PITTSFIELD, Mass. Four ward councilors have announced that they will not seek re-election, leaving space for new leadership in those areas and a changeup of at least a third of the council November. Ward 1 Councilor Helen Moon, in a Facebook video post this week, said the physical and mental strains over the past two years related to the pandemic and her personal and professional life led to her decision not to run for a third term. I thought it was unfair to my constituents that I cannot give myself 150 percent like I try to because of what s happening in my own life, she said. You deserve somebody who is going to put you No. 1 and I cannot give you that.
The School Committee and City Council will hold a joint session Wednesday evening to fill a vacancy on the school committee. EAGLE FILE PHOTO
PITTSFIELD â Four people are interested in filling a School Committee vacancy due to the abrupt departure of Dennis Powell, whose resignation letter was deeply critical of the committee.
They include two candidates who pulled papers to run for School Committee in this fallâs municipal elections, Karen Reis Kaveney-Murray and Kate Lauzon. Also putting their names in are former School Committee member Kathleen Amuso, and Nyanna Slaughter, the central Massachusetts regional director for Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
And Monday is the last day that Pittsfield residents can toss their hat in the ring.
It marks the first time a School Committee vacancy will be filled under the terms of the city charter voters adopted in 2013. The process launched after NAACP Berkshire branch President Dennis Powell publicly resigned last month in protest of the majority of the committeeâs pick for superintendent, Joseph Curtis.
Under the charter, School Committee vacancies are filled at a joint meeting of the City Council and the remaining members of the School Committee. The joint session has to happen âwithin 30 days following the date of the vacancy.â
PITTSFIELD â As city leaders look toward filling several key school district positions, several more community leaders have voiced dissent with the School Committeeâs superintendent decision.
Joseph Curtis, who joined the district in 1994, was serving as deputy superintendent for about five years before the committee tapped him last year to serve as interim chief, and then this week, the permanent superintendent.
Pittsfield High Principal Henry Duval was picked for interim deputy superintendent position under Curtis, and told The Eagle Friday he plans to resume his PHS post.
âMy intention is to be back at Pittsfield High School next year,â said Duval.