It’s a five-way race for mayor of North Adams, Massachusetts. The preliminary election is in September.
Massachusetts’ smallest city has been led by just two people for the last 34 years. Outgoing Mayor Richard Alcombright first won office by ousting 25-year incumbent John Barrett in the 2009 election.
Alcombright announced on June 1st he would not seek a fifth two-year term.
“It is now time for North Adams to move into its exciting future with new leadership and new energy,” Alcombright says. “It is time for new leadership that will foster much of what has been done while establishing a new vision and creating new ideas. All of this fueled with the new energy created by so many willing to pull the rope.”
Elections in North Adams are non-partisan.
The first to take out nominating papers was Thomas Bernard, a resident of North Adams and the Director of Special Projects at Smith College in Northampton.
The political newcomer says he’s focused on education, infrastructure and public health.
“One of the things I want to do is pull back and look at what I think are some of the foundational and structural things that we need to address in order to have, you know, strong, sustainable economic development,” Bernard says.
North Adams City Councilor Bob Moulton Jr., who ran in 2013, has a similar platform in this race. Moulton’s focused on regionalizing public safety and education with an eye on long-term growth.
“What I want to do is: The big entities are going to take care of themselves. What I am concerned about is? North Adams, North Adams’ tax base, and where North Adams is going to be in the next 6, 8, 10 years,” Moulton says.
City Councilor Ronald Boucher also took out papers, but did not return them by deadline, and will not appear on the ballot.
Untraditional candidate Rachel Branch claims she won’t spend a dime on a campaign headquarters, lawn signs or mailers.
Branch has deep ties to the city. She says she’s a descendant of William Wetherell Gallup, a 19th century state representative, A.C. Houghton, who became the first mayor of North Adams in the 1890s, and Mayor Harvey Gallup, who served in the 1920s.
“I am carrying on a family tradition and breaking one at the same time,” Branch says. “Nobody in my generation has run and obviously no women have run.”
Peter Oleskiewicz and Robert Martelle submitted their papers for mayor on August 7th – the day nomination signatures were due to city hall to be certified.
Oleskiewicz says mayors should have as much face time with residents as possible.
“More open communication between the residents, the mayor himself and the city council because, for instance, the open meeting law in North Adams: when people have an issue, I believe they are given two minutes to present themselves, which to me honestly is very brief time,” Oleskiewicz says.
Martelle has not returned interview requests from WAMC.
A preliminary election will be held September 19th to narrow the field to two candidates. The general election is set for November 7th.
