Letter: Jennifer Macksey For Mayor

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To the Editor:

In the nearly 40 years I've lived in North Adams — first as a student at North Adams State College and then making my home here with my wife — I've found mayoral politics to be divisive and full of mudslinging. I was always left to decide between the lesser of two evils. Or, the lesser of who cares.

When Mayor Bernard announced he would not be seeking re-election various people with little-to-no experience took out nomination papers to replace him. It was discouraging to see the quality of candidate it appeared we could be looking at as the city's next chief executive.

Things improved when Jennifer Macksey entered the race. She is someone with the experience who can walk into the corner office on Day One, roll up her sleeves and get to work. She has previously worked in many capacities for the city from working herself up from the Transfer Station to treasurer/collector of the city. She's worked at both the employee and management levels.

The mayor is also chairman of the North Adams Public School Committee. Jennifer's background at the Northern Berkshire School Union, Southern Vermont College and MCLA give her a great background to look at the needs of our schools — not just the buildings and students but also the needs of the teachers, teacher assistants and paraprofessionals who educate them. She can work to make sure we do everything possible to attract the best professionals to our schools to educate our future generations and future leaders.

Jennifer is open to ideas, willing to listen and easy to talk with. Gone are the days of mudslinging campaigns. The choice is clear and simple. I ask everyone to join me on Nov. 2 and vote for Jennifer Macksey as the next mayor of North Adams.

Paul Moriarty
North Adams, Mass.

 

 


Tags: election 2021,   municipal election,   


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North Adams Council Votes $55M Budget

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The $55 million fiscal 2027 budget approved by the City Council on Tuesday had been cut by $298,000, as of Monday.
 
The proposed fiscal 2027 spending plan is $54,964,135.99, up 5 percent over this year. The Finance Committee gave a final recommendation of the draft on Monday.
 
Of the amount approved, nearly $24 million comes from state aid (minus $4.5 million in charges), $9.5 million from local receipts, and $25 million through taxation. 
 
Mayor Jennifer Macksey told the Finance Committee, as it was giving its final look at the plan, that she'd made cuts on previously recommended budget lines. The budget has been under review for several weeks. 
 
"We were trending at $1.8 million that we were closing the gap on, and then it became evident that we couldn't push any more really on local receipts," she said. "The team really took a deep dive into what can we really survive without. ... I feel like we, as an administration, tightened up a lot, but we are trying to keep the budget in balance."
 
The reductions, use of $663,000 in reserves and accounts sitting outside the general fund, will be used to close the gap, along with an anticipated $1.1 million more in local receipts.
 
"We have the reserve, we should use it. It's hard to both on the city side and on the school side, you know, to say to a taxpayer, your taxes are going to go up, we have spread out this $2 million and we're sitting on a savings account for $2 million right?" the mayor said.
 
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