Letter: Bond for Mayor

To the Editor:

I support Lynette Bond as North Adams' next mayor. I trust her experience and personal sensibilities, and believe her leadership would provide a breath of new life to the city.

Lynette Bond has been criticized as not being "from North Adams." This criteria sometimes is seen as between those lifers who "know what North Adams needs" versus those new arrivals having new ideas, new blood, and a vision to make change. I believe Lynette Bond will bring people who have lived here since birth AND those who arrive with the energy, excitement to participate in helping make this small city shine.

Lynette served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras in the business development sector. Her service is a show of the commitment she will bring to our city. I also served in the Peace Corps in the Philippines, and understand how that two-year submersion into another culture makes one a stronger, more resilient, and an understanding person.

I strongly endorse Lynette Bond for mayor of North Adams. She brings the needed skills, passion and a deep connection to our city.

Michael Bedford
North Adams, Mass. 

North Adams Council Seats New Councilor Riehl

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
08:46PM / Tuesday, November 10, 2026

New Councilor Virginia Riehl was accompanied by her daughter. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The City Council voted in a new council member to replace the departed Alexa Macdonald. 

 

Virginia Riehl, 10th candidate in last year's election by 41 votes, was elected 5-3 to fill the vacant seat until next election. 

 

She will sit on Community Development and Public Services committees. 

 

"I feel called to serve North Adams, and North Adams has made me a better person," she said after being sworn in. "And then I have one announcement, which is that any compensation I receive in this position, will be donated to the Affordable Housing Trust."

 

Riehl had had the most public support for filling the seat, including a petition with hundreds of names and letters to the editor encouraging the council to vote her in. She thanked her supporters who were in the audience and at home. 

 

She was sworn by City Clerk Tina Leonesio with her daughter at her side. 

 

The other candidates were Peter Oleskiewicz, a past councilor and current member of the Planning Board and Hoosac Water Quality District; Jesus Leyva, a community activist in his previous hometowns of  Greenfield and Northampton; Joseph Ousterhoudt, a hardware store manager; and member of the Democratic City Committee; and Ronald Sheldon, a past candidate for City Council.