Election 2015: Rudd Leaves Ideas for Mayoral Candidates
Well, I got trounced. It was not, unfortunately, unexpected. My plan from day one was to go one-to-one with Dick Alcombright. I thought (and still think) I could have won. And more importantly, the debate — the conversation about how to fix North Adams — would have been educational and constructive for the community. I was hoping that John would stay out of the race. The minute John Barrett got into the race, I knew that my goal was doomed; the city would return to defending the two camps — a division that has delayed progress in the city.
Even with this loss, I hope residents/voters will keep my proposals in mind. Some are so easy to do and will have dramatic results. Why should we continue to live with so many problems without trying to do something about them?
Like fixing the bleak downtown. We should get rid of downtown parking meters, create a VIP paid lot at MoCA which will double our income, put up three big city entrance banners saying "Welcome to North Adams, Home of Mass MoCA and MCLA, Free Downtown Parking," and putting a full-service tourist center in the lobby of City Hall — with lots of signage outside. Plus using the Mohawk for a major MoCA art installation, having summer/fall shuttles from Main to the museum entrance, having a gift/book shop in the library, along with prepared lunch items to increase their income substantially and making it yet another attraction in our downtown. All these things and more are easy to do — they just need a mayor who understands the tourist market.
Another big item is to upgrade home occupation ordinances that will create "live/work" opportunities all over the city.
I've proved this with my Eclipse Mill and I've been suggesting this since that project proved so successful — now the new town manager of Adams is proposing this. This is absolutely free, and can create a stampede of new residents and increase our property values! So why not do this?
And we must be an advocate for our hospital — not just the observer. We can do this with proper political pressure in Boston, along with strong pressure here. And we must not be so feeble that we don't tax BHS the same as we would tax any other large commercial entity; the hospital is now a medical center which is not tax exempt. What I proposed has been supported by the courts — I'm not wrong about this. The next time you get your tax bill, think that perhaps not all are paying their share.
And I have so many other proposals — almost all are reasonable and effective, but I doubt that my opponents will do them. Our city is so divided into two camps that it's hard to hear new voices. You know, most of our problems are self—inflicted and they can be fixed. I tried to get out what I could in a short time — please do read the details on www.NorthAdamsMayor.com.
But voters have returned to their camps. However, it's clear that there is dissatisfaction in our city. I hope Dick and John will have good debates and will study my proposals. They will work. I am not confident they will activate them, but that's the only thing I can urge right now.
Eric Rudd came in third in Tuesday's mayoral preliminary election in North Adams, eliminating him from contention in November.
Tags: election 2015, letters to the editor,
