PITTSFIELD, Mass. - Pete White is ready to take over as president of the Pittsfield City Council this year.

White is no stranger to the Pittsfield council, serving two terms as the vice president under new mayor Peter Marchetti. Now that he's leading the council, White has many plans for this year's term, especially tackling the trash crisis.

“We really need to start tackling the trash issue early on so we can improve our recycling numbers, so we can lower the cost of trash collection and disposal," White said. "It's something, with the Hubbard Ave. facility closing and then becoming a transfer station instead of being a incinerator, that has really increased our costs and we really need to get a handle on it, because having unlimited amounts of trash at the curbside is just not sustainable."

White also talked about other issues he plans to fix, like finding ways to house the homeless, working on road and infrastructure projects and having a better sense of communication from the council and mayor to the people.