Alcombright elected by wide margin; after 13 terms, Barrett is ...

It was the end of an era Tuesday night. City Councilor Richard Alcombright swept all five city wards, winning the election by 880 votes and ending Mayor John Barrett III's 26-year tenure in the city's corner office.

[Swami]

Lumpdy Dumpdy sat on the wall
Lumpdy Dumpdy had a great fall.
It is time to move forward and not look back.

[david e girard sr]

well congrats to mr alcombright, i do hope you have the workhorse attitude of outgoing mayor john barret, even though i havent lived in north adams for 25 years i was born and raised there, mr barret was the right guy for the job bringing in and throwing out all that mattered i give him kudos for his tenoir,and a job well done, he leaves behind a big pair of shoes to fill ,i hope mr alcombright can acomplish all ahe says he can,when he says he can,goodbye to john and hopefully not to all his hard work,hello to change and all that represents,i remain .

[Truthsayer]

Mr. Barrett also leaves behind a problem of titanic - no, EPIC proportion, the health insurance problem. We have to pay what we owe to the employees, and all unfunded claims. That tab could run from the rumored $2.7 million to as much as $4 million dollars.

We are in a pickle if the rumored amounts are true. I use the word rumored because Barrett wouldn't release the figures.

[Glenn M]

For one day... lets be Happy for Dick and thankful that we had the hard work of John Barrett... lets leave the issues and cynicism aside.. For one day!!

[dave]

I guess since the guy I wanted to win won,it might pay to be humble,but after a quarter of a century of being lead by 'The Don','The King','Mr. Large-And-In-Charge',it's kind of hard not to gloat. Especially since all of his little minions have spent the last few months spewing their venom. And I don't want to be 'small' or 'petty' or 'vendictive',but,'WHY NOT'?! Hell,his people have insinuated,insulted and name-called,so why should the 'NEW MAYORS' folks have a little fun at whatshisname's expense for a change. This is a little like having somebody beat your mother,then turn themselves into the police,are you expected not to be 'MAD' anymore? And while the rest of you act nice and humble,I choose not to. Because this man did 'NOTHING'! And did it for '26 YEARS'! Much of what has happened in this city would've happened if Homer Simpson had been mayor! And it is clear to most people that he did what he did 'FOR HIMSELF'! Atfer 'LOSING' he was interviewed by a reporter even said it himself. He said,"IT WAS A GREAT RIDE"!" This was a 'RIDE' folks'! Like he was at an 'AMUSEMENT PARK' or something! It was'nt a 'JOB'! Or,'HIS LIFE'S WORK'! IT WAS A 'RIDE'! Now,I know that people will say,"That was just his choice of words. He didn't mean anything by it..." And I say,considering what he's done for '26 YEARS' it's obvious that he thought of this as nothing more than a 'RIDE',which is why he has'nt accomplished 'MORE'! Perhaps,if he had taken his job more 'SERIOUSLY',maybe if he had seen his position as mayor as being something more than a 'RIDE',he would have done things differently. But,fear not,don't cry for me Argentina,you won't see this mere,mortal man standing in the 'UNEMPLOYMENT LINE' or trying to get 'FOOD STAMPS'. Oh yes,he will have to buy his own vehicle and pay his bills,electric and cable,which I personally think he has not had to do since taking the corner office. Just one of the 'perks' of being mayor,I suppose. Though,I wonder,will he still get his 'cut' from Walmart now? I feel 'ABSOLUTELY NOTHING' for this blowhard 'REPUBLICAN' who portrayed himself as just another hard-working 'DEMOCRAT' for the last quarter century. He got what he deserved,the only thing is,he 'SHOULD'VE GOTTEN IT A LONG TIME AGO'! Some say that Republicans are not only 'SORE LOSERS',but also 'SORE WINNERS' and as much as I distain them and their ideology,I do feel the need to 'vent' after all of these years of being ruled by a tyrant. Right now,I am feeling the same way that World War II prisoners of war must've felt when the Allies crushed the Nazi's and released them,or overan the Japanese POW camps and set them 'FREE'! I realize it might be a little dramatic,but when I think of how this man 'strutted' around town,or at City Council meetings,where you could'nt help but get that sense of 'ARROGANCE',that smug,'I AM SMARTER AND I KNOW BETTER THAN YOU' attitude,it makes me 'SICK'! If you have nothing else to do,treat yourself to re-playing some of those meetings and you will see exactly what I am saying. And all the while,'OUR NEW MAYOR' sat there,asking honest,relevent questions,no pretense or sense of entitlement. He was,after all,the vice-president of a bank,and could very well have had that uppity,country-club attitude,but didn't. He was just a regular guy trying to do something positive for his community. We not only voted for CHANGE',we also voted for 'DIFFERENCE'! And I take great pride in saying that we now know just how 'OUT-OF-TOUCH' ALL OF YOU WERE'! HIS SUPPORTERS! THE TRANSCRIPT! THE EAGLE! AND ALL OF YOU 'TRUE BELIEVERS WHO WANTED TO 'KEEP THE MAYOR THE MAYOR' ARE!

