Candidate Event Provides an Engaging Departure from Other Forums

We at Berkshire Greens Political Action Committee extend our appreciation to all four candidates to the Lenox Select Board who placed their names on the ballot for the town election on May 9 and participated in last night’s forum.

Kimberly Reopell Flynn, John J. McNinch, and William David Roche Jr.  Photo courtesy of iBerkshires.com

We also thank independent writer and broadcaster, Dan Valenti, long active in Pittsfield and statewide politics, for moderating the event in his unique ‘beer hall chat’ style, which put the four candidates - Kimberly Reopell Flynn, John J. McNinch, William David Roche Jr., and Eric J. Vincelette – on the hot seat at the Lenox Library.

The forum was video- and audio-taped for re-broadcast prior to election day on CTSB-TV and any other media that wish to carry it.

On March 28 Berkshire Greens PAC mailed a candidate questionnaire to the four candidates.  We thank Ms. Flynn and Mr. Vincelette for providing written answers to these questions.

Berkshire Greens PAC was formed in March of this year to advance key values* in public policy, values which have been mostly ignored by established Democrat and Republican parties.  We do this through voter education, candidate endorsement, and by supporting increased membership and candidate development in the Green-Rainbow Party of Massachusetts.  We do not affiliate with any party that accepts corporate/lobbyist financial influence at local, state, or national levels.  We will be active in city elections in North Adams and Pittsfield later this year and in state elections next year.

No endorsement will be made by Berkshire Greens PAC in the Lenox Select Board race.  We continue working to develop and support future local leaders who will use their influence on local boards and with Beacon Hill legislators to address Tax & Budget Fairness, Medicare for All, Green Jobs, and Peace.

Select Committee members are in a clear position to influence state government on important issues like health care costs.  For example, State Representatives cited such influence after last week's vote on Beacon Hill to strip municipal and state workers of the right to negotiate health care benefits.  Voters in last November's balloting clamored, too, against the high cost and low quality of health care by voting over 70% for Medicare For All, which is a proven model for sustainability and health used in the most advanced world democracies.

Berkshire Greens PAC is committed to building healthy communities through a new kind of democratic grassroots political action.

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Berkshire Greens Political Action Committee
50 Richmond Ave.
Pittsfield, MA  01201

Michael Kaplan, Chairperson
Wanda J. Boeke, Treasurer

berkshiregreens@gmail.com
Subscribe at
http://www.greenrainbow.org/mailman/listinfo/berk-grp_green-rainbow.org

http://www.green-rainbow.org/join

* Promoting the following values in public policy:  Ecological Wisdom, Social Justice, Grassroots Democracy, Non-Violence, Decentralization, Gender Equality, Local Economies, Respect for Diversity, Personal & Global Responsibility, and Future Sustainability.  This is achieved by supporting Green-Rainbow Party membership and candidate growth and by refusing the financial influence of lobbyists and by refusing contributions from any corporate officers who hire lobbyists.