North Adams Mayor Candidates Fined for Missing Filing Deadline

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Two mayoral candidates have been fined for not filing their preliminary reports on time. 
 
Robert R. Moulton Jr. and Peter Oleskiewicz failed to file campaign reports with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance by the Sept. 11 filing date. Each was being fined $25 a day until their report is filed. This is a personal fine and committee funds may not be used. 
 
Election candidates were required to submit all campaign donations and expenditures between Jan. 1 and Sept. 1, 2017. 
 
As of Monday afternoon, Sept. 18, Moulton had not filed any reports. Oleskiewicz on Sunday filed a report showing no donations and no expenditures. 
 
Oleskiewicz, whose name is on the ballot for Tuesday's preliminary election, had said two weeks ago he was not actively running because of his job as a truck driver on A. Duie Pyle keeps him on the road. It was too late to remove his name from the ballot. However, he told The Berkshire Eagle on Friday that he was still in contention for mayor.  
 
Both Moulton and Oleskiewicz are vying against three other candidates, all of whom filed campaign finance reports by the Sept. 11 date. 
 
Robert M. Martelle, like Oleskiewicz, reported no donations and no campaign spending. 
 
Rachel Branch reported $225.60 in campaign donations from four supporters and spending $32.68, largely on printing campaign materials. 
 
Thomas W. Bernard had the most donations and spending, reporting $11,630 in receipts and $3,166.84 in expenditures. 
 
A number of the expenditures were for campaign events and materials, and processing fees for the Democracy Engine online payment system. Total donations were from 53 supporters, largely local, and $280 in unitemized contributions. 

Tags: campaign reports,   city election,   election 2017,   mayor,   


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North Adams City Council Hears Housing Authority Grievances

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Unhealthy odors, drugs, mold, peeling paint, unsecured doors, lack of security and frightened residents. 
 
That was the list of grievances that current and former tenants of the North Adams Housing Authority's high rise on Ashland Street laid before the City Council on Tuesday. 
 
"I've stayed quiet long enough. I've been professional long enough. Somebody needs to do something. Damn it! It's getting too bad over there. It's worse than it's ever been. There's more drug people there. There's more dealers there. There's drunks rolling around in there, drinking out front, doing drugs out front," said Tenants Association President Cory Fortin. 
 
"Everybody's pointing fingers at everybody. Let's all get together and do this damn thing. Get it done. I'm sick of it."
 
Tenants have been speaking out at council meetings about security issues and Councilor Lillian Zavatsky, liaison to the authority, requested time for Fortin to speak. The authority has been in some upheaval lately with the loss of commissioner and the abrupt resignation of the executive director last week. 
 
The association had called for a formal grievance hearing against Jennifer Hohn after she locked their offices. Hohn has not publicly spoken about her resignation. The Housing Authority is meeting on Thursday for "acknowledgement" of the vacancy. 
 
"My paperwork that I put in for my maintenance request, ah, disappeared. We have nothing on record. There's a lot of things that this board, this council, the mayor, everybody needs to look at the big picture," Fortin said, adding that some tenants were worried about attending the meeting because of fears of retaliation. "All I'm asking for is the right support and for this this council, this mayor, and everybody to do what's right."
 
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