Letter: Vote Lynette Bond for Mayor

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To the Editor:

I write today to urge North Adams voters to support Lynette Bond for mayor. I believe a vote for Lynette will keep the city moving in the right direction. Lynette is incredibly active in North Adams and has the experience, foresight, and fortitude to do the job that needs to be done. Sure, she has never been a Facebook warrior, soapbox avenger, or ego maniac, so perhaps her deep investment and commitment to the city hasn't hit everyone's radar, but the positive impact of her work has likely touched each and every one of you in some way.

The city of North Adams has always had to work a little harder than other places to succeed. Lynette gets that and spends her time putting in that effort, not just talking about it or reminiscing about what once was.

I've known Lynette for years and when she announced her candidacy for mayor, I was thrilled. Lynette and I volunteered on the Planning Board together and I always found her inquisitive, mature, educated on the subject matter, able to make decisions -- and all around, just a great person. All necessary qualities in a mayor!

Lynette Bond will be proposing new, creative solutions (and she already is) -- and won't fall back on the same old same old. As mayor she can see a path forward to advance North Adams and help it realize its potential.



I have said for years that North Adams is too small to have the luxury of infighting. If we can't work together, why would anybody else want to work with us? Lynette will work with everyone, not just the majority who voted for a new direction over the last six elections. (A little secret: North Adams may be better known today, but the rest of the world doesn't care if you succeed or not. Only you do. For your own sake, work together.)

To address the garbage you might hear about "well, she's not from here." Neither was I. That didn't mean I couldn't fully commit myself to the community and find a longtime home and lifelong connections here. So please disregard those who make that argument. It's meaningless, divisive, and "where you are from" isn't a qualifier for how you will lead.

A recent fundraising letter that made the rounds on social media said the quiet part out loud: it implied that returning to the old days is the future for the city. To answer the point posed in the letter, yes indeed, I prefer how the city has been run the last 12 years. Freedom to dissent, freedom to express yourself, freedom to be creative with your business. Clearly a lot of other people liked it as well. Go forward with hope and vision North Adams, and elect Lynette Bond as your next mayor.

Paul Hopkins
Boylston, Mass.

Paul Hopkins is a former member of the North Adams Planning Board and former president of the North Adams City Council. 

 

 

 


Tags: election 2021,   letters to the editor,   


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Armed North Adams Man Arrested Following Domestic Standoff

Staff Reports

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Matthew Parker, a 44-year-old North Adams man, is set to face multiple counts of attempted murder and weapons charges in Northern Berkshire District Court on Friday morning following an hours-long, armed standoff at a Houghton Street home.

The defendant is being arraigned for:

  • Domestic Assault and Battery
  • Assault with the Intent to Murder (3 counts)
  • Carrying a Firearm While Under the Influence of Alcohol (3 counts)
  • Possession of a hi-capacity firearm (4 counts)
  • Improper Storage of a hi-capacity firearm (2 counts)
  • Improper Storage of a firearm (6 counts)

According to a report, on June 10, at approximately 8:42 p.m., officers responded to 365 Houghton St. following a report of a domestic assault and battery. The caller said she and her husband had been involved in a physical altercation.

She said her husband was intoxicated, making suicidal statements about shooting himself, and had access to both a shotgun and a pistol.

Upon arrival, officers made contact with both the caller and Parker. During the encounter, Parker threatened to shoot officers before retreating into the home and refusing to exit.

Officers believed that Parker was armed.

To ensure public safety, police established a perimeter around the home and requested assistance from the Berkshire County Special Response Team (SRT) and North Adams Police crisis negotiators. The Brien Center was also contacted and promptly provided an emergency mental health clinician to assist with the incident.

Special Response Team personnel deployed drones to monitor the residence and provide aerial illumination. During the operation, officers saw Parker exit the house carrying a rifle. He pointed it at the drones, stated a report. Parker subsequently pointed the rifle toward several officers positioned behind their cruisers. After officers attempted to de-escalate the situation, Parker returned inside the residence.

Trained crisis negotiators maintained communication with Parker for several hours in an effort to peacefully resolve the situation. At approximately 2 a.m., Parker ceased communication with negotiators.

Drone operators later observed Parker unconscious in a recliner on the first floor of the residence, with a rifle and shotgun on the floor nearby.

Members of the Berkshire County SRT then executed a coordinated operation. Diversionary devices were deployed through a window while an entry team simultaneously entered the home, secured the firearms, and took the defendant into custody.

A search warrant was executed after Parker was in custody. North Adams Police seized four shotguns, six rifles, two handguns, and thousands or rounds of ammunition from the home.

During the operation, one SRT member sustained a minor injury related to a less-lethal bean bag deployment. Parker also sustained non-life threatening injuries during the arrest and was transported to Berkshire Medical Center for medical evaluation.

"We thank the community for its patience and cooperation throughout this incident, particularly residents in the affected area who complied with temporary shelter-in-place requests," Police Chief Mark Bailey said.  "The North Adams Police Department extends its sincere appreciation to the agencies that provided mutual aid and assisted by handling calls for service during this incident. We are especially grateful to the Berkshire County Special Response Team for its professional and decisive response, the Brien Center for the rapid deployment of a mental health clinician, and our crisis negotiators whose efforts helped maintain dialogue and contributed significantly to the safe resolution of this incident."

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