Letter: Macksey for Mayor

To the Editor:

I moved to North Adams more than a year ago, I lived in Tennessee for a short while after leaving Pittsfield due to an attack on my son.

Within this time of our return, a lot of things in North Adams changed.

One thing seems to be the heart of our fine community. There's some art making its way back to our area and that is wonderful. One change I see fits voting for Jennifer Macksey for mayor. When my family first met her at the Downtown Celebration she was so inviting warm and caring.

My son, who has PTSD issue a from the above mentioned in Pittsfield, went right over and gave her a big hug. He took right to her. Jennifer cares for her community, her voters, for everyone. She is kind and wonderful listener, she will absolutely be a great leader. She is a positive role model for all of us. She is exactly what our city needs for a better tomorrow.

All of my children adore her; my wife and I are amazed how one person can reach so many people. I know in my heart Jennifer Macksey is our next mayor, our leader, our future. I trust in her and her campaign. I urge you on Nov. 2 to vote. for Jennifer Macksey.

Tony Paulyk
North Adams, Mass.

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."