 2022
To the editor: Yogi Berra said, “Somebody’s gotta win, somebody’s gotta lose,” but that’s not always true.
When the Massachusetts Legislature overrode Gov. Charlie Baker’s veto of the Work and Family Mobility Act, nobody lost. ("With Senate override vote, immigrant driver's license bill becomes law," Eagle, June 9) The passage of this law is a victory not just for undocumented immigrants but also for our economy, our public safety and, most importantly, our values.
Employers in our commonwealth, especially in rural areas or towns with inadequate public transit, struggle to fill jobs and survive because so many potential employees are restricted to working within walking distance of their homes. The estimated 185,000 undocumented immigrants in Massachusetts already contribute over $185 million in state and local taxes to the annual economy, and that number can only grow when the act goes into effect in 2023. The commonwealth will also gain millions more in registration and license fees. Common sense says that our roads will be safer when the folks driving on them have had drivers’ education and have passed the tests required for a license. In issuing this license, the commonwealth will remain in full compliance with federal Real ID requirements.
Most importantly, this bill aligns with values in which Americans say they believe: family, fairness and freedom. After July 1, 2023, undocumented immigrants will no longer be marginalized by their immobility or forced to choose between risking arrest or deportment, and working to support the basic needs of their families. They will be able to participate more fully in our common life. In short, these newcomers will be able to claim their God-given rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. “
We should be grateful to those who represent the Berkshires in Boston and who supported the bill and the override: Tricia Farley-Bouvier (lead co-sponsor), Adam Hinds (co-sponsor), Smitty Pignatelli, John Barrett and Paul Mark. They clearly saw the justice and wisdom of this law. They also clearly understand that when we choose to be welcoming, compassionate and inclusive, there are no losers. We all win.
Kate Barton, Hinsdale
The writer is president of the Berkshire Immigrant Center board of directors.
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"Mother vows to overturn license law for illegal immigrants in Massachusetts"
‘After the death of my son, that is why I have become involved’
By Matthew Medsger [mmedsger@bostonherald.com], Boston Herald, June 14, 2022
As top lawmakers gathered to sign a bill that gives illegal immigrants access to a driver’s license, one mom was quietly working to gather the signatures required to undo their work.
“After the death of my son [Matthew Denice], that is why I have become involved, opposing illegal immigration and becoming politically active,” Maureen Maloney, whose son [Matthew Denice] was killed in 2011 by an illegal immigrant drunken driver, told the [Boston] Herald Tuesday.
When Republican gubernatorial candidate Geoff Diehl reached out to ask if she would spearhead an effort to overturn the Work and Family Mobility Act, [Maureen] Maloney said she didn’t hesitate.
“The issue with providing them licenses — it’s a magnet. It’s another reason to bring them to Massachusetts,” [Maureen] Maloney said of the illegal immigrant who killed her son.
On Monday [June 13, 2022], she filed a petition with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance letting them know she would begin the process of asking voters to overturn the law through a veto referendum.
“The death of my son [Matthew Denice] ignited my passion for activism,” she said.
Ecuadorian driver Nicolas Dutan Guaman struck Matthew Denice, who was on a motorcycle, with his pickup truck on Aug. 20, 2011. Denice, 23, became trapped underneath the truck and was dragged for a quarter mile in Milford as witnesses screamed for Guaman to stop.
Guaman is serving a sentence of 12 to 14 years for OUI manslaughter.
The law Maloney now hopes to overturn was passed by the [Massachusetts State] Legislature early this month [of June of 2022] despite a veto by Gov. Charlie Baker and will see those without legal status, but with the ability to demonstrate their identity using documents from their home country, granted access to receive driver’s licenses from the Registry of Motor Vehicles on July 1 of next year [of 2023].
Amanda Orlando, Diehl’s campaign manager, told the Herald Tuesday that Diehl reached out to Maloney to begin the process after lawmakers moved forward despite the objections of the governor.
“This just isn’t the right move for Massachusetts and there are a lot of unintended consequences,” she said. “The Diehl campaign and Leah Cole Allen for Lt. Governor campaign will support (Maloney) every step of the way.”
The law has been hailed by proponents as the only way to make sure those drivers, who must use the roads anyway to survive, are participating in the training and insurance associated with licensing.
“I still do believe that this bill will dramatically increase public safety. People will have to learn how to drive, they’ll learn the rules of the road. They will have to have insurance, there will be less fleeing the scene of accidents. There will be less accidents,” state Senate President Karen Spilka said ahead of the bill’s ceremonial signing.
Maloney will have a long road ahead of her. Her group will need to collect over 40,000 signatures, or 1.5% of total votes cast for the last governor’s race, in order to make the ballot. They have until August 24 to do it, she said, and they already have a team hundreds-strong working on it.
“I feel like the voters should be making this decision. I think the Legislature was more than a little tone-deaf,” she said.
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June 15, 2022
A Massachusetts Mother named Maureen Maloney vows to undo Tricia Farley Bouvier's bill - now state law - that gives Massachusetts state Driver's Licenses to undocumented immigrants. Maureen Maloney lost her son named Matthew Denice to an intoxicated undocumented immigrant driver named Nicolas Dutan Guaman who is from Ecuador who is doing time in state prison for OUI manslaughter. Tricia's bill - now law - had no public hearings in 2022. Tricia's bill - now law- did not allow for public input from people such as Maureen Maloney. Tricia misrepresented the facts about the other 16 states who mostly give undocumented immigrants state driving privilege cards, while Massachusetts will give undocumented immigrants state Driver's Licenses without the RMV being able to verify foreign identification documents.
Jonathan A. Melle
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Editorial: "Voters belong in driver’s seat on licenses for illegal immigrants"
By Boston Herald Editorial Staff, July 1, 2022
If opponents of a new state law allowing illegal immigrants to obtain drivers licenses in Massachusetts are successful, the law’s repeal will go before voters in Massachusetts.
That’s where the issue belongs.
While the bill has been kicking around in the state Legislature for more than two decades, it was passed this year — and promptly vetoed by Gov. Charlie Baker. Lawmakers overrode his veto and the measure is set to go into effect next summer.
“I cannot sign this legislation because it requires the Registry of Motor Vehicles to issue state credentials to people without the ability to verify their identity. The Registry does not have the expertise or ability to verify the validity of many types of documents from other countries,” Baker said in his veto letter.
It is indeed a tall order for the beleaguered RMV, which has recently weathered a series of scandals, including the 2019 out-of-state violations debacle. Recently, some RMV workers allegedly gave out licenses without making drivers take a road test. More than 2,000 drivers who were granted licenses without these tests were sent letters and advised they had to retake the tests within 10 days, though many insisted that they had, in fact, passed the test to begin with.
This would be the agency in charge of verifying illegal immigrants’ identities
The governor isn’t the only one with misgivings about the law.
According to a recent UMass Amherst/ WCVB poll, the legislation is not widely supported, with 46% polled against and 40% in favor.
Though progressive pols are predictably on board — Mayor Michelle Wu issued a statement saying “All Boston and Massachusetts adults deserve access to driver’s licenses regardless of immigration status. I support the Family Mobility Act because it will make all of us safer ” — Bay State voters deserve a voice in a matter than will impact us all.
“A plurality of residents opposes legislation that would allow undocumented immigrants to be eligible for a driver’s license in the state,” political science professor Jesse Rhodes said when the poll was released.
Surely, that counts for something.
Maureen Maloney, whose son was killed by a drunk driver who was not in the U.S. legally, is leading The Fair and Secure MA committee to get the license law on the ballot.
Maloney has told the Herald she thinks her group will be able to get the required amount of support. It has to hit 40,000 signatures by Aug. 24.
Jessica Vaughn of the Center for Immigration Studies also decries the law.
“Allowing the registry to issue driver’s licenses to illegal aliens is asking for problems,” Vaughn said. “This will make it possible for more identity fraud, allow people to create new identities, and most importantly, allow people in this country illegally to obtain a document enabling them live in commonwealth as if they were there legally.”
Vaughn said driver’s licenses are “key” to accessing jobs and benefits and doling them out is a “slap in the face” to those who “waited their turn and were vetted and settled in the state legally.”
Vaughn is right — and overriding the concept of legality sets a bad precedent.
The disparity between those who approve and disapprove of the license law should be reason enough to put this important piece of legislation before the voters.
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Letter: "Maura Healey makes successful visit to PIttsfield"
The Berkshire Eagle, July 29, 2022
To the editor: Maura Healey is currently working three very big jobs.
She is currently serving as our state attorney general with a large portfolio, running for the top of the ticket in a statewide campaign and is in deep learning mode about the needs of the entire state to prepare to serve as governor.
She juggled all three of these responsibilities last week when she was in Pittsfield. ("If elected governor, what would Maura Healey do to spur economic development in the Berkshires?," Eagle, July 21.) I am both impressed by and grateful to Maura as she balanced checking in with her office, asking great questions during briefings about housing and transportation and engaging with voters at Third Thursday. She topped the day off with some impromptu one-on-one basketball with a hotshot Pittsfield youth on The Common. Those jump shots in heels were something to see.
