Letter: Vote to Re-Elect Macksey as Mayor

To the Editor:

It's that time when voters will again get to make their choice for mayor. This year Scott Berglund is challenging Mayor Jennifer Macksey.

Other than being a political newcomer and a fairly new resident to the city, little is known about Mr. Berglund. I know he's twice defeated cancer and while I sincerely congratulate him on beating the beast, it is not a credential for overseeing a municipality with a $50-plus million budget.

He says if elected there will be "transparency" in his administration. Ironically, his campaign has been anything but transparent. Not once, even in the mayoral debate, did he cite any qualifications to be mayor. What experience does he have? What's he bringing to the table? In fact, what does he even do for work? I've never seen or heard that reported.

Throughout the debate with Mayor Macksey his replies to questions were riddled with "from what I hear", "people tell me," and "it's my understanding that ... ." Not one answer was specific to his personal knowledge of anything nor did he talk about any firsthand experience he has. He recited a wish list of things he'd like to do but not once said how he'd get them done or paid for.

On the flip side, Mayor Macksey has a strong financial and administrative background. Prior to being mayor, she served in several administrative roles in the city including treasurer/tax collector and has administrative backgrounds in education through positions at MCLA, Southern Vermont College and the Northern Berkshire School Union.

As mayor, she is not only the city's chief executive but is also chairman of the School Committee and School Building Committee. Under her leadership, the Police Department is now housed in an ADA-compliant facility; she worked with Berkshire Health Systems to re-open our hospital after 10 years; her administration obtained grant money for work on the Ashland Street corridor (including new sidewalks); the Brown Street bridge is slated to re-open and a new elementary school is being built with the majority of the cost being paid for by the Massachusetts School Building Authority.

Mayor Macksey is a lifelong resident of North Adams who knows its history and cares about its residents. She's not the Johnny-Come-Lately trying to persuade you that after just two years in town, he can fix things without telling you how. I urge everyone to join me on Nov. 4 in voting to re-elect Jennifer Macksey as mayor of North Adams.

Paul J. Moriarty
North Adams, Mass.

North Adams Becomes a Purple Heart Community

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
05:16AM / Tuesday, August 11, 2026

Veterans Service Officer Kurtis Durocher, a Purple Heart recipient, tells his own story of how he was wounded in Iraq.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — City leaders last week held a ceremony marking the city as a Purple Heart Community to honor local military service members wounded or killed in combat.

 

"This designation is much more than a sign that will stand at the entrances to our city," said Kurtis Durocher, Northern Berkshire veterans service officer at City Hall on Friday. "It is a lasting commitment and a promise to this community. We'll never forget the sacrifices made by those who are wounded or killed while serving our nation. It is a public declaration of the courage and sacrifices of combat wounded. Veterans will always have a place of honor here in North Adams."

 

As a Purple Heart Community, North Adams will place signs throughout the city acknowledging the designation. The city will also hold a ceremony every Aug. 7 on National Purple Heart Day.

 

During the inaugural ceremony, Durocher said he was asked by the Military Order of the Purple Heart to find a keynote speaker for the event, preferably a Purple Heart recipient. But he was unable to find someone willing to speak. With the date approaching, he decided to tell his own story.

 

"I don't like standing up and telling my own personal story ... But I realized, in my position as a VSO, I get so many ... children of veterans who will say, 'I didn't know anything about my father until after he passed because he just didn't talk about it,'" Durocher said. "... I have been that way until I've gotten into this position, and so, now, I try to tell my story as much as I can when it is brought to me."

 

Durocher served in the Army for 20 years and retired as a master sergeant. On Friday, he recalled a time early in his career while serving in the 82nd Airborne Division deploying to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. On Sept. 12, 2003, his squad was conducting a patrol on Route Irish in Baghdad. He was serving as a gunner on an LMTV when it was struck by a 155-millimeter artillery shell. He said the explosive had been hidden behind a guardrail and detonated using nothing more than a washing machine timer.

 

"In an instant, everything changed. The blast knocked me unconscious. When I regained consciousness, I instinctively was removing my helmet," he said. "Almost immediately my training took over. We had been taught repeatedly that attacks like this were often followed by a secondary attack or an ambush. I quickly put my helmet back on and began searching for my machine gun."