Letter: Bond Will Be a Reliable Community Leader

To the Editor:

When looking toward the future of this great city, it is important not to neglect the voices of the younger generations. It is also important not to underscore the value community service has in shaping a candidate. Coming from an MCLA student and soon to be officeholder, I believe the person to best connect with our youth and represent the value of community service is Lynette Bond.

The most important memories I've made as a college student were through active volunteerism. As a person who dedicates my time in such a way, I can see how volunteer work has influenced Lynette Bond as a person, and how it will shape her tenure as the next mayor of North Adams. Through her dedication as a foster parent, her time in the Peace Corps, and her intense dedication toward the Colegrove Park Elementary School project, she has proven to me that she will be a reliable community leader.

I have been able to call North Adams my home for 22 years. MCLA was my school of choice because of this beautiful city I have been able to call my home. I think the school is especially emblematic of our community's younger demographics, and it makes me pleased to see who younger people want as their leader. The feedback we have received from the overwhelming majority of them? The future is with Lynette.

With students who want to make North Adams their home after they graduate, and have taken on our community as one that represents them, Lynette is an especially symbolic person to take office as our next mayor. Lynette may not have been born in North Adams, but she chose our city as her home like so many others here do. I am confident in Lynette's experience, transparency, and communicative nature to lead our city for the next two years. I hope with all this information in mind, you will vote for her assuredly on Nov. 2.

Joshua Vallieres
North Adams, Mass.

Joshua Vallieres is a candidate for North Adams School Committee. 

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.