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For the publisher:
For me, elections are synonymous with hope. My hope with this mayoral election is that our first female mayor will bring fresh energy and ideas to the local office and usher in a new era for North Adams. As someone who has been involved in our city for many decades, I know it is time to hand over to the younger generation. But it gives me a huge pause when one of the nominees expresses their contempt for all the progress and hard work that has taken place at North Adams over the past 12 years and actively alienates everyone who has supported this work. It certainly doesn’t give me hope for tomorrow when Mrs Macksey is nostalgic for the past – especially the past under former Mayor John Barrett III.
Some of you may remember La Festa, which was a passion of mine in the 90s. It was an amazing group of volunteers who came together to organize a weeklong Italian festival in our city. We had everything from fireworks to a baseball exchange with kids in Boston’s North End (which continues to this day) to games and food and, let’s not forget, big name concerts. It was a huge amount of work but so incredibly rewarding when you saw how much everyone enjoyed it. In my opinion, the hardest part of running La Festa was working with the then mayor, Barrett. He stood in our way whenever he could and expected us to honor him in order to do anything. If Ms. Macksey is nostalgic for this kind of leadership, we should all be concerned.
Lynette Bond is a leader for the future for all of us. She strongly believes in collaboration and cares deeply about our city. Service and volunteer work are integral to who she is and I am so impressed with all she has accomplished. This ranges from serving on the planning board for eight years to making sure the Colegrove Park Elementary School project was carried out to young boys’ basketball training. Her energy is overflowing and I have no doubt that she will put everything she has and everything she does to make our city prosper.
I strongly support Lynette for Mayor and hope you will join me in voting for her on November 2nd. Remember, signs don’t win elections, votes do!
Tony and Mary Ann Abuisi
North Adams, Mass.
Mary Ann Abuisi is a retired City of North Adams employee.
Key words: municipal election, election 2021, letters to the editor,
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