Letter: Bond for Mayor

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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. 

 

 

 

 


Tags: election 2021,   letters to the editor,   


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North Adams Council Votes $55M Budget

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The $55 million fiscal 2027 budget approved by the City Council on Tuesday had been cut by $298,000, as of Monday.
 
The proposed fiscal 2027 spending plan is $54,964,135.99, up 5 percent over this year. The Finance Committee gave a final recommendation of the draft on Monday.
 
Of the amount approved, nearly $24 million comes from state aid (minus $4.5 million in charges), $9.5 million from local receipts, and $25 million through taxation. 
 
Mayor Jennifer Macksey told the Finance Committee, as it was giving its final look at the plan, that she'd made cuts on previously recommended budget lines. The budget has been under review for several weeks. 
 
"We were trending at $1.8 million that we were closing the gap on, and then it became evident that we couldn't push any more really on local receipts," she said. "The team really took a deep dive into what can we really survive without. ... I feel like we, as an administration, tightened up a lot, but we are trying to keep the budget in balance."
 
The reductions, use of $663,000 in reserves and accounts sitting outside the general fund, will be used to close the gap, along with an anticipated $1.1 million more in local receipts.
 
"We have the reserve, we should use it. It's hard to both on the city side and on the school side, you know, to say to a taxpayer, your taxes are going to go up, we have spread out this $2 million and we're sitting on a savings account for $2 million right?" the mayor said.
 
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