Letter: Bernard Right Choice for Mayor

To the Editor:

It has been my honor and pleasure to serve the people of North Adams on the City Council over the last decade while the city continues to bloom. I've also had the opportunity to serve on the Alumni Board of MCLA as the college has become model for small state schools in the state.

One of the most quietly influential people in both these realms during this time has been Tom Bernard, who is now running to become mayor of North Adams. I heartily endorse Tom's candidacy because he is the right choice for North Adams.

I've watched Tom work behind the scenes to help Mass MoCA and MCLA find the funding they so richly deserve from sources public and private. I've seen him work as the right hand man for Mary Grant, getting things done when she was president of MCLA. He was never flashy and always sincerely humble doing the hard but critical work that rarely gets noticed by the public.

Tom has always taken an active role in the community, whether it was helping the Drury Blue Devils with a car wash fundraiser and promoting the theater events, or helping MCLA get Gallery 51 off the ground. He is one of the faces Bill and I have always seen downtown at community events.

Tom is incredibly smart, very diplomatic, and is exactly the kind of person we need to lead the city as it turns a page with at least four new city councilors and a wave recent enthusiasm.

Please join me in voting for him on Nov. 7.

Lisa Blackmer
North Adams, Mass.

Blackmer is member and former president
of the North Adams City Council.

Cost, Access to NBCTC High Among Concerns North Berkshire Residents

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
06:15PM / Thursday, April 25, 2024

Adams Select Chair Christine Hoyt, NBCTC Executive Director David Fabiano and William Solomon, the attorney representing the four communities, talk after the session. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Public access channels should be supported and made more available to the public — and not be subject to a charge.

 

More than three dozen community members in-person and online attended the public hearing  Wednesday on public access and service from Spectrum/Charter Communications. The session at City Hall was held for residents in Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg and North Adams to express their concerns to Spectrum ahead of another 10-year contract that starts in October.

 

Listening via Zoom but not speaking was Jennifer Young, director state government affairs at Charter.

 

One speaker after another conveyed how critical local access television is to the community and emphasized the need for affordable and reliable services, particularly for vulnerable populations like the elderly. 

 

"I don't know if everybody else feels the same way but they have a monopoly," said Clarksburg resident David Emery. "They control everything we do because there's nobody else to go to. You're stuck with with them."

 

Public access television, like the 30-year-old Northern Berkshire Community Television, is funded by cable television companies through franchise fees, member fees, grants and contributions.

 

Spectrum is the only cable provider in the region and while residents can shift to satellite providers or streaming, Northern Berkshire Community Television is not available on those alternatives and they may not be easy for some to navigate. For instance, the Spectrum app is available on smart televisions but it doesn't include PEG, the public, educational and governmental channels provided by NBCTC.