Maura is a natural. She does not back down from hard things. Whether it is a complex issue or having a thoughtful one-on-one conversation with a voter who has not been a past supporter. Maura has sound judgement and great instincts. Thank you, Maura Healey, for the great visit to the Berkshires. We count on seeing you many more times in the years to come.
Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Pittsfield
The writer is the state representative for the 3rd Berkshire Massachusetts [State House of Representatives] District.
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September 13, 2022
Hi Jonathan,
We did it! We're on the November ballot in 20 districts across the Commonwealth for transparency and Medicare for All! Thanks to you, we mobilized to collect over 15,000 signatures and we are officially on the ballot in the following districts:
4th Barnstable (Rep. Peake)
3rd Berkshire (Rep. Farley-Bouvier)
1st Essex (Rep. Kelcourse)
8th Essex (previously Rep. Erlich)
2nd Franklin (Rep. Whipps)
8th Hampden (Rep. Wagner)
12th Hampden (Rep. Puppolo)
4th Middlesex (Rep. Gregoire)
14th Middlesex (previously Rep. Gouveia)
25th Middlesex (Rep. Decker)
33rd Middlesex (Rep. Ultrino)
34th Middlesex (Rep. Barber)
35th Middlesex (Rep. Donato)
3rd Norfolk (Speaker Mariano)
3rd Plymouth (Rep. Meschino)
12th Suffolk (Rep. Fluker-Oakley)
13th Suffolk (Rep. Hunt)
15th Suffolk (previously Rep. Elugardo)
12th Worcester (Rep. Kilcoyne)
19th Worcester (New district)
Now it's time to celebrate our hard work and this fantastic achievement the best way we know how: by grilling and eating delicious food outdoors. You are invited to join us this Saturday, September 17 [2022] from 12-4 PM at 86 Central Ave. in Malden for our volunteer appreciation BBQ!
RSVP FOR THE BBQ >>
Come celebrate with us, meet your fellow Act on Mass members, and get plugged into the exciting work we’re doing this fall!
Please RSVP so we can get a headcount and let us know if you have any dietary needs in the RSVP form below.
RSVP FOR THE BBQ >>
I hope to see you all there!
In solidarity,
Brenna Ransden
Organizing Director, Act on Mass
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Tricia Farley-Bouvier: "Vote yes on Question 4"
By Tricia Farley-Bouvier, op-ed, The Berkshire Eagle, October 14, 2022
Ballot Question 4 asks Massachusetts voters whether they approve of the Work and Family Mobility Act. That law, set to take effect next year, would allow some undocumented immigrants living in Massachusetts to obtain a standard driver’s license. A "yes" vote would keep in place the law. A "no" vote would repeal this law. For more information on this ballot question, visit sec.state.ma.us/ele/ele22/information-for-voters-22/quest_4.htm.
The Work and Family Mobility Act is now law. From law enforcement groups to faith groups to labor organizations to immigrant rights groups, there is broad and wide-reaching support of this critical and commonsense law, which requires all drivers in Massachusetts to be tested, licensed and insured, regardless of federal immigration status.
Those getting licenses under the new provisions are subject to strict identification document requirements in addition to Massachusetts’ longstanding testing and residency requirements. The entire Berkshire County legislative delegation were part of an overwhelming supermajority of the Legislature from every corner of the commonwealth who voted in favor as the Work and Family Mobility Act became law earlier this year.
But there are myths about the law that have snowballed into a ballot question campaign to repeal it. Even worse, this question was added to the ballot past the deadline for inclusion in the secretary of the commonwealth’s red book, which is mailed to all voters to inform you about what is on the ballot. This leaves voters without the easily accessible facts to inform their vote in November.
The facts are simple, though. We need to vote yes on 4.
A yes vote means that Massachusetts will join the list of 16 other states and D.C., both Democrat- and Republican-leaning, that have already enacted similar laws successfully. Voting yes on 4 will allow Massachusetts to join that list of 16 other states and their safer roads.
A yes vote is for safer roads. The Work and Family Mobility Act ensures that all drivers on the road are tested, licensed and insured. In California and Connecticut, safer roads mean hit-and-run accidents decreased by 10 percent and 9 percent respectively. Law enforcement is able to identify drivers and know who is behind the wheel of the car, making their jobs both safer and easier.
A yes vote is showing our immigrant neighbors that they are valuable members of our community. Immigrants drop their kids off at school, go to church, shop at local grocery stores, get medicine at the pharmacy when they are sick, all just like us. But it is more difficult without access to the reliable transportation driving provides, especially here in the Berkshires given our spotty public transportation.
The opposition will try to tell you this law will lead to voter fraud. That is false. It is misinformation propagated by our own governor. Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin, who oversees elections in Massachusetts, has stated unequivocally that voter fraud is not an issue with respect to this legislation. There are already processes in place to maintain our secure elections, and this law does not change that. This is a “Trump-like” argument, per Secretary Galvin.
The Registry of Motor Vehicles already issues thousands of licenses every year for individuals who are eligible to drive but not eligible to vote. The most obvious example of this is 16- and 17-year-olds. There are also green card and other visa holders who are currently eligible for driver’s licenses but not eligible to vote, and there has not been one incident of voter fraud.
The opposition is trying to tell you lies about our immigrant neighbors and friends. Do not listen to them. Vote yes on Ballot Question 4. Law enforcement wants this, the faith community wants this, unions want this, hospitals want this, businesses want this. We all want licenses for all. Vote yes on 4 for safer roads, for racial justice, for public health. For more information and to support the Yes on 4 campaign, visit saferroadsma.com.
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier represents the 3rd Berkshire District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. She is part of the campaign to vote yes on Question 4 and uphold the Work and Family Mobility Act.
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Letter: "Nonbinding ballot questions deserve attention — and a yes vote for both"
The Berkshire Eagle, November 1, 2022
To the editor: Two nonbinding questions that appear on the ballots of voters in Pittsfield may come as a surprise to those voters; while approved by the Secretary of the Commonwealth, information about them was not included in the “Information for Voters” guide since approval occurred after its publication. Both ballot questions deserve a yes vote. ("Here's what you need to know about two nonbinding ballot questions that may be on your ballot this November," Eagle, Oct. 20.)
Both ballot questions deserve a yes vote.
Ballot Question 5 instructs our state representative to “vote for legislation to create a single-payer system of universal health care that would provide all Massachusetts residents with comprehensive health care coverage, including the freedom to choose doctors and other health care professionals, facilities, and services and that would eliminate the role of insurance companies in health care by creating a publicly administered insurance trust fund.”
Such single-payer or “Medicare for All” legislation has the support of 40 percent of our state legislators, including Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, who co-signed the bill during the current session.
In effect, Question 5 is a survey of public opinion about the benefits of a single payer system which would eliminate the restrictive provider networks that insurance companies impose on us; unlink health coverage from employment so that we may change jobs without fear; and free us from burdensome premiums and co-pays, just to mention a few of its advantages. Moreover, single-payer systems worldwide have been shown to control costs and improve health outcomes better than profit-driven systems like ours.
Ballot Question 6 instructs our representative to “vote in favor of changes to the applicable House of Representative rules to make each legislator’s vote in that body’s legislative committees publicly available on the Legislature’s website.” This question also deserves a yes vote. Without a public record of how our representatives have voted in committee, we cannot hold them accountable and answerable for those votes. Accountability is, after all, a time-honored and irrefutable hallmark of democracy.
For more information on ballot questions 5 and 6, go to MassCare.org and to ActOnMass.org/the-campaign.
Frank Farkas, Pittsfield
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"House and Senate lawmakers are expected to vote Thursday on $3.8 billion for human services, affordable housing and clean energy"
By Colin A. Young, State House News Service, November 2, 2022
BOSTON — Nearly 100 days after its original due date, the House and Senate on Wednesday struck an agreement on a major economic development spending package that could be on Gov. Charlie Baker's desk by the end of the day Thursday.
But in their announcement of the nearly $3.8 billion bill that will also serve as a final fiscal 2022 supplemental budget, House Speaker Ronald Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka also said they had abandoned the tax rebates, cuts and reforms the House and Senate had agreed to this summer and had included in the economic development bills that were unanimously approved in each branch in July.
"Today, House and Senate leaders reached agreement on an economic development package that will help ease the financial strain brought on by challenging economic conditions in Massachusetts and across the country, thus closing the books on Fiscal Year 2022," Mariano, Spilka, and Ways and Means Chairmen Aaron Michlewitz and Michael Rodrigues said in a joint statement. "Among many vital investments, the agreement provides relief for rising energy costs, boosts housing production, provides much needed immediate assistance to the MBTA, and allocates meaningful funding for hospitals and human service workers, all while promoting economic growth through support for our small businesses and investments in our communities."
The bill, which is technically a conference committee report and as such cannot be amended when the House and Senate take it up Thursday, both strikes ideas that have already been approved in each branch and adds ideas and proposals that have not been considered in either branch. It will be considered during sessions when roll call votes are not allowed, debate is uncommon, and bills can be blocked with a single objection.
