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Senate Candidates Debate at UCP in North Adams
By Andy McKeever, iBerkshires Staff
04:00PM / Sunday, September 04, 2016
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The primary election is on Thursday.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — In the seventh of eight debates in six days, the candidates for the Democratic nomination for the state Senate seat continued to show their differences.
 
United Cerebral Palsy held a nearly 3-hour forum Friday night with Executive Director Salvatore Garozzo moderating. The primary election is on Thursday and the winner will take on Republican Christine Canning-Wilson in the general election in November. 
 
The three kicked off by telling a little bit about themselves. Adam Hinds grew up in Shelbourne Falls and was the son of a public school teacher and a part-time librarian. As a child, Hinds said his father tried to get an upholstery tool company off the ground and, little to his knowledge, the family struggled financially. But his parents gave him the opportunity to go to college and then he worked for the campaigns of U.S. Rep. John Olver and of John Kerry in presidential run. He spent time in the Middle East as a negotiator with the United Nations. He returned to Pittsfield to become the first coordinator of the Pittsfield Community Connection and is currently on leave as executive director of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition.
 
"No one on Beacon Hill is going to intimidate me and we need a strong voice for Western Massachusetts," Hinds said.
 
Rinaldo Del Gallo's tagline for the campaign is "you know who I am and you know what I stand for." Del Gallo cited his years of writing columns in The Berkshire Eagle and as the leading force behind Styrofoam and single-use plastic bag bans in numerous towns. He's been active in the Berkshire Fatherhood Coalition and running free legal clinics, and is running as a self-described "Bernie Sanders progressive" looking to take the revolution the Vermont senator began in his presidential bid to the local level.
 
"I actually have legislation passed in the city of Pittsfield regarding the environment. I also have animal rights legislation passed," Del Gallo said. "I've been here since the turn of the century, I've involved in a highly visible way."
 
Andrea Harrington is a criminal defense and family law attorney. She grew up in Pittsfield, where her grandparents were "rank and file" at General Electric. She was the first to go to college and then law school. For three years, she worked in fighting death penalty convictions in the state of Florida. She moved back to the Berkshires to start her own practice and raise her family; her husband purchased the Public Market in West Stockbridge. 
 
"It was tough for us to figure out how we are going to make a living and support our family," Harrington said. "I see two Berkshire Counties. This is a great place to live if you can make money, usually from somewhere else."
 
The candidates then fielded an array of questions — mostly centered around health care. A list of questions was provided to them ahead of time and Garozzo had them pick numbers that related to one of those questions. The candidates had not been aware of the numbering system beforehand.
 
Del Gallo pulled a question of how to increase the amount of health-care specialists in the area. He responded that the most important way would be to have tuition-free and debt-free college. When it comes to professions or specialties that do not pay a lot, debt-free college would encourage more people to pursue those careers.
 
"When you graduate with a boatload of student debt, you have to choose professions that pay a lot of money to pay off that debt. That is why it is important for debt free college," Del Gallo said.
 
Hinds pulled a question about how to reduce the homelessness population. He said the role of a senator would be to serve as a "conceiving" role in bringing organizations to solve the problem. He said he'd be able to pull people together to create more housing for homeless people. 
 
"It is an issue we are seeing across the county and it is pretty alarming," Hinds said. "There is a shortage of housing for homelessness and the services available, we all need to make sure they are there."
 
Harrington drew a question about how to fund community integration programs. She said those social services are always the first to get cut, and it shouldn't be. She wants to invest in programs for people that will reduce spending in the criminal justice system.
 
"I see that we as a society need to lift up our most vulnerable and struggling people," Harrington said. "I will be a strong advocate in Boston fighting for resources for us." 
 
The candidates were surprised when UCP had another section of questions asked by staff members, which they didn't have ahead of time. All three candidates answered those questions, which started with the question of a full-service hospital in North Adams.
 
"I think having a full-service hospital is incredibly important for the community," Harrington said, adding that North Adams Regional didn't close because it wasn't financially viable but because of debts incurred when the leadership opted to purchase nursing homes.
 
