Letter: Jennifer Macksey for Mayor of North Adams

Letter to the Editor05:00PM / Monday, October 27, 2025Print Story | Email Story

To the Editor:

Jennifer Macksey was born in North Adams and is a lifelong resident. She doesn't need to learn the culture and nuance that is North Adams. North Adams is in her DNA. She is a product of the North Adams Public Schools and a graduate of Drury High School. Her B.A. in accounting certainly prepares her to make sure the balance sheets of North Adams add up.

The jobs she's held have all been leadership jobs, decision-making jobs which require seeing the big picture as well as understanding the nuts-and-bolts operation of complex institutions.

In North Adams, resources are hard to come by and every penny counts. Hard decisions need to be made apportioning what money we do have. Yet Mayor Macksey has not only seen to the city's daily business but also prioritized quality of life issues.

We've been lucky to have Jennifer Macksey occupying the corner office of North Adams City Hall these last four years. Let's not blow it, folks. We have a great mayor! Make sure you show up and vote fill in the bubble next to her name. She's worked 24 hours a day for us. Now it's time for us to show up for her.

Chris Wondoloski
North Adams, Mass.

Tags: election 2025, municipal election,

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Veteran Spotlight: Coast Guard Capt. Thurman 'Tom' Maine

By Wayne SoaresSpecial to iBerkshires
04:42PM / Sunday, September 13, 2026

MASHPEE, Mass. — If I were to describe the best attributes of this week's veteran, they would be an infectious personality, role model, leader, wonderful family man and a person that leads by example in the very best way.

The aforementioned, are the primary reasons why Thurman "Tom" Maine enjoyed a successful and distinguished military career in the Coast Guard from 1983 to 2014.

Born in North Stonington, Conn., Maine entered the Coast Guard at the age of 21 and was sent to boot camp in Cape May, N.J. His first assignment was at Coast Guard Station in Provincetown, R.I. From 1994 to 1997, he was a helicopter pilot for Coast Guard Air Station at Otis Air National Guard Base and was elevated to operations officer, chief pilot at the base from 2004 to 2007.

During his 31-year career, Maine flew some of the Coast Guard's most elite helicopters; the Sikorsky H-3 (the Coast Guard's last amphibious aircraft), the Sikorsky H-60 (the most widely flown military helicopter in the world) and the H-65 (a smaller, faster helicopter that deploys on ships).

Maine continued to rapidly climb the ranks and in 2009 was promoted as the Coast Guard's liason to the Chairman of The Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon, a position he held until 2011. Following that assignment, he was promoted to captain and rose to be the commanding officer at the Coast Guard's prestigious Aviation Training Center in Mobile, Ala.

During his tenure as commanding officer, he suffered a devastating blow when four Guardsman were killed during a night training exercise. He conveyed that his greatest achievement in his entire military career, was the leadership he provided

to his 600-member unit and the families of the fallen Guardsmen, by always being accessible, communicating constantly and holding vitally important family nights.

He said this tragedy, "gave him the ultimate opportunity to live out his faith." He also lobbied intensely for the student pilot who was killed to be awarded his designation posthumously, which he did.

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