To the editor:
I currently reside over the line in NYS, but most of my life was spent in Pittsfield, much of it as a community activist and advocate. I still spend a great deal of time with immediate family both on the West Side and Morningside areas of the City. And I worry a great deal about their safety, which is why I’m supporting Andrea Harrington for District Attorney of Berkshire County.
Paul Caccaviello may be a nice guy – I don’t know him – but what I do know is that this DA’s office has considered itself completely unaccountable to its community, utilized a policy with regards to confidential informants that further manipulated and promoted violence in the streets of Pittsfield, which the DA’s office did nothing to prevent. We’ve seen questions of ethical and moral failure, as well as tactics of bully and intimidation. If you know Berkshire County politics, you know that the good old boys were in some back room together, first calculating Caccaviello’s switch to the Democratic Party because they misjudged and thought it would be a cakewalk into office, now this write in campaign has their fingerprints all over it. What this means to me is that there are a lot of powerful people who benefit from this man staying in office. They benefit from the crime – more jobs in corrections, policing, the court system – all loyal to these back room connections.
Let’s break this cycle. Let’s elect Andrea Harrington as a voice of change. She’s deeply committed to keeping our community safe, and working to clean up our streets. But it’s a new day and there’s a much better way of doing things. Andrea is the perfect leader to accomplish this goal.,
Judith M Williamson
Castleton, N.Y.
