© 2024
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Vallieres to step down as North Adams city clerk after less than a year

A white man with glasses, pierced ears and dark hair wearing a black collared shirt under a beige sweater
www.facebook.com/JoshVforNA

WAMC has learned that the North Adams, Massachusetts city clerk will step down, the community’s third since 2022.

Josh Vallieres followed first Cathleen King and then Marcus Lyon to be North Adams’ city clerk in 2022. Now, after less than a year, he too will vacate the position May 5th. 22 at the time of his appointment, Vallieres told WAMC he was excited to bring a youthful energy to the position.

“I really want to show that young people can be just as efficient, and I think that there's a deeply held problem in not only just the city, the state, but the national level, of ageism," he said. "Young people can do the job too.”

The July 2022 vote to confirm Vallieres as city clerk brought tensions on the city council to the fore, with a vociferous but unsuccessful opposition waged by councilors Marie Harpin and Jennifer Barbeau. Former clerk Lyon later told WAMC that Barbeau and Harpin were the source of both his and King’s decision to leave city hall.

Josh Landes has been WAMC's Berkshire Bureau Chief since February 2018, following stints at WBGO Newark and WFMU East Orange. A passionate advocate for Western Massachusetts, Landes was raised in Pittsfield and attended Hampshire College in Amherst, receiving his bachelor's in Ethnomusicology and Radio Production. His free time is spent with his cat Harry, experimental electronic music, and exploring the woods.
Related Content