The legislation includes $1.4 billion for the human services sector ($350 million for financially-strained hospitals, $225 million for provider and worker rate increases, $200 million for ongoing COVID-19 response, and $195 million for nursing facilities and rest homes), $540 million to support clean energy and climate resilience programs (including the electric vehicle rebates that were created, but not funded, in this year's climate bill), and $409.5 million to support affordable housing, according to a Senate summary.
The package would also funnel another $112 million toward the troubled transit system. The Legislature has already authorized $666 million for the MBTA to make safety fixes ordered by the Federal Transit Administration, and the supplemental budget that Baker filed in August called for $200 million for the T.
The nearly $3.8 billion bill will spend down what remains of the state's fiscal year 2022 surplus and deploy $500 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, less than half the amount of ARPA money that the House and Senate planned to use in July. The economic development package, by virtue of wiping out the state's surplus, will also allow the comptroller to close the books on fiscal 2022, which ended June 30. The Legislature usually passes a separate close-out supplemental budget to do that.
"To use our revenue resources as best as possible, the decision was made to combine them to do the economic development and spending and to close the books, and do it as judiciously as possible," Spilka told the News Service. "So yes, we spend all of the state surplus but we still leave $1.75 billion in ARPA funds for next year and for other areas ... we realize there are still many more needs of our residents and communities."
In July, both branches approved their own economic development bills unanimously. The House bill carried a bottom line of about $4.3 billion and the total was $4.57 billion in the Senate version. But in the final week of July and in what was expected to be the final days of negotiation around a compromise package, top Democrats hit pause when they were stunned by the revelation that state government owed nearly $3 billion in refunds back to taxpayers under a mostly forgotten 1980s voter law known as Chapter 62F.
But pointing to "financial uncertainty in the year ahead," they also said that they have decided to limit spending in the new bill to one-time investments only, a move that apparently doomed about $500 million per year in permanent tax relief that both branches approved a form of this summer and another $500 million that the original economic development packages would have spent on one-time rebates for middle-income earners.
The lawmakers said that their new bill, combined with the $2.941 billion in excess state tax revenue that Chapter 62F is returning to taxpayers starting this week, represents "an unprecedented combination of economic investment and relief that will create needed breathing room for families and individuals feeling the pinch of inflation."
Spilka said she is "disappointed that it doesn't include more of the permanent progressive tax relief" that the Senate had in its bill, but she also claimed that "there is a huge tax relief package as part of this bill." She was referring to the Chapter 62F checks, which the Baker administration began sending out Tuesday.
"I do want to stress that we do include $3 billion in immediate tax relief in this bill. It's under 62F but the checks are going out, they're starting to go out this week," Spilka said. "That's $3 billion in immediate tax relief, tax rebates, to the residents of Massachusetts, possibly the largest single tax relief package in the history of Massachusetts."
The bill includes a section that would direct the comptroller to transfer enough fiscal 2022 surplus money to a specific account to fund the 62F checks, though the Baker administration has said such a step would not be necessary for it to start sending the checks.
"House and Senate leaders are committed to revisiting the issue of broader, more permanent tax relief next session," the Democrats said. "This will help to ensure that our discussion of permanent tax relief can and will be informed by the views of a newly elected Legislature and Governor, while considering the looming challenges facing the Commonwealth."
Gov. Baker was asked earlier Wednesday about tax relief and reform being a part of the eventual economic development package and said he was hesitant to comment until he was able to see what the House and Senate would agree to, but said he thought their original plan was a good one. Once the details of the agreement were known, Baker's office said the administration is glad the Legislature is moving forward.
"However, it is extremely disappointing to learn that lawmakers no longer support any permanent tax relief for Massachusetts families despite reaching consensus on a much needed tax cut plan just a few months ago. Since then, costs have continued to skyrocket for families while the Commonwealth's financial position gets stronger and stronger," Baker communications director Sarah Finlaw said. "The commonwealth has a record budget surplus and can afford to provide permanent tax relief, deliver tax rebates under 62F and make economic development investments all at the same time."
Mariano said Wednesday afternoon that the House will take up the economic development conference committee report when it meets Thursday morning. He said he thinks the intention is for the House and Senate to take all the votes necessary to get the bill to Baker's desk by the end of the day.
Spilka was less certain of the timeline for passage. She said she had been sharing information on the agreement with senators Wednesday and would hold a caucus before Thursday's session.
"I think that people have vetted this over the past four months, it's been no secret what was in the bill. And there's a lot of important items in there for members as they're back home fighting to get reelected. I think there's a self interest in making sure that some of these projects get done," Mariano said when asked how he prepares to try to move a bill through his chamber without opposition.
Spilka noted that the July economic development bill passed the Senate unanimously and said she has "not heard any objections to anything that was included and this includes most of what was in that bill."
"There are some real critical needs — hospitals are in severe need, human service workers across the entire state and the providers are in critical need of salary increases, nursing homes, community health centers, and all of the other areas I mentioned — there are critical needs this bill addresses to ease the strain brought on by COVID and really help so many different sectors and so many different residents," the Senate president said. "It's very broad-based and I do believe this bill will strengthen Massachusetts' economic and financial footing and set us on a path for a continued recovery post COVID."
While it's unclear how much resistance they will display on Thursday, Republican lawmakers have viewed the targeted tax relief as a critical piece of the economic development bills, and Maura Healey, the Democratic nominee for governor, has also urged lawmakers to pass their tax relief measures.
"I assume the House will be taking it up tomorrow," Spilka said. "We will have to see and we will try to do it as fast as reasonably possible."
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Letter: "Work and Family Mobility Act celebrated as a beacon for the future"
The Berkshire Eagle, December 16, 2022
To the editor: The Latino/a community came together this past weekend to celebrate the successful campaign that resulted in the passage of the Work and Family Mobility Act and to honor state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, whose leadership and determination were instrumental in making this law a reality.
In her remarks to those present, Rep. Farley-Bouvier explained to those gathered the long history behind this new law. She explained that before 9/11 immigrant status was not connected to one’s ability to get a driver’s license.
But as we all remember, our country was changed forever by the devastating loss of many innocent lives in the vicious destruction of the Twin Towers on that fateful day. Many changes occurred in our country, even boarding an airplane flight might never be the same. The Department of Homeland Security was established. Our collective sense of anxiety and fear increased.
As I looked around the room at the Latina fiesta, with its joyful people, excellent buffet and even a DJ that made conversation just a little difficult, I realized how much the Latino/a population was affected by by the fear and anxiety of the “other,” which now lives among us and has increased in recent years. Something as normal, yet essential as a driver’s license in the hands of an immigrant became suspicious. It became a threat to some people in our state.
Rep. Farley-Bouvier acknowledged that in the early years of working on the Family and Mobility Act, it was an uphill battle because she was fighting alone. She could draw the contrast between then and now. This time the immigrant community led the way and she supported them.
To the Latino/a community in the Berkshires, I congratulate your courage and commitment. I thank you for the privilege of bearing witness to this important event. May it be a beacon for the future.
Rev. Laura N. O’Shaughnessy, Lee
The writer is a member of the Leadership Team of Berkshire Interfaith Organizing (BIO).
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January 8, 2023
Hello blogger Dan Valenti,
While I agree with Ward 2 Pittsfield (Massachusetts) City Councilor Charles Ivar Kronick's posts on Planet Valenti, I believe that he should be asking Pittsfield State Representative Tricia Farley Bouvier and Berkshire State Senator Paul Mark about Beacon Hill's multibillion-dollar Slush Fund that is well over $7 billion to provide the city with increased state aid and municipal tax relief. There are so many financially constrained municipalities and public-school districts throughout Massachusetts, while Beacon Hill lawmakers are rolling in the dough at the highest level in the over 400-year history of Massachusetts.
Kronick posted on your blog that Pittsfield's OPEB unfunded liabilities total an estimated $337,000,000. Pittsfield also has over $100,000,000 in public debts. Pittsfield's municipal taxes and fees are already excessively high. Other than public bankruptcy, what is the city's plan to address its troubled municipal finances? It has been 40 years since the flawed and outdated Proposition 2.5 state law, which led Pittsfield to always raise its yearly municipal spending by 5% per fiscal year. Why doesn't Kronick write to Rep. Farley-Bouvier and Senator Paul Mark to overhaul Prop. 2.5 to help the city be able to better manage its budget?
Over the past 50 years, Pittsfield has experienced the economic pain and realities of population loss and the loss of thousands of living wage jobs for its working-class residents, which led to a long shrinking municipal tax base. Neutron Jack Welch, who lived in Pittsfield for less than two decades many years ago, dropped one of his infamous GE neutron bombs on Pittsfield many decades ago. Instead of Pittsfield politics adapting to its postindustrial decay, the Good Old Boys blamed GE and its billionaire CEO Jack Welch for Pittsfield's decades of failures of leadership that put Pittsfield into the proverbial ditch.
