To the editor:
I have closely followed the debates between the two candidates for the upcoming sheriff election on September 6. It is clear that this race has extreme consequences. I am dismayed that Sheriff Bowler has no intentions of moving the women currently detained in the Chicopee Correctional facility back into Berkshire County. Many of these women have young children. Shouldn’t they be housed and aided closer to their families and the communities they may eventually return to? It appears that Sheriff Bowler has been negligent on inmate opioid addiction, defaulting to an “abstinence is best” model for nearly a decade. I can’t imagine the suffering the Berkshire County inmates had to endure as they went through withdrawals as a result of this misguided and cruel policy. I am also questioning the rationale behind some of Sheriff Bowler’s financial decisions that were illuminated during the debates. A $70K salary for a part time position for retired employees that already have enormous pensions is not, in my view, financially responsible. Why not create jobs for new employees trying to live and work in Berkshire County?
The opposing candidate, Alf Barbalunga, has a better track record for decisions made about addressing opioid use like his partnership in the Berkshire Partnership in Care Pilot in 2007 as well as showing fiscal restraint managing the annual budget for the Pittsfield Schools as Committee Chair. Most importantly, Alf will bring the women being housed in Chicopee back home. Its time for a new Sheriff. Vote Alf.
Sean VanDeusen
New Marlborough