Harrington said people are leaving Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield against medical advice because it is too far away and there is a significant shortage of drug treatment programs in North Adams. She said she'd work on a bill with state Rep. Gailanne Cariddi, D-North Adams, to change reimbursement rates of hospitals not deemed "critical access" with those which are. And Harrington said she'd work with Berkshire Health Systems in an attempt to get them to reopen the campus as a full-service operation.
 
Hinds said BHS continues to add services, which is good news, but there are many other underserved areas of health in North Adams. With the NBCC, he said the focus has been tackling the shortage of primary-care physicians as well as rally around programs to keep people healthier, such as smoking cessation programs.
 
"The impact was devastation when the hospital closed, in jobs and the feeling of security," Hinds said, adding that North Adams often can't apply for some programs like that expansion of the CSS unit at Berkshire Medical Center, which is aimed for drug abuse recovery. "I'd push for rural exceptions when we face things like that on the state level." 
 
Del Gallo said he'd push for the state to move to a single-payer heath care system and then opening a public hospital.
 
"I've lost faith in the private sector's ability or willingness to put in a hospital or expand it," Del Gallo said. "The difference in my approach than my two opponents is that I want to start a public hospital."
 
When asked about the Northeast Energy Direct pipeline that Kinder Morgan proposed to cut through the Berkshires but later withdrew, all three candidates said they oppose it. 
 
"They are coming back. They spent $60 million on that pipeline. They're coming back," Del Gallo said. "Global warming is the biggest problem facing society, mankind and the earth. We are seeing the storm of the century every three years."
 
Del Gallo said he was always against the pipeline, and that his opponents had been wavering early on. He also said he is the only one who supports putting wind turbines on Berkshire mountaintops.
 
Harrington admitted that during her first interview, she said she was uncertain. That was because she was advised to stay away from issues and focus on her background. However, she said she regretted not taking a stance and has since made it clear that she opposes it. 
 
"I am not a politician, I am not a politically correct person," Harrington said. 
 
Hinds also said he opposes the pipeline and is calling for a large increase in renewable energy. He said there needs to be enough renewable energy to offset the cost impacts made by when more and more fossil-fuel generators come offline. That means expanding off-shore wind and lifting the net metering cap for solar.
 
"I think we can work toward a net-zero Berkshires," Hinds said. 
 
The candidates were also asked why then want to represent the largest district in the state. 
 
"The reason I got into this race and the reason politics is appealing is because I am sick of politics as usual," Hinds said. "I'm in this race because I think we can inspire people from this seat, this county, this district. We can inspire because we take on the big issues."
 
Harrington said she wants the seat because she is tired of seeing the loss of middle class jobs and more and more people struggling. She said her grandfather was a mold and tool maker but his work got shipped overseas. Luckily, the family was able to survive on her grandmother's pension from GE, but those jobs are gone and so are the pensions. She said she is constantly seeing in the courts clients who are struggling financially and she wants to increase opportunities.
 
"When I am advocating for my clients, I bring all of my experiences with me," she said, referring to the experience of her parents and grandparents struggling and her own experiences in the courtroom, as a woman and as a mother who's cried at school meetings about her child's individualized educational program. "I bring all of that with me."
 
Del Gallo said he is bringing the Sanders revolution to the local level. He'd like to see the state look more at the Nordic countries that are more socialist than the United State but also have little poverty or homelessness, debt-free college, and happier people. He also wants to usher in higher taxes for the rich to help support the country as a whole.
 
"I'm for taxing capital gains, wealth accumulation and estates," Del Gallo said.
 
No surprise, when Del Gallo was asked who his hero is, the answer was Sanders. 
 
"He made the word socialism a clean expression. He didn't hide it. He said he was a democratic socialist and look how well he did," Del Gallo said. "He totally changed the dialogue of American politics."
 
Hinds said it is his uncle. He said his uncle devoted his life toward implementing Civil Rights legislation in the 1970s and then ran for office.
 
"He stood up for what is right. He stood up and went on the ballot as well. He believe you could have an impact in the Legislature. That's a big deal... He did it all for all of the right reasons," Hinds said.
 
Harrington credited her mother who worked two jobs to allow her to go to college. 
 
"She taught me so much about perseverance, grit, and the value of family. They worked all of the time for us. I didn't appreciate that until I became a parent myself," Harrington said. "I'm just overwhelmed how much she's done for me. She's babysitting my kids right now."
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