Letter: Lynette Bond Is a Leader for the Future

To the Editor:

To me, elections mean hope. My hope with this mayoral election is that our first female mayor will bring fresh energy and ideas to the corner office and usher in a new era for North Adams. As someone who has been involved in our city for many decades, I know it is time to hand the baton to the younger generation. But it gives me tremendous pause when one of the candidates voices contempt for all of the progress and hard work that has taken place in North Adams over the last 12 years and actively alienates anyone who supported this work. It certainly does not give me hope for tomorrow when Ms. Macksey is nostalgic for the past — specifically the past under former mayor John Barrett III.

Some of you may remember La Festa,which was a particular passion of mine back in the 90s. It was an incredible group of volunteers who came together to bring a weeklong Italian festival to our city. We had everything from fireworks to a baseball exchange with kids from Boston's North End (which continues to this day) to games and food and, let's not forget, big name concerts. It was a tremendous amount of work but so incredibly rewarding when you saw how much everyone enjoyed it. By far the hardest part of executing La Festa, in my opinion, was having to work with the then-Mayor Barrett. He stood in our way whenever he could and expected us to pay homage to him in order to get anything done. If Ms. Macksey is nostalgic for this type of leadership, we should all be worried.

Lynette Bond is a leader for the future for all of us. She believes strongly in collaboration and cares deeply for our city. Service and volunteer work is an intrinsic part of who she is and I'm so impressed with all she has accomplished. This ranges from serving on the Planning Board for eight years to ensuring that the Colegrove Park Elementary School project was realized to coaching boys youth basketball. Her energy is boundless and I have absolutely no doubt that she will put everything she has and everything she is into ensuring that our city thrives.

I strongly support Lynette for mayor and hope you will join me in voting for her on Nov. 2. Remember, signs do not win elections, votes do!

Tony and Mary Ann Abuisi
North Adams, Mass. 

Mary Ann Abuisi is a retired North Adams city clerk. 

North Adams Updated on Schools, Council President Honored With 'Distinction'

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
12:31PM / Wednesday, March 25, 2026

Superintendent Timothy Callahan gives a presentation on the school system at Tuesday's City Council meeting. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The City Council got an update on what's up in the school system and its president was inducted into the mayor's Women's Leadership Hall of Fame.

 

Mayor Jennifer Macksey, as the city's first woman mayor, established the Hall of Fame in 2022, during March, Women's History Month, to recognize local women who have had a positive impact on the city. Past inductees have included the council's first woman president Fran Buckley, Gov. Jane Swift and boxing pioneer Gail Grandchamp. 

 

She described President Ashley Shade as a colleague and a friend and a former student. 

 

"Ashley is known not just for her leadership, but for her compassion, her ability to listen, to understand and to stand up for those whose voices are often gone unheard," the mayor said. "She has been a tireless advocate for the LGBTQ plus community and marginalized communities at both the local and national level here in North Adams."

 

Elected in 2021, Shade is the first openly transgender person to hold the role of council president in Massachusetts. She also leads the first-ever woman majority council in the city's history. 

 

The McCann Technical School graduate also has served on boards and commissions, "always working to make our city more inclusive, equitable and welcoming," said the mayor. "Ashley not leads not only with strength, but with a heart, and our community is a much stronger place because of it."

 

Shade, wearing her signature pink suit, was presented with a plaque from the mayor designating her a "woman of distinction."