To the Editor:

I write today to urge North Adams voters to support Lynette Bond for mayor. I believe a vote for Lynette will keep the city moving in the right direction. Lynette is incredibly active in North Adams and has the experience, foresight, and fortitude to do the job that needs to be done. Sure, she has never been a Facebook warrior, soapbox avenger, or ego maniac, so perhaps her deep investment and commitment to the city hasn't hit everyone's radar, but the positive impact of her work has likely touched each and every one of you in some way.

The city of North Adams has always had to work a little harder than other places to succeed. Lynette gets that and spends her time putting in that effort, not just talking about it or reminiscing about what once was.

I've known Lynette for years and when she announced her candidacy for mayor, I was thrilled. Lynette and I volunteered on the Planning Board together and I always found her inquisitive, mature, educated on the subject matter, able to make decisions -- and all around, just a great person. All necessary qualities in a mayor!

Lynette Bond will be proposing new, creative solutions (and she already is) -- and won't fall back on the same old same old. As mayor she can see a path forward to advance North Adams and help it realize its potential.

I have said for years that North Adams is too small to have the luxury of infighting. If we can't work together, why would anybody else want to work with us? Lynette will work with everyone, not just the majority who voted for a new direction over the last six elections. (A little secret: North Adams may be better known today, but the rest of the world doesn't care if you succeed or not. Only you do. For your own sake, work together.)

To address the garbage you might hear about "well, she's not from here." Neither was I. That didn't mean I couldn't fully commit myself to the community and find a longtime home and lifelong connections here. So please disregard those who make that argument. It's meaningless, divisive, and "where you are from" isn't a qualifier for how you will lead.

A recent fundraising letter that made the rounds on social media said the quiet part out loud: it implied that returning to the old days is the future for the city. To answer the point posed in the letter, yes indeed, I prefer how the city has been run the last 12 years. Freedom to dissent, freedom to express yourself, freedom to be creative with your business. Clearly a lot of other people liked it as well. Go forward with hope and vision North Adams, and elect Lynette Bond as your next mayor.

Paul Hopkins
Boylston, Mass.

Paul Hopkins is a former member of the North Adams Planning Board and former president of the North Adams City Council. 

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