It’s Always Time for Change
Thank you to all of our supporters throughout Berkshire County. God bless and stay strong!
September 10, 2022
Open Letter to Berkshire County (MA) Citizens and Voters,
We definitely had a tough evening this past Tuesday, however we feel good that no candidate for a Berkshire County office outworked us in the summer of 2022. Even if we had run a perfect campaign, by whatever metric standards one would judge us by, we still would not have beaten the incumbent, Sheriff Thomas Bowler, in this particular year. However, we ran a good campaign, and we learned a lot from our moments of excellence, and also our missteps. At the end of the day, it was my failure, not my campaign committee’s. My committee did their respective jobs, I ultimately did not, and that’s the bottom line.
We do take solace in the fact that we connected with approximately 23% of the voters throughout Berkshire County, and won one town. Additionally, we pushed out more than 100 pages of press releases which contained excellent platform information; these releases were well researched, fact checked, the sources were cited, and the companion links were provided for deeper dives into our data. Also, we had over 7,300 unique visitors to our BARBALUNGA.com website (update 7700 as of 9/20/22). Lastly, we connected with thousands of citizens and formed numerous wonderful relationships during these neighborhood canvasses, and I also lost 21 lbs in 96 days!
In the end, by bringing all these issues to light, as difficult as this campaign was, it was never personal, it was simply about different ideas. I'm hoping Tom takes at least some of our ideas to heart, because they are sincere. Also, Tom gave his word to finish his next six-year term, and honor the voter’s wishes, and that consistency is good for Berkshire County residents.
I know that TEAM ALF sincerely thanks Tom Bowler for his sheriff’s service to the public, over the past almost 12 years. And, we wish him, his executive leadership team, and his entire family, nothing but the best over the next six years.
I now know why many people do not have the appetite to run for public office and perhaps do not have ‘thick enough skin.’ The price of admission to this journey was a very high one, make no mistake. But, I was grateful to pay it - to have this comradery, with my family and my campaign committee, and now also all of our wonderful new friends and supporters.
So, the outcome this past Tuesday night was not optimal, but the journey and the experiences were invaluable for our future. On that note, if we did not have a chance to retrieve your lawn sign yet, please contact us, including at barbalunga.for.sheriff@gmail.com, and we will make sure to pick it up – we do want as many of our signs back as possible.
I’ll leave you with a quote from The Boondock Saints movie, “The question is not how far. The question is, do you possess the constitution, the depth of faith, to go as far as is needed?” And, I do. Until next time, have a wonderful rest-of-summer, be well, and God bless you and your families.
Respectfully,
Alf Barbalunga
Alfred E. ‘Alf’ Barbalunga has spent his entire career in the service of public safety in Massachusetts. He is a chief probation officer with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Trial Court Probation Service, a position he has held since 2004. He currently supervises the Southern Berkshire District, which is the second-largest district jurisdiction along the Connecticut and New York state borders. Before becoming a chief, he was an acting chief, an officer-in-charge, a juvenile probation officer, an adult probation officer, and a courthouse intern.
Alf started his career in public safety in 1991 as a correctional officer and deputy sheriff with the Berkshire County Sheriff’s Department in Pittsfield, MA. Additionally, he has been employed as a jail officer and case manager with the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office in Boston, MA, and as an investigator with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General in Boston.
In May of 2022, Alf stepped down as President of the Massachusetts Chief Probation Officers Association, Inc. He was the youngest president ever to hold this leadership position, the only president west of Worcester County to hold this position, and he was the longest-serving president. Before being elected president, he spent ten years as an executive committee member of this association.
His most recent awards include the Chief Probation Officer Advocacy Award, presented in May of 2022, for providing extraordinary service to his colleagues across the Commonwealth. Additionally, he received the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Trial Court Cultural Diversity Certificate of Appreciation, awarded in both December of 2021 and October of 2020, where he was one of 6,117 employees eligible for consideration of this prestigious honor. Lastly, from 1997-2021 he never utilized any employment sick time whatsoever and was awarded the Excellent Attendance Badge annually.
He graduated with a business degree and a philosophy concentration from Saint Michael’s College in Vermont. During those four years he competed and excelled as an NCAA-I/II athlete, where he further learned to value education and teamwork. He is a proud alumnus of Pittsfield High School where he was a two-sport standout, and was the coach of the PHS boys’ and girls’ varsity alpine ski racing team from 2020-2022.
Alf has been a guest lecturer and presenter at various colleges, universities, conferences, and workshops throughout the United States. He is the former Chair of the City of Pittsfield School Committee and the former Vice-Chair of the City of Pittsfield Community Development (Planning) Board.
Professionally, one of Alf’s highest priorities is to deliver efficient, reliable, and excellent customer service to the citizens of Massachusetts. Personally, he lives by the philosophy, “Make today so great, yesterday gets jealous!”
Alf Barbalunga resides in Pittsfield with his wife Jonalee, their twins, daughter Kaleena and son Thorin, and their loyal and beloved family dog Khan.
“Make today so great, yesterday gets jealous”
— Alf