North Adams Gets More City Council Candidates

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — There is some potential for new faces on the City Council and School Committee this year, though it's too early in the election season to make any predictions. 
 
So far, four of the nine incumbent city councilors have taken out papers for re-election: Keith Bona, Peter Oleskiewicz, Bryan Sapienza and Ashley Shade. They've been joined by five challengers: Colin Bain, Robert Cardimino, Emily Johnson, Deanna Morrow and Ronald Sheldon.  
 
Both Cardimino and Sheldon have run unsuccessfully in the past; the other three are newcomers. Cardimino is the first candidate to return nomination papers, handing them in on April 26. 
 
Sapienza and Shade were the first incumbents to pull papers. A few other councilors have said they were waiting to make a decision but Bona pulled papers this week after being slapped with his first Open Meeting Law violation, saying he did not want to end his tenure on a bad note. Bona will be running for an eighth consecutive term although he also served a couple terms in the 1990s. 
 
Oleskiewicz will be seeking his second full term after being appointed to complete an unexpired term in 2020. 
 
Tara Jacobs is the only School Committee incumbent to pull papers so far. She is seeking a third term. Newcomers Cody Chamberlain and Eric Wilson have also pulled papers for the three four-year seats up for election. 
 
All three incumbents on the McCann School Committee have taken out papers for re-election: Peter Breen, George Canales and William Diamond. Diamond returned his papers on April 27. 
 
Jennifer Macksey is running for a second term as mayor and, to date, has no challenger.
 
Nominees must submit the signatures of 50 registered voters for any of the offices up for election. Papers must be received by the Registrars of Voters by 5 p.m. on Aug. 1; the last day to withdraw is Aug. 17.
 
A preliminary election will be held if there number of candidates is double the seats open plus one. For example, at least three candidates or 19 for City Council. 
 
A preliminary election, if necessary, will be held on Sept. 19; the general election is Nov. 7, both from 9 to 7 at St. Anthony's Parish Hall. The last day to register to vote is Sept. 9 and Oct. 28, respectively. 
 
These dates are correct and an update from a previous schedule issued by the city clerk's office. 

Tags: election 2023,   municipal election,   


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Main & Mill: A Vibrant New Restaurant on Main Street

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — You can now enjoy another eatery on Main Street by well-known restaurant siblings Colleen and Sean Taylor.

Their restaurant Main & Mill opened for the first time Tuesday, bringing their vision of creating something vibrant and new to downtown North Adams.

"We have created Main & Mill to be part of our day. It's very seasonal ingredients, thoughtful cooking, beauty, beautiful presentation and dishes. And we really wanted to be part of the community, the downtown area, and start a vibrant area on this end, which has been shuttered for a while," said Colleen.

The building is owned by Ginko on Main Street LLC, which has granted 20 years exclusive possession of the property to Latent Builds as the developer. Jack and Suzy Wadsworth, behind Ginko, are development partners with Karla Rothstein and Salvatore Perry of Latent.

The bank closed in early 2021 and was purchased by Ginko late that year. Plans for the property unveiled three years ago envisioned a restaurant, retail, a park and rooftop bar. 

Colleen saw potential and said she initially wanted the building when it first went up for sale. Being good friends with Rothstein and Perry, she helped them design the kitchen and the bar before learning in March that she could lease it as a restaurant space, something she told them would be a great idea.

She said one of the most important things about the restaurant was the collaboration between Rothstein, Perry, and the Wadsworths, who put a lot of time and energy into the building.

"If Sean and I had done it, we would not be able to do what the collaboration supported. The collaboration of the three of us being able to really have that kind of money to put in down here. The design that the architecture firm that Carla and Sal own is stunning," she said. "The time and effort, everyone came together to do this in a really trusting manner."

The two wanted the restaurant to be an all-day venture, so people could eat at any point throughout the day, all week long.

"We wanted it to be open for coffee and socialization in the morning where people can meet, have their cup of coffee, have a quiche, a vegetarian quiche, or croissant or yogurt. Something intentional with their coffee," she said. "Then move into a lunchtime for the downtown business or anybody, and then go into supper, dinner, with drinks later into the evening. So have it really be open all day long, so that there wasn't a void on any particular day."

They also wanted to do something different than the other restaurants they owned.

"We didn't want to mimic any other restaurant in town. We wanted to bring something that was inspiring, something that had some familiar things that people would see, and other things that we would bring to them for them to experience," she said.

As a woman business owner, Colleen said she wanted to bring a female chef into the kitchen. 

Colleen brought on Chef Anna DeRose, who she said puts twists on a lot of her dishes.

"So we have a creme brulee, but our creme brulee is topped with marshmallow," she said. "Our creme brulee is like almost two desserts in one. It's a s'mores creme brulee. So you could have a s'mores, and you could have a creme brulee - but when you put both of them together, fireworks go off."

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