I believe that anyone who spoke out about the Good Old Boys - who are the Godfather movie-like 4 families who run the city but don't even live in Pittsfield anymore - wasteful municipal management and excessive spending that has crushed the local taxpayers who live in Pittsfield were targets of their retribution. I feel like Pittsfield politics is not even rational anymore! Godfather Jimmy Ruberto lives in Naples, Florida. The Devil's Advocate Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior (aka Luciforo) always lived in Boston even when he was a Pittsfield State Senator from 1997 - 2006. The late Gerry Doyle lives on an afterlife version of a bar stool. Remo Del Gallo lives in Peter Arlos' afterlife version of Pittsfield City Hall.
In her speech on Park Square at the Four Freedom Coalition's protest of Donald Trump and the January 6th, 2021, insurrection of Capitol Hill, I found it odd that Tricia Farley Bouvier spoke about her attending Bill Clinton's inauguration speech 30 years ago. While she denounced Trump, Bill Clinton is a twice convicted Felon for Perjury and Suborning Perjury from his many years of sexual misconduct. Bill Clinton has 26 flight logs on Jeffrey Epstein's private jet to pedo-island where minor women as young as 14-years-old were sexually abused, exploited and raped. Shouldn't have Tricia Farley-Bouvier been denouncing Bill Clinton instead of telling us that she attended Bill Clinton's inauguration speech 30 years ago?
Tricia Farley Bouvier spent her first decade in Boston accomplishing and doing nothing whatsoever. Her first legislative accomplishment is her legislation giving undocumented immigrants Massachusetts Driver's Licenses. She was a major force behind the Berkshire Museum selling its historic artwork, including two paintings donated by Norman Rockwell himself, for tens of millions of dollars. She voted for the controversial 40% 2017 state legislators' own pay raise that cost state taxpayers over $18 million. She voted for casino gambling, which is really (voluntary) regressive taxation, while the state is sitting over well over $7 billion instead of helping the underclass, working class and middle-class families in Massachusetts. She backed the new Taconic High School without a referendum to allow the people and taxpayers of Pittsfield to weigh in on the municipal tax increase it caused. She sent her own children to the Lenox public school district, despite her representing Pittsfield in Boston. She wrote op-eds in Boston and Pittsfield newspapers arguing for increasing state taxes to fully fund public services and education without mentioning that Beacon Hill lawmakers always giveaway a little less than $18 billion per fiscal year in state tax breaks to big businesses in and around Boston that don't exist in Western Massachusetts. Despite her 2011 candidate promise to support Sunshine Laws on Beacon Hill, she has voted against them ever since. She is called Tricia "Country Buffet" because she went nuts after the Old Country Buffet closed in Pittsfield. Tricia Farley Bouvier gives Smitty Pignatelli, who has been in Boston for a little over 20 years, a run for his money for doing nothing but DISSERVICES to the people and taxpayers of Massachusetts!
Best wishes,
Jonathan A. Melle
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Letter: "Will Rep. Farley-Bouvier listen to her voters on health care policy?"
The Berkshire Eagle, February 10, 2023
To the editor: What is state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier's response to voters in her district who overwhelmingly supported Question 5 last November?
Question 5 asked that Rep. Farley-Bouvier vote in favor of replacing our for-profit health insurance system with a publicly administered, tax-supported one. A public insurance trust fund would pay for all necessary medical services for all Massachusetts residents, totally eliminating premiums, co-pays, deductibles and point-of-care fees; and it would cost Massachusetts residents less than they currently pay. In this legislative session, that opportunity is bill HD.1584, An Act establishing Medicare for all in Massachusetts.
At a recent meeting of Rep. Farley-Bouvier with her constituents, I learned she plans to vote for the bill if it comes to the floor but will not make it a priority. Rep. Farley-Bouvier said she chooses just one issue to champion each session, and this session it's — wait for it — decriminalization of sex work. While I support the latter, I find it shocking that any state rep. would limit themselves to a single issue that affects a relatively small number and leave it to others to do the difficult work to address a major crisis such as the affordability of health care. Despite the fact that almost all citizens in our state have some level of insurance, approximately 40 percent of Massachusetts families struggle to afford health care. These statistics are even worse for people of color.
Rep. Farley-Bouvier is co-chair of the Progressive Caucus but said she does not plan to use her position to build support for HD.1584. This should be her minimum effort. The bill might not even make it to the floor for a vote, as has happened at least twice previously, if more legislators don't make it a priority.
Rep. Farley-Bouvier has stated that she has not heard from enough constituents about health care — as if 75 percent of voters in her district supporting Question 5 were not enough. Residents of Pittsfield, please call her office (413-442-4300) and let her know you want more than just a yes vote — you want her to do everything she can to fight for HD.1584.
Henry Rose, Dalton
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February 20, 2023
I support Mayor Linda Tyer in Pittsfield politics. I have written that Donald Trump has three wives, too. I have written that Donald Trump is overweight, too. I have written that John Forbes Kerry, Donald Trump and most likely Nancy Pelosi are billionaires, too. What is my stance on Mayor Linda Tyer? My answer is that overall, she did a great job publicly managing Pittsfield politics since the beginning of 2016. She is very intelligent, and it showed in her news media interviews and public advocacy for the 47 distressed and unequal cities throughout Massachusetts. What is my stance on Tricia Farley-Bouvier? My answer is that she is out in left field with her recently proudly passing a state law to give illegal immigrants Driver's Licenses and her saying that her number one legislative priority on Beacon Hill in 2023 - 2024 is to decriminalize sex work, but a Happy Endings Massage Parlor or two would (wood) bring a lot of joyful stimulation to all of the perverts who live in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The next Mayor of Pittsfield can put all of the old and new sinful businesses next to Luciforo's Pot Kingdom on Dalton Avenue. He or she can name the would-be newly created business district: "Luciforo's District of Sin"!
Jonathan A. Melle
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Letter: "Rep. Farley-Bouvier owes her constituents better answers about her priorities"
The Berkshire Eagle, February 21, 2023
To the editor: Contrary to Sten Spinella's Feb. 11 report, I do not blame House Speaker Ronald Mariano for state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier's inaction on single-payer health care and transparency.
The blame rests squarely on Farley-Bouvier's shoulders. Last year, 9,306 Pittsfield voters, 75 percent of those who voted, instructed her to advocate for single-payer health care. She was also instructed by 10,588 Pittsfield voters, 86 percent of those who weighed in on the issue, to push for public committee votes.
With manifest disregard for her duty as our representative, Farley-Bouvier has stated that she will not work to deliver single-payer health care and has repeatedly spurned grassroots efforts to make the Legislature's work more transparent to voters.
What was clear from two January meetings with Farley-Bouvier I attended is that she sees her job as staying in the good graces of the speaker, not representing her constituents. With no credible threat to her incumbency — Massachusetts' elections are among the least competitive in the nation — she ignores the will of her district's voters with impunity. Like a craven medieval courtier worried about keeping her head attached to her body, our representative is apparently motivated by fear and favor of the king. Farley-Bouvier's base pay is $73,654, up 4.42 percent this year thanks to a raise the Legislature rammed through in 2018. On top, she gets an expense stipend of $27,290.77, up a whopping 20 percent over last year. And then there are the leadership stipends, which range from $7,000 to almost $90,000, for which our representatives are utterly beholden to the speaker. This year, she will receive a leadership stipend of $20,469.
So it is no surprise that Farley-Bouvier will not fight for single-payer health care. As she herself explained, it might infringe on the speaker's pet constituency: community hospitals.
Given that the leadership sets the agenda for the legislative session and our representatives simply do the speaker's bidding, why are they paid at all? What work are they doing on our behalf? Farley-Bouvier´s pet issue this two-year session? Decriminalizing "those who are prostituted." Why? I asked. Because they are voiceless, I was told.
So, it turns out, are we. Not only have we no voice in the Legislature, but we won't even know how our representative votes in committee. Our representative wants us to trust her to tell us what we need to know.
Democracy in the Bay State is in deep, deep trouble.
Jeanne Kempthorne, Pittsfield
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February 21, 2023
Hello blogger Dan Valenti,
Pittsfield State Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier has been on Beacon Hill since the Fall of 2011, which is a little over 11 years now. In all of that time, she has done nothing except sponsor a state law to give illegal immigrants Driver's Licenses. This year, 2023, she is telling her constituents that her top priority is to decriminalize sex work in Massachusetts.
Best wishes,
Jon Melle
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Letter: "I think Rep. Farley-Bouvier is doing just fine"
The Berkshire Eagle, February 21, 2023
To the editor: Access to health care in the Berkshires and across the commonwealth is a challenge.
Rightfully, local activists are advocating for a Medicare for All model, starting with our Berkshire delegation. The article by Sten Spinella ("Berkshire doctors, activists, confront lawmakers about prioritizing single-payer health care legislation," Eagle, Feb 11) and the Feb. 10 letter to the editor from Henry Rose mischaracterize Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier in her efforts to move progressive legislation.
