NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The newly elected government of North Adams will be officially sworn in on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2020. 

 

The biennial inaugural takes place in City Council Chambers at 10 a.m. and is open to the public. The event will be broadcast on Northern Berkshire Community Television. 

 

Mayor Thomas Bernard, who is entering his second two-year term in the corner office, will give an address and the City Council will elect its president and vice president. 

 

The nine-member council will see a third of its membership changeover after November's election. 

 

Returning for the next term are Keith Bona, Marie T. Harpin, Paul Hopkins, Jason LaForest, Benjamin Lamb and Wayne Wilkinson. Two of the new members aren't that new: both Lisa Blackmer and Robert Moulton Jr. are former five-term councilors being returned after two years off. 

 

The single newcomer is Jessica Sweeney, elected in her first run for office in November. 

 

Moulton will be sworn in twice on the New Year — first for council and secondly as the new member of the School Committee. Moulton ran and won both seats, and returns the name Moulton to the School Committee after his brother Mark left the committee in 2015 after serving several terms. 

 

Also being sworn in the School Committee will be incumbents Karen Bond and Tara Jacobs.

 

The city's representatives to the Northern Berkshire Vocational Regional School District will also be taking their oaths for the new term. Incumbents George Canales and William Diamond will be joined on the McCann School Committee by newcomer Peter Breen, a longtime educator and member of the License Board. 

 

The public invited to attend. The ceremony begins with the swearing in and reorganization of the City Council; the mayor is then escorted into chambers for his address. 

 

The organization of government is held on Jan. 1 following an election according to the city charter, which states the mayor and councilors are to "serve for two years from the first day of January following their election."