Letters: Barrett Will Divide Community
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To the Editor:
I am one of those stories that have seen both sides of John Barrett III. As a young councilor I often communicated regularly with the former mayor, and updated him on local business activity as I worked with many retailers and manufacturers. I would continually defend the rumors I heard of how he threatened people's businesses, homes, jobs, etc.
Sure, I knew of his temper, but he treated me fine, so it can't be true that he treats other people so badly. Right? Sure enough, the day came where it was my turn to become a pawn in his power plays, and when I refused to go by his rules, he made me his enemy.
It was during a debate when Barrett said as mayor he made three enemies a day, which is why there is so much resentment against him. That's a lot of enemies over 26 years, and that may be one of the most truthful things he has said. However making enemies has nothing to do with being mayor. People can disagree with you, not like your decisions, but when you refer to someone as an enemy, that means you've waged a war on them.
That is something the former mayor did very well, which is sad since he could have used his influence and power to heal the community, instead of divide and make it a "you're with me, or against me" society.
In the past six years, Mayor Alcombright and City Hall opened its doors, and allowed people to express their thoughts, ideas, and opinions. Along with that came criticism, and conflicting thoughts of many citizens expressing multiple ideas at once ,which takes longer to work out, but involves much more of the community.
A great example of this is the neighbors that were upset and expressed concern at the public meeting in the Greylock neighborhood because they weren't happy about the location of the bike path. Their actions and comments were heard and got the bike path moved.
Under the former administration there wouldn't have been a public meeting, or minimally a small unpublicized one not to attract too many people. If he wanted the bike path in that location, the neighbors would have woken up one day and seen a construction crew building a path. Criticism was not allowed. You had the choice to like it, love it, or say nothing at all.
Already with the thought John Barrett could be mayor again, people are silencing their voices just in case. It stuns me once again to hear comments like: "I can't show my support because my son works for the city and you know how Barrett can be"; or "I don't need John coming after my business."
We had 26 years of Barrett monarchy, and if it returns, the city will be divided again into those who are with John, and those who are against him. That's no different than a wall that divides a small country keeping it from fully developing into something much greater.
We tore our wall down six years ago. Vote to keep it down, because if it gets rebuilt, God only knows how long it will stand this time, and the amount of devastation being a divided community will cause.
Keith Bona is a North Adams city councilor. He is running for re-election.
Tags: election 2015, letters to the editor,