I applaud Rep. Farley-Bouvier for focusing on a very important human trafficking legislation that will protect some of our most vulnerable and disenfranchised neighbors. The legislation calls for the decriminalizing of prostituted people and instead rightly treats them as survivors with services to help them exit the life. This is a tough issue but one that will bring real structural change in an industry that victimizes predominantly women and girls of color. I've never known Tricia to shy away from tough issues and I know her energy is in a great place. Additionally, I applaud her continued and ongoing support for and efforts to pass Medicare for All. I have decades of experience in public policy and advocacy on the local, state and federal levels, and to suggest she isn’t fighting for her constituents or not fighting hard enough lacks an understanding of the dance that is policy, politics and advocacy. We can do more than one thing at a time without having to go all in for one thing.
It is always appropriate to hold our elected officials accountable and advocate to them. It is rarely appropriate to try and shame someone who is already working hard for you into doing something more. It is clear from Mr. Spinella’s article that Rep. Farley-Bouvier is astute at understanding where her efforts are most effective and valuable to her constituents, and I am grateful for it.
Alisa Costa, Pittsfield
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"State Dems back bill to decriminalize safe injection sites"
By Alexander MacDougall, Staff Writer, The Daily Hampshire Gazette, February 19, 2023
NORTHAMPTON – Advocates in the Hampshire County area in favor of overdose prevention centers may soon see their ideas realized this year by legislation from state lawmakers.
The Massachusetts Democratic State Committee announced in January that it had endorsed a House bill presented by state Reps. Dylan Fernandes and Marjorie Decker, along with a Senate bill filed by Sen. Julian Cyr, that would decriminalize the prevention centers.
Also known as safe injection sites, such centers allow those struggling with addiction to drugs like fentanyl and heroin to have a secure area to use drugs freely without risk of arrest, overdose, or contracting diseases such as HIV.
“We need common sense law enforcement, and that doesn’t mean preventing our doctors, nurses and health care workers from providing life-saving medical care,” said Justin Klekota, a committee member from Somerville in a release put out by the state Democratic Party. “If we change the law, we will save lives.”
The Northampton area has long been on the forefront of more progressive approaches to addiction treatment. Tapestry Health implemented needle exchanges beginning in the 1990s, the first such implementation in the state outside of Boston, according to Liz Whynott, the director of harm reduction services at the organization.
“The state in the past few years has taken some serious formal steps to advocate for overdose prevention sites, and Tapestry has always been supportive of that,” Whynott said. “This would be a natural extension of what we already do”
Whynott said one of the biggest factors in drug use that can lead to an overdose is when someone uses alone, and that many drug users face the prospect of isolation due to addiction and the illegality of drugs they use. Prevention centers, she said, would help reduce the chance of using alone, and would provide supervision.
“It’s supervised by a professional, supervised by people equipped to be there for them in case anything happens,” she said.
Prevention centers are currently illegal nearly everywhere in the United States, with the first authorized centers opening in New York City in 2021. The practice is legal, however, in Canada, along with several European countries such as Portugal and Germany.
Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan visited a prevention center in Toronto in 2018, getting an up-close view of their function in action. Sullivan has long advocated for overdose prevention centers, writing an opinion piece in the Gazette that they could be used to combat the opioid crisis in the state.
“It has a dual purpose. It not only provides a safe haven for use, but it gives another step towards making decisions about recovery,” Sullivan said in an interview. “These sites are really compassionate places and I was very impressed with the fact that they were taking care of people. The whole idea is to keep people alive until they get into recovery.”
Sullivan dismissed concerns that such centers would become hot spots for drug addicts to congregate around, noting that in Canada many of the centers he encountered were discreet and went unnoticed even in low-income areas.
“It just didn’t have that draw, so to speak,” he said. “They don’t create any additional crime.”
Between 2020 and 2021, deaths from drug overdoses increased 8.8% in Massachusetts. In 2021, 2,290 residents died of an opioid-related overdose, with fentanyl present in 93% of the cases where a toxicology report was available, according to the state Democratic Party. Overdose prevention centers have been shown to save lives by reducing overdose fatalities and, to date, there have been no overdose fatalities recorded at any of the 120 overdose prevention centers operating in 10 countries.
“I don’t believe we can count out any option that has the potential to save lives from substance use disorder,” said Cyr, D-Truro, chair of the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery.
In a 2019 report to the Massachusetts Legislature, the commonwealth’s Harm Reduction Commission identified current law as an obstacle to public health, writing: “In order to pursue a pilot program of one or more supervised consumption sites, the challenges the Commonwealth must address include any gaps in legal protections for organizations and individuals who would staff a supervised consumption site and any state criminal and civil laws that may pose a barrier.”
Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.
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February 21, 2023
Hello blogger Dan Valenti,
This would be an interesting news story for you to blog about. The District Attorney in Franklin and Hampshire Counties - Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan - is advocating for sites where people can "SAFELY" overdose on drugs, which is legal in NYC since 2021, as well is in some foreign countries. Please ask the new Berkshire County D.A. Tim Shugrue what his thoughts are of Pittsfield having these would-be decriminalized the prevention centers in the beautiful Berkshires. Please ask Berkshire-based State Senator Paul Mark (Marxism), and Berkshire-based State Representatives Tricia "Happy Endings" Farley "Country Buffet" Bouvier, Smitty "Shitty" Pignatelli "Pigpen", and John "The ultimate career politician" Barrett III, too. Please ask Mayor Linda Tyer of "Gated Community" fame, as well as the two declared 2023 candidates for Mayor of Pittsfield Peter Marchetti "Plainer than vanilla" and John Krol "Trying to make his comeback", and others, too.
Best wishes,
Jon Melle
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Letter: "Some are too critical of our state representatives"
The Berkshire Eagle, March 1, 2023
To the editor: Several recent letters have been critical of state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier for not being more aggressive in pushing for "Medicare for All"/single-payer health legislation.
In my opinion, our state representatives have a tough job including a three-and-a-half-hour commute. So, in general, I give them praise for listening to their constituents and making the trade-offs they need to. Tricia Farley-Bouvier is not my state representative, but I have had numerous dealings with her in which I have found her quite attentive to her constituents.
The fact that 75 percent of midterm voters in Pittsfield approved pursuing Medicare for All is certainly worth listening to, but it’s a poll — not legislation. I don’t know how many registered voters there are in Pittsfield, but I doubt that 9,306 would be a majority.
What’s not to like about the idea of Medicare for All? But there are a number of challenges to be negotiated before a simple up/down vote.
Medicare for All on a state level, particularly if it’s paid for by added business taxes, would make Massachusetts even less competitive in the contest for population and economic growth. It’s a national problem that needs a national solution. Many areas, such as Berkshire County, have a shortage of medical providers. In other areas, providers won’t take Medicare or Medicaid patients because reimbursement levels are too low. These and other U.S. health care problems are not unsolvable problems, but they are complex and will require considerable investigation and negotiation.
Lucy Kennedy, Lenox
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March 1, 2023
Pittsfield politics:
* Level 5 public schools
* Top 10 city in Massachusetts for violent crime
* Record-breaking high municipal budgets and fees
* Hundreds of millions of dollars in municipal debts and unfunded liabilities that "Kufflinks" will pay off by winning the Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots!
* GE's PCBs and the city's cancer cluster neighborhoods, the leaky landfill that abuts Allendale Elementary School, and the useless politicians do nothing about it all
* 24.5-year-old Polluted PEDA debacle with millions of dollars in always growing larger unfunded liabilities that will be paid off by Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski
* 50 years of significant losses in population and living wage jobs
* Distressed and very unequal economy with little to no living wage jobs
* High per capita teen pregnancies, welfare, disability and social services caseloads
* Homelessness crisis, the "Ring of Poverty" inner-city neighborhoods that surround North Street's two dozen empty storefronts, the over 1,000 gang members who live in the inner-city, drugs, prostitution, crime, daily shootings....
* One political (Democratic) party corruption
* The use of retribution and fear by the Godfather movies-like 4 families who have run Pittsfield into the ditch since the mid-1960s
* The aforementioned 4 families living in places like Naples, Florida (Jimmy Ruberto), Boston (Nuciforo), Gated Community land (Linda Tyer), and elsewhere while "Rome continues to burn"
* Luciforo's Pot Kingdom on Dalton Avenue stinking up nearby neighborhoods with his pot growing building's smells
* The city and the low- to moderate-income people who live in Pittsfield being mocked by the elitist snobs on Beacon Hill's inequitable (voluntary) regressive taxation schemes such as the state lottery SCAM that really serves to enrich the financial, corporate and ruling elites at the public trough in Boston
* The opioid overdose crisis, substance abuse crisis, mental health crisis, and the police shooting young men in crises and then issuing CYA reports that the deceased were not a person in distressed under the law and Pigs have wings and fly all around the city
* A distinguished Elected Official resigning from the School Committee in protest, appointed board members resigning from city committees in protest, and residents speaking at open mic in protest, while Pittsfield's downward spiral continues....
* Upscale art galleries and museums in London, NYC and L.A. hosting art exhibits with large photos of Pittsfield, Massachusetts that are titled: "Pittsfield: A City in Decay". So much for Jimmy Ruberto's Renaissance, as well as his Rolodex that can be found on the bottom of Silver Lake!
