PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Councilor at Large Kathleen Amuso stepped to the microphone to start Thursday's budget hearing with an apology.

 

"I am truly sorry," Amuso said.

 

In the first budget hearing, Amuso motioned to cut the position of director of administrative services to a part-time job. Amuso had tried to cut the entire budget just a few weeks ago and then spent most of Monday attempting to make a series of cuts to positions and budgets.

 

But the first one in the mayor's budget was $52,195 for the position currently held by Roberta McCulloch-Dews.

 

"I think I made some difficult choices that are going to affect people in this room and it doesn't feel good," Amuso said on Monday before motioning to cut the salary in half.

 

What unfolded after that was a public conversation regarding McCulloch-Dews and her qualifications.

 

Some councilors raved about her work and her background while others said the she should have been hired at the first salary instead of step 2. Councilor Anthony Simonelli voted to drop the position's salary down to $49,099, which is what is written into the city ordinance as the entry level salary for the job.

 

Mayor Linda Tyer said McCulloch-Dews performance and resume are worthy of the pay she is receiving. Councilors John Krol and Peter White both said with her experience and expertise, she is underpaid compared to what she'd get in the private section. They both touted her work.

 

The conversation continued to dovetail into whether raises should be based on performance reviews. McCulloch-Dews is actually paid less than the person she succeeded in the job and is not getting a raise but rather keeping the rate at which she was hired.

 

Others said regardless of the resume, the employee should be brought in at the first step and moved up. None of that conversation had taken place in the past when employees — including those in that same job — were hired at higher steps because of qualifications. 

 

The City Council left the budget intact but the discussion lingered.

 

Three days later, Amuso said she apologized privately to McCulloch-Dews and took the microphone to make that public. She also vowed not to vote for any more reductions to the budget.

 

On Friday, McCulloch-Dews issued only a short statement saying she and the mayor's office have put it behind them.

 

"In general, budget deliberations can be challenging times. The mayor's office remains committed to moving forward, working hard on behalf of the people of Pittsfield, and building meaningful collaborations with our partners in city government and those in the community," McCulloch-Dews wrote. 

 

McCulloch-Dews said nothing about Amuso's apology nor did she attend Thursday's meeting. But, Warren Dews, McCulloch-Dews' husband, lambasted the council for publicly doubting her qualifications, suggesting the discussion was racist, when he addressed the council during the open microphone.

 

"If you want to say this had nothing to do with race, you can. You can say it had nothing to do with race. But, if [Amuso] wasn't thinking about it, she wasn't thinking. Why would you do what you did to the first African-American female in this position?" Dews said. 

 

She is also one of the few African-Americans with a high profile seat in the city's government. No other position received such intense discussion, focus on performance, and personality. Warren Dews said he accepted Amuso's apology but called on other councilors to apologize as well.

 

"It made me mad on Monday and then when I started thinking about how much I love the Berkshires it hurt me. It hurt my heart that you all did what you did to my wife," Dews said. "It should not have been allowed."

 

In her apology on Thursday, Amuso said, "I believe we are an inclusive community and an inclusive committee."

 

Jesse Cook-Dubin, president of Downtown Pittsfield Inc., has worked with McCulloch-Dews on a number of projects and said she provides "incredible high level of service" and is "wildly effective." He took to the open microphone period on Thursday to give his support to her.

 

Ward 5 Councilor Donna Todd Rivers was one of the councilors Dews called on to apologize. Rivers had voted to turn the position into a part-time one and she said on Thursday that her vote wasn't based on McCulloch-Dews as a person but rather the position. She said she felt since the position was fairly recently expanded, it should be one of the first to be constricted. Rivers did agree, however, that the public discussion wasn't the appropriate way to handle it.