PITTSFIELD — Nearly $60,000 has poured into the accounts of Pittsfield’s three mayoral candidates as the campaigns prepare for the test of the preliminary election on Sept. 19.
Leading the dollars and cents race is John Krol. Donations to the former city council vice president account for just over half of all contributions to the races. Since announcing his candidacy for the position in November, Krol has raised $30,532.44 in donations from 210 donors.
Not far behind is City Council President Peter Marchetti. The banker, who announced his candidacy on the same day as Krol, first began reporting donations to the state’s office of campaign and political finance in mid-March. Since then, 302 donors have put in $27,071.93 to Marchetti’s campaign chest.
City Councilor Karen Kalinowsky, a later addition to the race, has raised about $1,540 according to her campaign treasurer and sister Carolyn Jones. Those funds have come from 33 donors.
Money for the Pittsfield mayoral race isn’t contained to the city boundaries. All three candidates report donations from surrounding communities in the Berkshires as well as — for Marchetti and Krol — some communities farther out of state.
While Krol is outfundraising Marchetti overall, Marchetti has secured more funds and donors from within Pittsfield. About 40 percent of Krol’s donations come from outside of Pittsfield with the largest sum — about $2,900 — coming from Richmond.
Krol said much of the support from Richmond is coming from family members, but he chalked the other donations from outside of Pittsfield up to the strength of his vision for the city’s future.
“A healthy, thriving, energetic Pittsfield is great for Berkshire County,” Krol said.
“If we earn support from people in Lenox, from people from Cheshire, in Great Barrington — wherever it may be that is something that we’re excited about because I think a lot of Pittsfield’s success does depend on us doing better working with our fellow Berkshire communities,” he added.
Krol said his vision for Pittsfield calls for making the city a cultural powerhouse in the county.
“I think that we need to up our game as far as establishing ourselves back into the cultural economy of the Berkshires and making sure that people know that we are the thriving hub of the Berkshires cultural economy and not … as the quote unquote donut hole,” Krol said. “We need to reestablish ourselves and I think part of that is to gather support from people who may not live in Pittsfield.”
Marchetti takes a different view of how the money is shaking out, saying the number of Pittsfield donors shows the depth of his support among city voters.
“I appreciate the support from both friends and family, regardless of where they live, but I think the most important support of all is from the voters of Pittsfield,” Marchetti said. “I think that speaks volumes to hey, I’m running to be the mayor of the city of Pittsfield and it appears to be that the people of Pittsfield are stepping up to the plate helping me make that progress.”
Information about Kalinowsky’s fundraising has been more difficult to parse due to a misunderstanding about the campaign finance reporting requirements for mayoral candidates.
In Massachusetts, mayoral candidates are required to report to the state all contributions to and expenditures by their campaigns. These reports are generated by the bank that houses that candidate’s campaign account.
Campaigns are also required to disclose to the state information about each donor’s name, residential address and the amount they are contributing. If someone donates more than $200 to a campaign, then information about the donor’s occupation and employer is required too.
Kalinowsky’s file with the state office notes a single donation of $200 from a resident of Ward 4B. But her account has only been tracking all contributions made since Aug. 14 due to a procedural mistake that has since been corrected, she said.
Kalinowsky explained that when she pulled her nomination papers for the at large city council race, she received a packet of information about what she needed to record, report and file with the state. When Kalinowksy decided to run for mayor instead of city councilor she returned to City Hall to take out new nomination papers.
“They said ‘Oh, you already got a packet — we don’t need to give you another one,’” Kalinowsky said. “So I didn’t know that the mayor’s [packets] were different.”
Kalinowsky said that packet held information about the reporting requirements which she said had changed since the last time she ran for mayor in 2019. The credit union that Kalinowsky was using for her campaign fund didn’t meet the reporting requirements for the state.
The state office of campaign and political finance sent a letter to Kalinowsky’s campaign Aug. 10 letting them know that she wasn’t in compliance with state reporting rules. By Aug. 14, Kalinowsky had filled out the required paperwork and set up a new account.
Kalinowsky said she received two checks for $125 that will be reported to the state soon as well. Jones said that she will be transferring in information about the money the campaign raised prior to the opening of the new account on Friday.
Either way, Kalinowsky hardily trails her competitors in terms of donations. She said she’s untroubled by that fact.
“I don’t ask people for money,” Kalinowsky said. “I probably have contributed more to my campaign than what I’ve raised.”
Jones agreed.
“She does not like to ask for money,” Jones said. “She’s trying to do this as thriftily as possible.”
