To the Editor:
With regard to the recent letter of Mr. Fred Clark of Housatonic, the letter said, “Rinaldo Del Gallo III is a perennial pol and lawyer on the Pittsfield scene.” There is certainly nothing wrong with a candidate, such as Abraham Lincoln, that had repeatedly run for office, was repeatedly knocked to the ground, and decided to run again. Lincoln is not an isolated example of those who ran after political losses and proved to be good public servants when elected. But the fact remains, I have not run for office in a decade.
The letter continues, “His history is all about Pittsfield and I do not consider him ready to represent the issues of greater Berkshire County. . .” I respectfully disagree with both the logic and facts asserted.
I think no one in their right mind would try to argue that I have not done a lot since moving back to the Berkshires at the turn of the century (after growing up here), and I thank Mr. Clark for not trying to suggest otherwise. But the argument that “my history is all about Pittsfield” necessarily implies a logic that if all my community activism was based solely in Pittsfield, I would be less qualified. In fact, I think we should have more local community activist run for office.
That being said, my history is not “all about Pittsfield.” It is true that I have been involved in a number of Pittsfield zoning or land-use issues, and that I wrote a legal brief, pro bono, that took the legal legs out of effort to build time-shares in place of a forest at a former summer camp in Pittsfield. It is also be conceded, that my animal’s right ordinance to give farm animals enough room to turnaround was passed in Pittsfield — not other communities. It is to be conceded that I lead the fight to ban Styrofoam in Pittsfield for which I received a “Hero of the Ocean” award. It is also true that I recently appeared before the Pittsfield Green Commission regarding my petition to ban single-use plastic bags (that was filed, coincidentally, two years ago in 2014 at the same time Adam Hinds first moved to the Berkshires — the candidate which Mr. Clark champions).
It is also true, that twelve years ago, I was virtually alone in calling attention to the fact that the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority, located at the former GE site, which was to bring business back to Pittsfield, was failing. (The Fort Devens and Albany nanotechnology approach that I was arguing for PEDA could and should be used in places other than just Pittsfield.)
(You can read about my efforts with PEDA here:Â https://statesenate.rinaldodelgallo.com/economic-development/pittsfield-economic-development-authority/)
I also have been a vocal critic of a Super Wal-Mart being put on the site Pittsfield Economic Development Authority, where Adams Hinds merely said in a forum in Becket, “It’s up to Pittsfield.”
You can read about my opposition to the Super Wal-Mart here:
https://statesenate.rinaldodelgallo.com/economic-development/super-wal-mart-should-not-be-at-peda/
But I get it — there is a lot of “Pittsfield” there. But Mr. Clark’s assertion that I am only about Pittsfield is belied by the following:
I have also filed citizens’ petitions for warrant articles to appear on annual town meetings to ban Styrofoam and single-use plastic bags in Lenox, Lee, Adams and Dalton.
In all four districts my petitions were filed to be considered later. In Lenox and Lee in 2016, my citizens’ petition warrant articles (with the help of heroes like Peter Hoffman and Eric Federer) blossomed into bans on Styrofoam and single-use plastic bags in their respective communities. In 2016 in Adams, my tabled petition to ban single-use plastic bags was passed unanimously at town meeting, and I am highly confident that my tabled petition to ban Styrofoam will pass next year. And you can credit giants such as Adams Town Moderator Ed Driscoll (a life-long environmentalist) and Adams Town Selectman Jeff Snoonian for leading the way to that victory.
You can read about my green efforts throughout the district here:
https://statesenate.rinaldodelgallo.com/environment/styrofoam-and-single-use-plastic-bags/
But it was not just in Pittsfield, Lee, Lenox and Adams that felt the imprint of my green thumb. I also helped Brad Verter a great deal in Williamstown and guided him through the process to put a citizens’ petition for warrant articles on in that community. In 2015, Williamstown passed a ban on Styrofoam and single-use plastic bags, becoming the second Berkshire County community to do so.
Nor has my involvement beyond Pittsfield only been in environmentalism. While my columns, often on progressive causes but on a wide-variety of topics, have appeared in newspapers across the country (including some very large ones), I have been frequently published in the Berkshire Eagle (the county-wide print daily) and the former North Adams Transcript (a former print daily covering North County). I wrote numerous pro-Bernie Sanders columns. I have been published so much so, my name is well known to those that regularly read (or did read) these papers.
You can read some of my columns, by clicking here:
https://delgallocolumns.wordpress.com/
I have been spokesperson of the Berkshire Fatherhood Coalition (a father’s rights group) since 2002, and we have made over 35 appearances in local parades, including 15 appearances in the North Adams Fall Foliage Festival Parade. A free legal clinic that I ran for the Berkshire Fatherhood Coalition for over a decade drew people from all over the senatorial district and even beyond.
In 2004, a full decade before Adam Hinds first moved to the Berkshires, we put a non-binding public policy question regarding shared parenting on the ballot. We put the question on in the four state-rep districts of Berkshire County, and the state-rep district encompassing Northampton. We won by 78 percent.
You can read about shared parenting and my efforts with the Berkshire Fatherhood Coalition here:
https://statesenate.rinaldodelgallo.com/shared-parenting/shared-parenting/
Of course, my work as a pro bono First Amendment attorney on several important cases has had an effect far surpassing Pittsfield. I have also done more pro bono work from clients throughout the district than any of you average 30 attorneys.
I also wrote one of, if not the, most famous patent law review articles ever written, which had a national if not an international impact. My law review article, which postulated that one could get a patent on a method of doing business, was cited in one of the most famous patent law cases of all time, and paved the way for “business method patents.” A partner at the law firm I clerked for at the time urged me not to have published my law review article out of fear that it was too controversial and it would embarrass me. In the end, legal treatises would be written on business method patents. This had an important impact on software and internet technologies.
The letter’s argument that I my “history is all about Pittsfield” simply does not reflect the facts.
A pattern emerges — over and over and over again: I have taken controversial ideas (patents on methods of doing business, whistle-blowing that PEDA was failing, shared parenting, farm animals’ rights, banning Styrofoam and single-use plastic bags) and championed them so that they received widespread support despite staunch opposition. I will do that as a state senator.
Finally, in my own defense, let me comment on the article’s title, “Of 3 state Senate candidates, Adam Hinds the most qualified.” (Yes, I know, the letter’s author may not have created the title.) If elected, I would be one of the most credentialed members of the state senate. I graduated in the top half of my class with a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering at Northeastern University. I went to a top 20 law school, George Washington University, and also graduated in the top-half of my class, winning awards for academic excellence. I know elections are not just about credentials, but I happen to have them. Coupled with my actual history of drafting and passing local legislation, I believe I am well-suited to be a state senator.
To read my bio and my involvement in the community (including outside of Pittsfield), click here:
https://statesenate.rinaldodelgallo.com/rinaldo-del-gallo/meet-rinaldo/
I thank the Berkshire Edge for the opportunity to rebut the statements made in the Clark letter.
Rinaldo Del Gallo III
Pittsfield