* Pittsfield State Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier saying that her number one priority in 2023 - 2024 on Beacon Hill is to decriminalize sex work. Happy Endings Massage Parlors are just what Pittsfield needs to stimulate people into spending their money in Pittsfield's depressed economy! What's the difference between a politician and a prostitute? The prostitute takes her hands out of your pocket after you run out of money, while the politician doesn't even after you become a memory.
Jonathan A. Melle
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Letter: "Rep. Farley-Bouvier's legislative priorities show her allyship"
The Berkshire Eagle, March 14, 2023
To the editor: Allyship is a critical tool in helping to create and sustain change for many of the most vulnerable citizens in the commonwealth and throughout the nation.
The history of our country is fraught with accountings from groups of citizens that, historically, have been rendered powerless, invisible and excluded based on race and socioeconomic status.
Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier boldly uses her voice and platform for a range of issues affecting members of these communities, which include the perils of sex trafficking and the need for accessible health care.
She dares to stand up for our citizens and children that are victimized by a web of predators and enslavers that continue to engage in human and sex trafficking in these modern times. In the shadow of these despicable acts are countless women, men and girls in the commonwealth, many of whom are systematically forgotten because of their race and economic status.
Rep. Farley-Bouvier advocates for these “underdogs,” groups of people whose humanity and freedom isn’t always a priority. However, for those who claim to be progressives and allies of marginalized communities, it’s one that should be.
The Urban Institute reports ”compared to their racial counterparts, Black girls are more likely to be trafficked at a younger age.” According to the FBI, 57.5 percent of all juvenile prostitution arrests are Black children.
Through a two-year review of all suspected human trafficking incidents across the country, 40 percent of sex trafficking victims were identified as Black women. In an interview with traffickers, they admitted the belief that “trafficking Black women would land them less jail time than trafficking White women if caught.”
We must end sex trafficking, stop the criminalization of Black survivors and create healing-informed responses to support Black women and girls who have survived commercial and sexual exploitation.
I applaud Rep. Farley-Bouvier for her bold and continuous advocacy for legislation that will set people free and for lending her voice to the “Medicare for All” discussion.
Practicing intentional inclusiveness, nationally and locally, needs to be a part of every aspect of our lives. Our government leaders are tasked with representing all people, including our most vulnerable whose voices are seldom heard. We, the people, must continue to hold them accountable.
Shirley Edgerton, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Support Massachusetts single-payer health care legislation"
The Berkshire Eagle, May 13, 2023
To the editor: Several recent letters to the editor left readers with the impression that state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, does not truly support the Medicare for All legislation (H.1239/S.744) that was reintroduced in January.
This characterization of her position is wholly unwarranted. The fact is that Rep. Farley-Bouvier co-sponsored the bill this session as she did last session. By doing so, she has allied herself with the statewide coalition — known as “Mass-Care,” or Massachusetts Campaign for Single Payer Health Care — comprising 80 civic groups and unions, including the Massachusetts Nurses Association and the Massachusetts Teachers Association. Its aim is to establish a system of single-payer health care in the commonwealth.
The current for-profit health care industry is not working to keep our nation in good health, and its sky-high costs are unsustainable. Under the current system, many people — especially those in low-income communities — cannot afford and must forgo or delay the care they need. Annually, nearly 45,000 people in our nation die as a result of a lack of health insurance.
A system of comprehensive universal health care as proposed by the Mass-Care legislation is a critical first step on the road to making health care a right in our country.
The legislation would guarantee quality coverage for all medically necessary care, with no financial barriers, as the right of every resident for life. It would include hearing, vision, dental and mental health. Care would be free at the point of service. And with no more networks that limit choice, people could continue to see their current providers or choose new ones. This legislation would reduce health care costs for just about everyone, while providing benefits that cover all health care needs.
It is these features that generated overwhelming support last November for Ballot Question 5 in Pittsfield, where 75 percent of the votes favored Medicare for All. In a January meeting, Rep. Farley-Bouvier provided insights about the legislative process to a group of us “yes” voters. We concluded that changing the health care model will require the advocacy of our entire state community, including individuals, business owners and other employers, municipalities and health care providers.
Medicare for All will only become law with a massive grassroots effort behind it. Please join the campaign and become part of the solution to our health care crisis by volunteering with Mass-Care at masscare.org.
Frank Farkas, Pittsfield
Louise Farkas, Pittsfield
Jeffrey Leppo, Pittsfield
Sheila Irvin, Pittsfield
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"Lawmakers weigh bills to decriminalize prostitution in Massachusetts"
By Sam Drysdale, State House News Service, May 19, 2023
BOSTON — Prostitution would be decriminalized in Massachusetts under bills discussed before the Judiciary Committee this week, though there is a deep divide among sex workers and activists about how far that decriminalization should go.
Two bills filed this session would decriminalize prostitution. One, however, would only repeal criminal penalties that apply to prostitutes themselves, leaving those who sell and purchase sex (“pimps” and “johns”) open to arrest and prosecution. Another bill filed by Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa seeks to entirely legalize the sex trade.
Dozens of people testified Tuesday afternoon — into Tuesday evening — at a Joint Committee on the Judiciary hearing in favor of a Rep. Mary Keefe and Sen. Cindy Friedman bill to decriminalize prostitution while maintaining legal consequences for people who buy sex and those who exploit sex workers.
“The sex trade is rooted in United States history of exploitation of buying and selling humans,” said Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, who co-sponsored the House bill. “[The bill] would take a small step towards counteracting the stark history of our country and decriminalizing prostituted people, and allow them a pathway to exit the sex trade. I also want to point out that the sex trade exists all over the commonwealth of Massachusetts.”
Women and others who sell sex are often victims of human trafficking, advocates said, and a criminal record of prostitution can limit career options, making it more difficult to leave the sex trade and make money in other ways.
The “partial decriminalization” bill would clear the criminal records of those who were arrested for selling sex, and direct money won in cases prosecuting those who buy or pimp out sex workers to the Victims of Human Trafficking Trust Fund.
It also focuses on creating “exit paths” for those who sell sex and feel they cannot get out of the life, partially through working with local and community-based organizations that already do this work.
Of the dozens of former prostitutes who testified on Tuesday, many said they entered the sex industry as children, became addicted to drugs (often given by pimps who wanted to control them) and wanted to get out but did not know how to until they were connected with survivor-led help groups.
“I was arrested for being a victim and treated like a criminal while my trafficker was able to come bail me out — going back into the hands of my trafficker instead of asking me if I wanted or needed help, and informing me that supportive exit services existed,” said sex trade survivor and founder and CEO of Worcester-based nonprofit Living In Freedom Together Audra Doody.
She added, “We already don’t have enough women to meet the demand. The buyers and exploiters will take our most vulnerable women and girls to fill this need. We cannot let that happen. We need to hold buyers, traffickers and exploiters accountable for using their position of power to buy and sell bodies.”
Indigo Kirsch, the outcomes and evaluation manager for My Life, My Choice, said youth who work in the sex trade are disproportionately Black, Indigenous or people of color, or LGBTQ+, and a majority are involved in the foster care system.
In the 2021 Massachusetts Youth Health survey conducted by the Office of Data Management and Outcomes Assessment and the Department of Public Health, about 41 percent of children surveyed were BIPOC, Kirsch said, compared to about 73 percent of the youth that My Life, My Choice works with. In the same survey, LGBTQ+ youth accounted for 25 percent of respondents, whereas 42 percent of the young people involved in the sex industry seeking help from the organization were.
Additionally, 86 percent of the My Life, My Choice youth mentored by the organization concerning their participation in the sex trade were involved in the foster care system, with 97 percent of BIPOC and 89 percent of LGBTQ+ mentees involved with the state’s Department of Children and Families.
Advocates who spoke in favor of repealing criminal penalties for prostitutes said that Sabadosa’s “full decriminalization” bill, and a Sabadosa and Sen. Liz Miranda bill to create a commission to study fully legalizing the sex work industry, may have the “intention... to support marginalized communities,” but instead “legitimizes sex buying, brothels and third-party control.”
The full decriminalization bill would expunge prostitution-related arrests related to purchasing and selling other people for sex, as well as selling a person’s own body for sex.
Supporters say that decriminalizing the industry would give prostitutes more power, by being able to hold brothel owners accountable for bad practices such as sexual harassment, and screen sex buyers for sexually transmitted diseases.
Rebecca Clearly, an attorney for Decriminalize Sex Work, testified that the Keefe/Friedman bill denies the existence of “adult consensual sex workers,” who would like to continue in the industry, but make it safer.
“The issue there, in that bill specifically, is when you define adult consensual sex workers as prostituted persons not only does that equate that experience with exploitation, which diminishes exploitation, but it additionally prescribes on people the fact that they can’t consent to sex work, even though they’re adults making their own choices. And I think it’s really risky to limit choice and bodily autonomy, generally, but especially in this moment,” Clearly said.
Clearly was one of only two speakers who testified in favor of the bill, but she said there is widespread support among active sex workers, who cannot testify without “outing themselves” as engaging in criminal behavior.
But for some in the hearing room, the bill would leave “exploiters who perpetrate violence and cause harm” unaccountable.
