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Ronald A. Boucher*
Candidate For City Council - North Adams NORTH ADAMS - Ronald A. Boucher doesn't mind if you call him at home.
In fact, that's one of the things he likes the most about being a city councilor. "I like phone calls because I like helping people." What his constituents are calling about may not seem that important, "but it's important to that individual."
Boucher, 50, a 1976 graduate of McCann Technical School, is running for a fifth term on the council. He is chairman of the Public Safety Committee, a past vice president of the council and has been the city's representative to the Hoosac Water Quality District for seven years.
There's not a particular matter he's proud of working on but rather is proud of what the council as a whole has done. He takes issue with people who call the councilors bobbleheads for so often approving the mayor's proposals.
"You can believe that when the mayor brings something to us, you can be sure it's been thought out through and through," said Boucher. "You look at it and you've got to make the right decision. Is it good for the city? As a whole, we've done some very good things."
Some of those good things was helping the mayor move forward with the purchase of the Notre Dame property and Clark Biscuit building for private development and the sale of the gravel bank for retail development on Curran Highway.
"It puts those buildings back on the tax rolls. [The Clark Biscuit project] will put affordable housing back in the city's downtown," he said. "Then the gravel bank, what's going to go in there? We don't know but it's going to be good."
However, he doesn't think the city should get into the real estate business. This was a matter of ensuring developers would use the buildings and saving the steeple of Notre Dame, said Boucher. "We are the city of steeples, aren't we?"
He believes the projects will have a good effect on the downtown but doesn't know how much more the city can do to help stores survive on Main Street. "Basically, it comes back to how you sell the area.
Would I like to see the street filled up? Yes, I would but it's a battle."
Boucher said more signage is needed to show that Peebles and Staples are off Main Street, because even coming up the street you can't see the stores.
"How do we draw eyes to what's downtown? Maybe kiosks on street to direct people where to go at Eagle Street and Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art," he said. He's thinks it's a good idea that will likely be brought up.
The MoCA and the growing artists community has brought in a lot of traffic, and he said artist and developer Eric Rudd "has done a heck of a job rehabilitating all those buildings [he owns]."
While its been good for the city, it shouldn't depend on the creative economy. "We have to think outside the box."
"I'm a bench man, I always have been." While they can become a loitering spot, he thinks it's a matter of enforcement. "I just think it makes it more inviting downtown."
Two years ago, he was critical of the permitting process for small businesses.
"I was maybe critical one time of the Planning Board but you know what, they do a good job," he said. "They have a standard they set and it's a standard you need to stick to."
However, you should never try to push business away, Boucher added. "Sometimes I thought some things were cumbersome for a company to open up but it works out in the long run."
For all the life being generated by the arts community and small shops, he would "still like to see some meat and potatoes jobs come back to the city with good pay and benefits."
And for all the artists, North Adams is still a community of working families who depend on the city to provide quality services.
He agreed with other councilors' comments that maybe the staffing levels are stretched too thin in the city, noting that the fire and police department were down a position or two. But that, again, comes down to budgetary issues.
"We need to be diligent in how we spend our money and what we spend it on," said Boucher because state aid lottery receipts are down.
Boucher enjoys his work on the safety committee and believes what it and other committees do can really affect the community. He thinks there's times when the council would do better to let the committees take on issues before it.
"Whenever there's an issue in front of us ... let the committees really drill into certain issues. let they come back with their opinions and really talk about it."
Boucher and his wife live on Barbour Street; they have three children and three grandchildren.
He says he brings a layman's type of attitude to the council and concern for the working person.
"I think North Adams is going in the right direction. I think there are a lot of things I can do. I want to be a part of it." |
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