Letter: Jennifer Macksey for Mayor

Letter to the EditorPrint Story | Email Story

To the Editor:

I am writing to encourage you to cast your vote for Jennifer Macksey as the next mayor of North Adams. I have worked very closely with Jennifer in matters of the Northern Berkshire School Union. Jennifer's success rate for improving our schools has been 100 percent.

I am the chairperson for the Northern Berkshire School Union's joint school committees. Jennifer was hired as business manager for NBSU with her main goal to write grants for the five town school districts. Jennifer went way above and beyond finding grant money for all of the schools. To Jennifer's position as business manager, assistant superintendent was added to her job description as she was able to receive building grants and then proceeded to oversee the projects from bids to final completion. Jennifer has done an amazing job working with all five towns in the NBSU. Jennifer is always there with answers and suggestions to improve all of the school communities.

On the business manager side of her job, Jennifer has been able to organize all of the individual budgets for each school and was able to set up an account so each of the shared employees did not have to receive five different checks from five different towns that belong to the NBSU. Jennifer's accounting skills have enabled the towns to file end of year reports for their schools. Jennifer has always met all grant deadlines and has made sure that all NBSU bills are paid in a timely fashion.

Leadership and compassion are two words that I would use to describe Jennifer. Jennifer has the ability to evaluate situations and she has incredible skills with which to make professional decisions. Jennifer has strong, effective, decision making skills. Jennifer has a passion for service.

Jennifer has been personally connected to North Adams her entire life. She has been a resident of North Adams, an employee in the City of North Adams, an employee in MCLA, vice president of Southern Vermont College and is currently the assistant superintendent/business manager of the Northern Berkshire School Union, which serves five towns and four schools. Jennifer has the best interests for the City of North Adams in her decision to be mayor of North Adams.

Judith Oleson
Florida, Mass. 

Judith Oleson is chair of the Abbott Memorial School Committee and the Northern Berkshire School Union Committee. 

 

 

 

 

 


Tags: election 2021,   letters to the editor,   


If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

North Adams Eyes Sustainability Committee Creation

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The mayor wants a panel that can advise her on sustainability issues — but she's leaving it up to the City Council to figure the best way to do it. 
 
Mayor Jennifer Macksey on Tuesday presented a list of objectives and how she thought a Sustainability Committee could support the administration. 
 
These would include shaping policies and plans, making recommendations to the administration, reviewing projects through a sustainability lens, set goals and benchmarks (such as water conservation and greenhouse gases), track progress and create reports, hold public meetings and workshops, educate the public and take input, and coordinate efforts across departments.  
 
"We already have a group doing some of this work. But do we make them official, or do we fold some of their work into one of our City Council committee?" asked the mayor. "I will leave that up to the council to decide. My biggest concern about forming another committee is, we're having a hard time filling the committees that we do have."
 
She asked that should the council decide to establish a committee, it keep the membership to no more than five because of the difficulty in filling volunteer board seats. She also cautioned that the administration doesn't have the capacity for a sustainability officer, though that could change in the future. 
 
The grassroots group is the North Adams Sustainability Task Force, an offshoot of Green North Adams. 
 
Jennifer Dunning, a member of the task force, spoke at hearing of visitors to evince support for a formal committee. 
 
View Full Story

More North Adams Stories