“We shouldn’t have to give men who perpetrate sexual violence the legal right to buy consent,” said Desiree Deimos, from Living In Freedom Together. “We should not have to give traffickers and pimps the right to file a 1099 for the profit they make off the bodies of women and girls. Legalizing a violent and oppressive system will not improve the health and safety for anyone, and it will never prevent human trafficking.”
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Letter: "The case for single-payer health care in Massachusetts"
The Berkshire Eagle, May 27, 2023
To the editor: Thank you to Eagle journalist Gillian Jones for her thoughtful March 28 opinion piece “Saying goodbye to my primary care physician — after three decades.”
Without explicitly saying it, she eloquently highlighted the need for a single-payer, public health insurance system like the one proposed in H.1239 and S.744, the "Medicare for All" bills currently in the Massachusetts Legislature.
Jones detailed how her physician of 30 years was no longer accepting her health insurance due to its low reimbursement rates, compelling her to find a new primary care doctor. She also pointed out that employer-sponsored health insurance offers a very limited menu of plans to workers and that even those with insurance often rely on charity events such as spaghetti suppers to pay large medical bills.
Some people think a single-payer system would limit choice, but in fact it is our current system that does just that. Not only do we have very limited choices of insurance plans, many plans have limited networks of doctors and hospitals in addition to restrictions on which medications are covered.
Unaffordable co-pays and deductibles prevent many from seeking the care they need, not to mention the exorbitant prices of some drugs. While 98 percent of Massachusetts residents technically have health insurance, medical bankruptcy is the most common type of bankruptcy. And 4,000 of us die each year from lack of timely medical care. In my 33 years of medical practice on staff at Berkshire Medical Center, I saw more than a few people ration their medications and had patients not return for adequate follow-up because of cost at the point of service. Patients' efforts to save money resulted in worse health outcomes.
With H.1239 and S.744, all Massachusetts doctors would be in the same network, and emergency care while out of state would also be covered by our Massachusetts public insurance fund just like Medicare does now. These bills create a "Medicare for All"/public health insurance program with no premiums, no deductibles and no point-of-service costs. Vision, hearing and dental would be covered, and the state would negotiate for better drug prices.
Why don't we already have single-payer, public health insurance? A powerful private health insurance lobby and a state government that doesn't think affordable health care is a priority. It's up to us to make our elected officials do it.
Dr. Henry Rose, Dalton
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Letter: "Why I'm opposed to gun control legislation sponsored by Pittsfield's state rep."
The Berkshire Eagle, July 27, 2023
To the editor: HD.4420, the 141-page gun reform bill that the General Court of Massachusetts is trying to rush through the legislative process, is nothing less than a temper tantrum in response to the United States Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.
Its intent is to crush gun ownership in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It will turn roughly 600,000 licensed, law-abiding citizens into felons overnight and drive firearms retailers out of business. The Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association's legislative committee released a lengthy critique of HD.4420, ending with the recommendation that the association's members not support adoption of this bill.
Despite the harm that this bill will cause to her law-abiding constituents and the concerns of law enforcement officers who will be charged with trying to understand this bill and enforce its provisions, Rep. Tricia Farley Bouvier has signed on as a co-sponsor.
Gary Wilk, Pittsfield
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Tricia Farley-Bouvier: "Why I'm endorsing Peter Marchetti for Pittsfield mayor"
By Tricia Farley-Bouvier, op-ed, The Berkshire Eagle, November 2, 2023
The people of Pittsfield are faced with a choice to lead our city for the next four years.
I’ve worked with both these men while I was on the City Council, working in the Ruberto administration and for the last 12 years as state representative. I consider both of them friends. I am not alone in finding it awkward and difficult to choose between two friends in supporting one for the city’s top job. It might be helpful to voters to know how I came to my decision to support Pete Marchetti. I approached the decision of endorsement by reviewing their resumes, job performance and how they work with others, as would an employer hiring a job-seeker.
Let’s look at Pete’s service on the City Council where he has served for 16 years, the last eight as president. That’s 16 budget cycles, a grueling process where the funding for each department is scrutinized. I was not alone through the years in leaning on Pete to help understand the nuances of budgeting and the annual audits. Pete has served as council president with distinction, running the meetings professionally and handling the sometimes contentious debates with both strength and respect for each colleague.
Even more impressive to me is Pete’s short stints off-council. He did not fold up his tent but rather found significant ways to contribute to the city. After his electoral loss during the WHEN sweep of 2003, Pete was tapped by Mayor James Ruberto to serve on the Conservation Commission, making complex, difficult and technical decisions that often pitted new business development with our duty to protect our natural resources. After his bid for mayor in 2011, Pete was tapped by Mayor Dan Bianchi to co-chair the Charter Review Commission, another challenging job in which our entire charter was reviewed and dozens of updates made.
Pete was a longtime resident of the Morningside and served tirelessly on the Morningside Initiative, including leading it for many years. Pete has a deep commitment to youth, serving for 35 years as a coach and volunteer for youth bowling. He also was an active board member of the Helen Berube Teen Parent Program.
Pete, of course, is well known for saving the Pittsfield Fourth of July Parade and sticking with it for more than 20 years. This kind of commitment is rare, and his ability to keep a team together for the long term is impressive.
While out of the public spotlight, Pete’s professional life has been a 35-year career at a local bank rising through the ranks, first on the teller line through to now being entrusted as a senior vice president of retail banking operations.
Lining up the resumes of the two candidates, Pete’s rises to the top. John Krol has served this community, has had a variety of work experiences and has some good ideas. I wish him well. Pete’s deep and abiding service to the community and his consistent career history simply surpasses his opponent.
In these last weeks of the campaign, we have heard from both candidates at debates, community forums and in regular installments in this publication. Many voters have had the opportunity to speak one on one as both candidates have knocked on doors throughout the city. These conversations can be likened to the interview process. When I am listening to them, I find John is criticizing others and deflecting blame while Pete is seeking to build on his predecessors’ successes and bring in new voices for different approaches to long-standing problems.
And now, in these few last days, we hear of a workplace lawsuit involving Pete. This gave me pause. As someone who has fought for years on issues of equity, I had a strong emotional response when reading the complaint. I also know I have a responsibility to my community to go beyond reading the news coverage, to learn more and look at the big picture. I spent the last few days doing just that, and today this is what I am sure of: First, I will continue my work to ensure safe, equitable workplaces for women and other historically marginalized groups. Second, I remain clear in my choice for Pete as mayor.
Just as I did when I made my decision months ago, I line up these two candidates side by side on job history and performance, their public service and how they treat others with whom and for whom they work, and Pete remains my strong choice.
I invite all the voters of Pittsfield to approach this ballot as a hiring process. Compare the resumes. Listen to the debates as if you are interviewing each of them. And lastly, check their references. This longtime city servant recommends Pete Marchetti for mayor.
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, represents the 2nd Berkshire District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
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Tricia Farley-Bouvier (D-Pittsfield), Adam Scanlon (D-North Attleborough), Kim Ferguson (R-Holden), and Fred Barrows (R-Mansfield) who each missed nine roll calls (87.1 percent roll call attendance record). Beacon Hill Roll Call contacted the 13 representatives to ask why they missed some roll calls. Only five of the 13 responded. The other eight were contacted three times but did not respond. The list of nonrespondents consists of Reps. Nguyen, Keefe, Gordon, Tyler, Farley-Bouvier, Scanlon, Ferguson and Barrows.
Source: Beacon Hill Roll Call, Volume 48 - Report No. 48, November 27-December 1, 2023
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Letter: "Support the Cherish Act to extend free public education into college years"
The Berkshire Eagle, December 9, 2023
To the editor: Since the days of Horace Mann, Massachusetts has been the standard-bearer for public education.
As a Massachusetts legislator and secretary of that state’s board of education, Mann in the 1830s advocated for public schools that would be universally available to all children. Today, the Cherish Act allows legislators on Beacon Hill to advance Mann's foresight and maintain the shining city on a hill image referenced years ago by our forefathers (famously including President Ronald Reagan).
The history of Massachusetts and the nation has proven how prescient our predecessor public school advocates were. However, times have changed, and the challenges and complexities of the world now include existential threats. As history demonstrates, some of our greatest problem solvers, leaders, thinkers and inventors include those who have come from people of poor means and different beliefs. Indeed, our vast diversity has helped advance the condition of us all (albeit, not equally). So, given our history and current condition, isn't it time to advance the opportunity to continue our debt-free public education through the college level? That's what the Cherish Act (H.1260/S.816) is trying to accomplish, and we now have the funding to achieve that goal thanks to the Fair Share Amendment.
Please, don't hesitate to get in touch with your legislators, especially during this season of possibility and light overcoming darkness and ask them to do all in their power to get the Cherish Act to become a reality and part of our legacy for a stronger and brighter Massachusetts and nation. Also, thank Sen. Paul Mark as a lead sponsor and Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier as a co-sponsor.
Neil Clarke, Lee
The writer is the Senate district coordinator for the Massachusetts Teachers Association.
