Newcomer Michael Bloomberg debated incumbent Tricia Farley-Bouvier at Berkshire Community College on Thursday night.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — What has the incumbent done for Pittsfield in the last five years? What has the challenger done in the last 30?

The two candidates for the Democratic nomination for the 3rd Berkshire District exchanged parting shots at each other's history to wrap up a 40-minute debate at Berkshire Community College. Newcomer Michael Bloomberg is challenging state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier for the state House of Representative seat and in an effort to separate themselves, the two took aim at each other's resumes.

"He's only lived here for a few months and it appears he came back to Pittsfield for the sole reason to run for state rep," Farley-Bouvier said of Bloomberg, adding that he has an "absence of any such experience or commitment" to the city.

Farley-Bouvier framed the election as a job application. She boasts of 30 years serving the city in a number of capacities from being a teacher, running a non-profit, sitting on the City Council, working in the mayor's office, and as state representative. She said she's built coalitions to be effective.

Then she compared her experience to Bloomberg's Linked In page of "red flags," saying he hasn't retained employment in the last eight months and has a large employment gap from 2011 until today.

"Think of this election as a job interview. I invite you to put my resume and my opponent's resume side by side," Farley-Bouvier said.

Bloomberg refuted her claims that there was a gap in employment, saying he was working in Manhattan, N.Y., for a startup hedge fund — Kora Management — and then Bridgewater Associates, another financial company. He said he took a number of unpaid internships early in his career and has most recently been studying urban revitalization at the University of Massachusetts.

He returned to his hometown, he said, because he could see it was suffering. Bloomberg said he wants to help bring more opportunities to the city within which he was raised and educated.

"The number one thing I can see right now is that it's not working," Bloomberg said. "You have brought back less money to this district than any one of your legislative colleagues in five years."

Bloomberg is a calling for a change in representation and feels he is the right person to bring that about. He urged those in the audience to vote for him because the signs of financial troubles for Pittsfield are grim as it currently stands.

"This city needs new energy, new ideas, a fresh face ... We need change because we've seen what happens without it," Bloomberg said. "Right now, we need more from the state representative because we need more from Boston."

Farley-Bouvier said she has been able to bring results to the district by working with local officials as a team. She cited the state's Transformative Development Initiative program as something that grew out of her work with the Gateway Cities Caucus. She worked with City Hall staff to win two grants, one of which brought in a fellow for three years to oversee a redevelopment of Tyler Street.

"For it is all about and always has been about the team," she said. "In the Legislature, teamwork is everything."

The two did hash out some other differences on issues though they stood fairly close in viewpoints on most.

Williams College professor James Mahon moderated the debate, which was sponsored by the Berkshire Brigades. The debate is the only one between the two candidates for the Democratic nomination and the winner of Sept. 8 primary will face off against independent Christopher Connell.

The first question asked about the upcoming ballot initiative to raise the cap on charter schools.

"I oppose raising the cap on charter schools. I believe it doesn't help the city of Pittsfield and my job in Boston is to represent the needs of the city of Pittsfield in Boston," Bloomberg said.

He said Pittsfield's educational system is already underfunded and income levels are some $25,000 below the state's median income. He said a third of the city's school-age children are living under the poverty line.

"The No. 1 thing we can do to lift up this entire community would be to invest in education," Bloomberg said, and that means not taking funding away from public education and sending it to charter schools.

Farley-Bouvier also opposes raising the cap and said those pushing it are often from out of state looking to funnel money to privately-owned schools.

"I am a strong and active opponent of raising the cap on charter schools. Ballot question 2 is a bad idea," Farley-Bouvier said. "There is a tremendous amount of what we call 'dark money' by the proponents of this ballot question."

Bloomberg pointed out that Farley-Bouvier in 2014 voted to raise the cap to expand charter schools. Farley-Bouvier said it was part of a bill that reached a compromise between the charter school proponents and the teachers unions. That bill ultimately failed when the charter school proponents backed off.

The compromise discussion came back a few questions later when the candidates were asked about working with House leadership and the governor. Farley-Bouvier said she has been able to show Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo that the progressive caucus can be counted on to deliver good information and get bills passed, including the recent transgender rights bill.

"We have proven to him that we are reliable, that we can get reliable information, and we can deliver votes when we need them," Farley-Bouvier said.

