North Adams Will See 3 Mayoral Candidates in Preliminary

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Three mayoral candidates will face off in a preliminary election on Sept. 22 to determine the final two nominees for the general election in November.

All candidates for the preliminary and general election ballots had submitted nomination papers and had them certified by the Thursday deadline.

Richard Alcombright, Eric Rudd and John Barrett III all returned nomination papers with enough signatures of registered voters to be appear on the ballot. Two other potential candidates, Nik Lareau and Richard David Greene, did not return papers although Greene said he plans on running a write-in campaign.

This year's mayoral matchup sees three candidates who have run against each other in the past. Incumbent Alcombright, who is running for a fourth term, beat Barrett, then the longest-serving mayor in the state, in 2009. Rudd had run for mayor in 1997 but washed out in the preliminary when Paul Babeau and Barrett, running for his eighth term, took the most votes to head into the general election.

So far, one preliminary debate has been proposed by the North County Cares Coaliton for Tuesday, Sept 15, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the American Legion.  

Twelve candidates are running for nine seats on the City Council. Of the nine current councilors, eight will be on the ballot: Lisa Blackmer, Keith Bona, Eric Buddington, Nancy Bullett, Benjamin Lamb, Kate Merrigan, Joshua Moran and Wayne Wilkinson.

Correction: Two potential council candidates were incorrectly identified as having returned papers. There will be only 12 candidates for the nine seats.
 

Cost, Access to NBCTC High Among Concerns North Berkshire Residents

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
06:15PM / Thursday, April 25, 2024

Adams Select Chair Christine Hoyt, NBCTC Executive Director David Fabiano and William Solomon, the attorney representing the four communities, talk after the session. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Public access channels should be supported and made more available to the public — and not be subject to a charge.

 

More than three dozen community members in-person and online attended the public hearing  Wednesday on public access and service from Spectrum/Charter Communications. The session at City Hall was held for residents in Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg and North Adams to express their concerns to Spectrum ahead of another 10-year contract that starts in October.

 

Listening via Zoom but not speaking was Jennifer Young, director state government affairs at Charter.

 

One speaker after another conveyed how critical local access television is to the community and emphasized the need for affordable and reliable services, particularly for vulnerable populations like the elderly. 

 

"I don't know if everybody else feels the same way but they have a monopoly," said Clarksburg resident David Emery. "They control everything we do because there's nobody else to go to. You're stuck with with them."

 

Public access television, like the 30-year-old Northern Berkshire Community Television, is funded by cable television companies through franchise fees, member fees, grants and contributions.

 

Spectrum is the only cable provider in the region and while residents can shift to satellite providers or streaming, Northern Berkshire Community Television is not available on those alternatives and they may not be easy for some to navigate. For instance, the Spectrum app is available on smart televisions but it doesn't include PEG, the public, educational and governmental channels provided by NBCTC.