Sheriff Thomas Bowler and City Council President Melissa Mazzeo joined Mayor Daniel Bianchi on Friday as he rallies supporters for his re-election.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. —— With endorsements from the City Council president and Berkshire County sheriff, Mayor Daniel Bianchi truly kicked off his re-election campaign Friday with a rally at his Elm Street headquarters.

 

A crowd numbering around 50 supporters crowded the office to hear the mayor outline some of his successes and vision for the city. By his side stood Council President Melissa Mazzeo and Sheriff Thomas Bowler.

 

"Dan Bianchi is one of the most ethical human beings I have ever met," Bowler told the crowd in giving his endorsement of the incumbent.

 

"He's a man that cares about this community and the people in this community."

 

Bowler credited Bianchi with being a "doer." Mazzeo said he has never faltered in pursuing his vision, one that focuses on helping at-risk youth, education, and economic development.

 

Bianchi said he recognized the need for public safety when he took office. He formed a task force that included Bowler, Charlie O'Brien from the Housing Authority, and District Attorney David Capeless. From one of their first meetings, a suggestion was made to bring back community centers in the housing projects. Shortly after, Bianchi said he won the Charles E. Shannon Grant to do just that and three opened.

 

At Dower Square, "the arrest rate has gone down by 40 percent and the call rate has dropped by 20 percent" since that opened, the mayor said.

 

From there the grant continued to grow and includes a mentoring program that now matches some 40 at-risk youth with role models. Also a basketball program grew out of the momentum carried from the Pittsfield Community Connection.

 

"We're doing great things as far as public safety is concerned," Bianchi said, adding that he also hired a crime analyst to help the police work more effectively. 

 

He said his focus on the city's youth extends further than that. While he conceded that talks about building a new Taconic High School began before he took the corner office, he said there was still tremendous amount of work to secure the state funding to do so.

 

"The state doesn't just give you money. You've got to work for it," Bianchi said. 

 

Coupled with the new high-tech school for both vocational and academic studies, the mayor said he grew the partnership with Berkshire Community College. And he also changed the view of the Berkshire Innovation Center to be built with a $9.75 million grant from an incubation center to a research and development center. 

 

Daniel Bianchi is looking to become the city's first four-year mayor.

Ultimately, Taconic and BCC will feed into the BIC or into four-year colleges and the center will help businesses grow. 

 

"We're going to put together an educational dynamic that is going to help kids from poor neighborhoods find a pathway to the middle class," Bianchi said.

 

The BIC is seen by the mayor as a massive economic development engine. That came from realizing that incubation centers work in areas with high concentrations of research institutions. In the new model, Bianchi said he sought out places like State University of New York Polytechnic Institute's Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and University of Massachusetts at Lowell as partners.

 

Those schools join an array of advanced manufacturing, life sciences and plastics companies to operate out of the research and development facility. 

 

Additionally, the mayor said he made big advances in collecting back taxes with the first-ever tax title auction, which sold liens for some $10 million worth of back taxes.

 

"We ended up collecting $2.2 million in back taxes," Bianchi said.

 

He also launched a pavement management program to get the "pothole politics" out of the city and handle road repairs in a scientific manner.

 

Bowler said those are some of the actions Bianchi has taken to move the city forward while none of the other candidates can say the same. 

 

"He has moved this city forward," Bowler said.

 

Mazzeo said she has worked under two administrations and the difference is "night and day." She said when a resident or councilor has a concern he is always there to talk through the issue and find a solution. With all of those projects ongoing, Mazzeo said the city needs to let the mayor continue pursuing his goals.

 

"This mayor has never faltered on what he set out doing," Mazzeo said. "He is doing the things that are right for the city ... . We need this mayor for another four years."

 

Bianchi was first elected four years ago when he defeated Peter Marchetti for the seat vacated by then Mayor James Ruberto. He faces a preliminary election between Craig Gaetani, Donna Walto and Linda Tyer, the city clerk, on Tuesday. The top two vote-getters will move on to the November general election.

 

In attendance supporting Bianchi's re-election were also City Councilors Kevin Morandi, Anthony Simonelli, Christopher Connell and Lisa Tully. Former Mayor Sarah Hathaway and former City Councilors Pamela Malumphy and Lou Costi were also among the crowd.