Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 10/18/2022
HAMPSHIRE COUNTY – The Hampshire County Sheriff’s race will be contested, after all.
Only a couple of days after coming in second place behind Sheriff Patrick Cahillane in the primary election on Sept. 6, Goshen resident Yvonne Gittelson announced she will once again go face-to-face with Cahillane in the Nov. 8 general election as a write-in, or “sticker,” candidate.
The announcement came after Cahillane defeated Gittelson and Caitlin Sepeda, two former employees of the Hampshire County Jail and House of Corrections who campaigned against the incumbent as Democratic challengers. Cahillane received 48 percent of the vote during the primaries, while Gittelson and Sepeda nearly split the rest of the votes, at 27 and 25 percent, respectively.
The Hampshire County Jail and House of Corrections and its associated programs operates with a $15 million budget and is located on 205 Rocky Hill Rd. in Northampton. The Sheriff’s Department itself has seven divisions including civil process service and oversees the jail as well as its in-house regional police lockup. The sheriff also represents 20 Hampshire County communities.
Gittelson, a corrections program specialist for the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), cited throughout her campaign that educational programs are one of the key components of reducing recidivism among justice-involved individuals. She worked in the Hampshire County Jail as a corrections education program coordinator from 2017 to 2021.
In an interview with Reminder Publishing, Gittelson explained that she wants to continue her campaign to allow more time for people to be acquainted to the issues surrounding the jail, especially since most of the campaigning prior to the primary election occurred in the summer, when many were away on vacation.
“A lot of people had not really fully tuned into the issues, the questions or the race, or why it was important,” said Gittelson. “If I had just another 10 days, I feel like I could’ve tipped Amherst and Northampton, because the momentum was shifting in my direction.”
Gittelson won six towns in Hampshire County and came in second in another five-including Amherst and Northampton, where Cahillane won 1,401 to 1,089 and 2,848 to 2,194 respectively.
“I have always felt that I have a moral imperative here,” said Gittelson, when asked about reasons why she decided to continue her campaign. “I really truly believe, after having worked there, and the other experiences I’ve had since working there, I feel like if I don’t step up and run, then I’m part of the problem.”
Gittelson called what is currently going on at the jail as “unacceptable,” when referring to the many recent reports involving a former deputy superintendent spying on staff, a justice-involved individual escaping from custody, a lawsuit over treatment of someone in solitary, and a pending FBI investigation into the jail’s wood shop operation.
Money-wise, Gittelson continues to criticize the jail for poor fiscal management that led to $500,000 in grants returned to the state, the lucrative state jobs that she said were handed to friends of the incumbent and the prioritizing of funds for consultants rather than “much-needed” upgrades in technology.
“There’s a reason why I started with transparency as the number one issue in my campaign,” said Gittelson. “Because there is none currently.”
Since the primary election, Gittelson’s push for more transparency has now transformed into a campaign centered around “ethical transparency” and “innovative leadership.”
“I’m peeling back the curtain,” she said. “When I take office, I will have nothing to hide.”
For starters, Gittelson wants to publish the budget for the public to see what has been spent, what money has been spent on and what all the sources of income are. “I don’t think citizens know truly what the sources of income are, and where all the money has really gone,” she added.
If elected to office, Gittelson plans to also post any position the jail is hiring for, first internally if possible, and then externally within the normal protocol. This methodology also falls under her push for ethical transparency.
“I bring an entirely different perspective to this job,” said Gittelson, who added that, if elected, there will need to be internal healing within the staff. “There are a lot of really good employees still there who want the opportunity to get promotions based on their hard work and merit. I will empower people and make a radical change in so many areas.”