To the Editor:

Thank you North Adams!

It has been an honor to serve on your School Committee these past years. I am living in Vermont now and so am unable to continue serving, but I wanted to take this opportunity to express my appreciation, as well as my concerns, for the city and the commonwealth.

I have engaged actively in Massachusetts politics for many years, but this was my first experience holding public office, and I could not have hoped for a more inspiring experience. I was privileged to work with many of the most caring, dedicated, and passionate elected officials I have ever met, and I’m eager to see what the city will accomplish in the years ahead as civic participation continues to grow and flourish.

I see so much potential being realized in North Adams, but I remain frustrated by the behavior of governments at higher levels. Most of my concerns have been shared by voices louder and more articulate than mine. But one has not, and it is the source of nearly every failure of government we experience now: that we have allowed two private political machines to take and hold every lever of political power that exists.

While one machine in Washington undermines every principle of republican government our country has ever claimed to hold, the other machine in Boston betrays our democracy in order to separate their power from any check, balance, audit, and every other form of accountability to voters. They offer favors for loyalty, policy outcomes for campaign contributions, and retribution for dissent. And for all the feigned animosity we observe between them, they have colluded successfully to convince nearly every American that they have no choices in their government’s leaders save those ordained by them.

I hope that the years to come will see the esteem enjoyed by these machines continue to dwindle, and that we may eventually reclaim the tools of democracy from them and their corporate sponsors. Until then, we must make a conscious effort to distinguish between the candidates who seek to work for us (despite the political necessity of their affiliation) and those who seek to work for the privileges of party status.

I was tempted to list the names of candidates that I would be supporting if I still lived in Massachusetts, but I suspect they will be obvious to any who have or will consider this year’s elections. Further, I know that the concerns I raise above will take far longer than a single election cycle to remedy.

So thank you for your trust in me these past years, and for your consideration now.

Cody Chamberlain