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 Planners OK MCLA Arts Center, Italian Restaurant

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
05:14AM / Tuesday, March 10, 2026

Nick Moulton, left, and Peter Belmonte were introduced as the chefs for the new Zio Roberto. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts' new arts center was given the go-ahead by the Planning Board on Monday, along with a new Italian restaurant on Marshall Street. 

 

The 7,500-square-foot Campagna Kleefeld Center for Creativity in the Arts will be located at the corner of Porter and Church Street. 

 

The center, funded by California artist and writer Carolyn Kleefeld and the MCLA Foundation, will be a stepping stone for the college to build a graduate program in arts management, said Robert Ziomek, vice president for institutional advancement.

 

"The center will be a vital focus for faculty to engage in the arts, offering a dynamic and flexible space that will serve as a catalyst for curricular innovation and will provide a compelling teaching and learning environment," he told the planners.

 

"It's going to allow for an expanded visiting artist program that we're trying to do, and plus our graduate program will be able to grow as we will apply for, once this building is online, for a graduate program in arts management."

 

He said Kleefeld is "really excited about having students engaged with artists of all of all types, but also giving faculty the ability to be creative with the curriculum around arts."

 

Designer George Dole of Jones Whitsett Architects and landscape architect Rachel Loeffler, principal at Berkshire Design Group presented the plans.