Macksey entered the race late in 2021, making her political debut alongside a trio of women looking to become North Adams’ first female mayor: Lynette Bond, Aprilyn Carsno, and Rachel Branch. She ran on her family’s deep ties to the community and her many years working in city hall as treasurer. Macksey first spoke to WAMC in July of that year.
“I'm certainly ready to restore accountability and get city government organized and work with all of the constituencies and all of the city councils and city leaders to get things organized, and then move us forward," she said. "We need to start focusing on day-to-day operations, as well as developing clear policies and initiatives to move us forward.”
Her long tenure as a municipal employee under then-Mayor John Barrett came up during an October 2021 debate. Bond – her main rival in the contest – asked her to explain her role in an audit finding North Adams had underpaid its share of premium costs for an employee health insurance trust fund by over $1 million.
“I was the treasurer tax collector, but as treasurer collector, I do not have the ability or did not have the ability to appropriate money. So, if anyone who claims I misappropriated funds, you're just wrong," said Macksey. “The most important thing at the end of this claim, question of who paid what, is in the end, when all claims were paid for this time in question, the city received $733,000 that came in from the stop loss program, and it was closed out. So, to say that I mismanaged funds or misappropriated funds or I screwed the employees is absolutely incorrect.”
Macksey remains a close ally to Barrett, still a well-connected politico in his current role as the state representative for Northern Berkshire County after his 26-year run leading North Adams. She alluded to his role in her first campaign the night of her victory over Bond in the general election, with a 1,681 to 1,484 result.
“I have to thank John Barrett for letting me do this my way," said Macksey. "I appreciate all the support and guidance, but the best thing for me is we did this as a team. And that's what it's all about.”
After running on the city’s need to act quickly on pressing infrastructure concerns, Macksey has made progress over her first term. The city’s police department has been relocated to a new, temporary headquarters in the former Berkshire Juvenile Court to begin transitioning emergency services out of the decrepit public safety building at 11 Summer Street. Macksey led a tour of the facility this April.
“In our existing space, anyone who's in a wheelchair or has any difficulties navigating are usually lifted into our station," she said. "And that's just embarrassing. When the officers meet our customers, our prisoners, they're in trouble, they need help. And then to have to put them through that traumatic event of having to be lifted into the police station, it's just not appropriate. So here, if you are in a wheelchair or you have any mobility issues, it will be much more pleasant- If there is such a thing in their business.”
On the staffing front, Macksey has faced major challenges. The city clerk chair has seen no fewer than four occupants over 2022 and 2023. And former Police Chief Jason Wood is embroiled in a lawsuit for wrongful termination against Macksey and the city after a messy extramarital affair contributed to his dismissal earlier this year. WAMC broke the news that Fire Chief Brent Lefebvre sent a pedestrian to the hospital while on duty in a municipal vehicle in July, an incident Macksey stressed was accidental. The chief returned to duty after an investigation into the incident found him at fault.
This summer, Macksey’s longstanding calls for state and federal infrastructure investment in North Adams were brought to the fore by heavy rain and flooding that led to around $5 million in damages from washed out roads, sinkholes, and the further degradation of crumbling flood control systems across the city in early July. She made those needs very clear to Governor Maura Healey when the first-term Democrat visited the city days later.
“Governor, we just need help," Macksey told Healey. "We need help from the state and the federal level, not only to rebuild what we see today, but also to work on long term fixes throughout our community. And it's something that we've talked about. As all of you know, North Adams has an infrastructure crisis we've talked about for a long time. And we need resources put behind us to help us with that. Our ARPA money was great. But that just is the tip of the iceberg for just engineering for projects like this.”
While Healey and the federal government have yet to announce whether North Adams will receive aid, the Army Corps of Engineers will visit the actively disintegrating Hoosic River flood chutes it constructed decades ago as part of a modernization study on Friday — a long awaited goal for the city.
Macksey’s sole opponent this year is the aforementioned Carsno, who failed to progress past the preliminary election in 2021 when she netted only 25 votes to Macksey’s roughly 800.
Macksey will officially begin her re-election campaign Thursday night with an event at the North Adams American Legion.
