Election 2009: Alcombright Addresses Concerns About His Qualifications

02:37PM / Monday, September 14, 2009Print Story | Email Story

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Mayoral candidate Dick Alcombright addresses his qualifications:

"Dick Alcombright is Too Nice of a Guy to be Mayor."

First, apparently I am 'too nice of a guy' to be mayor. It is rumored that I am not tough enough to do the difficult things and make the difficult decisions required of a mayor. 'Tough' is an interesting word. It can mean harsh and unpleasant or it can mean strong and durable. I believe that many I have worked for and with would probably describe my leadership style as strong and durable. I firmly believe that as we move our community forward, tough in the sense of strong and durable is what our city needs.

There is no doubt that, as your mayor, I can dispense with unpleasantness and still make the tough decisions. In all my years of managing people and performance in both the public and private sector, I have had to make many tough decisions about contracts, personnel and processes. It is important not to discount my strengths just because I can also be a nice guy. I believe many people in this community, and beyond, would prefer to deal with a strong, but professional, respectful, and yes ... nice mayor. One who will be accessible and listen.

Together We Will Succeed

Contact Alcombright at info@AlcombrightForMayor.com, 413-663-5057 or AlcombrightForMayor.com.

Submitted by the Campaign to Elect Dick Alcombright for Mayor

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Q&A with State Representative Challenger Andrew Fitch

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
10:01AM / Sunday, August 23, 2026

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — On Sept. 1, voters in the First Berkshire District will decide whether they want to send a new representative to Beacon Hill in Boston.

Andrew Fitch, currently a city councilor in the district's largest municipality — and the commonwealth's smallest city — is challenging former North Adams Mayor John Barrett III, who won the First Berkshire seat in a 2017 special election, in the Democratic Party primary.

There is no Republican on the primary ballot for the First Berkshire seat so the primary will effectively be the election for the seat.

The two candidates met for their only debate on Aug. 13 at Williams College. iBerkshires.com reached out to both candidates to follow up on some of the points raised in the debate and get their thoughts on some other issues facing the district.

Below are excerpts from a conversation with challenger Andrew Fitch:

Question: From the very beginning, you talked about the campaign as a listening experience, and this week you're continuing that with the bike tour …

Andrew Fitch: Knocking on doors that have never been knocked on before. … I was riding through, I believe it was Hinsdale coming into Windsor, and they started to yell at me, 'No!' And then the guy was like, 'Wait a second. That's Andrew Fitch.' They actually knew who I was, and they were actually wanting to chat with me.

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