Alcombright Plans Run for Fifth Term as North Adams Mayor
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Mayor Richard Alcombright is indicating that he will run for a fifth term next year.
But that announcement was the one thing missing from his address to supporters at his "Picnic on the Patio" event last week at the Richmond Grille.
Alcombright said it was too early for any formal statements, that anything could happen.
"We're seven, eight months out," he said afterward. "But right now, yes, I'm running again."
The picnic, with burgers and hot dogs, on Wednesday was not as packed as it usually is during his election-year events. However, it still attracted a large number of supporters and community leaders including Berkshire Sheriff Thomas Bowler, new Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts President James Birge and state Senate candidate Adam Hinds. Also attending were a number current and former city councilors, including Lisa Blackmer, Keith Bona, Robert M. Moulton Jr., Nancy Bullett, David Bond, and Michael Boland.
Richard Taskin introduced the mayor, saying there were "good things happening" and specifically pointing to Alcombright's signature achievement, Colegrove Park Elementary School. The $30 million project had been highly controversial and run into delays, but "that school is now being widely accepted in our community as a positive kind of thing."
Alcombright, for his part, listed a range of activities, initiatives, developments and changes that have occurred since his taking office in 2010. Besides the school, they ranged from the cultural and hospitality developments occurring in the West End with the Greylock Mill and Redwood to the recently opened dog park. In between are the improvements at Windsor Lake, major plans for Noel Field Athletic Complex, the UNO Center, new playgrounds, hosting the largest solar array in the state, keeping Crane & Co. and bringing in Berkshire Scenic Railway, becoming an Appalachian Trail Community, and, on the horizon, the expansion of Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, the extreme model train museum and the Mohawk Bike Trail.
"Seven years ago, we were together but not like this, we were coming together for a campaign," Alcombright said. "And it was, to hear a word we hear a lot today, nothing less than a movement. ...
"To be perfectly honest, I was nervous and scared. ... I had to knock on doors and to face the wind.
"Thanks to you I made it through, we all made it through, and seven years later I stand before you a little bit wiser," he continued, cracking he was also larger and with "totally white facial hair."
"I still approach this job as I have for almost seven years as the CEO of a $40 million business with 13,000 shareholders, and I'd like to say I make my decisions based on policy, not politics."
The mayor said he was most proud of his efforts to create a more open government with more input and participation by citizens.
Alcombright, formerly a vice president at what was then Hoosac Bank, was elected in 2009, ousting the incumbent, after several terms as a city councilor. He's faced opposition in each of his three following runs for office but has so far easily retained the corner office. His lowest percentage of the vote was 54 percent in 2015; his highest, 63 percent in 2011.
On Wednesday, he credited his supporters "standing shoulder to shoulder with me, working to bring a next level of governance to our city."
While some of the projects in the city aren't specifically economic development, Alcombright said they indicate a quality of life that's attractive to residents and visitors alike. The city is not longer a "dirty little mill town" but a destination.
"We have significant, cultural and recreational amenities to attract, we have people with ideas, people with passion, with grit and with a tremendous work ethic," Alcombright said. "The city has emerged as a destination and you all own part of that success."
Tags: election 2017, mayor,
