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Bernard Wants to Write a New Story for North Adams
By Tammy Daniels, iBerkshires Staff
07:35PM / Tuesday, February 20, 2018
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Mayor Thomas Bernard gives his first 'State of the City' address om Tuesday.


Mayor Thomas Bernard welcomes guests before giving his first 'State of the City' address. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Mayor Thomas Bernard wants North Adams to write a new story — not one that defines it by its problems but rather by its potential. 
 
That was theme of the new mayor's first "State of the City" address on Tuesday night. Given barely six weeks after his inuagural speech on Jan. 1, the State of the City looked at what he described as hard truths and initiatives already under way.
 
"At times it can be easy to tell – and to believe – a story defined by our problems rather than by our potential," the mayor said. "But what happens when we tell – and believe – these stories about ourselves? 
 
"People outside our community also may come to believe and re-tell them."
 
He plans to start with community conversations on a "citywide listening tour" to hear many stories of the members of the community. The mayor also will bring in a moderator for a charrette on the future of the vacant Mohawk Theater.
 
The address, given separately rather than during a regularly scheduled City Council meeting, was well attended with a number of city and community officials in the audience including state Rep. John Barrett III, City Councilors President Keith Bona, Jason Laforest, Wayne Wilkinson, Rebbecca Cohen, Marie T. Harpin, Paul Hopkins and Eric Buddington; School Committee members Tara Jacobs and James Holmes; and MCLA President James.
 
Bernard ran on a campaign focused on economic development through education, infrastructure and public health. He picked up a number of efforts started under former Mayor Richard Alcombright — such as the consolidation of departments to the new public services building and continued redevelopment of the Noel Field Athletic Complex — while adding a few more of his own. 
 
Among his first actions was to get a retail marijuana ordinance in place and to begin another consolidation to bring the School Department offices into City Hall, freeing up funds being used to lease space. 
 
"Once complete, the School Department move may create other opportunities for collaboration and innovation between the city and the schools, and we will explore ideas focused on integrating so called 'back office' functions as appropriate," he said.
 
The mayor also said he will work with state Sen. Adam Hinds, Barrett and the Baker administration to turn the city into a federally Qualified Opportunity Zone. The program, he said, promotes investment in low-income communities through tax incentives for reinvesting capital gains in housing and economic development. 
 
"The projects we have under way and planned in the community have the potential to make North Adams attractive to investors, and to offer them the promise of a great return on their investment," he said. 
 
The mayor referred to all those actions on Tuesday, as well as plans to make repairs on Beaver Street, the sewer projects at Windsor Lake and Woodlawn Avenue, completion of the computerized upgrades at the water treatment plant, and updated efforts to sell the salt shed, the Notre Dame property, the former Sullivan School and Western Gateway Heritage State Park. 
 
He also plans to get the wheels turning in preparation of the release of some $1.2 million in state funding toward the design and engineering of a new public safety building. The city's been ordered by the U.S. Justice Department to address the lack of accessibility in its buildings. Some $1.3 million has been spent on everything from sidewalks to door handles but the largest price tag comes with the building that set the order in motion six year ago: the police station. 
 
"This is a critical need for the city. It is signal that we take seriously issues of both accessibility and respect for those first responders who risk their lives for the residents of North Adams," the mayor said. "It is an overdue first step in a process to secure an appropriation of funds. However, I do not plan to wait until those funds become available to begin our study. I will work with the directors and members of our police and fire companies to set the stage to make the most of this money when it becomes available."
 
Bernard said he will be looking at more strategic development "on multiple fronts" to address blighted areas through demolition, code enforcement and tax sales as a way to get more property back on the tax rolls. 
 
He's also looking at more partnerships with other communities, such as the potential for sharing a superintendent of schools and a business manager. Bernard said he has been invited to serve on a governance group that will look at the next phase of the Berkshire County Education Task Force "and specifically to consider issues such as the shared services initiatives we are exploring within our district."
 
City operations are also being reviewed for consistency and accuracy, including the need for a new website. The current one is outdated and difficult to navigate. 
 
"We need to do this to ensure the site is fully accessible to everyone. We also need to do it to make city government more effective, responsive, and transparent. This will enhance online payments and permitting, the reporting and resolution of service issues, and the availability of and access to information," the mayor said. "Such efforts are foundational to the administration of our city – and long overdue – but they are no less critical to our success and sustainability than the new initiatives, major projects, and ribbon cuttings that garner headlines."
 
Bernard ticked off a list of resources and opportunities — from the schoolwide educational initiatives to the abundance of private development occurring to the diverse volunteer events to the city's strong partners in Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.
 
The city does have its challenges, he acknowledged, including an aging population, looming tax levy limit, and deferred infrastructure maintenance, along with the many social ills of drugs, violence, mental illness and poverty.
 
"I recognize and am pragmatic about these problems," he said. "However, I do not believe any one of them is insurmountable." 
 
In particular, he pointed to school safety and domestic violence, calling both critical issues related to public health.
 
"We don't want to imagine or believe that the violent acts can touch us. However we know that no community is free of the risk of fear and loss that students, families, and teachers in Parkland, Fla., experienced last week," he said. 
 
Bernard said he will be bringing school and public safety officials together to review school safety plans and will continue to work city councilor and community providers who have called for action after a local woman was murdered by her husband earlier this year. 
 
"We must commit ourselves to writing a new story. One that never shies away from hard truths. But one that never lets those truths and challenges define us," Bernard said.
 
Our task, then, is to see ourselves as others see us. To recognize the best of ourselves reflected back in the things people who visit, or relocate to, or write about North Adams come away believing. To tell new stories, to believe them, and to make them a reality."

North Adams State of the City by iBerkshires.com on Scribd

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