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No Preliminary Election in North Adams

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — There will be no preliminary election in North Adams this year. 
 
But there will definitely be some changes on the City Council with only six incumbents running for re-election in November. 
 
Tuesday at 5 p.m. was the deadline to get in 50 certified signatures to run for office. 
 
Jennifer Macksey is being challenged in her run to retain the corner office by Aprilyn Carsno, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor two years ago and was eliminated in a preliminary election. 
 
Richard David Greene and Rachel Branch also had taken out papers; Greene did not return signatures and Branch moved out of the city.
 
City Council incumbents Lisa Blackmer, Keith Bona, Bryan Sapienza, Ashley Shade, Peter Oleskiewicz and Wayne Wilkinson will be on the ballot.
 
Current Councilors Jennifer Barbeau, Marie T. Harpin and Michael Obasohan did not take out nomination papers. 
 
Hoping to fill those three empty seats — or unseat one or more incumbents — are Colin Bain, Peter Breen, Robert Cardimino, Andrew Fitch and Deanna Morrow. 
 
Bain is a recent McCann Technical School graduate; Breen is a retired computer science teacher who serves on the McCann School Committee and the city's Licensing Board; Cardimino has been a frequent candidate for council; Fitch has worked in inclusion and community engagement and is a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals; and Morrow is a recent graduate of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts who works in residential recovery. 
 
A total of 11 candidates will vie to be among the top nine vote-getters.
 
Emily Johnson, Jon Schnauber and Joshua Vallieres had also taken out papers but did not return them or return the required amount; Ronald Sheldon, a prior candidate, was not able to get his signatures notarized in time. 
 
Four candidates are running for three seats on the School Committee: incumbents Tara Jacobs and Alyssa Tomkowicz and newcomers Cody Chamberlain and Eric Wilson. 
 
Three candidates are running for the three seats on the McCann School Committee: George Canales, Peter Breen and William Diamond. 
 
The city election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 7, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. The last day to register to vote is Oct. 28.
 

Tags: election 2023,   municipal election,   


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Clarksburg OKs $5.1M Budget; Moves CPA Adoption Forward

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

Newly elected Moderator Seth Alexander kept the meeting moving. 
CLARKSBURG, Mass. — The annual town meeting sped through most of the warrant on Wednesday night, swiftly passing a total budget of $5.1 million for fiscal 2025 with no comments. 
 
Close to 70 voters at Clarksburg School also moved adoption of the state's Community Preservation Act to the November ballot after a lot of questions in trying to understand the scope of the act. 
 
The town operating budget is $1,767,759, down $113,995 largely because of debt falling off. Major increases include insurance, utilities and supplies; the addition of a full-time laborer in the Department of Public Works and an additional eight hours a week for the accountant.
 
The school budget is at $2,967,609, up $129,192 or 4 percent over this year. Clarksburg's assessment to the Northern Berkshire Vocational School District is $363,220.
 
Approved was delaying the swearing in of new officers until after town meeting; extending the one-year terms of moderator and tree warden to three years beginning with the 2025 election; switching the licensing of dogs beginning in January and enacting a bylaw ordering dog owners to pick up after their pets. This last was amended to include the words "and wheelchair-bound" after the exemption for owners who are blind. 
 
The town more recently established an Agricultural Committee and on Wednesday approved a right-to-farm bylaw to protect agriculture. 
 
Larry Beach of River Road asked why anyone would be against and what the downside would be. Select Board Chair Robert Norcross said neighbors of farmers can complain about smells and livestock like chickens. 
 
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