North Adams Swearing-in Set for New Year's Day
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The city will enter the new year with a new City Council and the swearing in of Mayor Richard Alcombright for his fourth two-year term.
The Organization of Government takes place beginning at 11 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 1, in the City Council Chambers. The event will be telecast by Northern Berkshire Community Television.
Councilor Benjamin Lamb, re-elected to his second term in November, is expected to be elected as president of this council's two-year term.
Lamb said he was confident he had the five votes necessary to be elected to the post and no other candidate has so far come forward.
"I think it would be a really great opportunity to engage a little more at the higher level," Lamb said recently, adding that he had been approached by other councilors to run. "And I'm used to in my day-to-day job working in that context of running meetings ... This feels like a good next step."
Lamb is assistant director for student organizations and involvement at Williams College. One of five new councilors elected in 2013, Lamb has served on the Community Development and Public Safety committees.
The council he will preside over will have a mix of second-term councilors and veterans, including the return of two former councilors — Ronald A. Boucher and Robert M. Moulton Jr. Both men also ran unsuccessfully against Alcombright for the corner office.
Last week, the council bid farewell to two of its members, Jennifer Breen and Wayne Wilkinson.
Breen had not been active in the council since the birth of her son and did not run for re-election. Current Council President Lisa Blackmer read a letter from Breen at the council's last meeting of the year thanking her constituents and explaining how her focus now had to be on her child and her legal practice.
Wilkinson, who lost his seat in November, thanked those who supported him and his fellow councilors and the mayor, among others, "for their camaraderie and help," and his wife, Kathy, "for her help and understanding."
"Check my box on the bucket list and move on to the next one," he said, but his colleagues were sure he would return to government, citing his work on passing a zoning ordinance that would ensure the viability of residences and businesses in special circumstances.
"Clearly your real estate experience was beneficial and I don't think we have seen the last of you," said Councilor Keith Bona.
Alcombright thanked him for his candor and honesty, and his tough questions. "We will find you and we will put you into service again," he said.
Councilors also thanked Blackmer for her service over the past two years. She noted that for a young and mostly inexperienced council, it had brought a number of initiatives to fruition — Wilkinson's zoning ordinance, a right to farm ordinance, and the creation of both a Public Art Commission and a Local Historic District Committee.
"I think that when we came in with this new council, people were wondering what was going to happen," she said. "We've had a productive couple years ... I'm very, very grateful to have had your support."
Last week's meeting also saw the council accept a gift of property (Modern Liquors) from John Wadsworth that will allow the expansion of Noel Field Athletic Complex. The building will be demolished within the next year and the lot used for parking. The mayor noted that the lot is not easily buildable because of a lease in perpetuity to the Hot Dog Ranch for parking.
The council also passed to a second reading and publish a new compensation and classification plan recognizing contracts with the police and Department of Public Works and referred to the Public Safety Committee a request to name streets in Hill Side Cemetery.
The agenda for the Organization of Government is as follows:
- Invocation
- Oath of Office for Councilors
- Election of Council President
- Oath of Council President
- Election of Vice President
- Oath for Vice President
- President address
- Present Council Rules
- Committee and Liaison Assignments
- Oath of Office for the North Adams School Committee
- Oath of Office for the Northern Berkshire Vocational School Committee
- Drawing of seats
- Oath of Office for the Mayor
- Mayor’s address
- Benediction
Tags: inauguration, reorganization, swearing in,
