Letter: Harrington Deserves Another Term

Letter to the EditorPrint Story | Email Story

To the Editor:

I'm writing to express my wholehearted endorsement of Andrea Harrington — we have been friends for many years, through thick and thin. I look at the criminal justice system through the lens of our community's most marginalized neighbors. Andrea walks the walk on showing up to make change.

She understands the value of harm reduction better than any other politician I’ve worked with. She has been a champion for keeping drug use in the realm of public health where it belongs. She has focused the arm of justice on where it belongs — domestic violence and murder.

She has faced extremely biased reporting by our local paper of record. It has been very disappointing to see the repeated smears. It has made people afraid to support her publicly, even though in private they think she is doing a good job.

It is also worth noting that the courts were fully closed during a significant portion of her tenure. Now that they are open, violent crimes are being successfully prosecuted.

Andrea has earned your vote for another four years.

Stephen Murray
North Adams, Mass.

 

 


Tags: election 2022,   


If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

North Adams Eyes Sustainability Committee Creation

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The mayor wants a panel that can advise her on sustainability issues — but she's leaving it up to the City Council to figure the best way to do it. 
 
Mayor Jennifer Macksey on Tuesday presented a list of objectives and how she thought a Sustainability Committee could support the administration. 
 
These would include shaping policies and plans, making recommendations to the administration, reviewing projects through a sustainability lens, set goals and benchmarks (such as water conservation and greenhouse gases), track progress and create reports, hold public meetings and workshops, educate the public and take input, and coordinate efforts across departments.  
 
"We already have a group doing some of this work. But do we make them official, or do we fold some of their work into one of our City Council committee?" asked the mayor. "I will leave that up to the council to decide. My biggest concern about forming another committee is, we're having a hard time filling the committees that we do have."
 
She asked that should the council decide to establish a committee, it keep the membership to no more than five because of the difficulty in filling volunteer board seats. She also cautioned that the administration doesn't have the capacity for a sustainability officer, though that could change in the future. 
 
The grassroots group is the North Adams Sustainability Task Force, an offshoot of Green North Adams. 
 
Jennifer Dunning, a member of the task force, spoke at hearing of visitors to evince support for a formal committee. 
 
View Full Story

More North Adams Stories