NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The mayoral race is beginning to get crowded with the appearance of a fourth candidate in Robert M. Moulton Jr. 

 

The city councilor pulled papers last Friday for a second run at the corner office.

 

"I think I have the most experience," Moulton said on Monday. "I've been on Public Safety [Committee], I'm a five-term city councilor, served on many committees, I've been in business, I'm a downtown business owner, I'm a lifelong resident."

 

He said his business background, his civic engagement, including as president of the North Adams Ambulance Service, and experience in budgeting and union negotiations make him the best prepared. 

 

Moulton said he's also not afraid to take a stand on issues. 

 

"If people follow me, they know I have opinions on things," he said. "I'm not afraid to say my opinions ... like a former mayor, you don't walk away from me wondering how I felt."

 

Moulton lost his council seat in the 2009 election, backing then fellow Councilor Richard Alcombright into the office of mayor. He ran against Alcombright in 2013, but came up short. Two years later he was re-elected to the council, where he's occasionally voted in the minority against the administration's proposals — including on accepting the assets of Housing Opportunities Inc., purchasing the former anodizing plant for a new Department of Public Works and raising water rates. 

 

Alcombright's decision not to run for election — making this the first contest in 34 years without an incumbent — has opened up the field of candidates. Moulton said he just felt the time was right to run again; if they all return papers, he'll be running in the preliminary against Thomas Bernard, Rachel Branch and fellow Councilor Ronald Boucher, who also previously ran for mayor. 

 

"I wasn't ready when I got off the council eight years ago, I took some time off," he said. "I did my TV show (on public access) and I thought I could accomplish a lot being off the council ... The council, sometimes, I find a little restrictive as opposed of being on my own."

 

Now, he said, he feels has more time. He's 60 and his kids are grown. And people have been talking to him about running again since early this winter, he said. Those conversations convinced him it was worth throwing his hat hin. 

 

Moulton expects to have a campaign launch in the near future as he gets his team together.  

 

But he's setting his sights on only two terms. 

 

"I'd like to put some plans forward for the first two years, see them through the next two," he said. "If they worked, I'm gone, if they didn't work, well see you later. I can't mess it up too bad or I can make it better."

 

One factor of his involvement in public life, he said, is his love for the city where his family has owned Moulton Spectacle Shoppe on Main Street for decades. 

 

He's had plenty of opportunities to move it to Bennington, Vt., he said. 

 

"But I enjoy being downtown, I love North Adams," Moulton said. "We've been part of the community for a long time."