Itâ€™s official: Barrett and Babeu will square off again in race for mayor of North Adams

12:00AM / Wednesday, August 08, 2001Print Story | Email Story

Itâ€™s official: there will be a rematch for mayor in North Adams this fall pitting 18-year incumbent John Barrett III against challenger Paul Babeu. In 1997, Babeu finished just 353 votes behind Barrett in the general election, with an unusually heavy voter turnout of 75 percent of registered voters casting ballots. In the primary earlier that year which narrowed the field of three mayoral candidates down to two, Babeu narrowly finished first, coming in ahead of Barrett by just 145 votes. Babeu, of Willow Street, took out nomination papers last Friday, Aug. 3, just when it looked as if Barrett might not have a challenger for mayor for the first time in his tenure. The Babeu camp turned in the papers yesterday, the last day to do so. Babeu, 32, who is the executive director of the DeSisto School, located in Stockbridge, will leave his position of 2-1/2 years in order to concentrate on the campaign. His brother, Shaun Babeu, a former city councilor, also is leaving a post at the school to serve as his brotherâ€™s campaign manager. Babeu is a 1992 graduate of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams with a Bachelorâ€™s degree in history/political science. He is currently enrolled in the Master of Public Administration graduate program at American International College in Springfield and plans to complete the professional degree in 2002. Babeu also holds the rank of captain in the Massachusetts National Guard and serves as the company commander for B Company, 181 Engineer Battalion in Florence. â€œWe came so close four years ago and I will work hard,â€ said Babeu in a prepared statement. â€œI ask the voters of North Adams for their support and the opportunity to serve them as their next mayor.â€ Barrett, a resident of Corinth Street, is seeking an unprecedented 10th two-year term as mayor. In an interview with The Advocate in June, Barrett said that a lot of good things are happening in North Adams, and he would like to stick around to see some of the projects be completed. â€œA lot of the new people that have come to the city or area now just donâ€™t understand where North Adams was 18 years ago,â€ he said. â€œWe werenâ€™t always like this. We werenâ€™t an overnight success story.â€ â€œI want to make sure that itâ€™s running in place a few years before I leave,â€ he said of the cityâ€™s upturn in recent years. â€œOnce itâ€™s entrenched, itâ€™s got a better chance for success, and thatâ€™s what Iâ€™m looking at.â€ City Council There are 13 candidates for nine seats on the North Adams City Council. Eight of the nine incumbents are running this year, with incumbent Keith Bona having announced in advance that he would not be seeking re-election. The incumbents are Richard J. Alcombright, Clark H. Billings, Michael C. Bloom, Ronald A. Boucher, Gailanne M. Cariddi, Diane M. Gallese-Parsons, Marie Harpin, Alan L. Marden. Former city councilors Vincent Melito and William E. Donovan, Jr. are running, as are newcomers Brian L. Flagg, Kyle J. Hanlon, and Robert R. Moulton, Jr. North Adams School Committee There are three candidates for three seats on the North Adams School Committee. Twenty-three year incumbent Richard B. Bullett did not take out nomination papers, nor did Ellen Kaiser, who has served for 12 years on the committee. Returning nomination papers were incumbent Heather Putnam, and newcomers Mark P. Moulton and John Hockridge. The McCann School Committee There are three candidates for two seats on the McCann School Committee. Incumbent Richard J. Alcombright is running, but not running for re-election is D. Anthony Ponti. Besides Alcombright, competing for the two available seats are Daniel Perreault and Paul A. Gigliotti.

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North Adams Council OKs New Sustainability Committee

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
05:13AM / Thursday, September 10, 2026

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The City Council on Tuesday night moved the establishment of a Sustainability & Tree Commission to a second reading and publication.

Mayor Jennifer Macksey back in February had presented the council with a list of objectives and how she thought a such a committee could support the administration. Councilor Andrew Fitch had raised the issue the year before, referred it to the mayor's office and pushed through the ordinance.

As the process moved forward, he recommended it merge with the Tree Commission, taking on that committee's objectives as part of the city's sustainability mission. It will make recommendations such as regarding climate change and impact on neighborhoods, and be able to seek grants, partnerships and other resources.

The language provided to the council on Tuesday had been reviewed by several committees and commissions and included changes advised by the city solicitor.

"It's been through a whole bunch of different reviews, and it took different tweaks from each of these committees," said Fitch, acting as president that night. "Each of these committees and commission provided excellent guidance of how to make this a little bit stronger, how to make this a little bit better."

Jenny Dunning, a member of the grassroots North Adams Sustainability Task Force, spoke at the beginning of the meeting to endorse the ordinance.

"I just want to say how much I appreciate that the council and the administration has moved forward to figure out a way to make this happen, and it's up for the vote tonight," said Dunning, who serves on the Windsor Lake Commission. "And we've got five of us who are here to support this change."

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