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Tricia Farley-Bouvier: "The prostituted person is a victim, not a criminal"
By Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Op-Ed, The Berkshire Eagle, January 16, 2024
Our country has a long history of buying and selling bodies and while it may look different now, human trafficking happens in front of us every day. It is a criminal practice that occurs here in Massachusetts and, yes, even in Berkshire County. Law enforcement tells us that our location halfway between New York City and Boston, between Albany and Springfield make us conveniently situated for the drug trade. It turns out the same holds true for the sex trade.
Trafficking often doesn’t occur as portrayed in the movies and media. It does not need to involve violence or kidnapping of victims. Trafficking victims are our neighbors, they shop at the same grocery store as us, they go to religious services with us, they work with us, and they go to the same colleges as our kids. It doesn’t require victims to be moved geographically. Traffickers psychologically manipulate and coerce their victims, binding them to their traffickers through threats, abuse, and debts or lack of resources to leave.
Human trafficking occurs in two fashions — sex trafficking and labor trafficking. In sex trafficking, both the victims and the traffickers are currently criminalized. However, it is almost exclusively the victim, the prostituted person, who faces the brunt of the consequences. Under current law, it is nearly impossible to hold sex traffickers and buyers accountable. It is the prostituted persons who find themselves with criminal records, substance use disorders, lack of education and housing, and other factors that prevent them from severing ties with their traffickers.
This uneven hand of justice is clearly shown in court data from July 2018 to June 2023 that reports that people who sell sex are prosecuted at nearly twice the rate of people who are buying sex.
Unfortunately, data collection on sex trafficking is severely lacking. Data reports by organizations like Polaris only scratch the surface of its true prevalence and offer a false sense of security against how dire the situation is. These organizations rely on self-report data from hotline usage, but due to fear and stigma facing victims, hotline usage is not representative of the true problem.
We find our best source of information is through local law enforcement, service providers, and those who are struggling to get out of the life. Together, they paint a picture of a growing problem that deserves the attention of state and local leaders.
An example of the impacts of sex trafficking in Massachusetts was reported in a recent bust, as reported by the Boston Globe in November 2023, of a brothel system based in Massachusetts that revealed the trafficking and exploitation of individuals into the commercial sex trade. The brothel ring catered to likely hundreds of wealthy clientele who were purchasing the bodies of prostituted people brought into the sex trade through exploitative means.
This bust is one that made the news, but smaller rings cater to local clientele and those from surrounding areas. These rings are where sex trafficking gets personal - exploiting our neighbors and community members, who are primarily women and girls of color.
No one has the right to buy and sell human bodies; no one deserves unfettered sexual access to anyone.
Recognizing the impact human trafficking has on communities and to shine a light on the sex trafficking happening daily across our country is what led Congress to designate January 11th as National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. In Massachusetts, January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month. This public recognition of the stealthy trafficking happening around us every day is crucial to stymying this social issue that is destroying lives. In addition to recognizing when someone is being trafficked, we need to have a pathway for them to sever ties with their trafficker.
In Massachusetts, I am working with survivors, on a solution created and led by them: the partial decriminalization of the sex trade. The goal of the Sex Trade Survivor’s Act (H.1597/S.983) is to decriminalize the prostituted person while maintaining criminal accountability for the trafficker and the buyer. Additionally, the bill calls for increased support for the prostituted person to find their path out of the commercial sex trade into a life that is not inhibited by their past experiences.
Criminal charges are part of the spider web of reasons survivors are unable to exit the commercial sex trade, but these barriers are solvable through legislative change. The Sex Trade Survivor Act provides trafficked survivors the programming and the resources and support to sever ties with their traffickers. It would also result in the expunging of survivors' criminal records, releasing them from inhibitory criminal records that prevent them from accessing housing, employment, and true freedom from their past.
Partial decriminalization is the only way that we can support people that are sex trafficked and hold the traffickers and buyers accountable.
Grappling with the identity of “trafficking victim” or “trafficking survivor” takes time. We must meet trafficking victims and survivors where they are and ensure our laws fully support them when they are ready to reclaim their voice.
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February 3, 2024
I read an online news article that states that Pittsfield's violent crime rate is more than double the statewide average in Massachusetts. It also states that Pittsfield increased its police funding as a share of its public safety budget by 17.5 percent from 1980 - 2020.
https://dailyprogress.com/news/nation-world/crime-courts/police-lies-michigan-black-trust/article_15f83961-1464-53b8-860d-c23c40b9c891.html
Also, Pittsfield hosts Level 5 public schools. Level 5 is the WORST rating by the state.
What do businesses look at in deciding to invest in a community? Answer: The crime rate.
What do middle-class families look at in deciding to buy a home in a community? Answer: The public school district.
North Street has 15 empty storefronts and is sarcastically called "Social Services Alley".
Over 650 students per academic year choice out of the Pittsfield public school district to neighboring community's public school districts.
Why are Pittsfield's career politicians - Mayor Peter Marchetti, City Council President Pete White, State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier.... - still in elected office (for life)?
Jon Melle
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Letter: "Why bring up 'community rift' in Berkshire Museum editorial?"
The Berkshire Eagle, Opinion: Letter to the Editor, June 18, 2024
To the editor: Your praise of Berkshire Museum's third phase of rebuilding is welcome, as this phase will restructure the first floor into a modern, accessible creative space for the school population that we serve as well as for the many who enjoy the multifaceted science, art and nature mission of the museum. ("Our Opinion: Berkshire Museum takes a step out of past tumult and toward a more sustainable future," Eagle, June 8.)
As a former trustee who lived with the knowledge that we would have to close our doors within six years unless we chose the deaccession route and a member of the facilities committee that worked on this redesign, I found the revisiting of this issue by your editorial, which seems delighted by the new modern reconstruction of the first floor, to be disingenuous.
Berkshire Museum was at the forefront of the deaccessioning necessity with the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Baltimore Museum and the Santa Fe Museum among the many who followed this route to remain accessible to the public it served. Indeed, the American Alliance of Museums and the Association of Museum Directors relaxed their rules due to the financial circumstances, allowing raised funds to be used for “general operations,” which included not only building maintenance (the museum had a wet basement where art was stored as well as many structural problems) but to pay staff compensation and general operations. But for some reason, The Eagle seems to couch its praise of the new and exciting changes to come at the museum with this unnecessary criticism.
That you choose to focus on the "community rift" ignores the fact that none of that community would or could donate the funds to keep the museum alive. It is time to move on and acknowledge that Berkshire Museum, which provides free STEM education to the school children of the county through mobile units as well as programs at the museum, was in vital need of the funds to become a state-of-the-art institution that will, in its new modern revision, serve the community for a long time to come.
Lydia S. Rosner, Becket
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Letter: "Thank you to Berkshire lawmakers for supporting new domestic abuse prevention law"
The Berkshire Eagle, July 12, 2024
To the editor: As America recently celebrated its independence, so too did thousands of Massachusetts domestic abuse survivors.
Thanks to the unanimous, bipartisan support of our state legislators, the passage of H.4744 — An Act to Prevent Abuse and Exploitation — will protect those seeking freedom from an insidious form of domestic abuse known as coercive control.
Massachusetts becomes the seventh state in the nation to expand its definition of domestic abuse to include coercive control, a form of abuse through which perpetrators use threats, intimidation, isolation, stalking and other manipulative tactics to maintain control over and force compliance of an intimate partner, spouse or family member.
Abuse comes in many forms — psychological, financial, legal, technological, sexual and physical. This new law will allow victims to obtain restraining orders for nonphysical forms of abuse and criminalize the nonconsensual sharing of explicit images (“revenge porn”). The law also creates a diversion program for teens who share explicit images and addresses abuse using artificial intelligence such as deepfake technology.
Special thanks to Berkshire legislators Sen. Paul Mark, D-Becket, and Reps. John Barrett III, D-North Adams, and Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, who co-sponsored the coercive control bill. At a time when our world desperately seeks bipartisan leadership for the greater good, I applaud our elected leaders on Beacon Hill for their unanimous support in ensuring freedom for all, including survivors of domestic abuse.
Carmen Aliber, Newton
The writer is a co-founder of Together Rising Above Coercion, a statewide coalition to promote awareness and legislation to protect survivors of domestic abuse.
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Letter: "Grateful for state's big step forward for animal welfare"
The Berkshire Eagle, August 17, 2024
To the editor: Berkshires Voters for Animals celebrates the recent passage of legislation banning the use of elephants, big cats, primates, giraffes and bears in circuses and other traveling animal acts.
In passing this legislation, Massachusetts reaffirms its commitment to animal welfare and joins 10 other states with similar bans.
Along with advocates throughout the commonwealth, and with public opinion firmly on our side, our members have worked for more than a decade to see an end to the inhumane use of animals in entertainment. We are especially grateful to our Berkshire representatives, who took the time to meet with us and who each gave careful thought and consideration to the information we shared. Thank you to Sen. Paul Mark and Reps. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, John Barrett and William "Smitty" Pignatelli for supporting our efforts by co-sponsoring this legislation.
We invite others in our community who share our dedication to animal welfare in Massachusetts to join us as we continue our work toward a more compassionate world.
Ginny Messina, Pittsfield
The writer submitted this letter on behalf of Berkshire Voters for Animals.
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