Bloomberg took aim at her phrase of "deliver votes" saying that's not how the Legislature should work. He said it shouldn't be about trading votes but instead be about proving something works and putting funds and bills to good use in the district.

"You have to show that it works and that's how you get things passed. That's how we need to function in Boston," Bloomberg said.

A second question focused on the recently passed energy bill. Mahon asked the candidates their thoughts on it and what more needs to be done regarding energy in the state.

Farley-Bouvier said the bill expands renewable energy through offshore wind and large-scale hydro-electricity. Further, there is a provision that doesn't allow electric companies to charge customers to fund a natural gas pipeline.

"I do believe we need to say no fracking. There is no reason we need to have fracking here. There is the possibility of fracking in the Pioneer valley and we need to make sure that doesn't happen," Farley-Bouvier said of what more needs to be done.

Bloomberg said energy costs are too high in Massachusetts, including being twice as high as New York state. That's particularly concerning, he said, because the state's economy is still based around manufacturing. He opposes any more natural gas lines and looks to expand hydro-electricity.

"We have the potential to create hydro-electricity right here in Massachusetts," he said.

While the energy bill did pass, the House of Representatives failed to pass a bill for paid family and medical leave. Bloomberg said that is an "absolute necessity" for the state and should have been a top priority instead of "waiting until the last hour."

"We need to be taking an active approach to getting things through. It is not enough to say we've been working on something for five years, six years," Bloomberg said. "This has to do with house leadership in Boston. This has to do with how things work in Boston."

By failing to pass important pieces of legislation, Bloomberg said it is cities like Pittsfield that are "hit the hardest."

Farley-Bouvier said she has been a strong support of paid family and medical leave and it has been shown to work. She said the data is clear that it works and even businesses have praised it because it helps them retain employees. Despite the support, Farley-Bouvier said it takes a long time for pieces of legislation to go through the process. It took two decades to finally pass the equal pay act, she said.

"It is incredibly frustrating when it takes a long time to pass things. It took 20 years to get that passed but it was this house that was able to pass it," Farley-Bouvier said.

Farley-Bouvier and Attorney General Maura Healey have supported each others campaigns — Healey was one of the speakers at Farley-Bouvier's campaign kick off — but the attorney general has come under scrutiny recently because of her decision to place a ban on copycat assault weapons.

Farley-Bouvier is standing up for Healey's decision, calling it the right one, but also said the rhetoric of those opposing Healey needs to stop.

"The rhetoric that is happening right now, that is out there right now, calling out our attorney general is completely and inappropriate and it is dangerous and it should not be tolerated," she said, adding that it is the same rhetoric that led to the 2011 shooting of former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona.

Bloomberg said he, too, supports Healey's decision.

"We do not need assault-style weapons on our streets, we do not need them in our country," Bloomberg said.

When asked for specific things each candidate could do to tackle issues of homelessness, affordable housing, and poverty, Bloomberg called for extending the school day at Morningside and Conte Community schools. He said those communities have been left behind economically and more education will create more opportunities for those students.

"Economic development does not happen without strong communities," he said. "It starts by creating opportunity."

He also called to expand former Gov. Deval Patrick's global entrepreneur program that aids international entrepreneurs to stay in Massachusetts. That program helped in Boston but hadn't been expanded to Pittsfield.

Finally, Bloomberg said only 1 percent of federal Community Development Block Grant funding goes to workforce development, which needs to be increased.

Farley-Bouvier said the economic struggles of many Massachusetts residents is because of wages. She said the people who are in soup kitchens or on welfare are often working at least one job. Wages across the state need to rise, she said, adding she was proud to vote in favor of raising the minimum wage when it came up last session.

Additionally, she is looking for programs to target specific professions to increase wages — skilled jobs but are still paid at lower wages.

Farley-Bouvier also sponsored a bill to allow undocumented immigrants to get driver's licenses.

"All drivers should be trained, licensed and insured. I believe it on a humanitarian and I believe it because it will keep our roads safe," Farley-Bouvier said, adding that if an uninsured driver gets in a car accident with an insured driver, it is the insured driver who pays.

She said allowing those licenses and insurance will help make the roads safer. She also supports allowing undocumented immigrants to have access to in-state tuition for college.

Bloomberg too supports allowing immigrants access to in-state tuition. He said the issue needs to be made a "Pittsfield issue" and said the areas with the highest immigration in Pittsfield are the same areas with the most underperforming schools and most poverty. He reiterated his support for investing in education.

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