[Interesting11]

Truthsayer wrote:

Mr. Barrett also leaves behind a problem of titanic - no, EPIC proportion, the health insurance problem. We have to pay what we owe to the employees, and all unfunded claims. That tab could run from the rumored $2.7 million to as much as $4 million dollars.
We are in a pickle if the rumored amounts are true. I use the word rumored because Barrett wouldn't release the figures.

Well I hope when Alcombright begins work on the health insurance he keeps his promise of transparency and let's the citizens know that although never a city employee his mother remains on the city's health insurance. Wouldn't it be nice if all senior citizens in NA were able to have this plan as a supplement as his mother continues to have. And who pays her tab? Sounds like he may be in a pickle!

[Yea]

While Mayor Barrett has served North Adams and done so well, this article spent very little time congratulating Mayor elect Alcombright. What will the transcript do when it is able to report what it decides to report, not what it is dictated to do?

[takecare]

dave wrote:

I guess since the guy I wanted to win won,it might pay to be humble,but after a quarter of a century of being lead by 'The Don','The King','Mr. Large-And-In-Charge',it's kind of hard not to gloat. Especially since all of his little minions have spent the last few months spewing their venom. And I don't want to be 'small' or 'petty' or 'vendictive',but,'WHY NOT'?! Hell,his people have insinuated,insulted and name-called,so why should the 'NEW MAYORS' folks have a little fun at whatshisname's expense for a change. This is a little like having somebody beat your mother,then turn themselves into the police,are you expected not to be 'MAD' anymore? And while the rest of you act nice and humble,I choose not to. Because this man did 'NOTHING'! And did it for '26 YEARS'! Much of what has happened in this city would've happened if Homer Simpson had been mayor! And it is clear to most people that he did what he did 'FOR HIMSELF'! Atfer 'LOSING' he was interviewed by a reporter even said it himself. He said,"IT WAS A GREAT RIDE"!" This was a 'RIDE' folks'! Like he was at an 'AMUSEMENT PARK' or something! It was'nt a 'JOB'! Or,'HIS LIFE'S WORK'! IT WAS A 'RIDE'! Now,I know that people will say,"That was just his choice of words. He didn't mean anything by it..." And I say,considering what he's done for '26 YEARS' it's obvious that he thought of this as nothing more than a 'RIDE',which is why he has'nt accomplished 'MORE'! Perhaps,if he had taken his job more 'SERIOUSLY',maybe if he had seen his position as mayor as being something more than a 'RIDE',he would have done things differently. But,fear not,don't cry for me Argentina,you won't see this mere,mortal man standing in the 'UNEMPLOYMENT LINE' or trying to get 'FOOD STAMPS'. Oh yes,he will have to buy his own vehicle and pay his bills,electric and cable,which I personally think he has not had to do since taking the corner office. Just one of the 'perks' of being mayor,I suppose. Though,I wonder,will he still get his 'cut' from Walmart now? I feel 'ABSOLUTELY NOTHING' for this blowhard 'REPUBLICAN' who portrayed himself as just another hard-working 'DEMOCRAT' for the last quarter century. He got what he deserved,the only thing is,he 'SHOULD'VE GOTTEN IT A LONG TIME AGO'! Some say that Republicans are not only 'SORE LOSERS',but also 'SORE WINNERS' and as much as I distain them and their ideology,I do feel the need to 'vent' after all of these years of being ruled by a tyrant. Right now,I am feeling the same way that World War II prisoners of war must've felt when the Allies crushed the Nazi's and released them,or overan the Japanese POW camps and set them 'FREE'! I realize it might be a little dramatic,but when I think of how this man 'strutted' around town,or at City Council meetings,where you could'nt help but get that sense of 'ARROGANCE',that smug,'I AM SMARTER AND I KNOW BETTER THAN YOU' attitude,it makes me 'SICK'! If you have nothing else to do,treat yourself to re-playing some of those meetings and you will see exactly what I am saying. And all the while,'OUR NEW MAYOR' sat there,asking honest,relevent questions,no pretense or sense of entitlement. He was,after all,the vice-president of a bank,and could very well have had that uppity,country-club attitude,but didn't. He was just a regular guy trying to do something positive for his community. We not only voted for CHANGE',we also voted for 'DIFFERENCE'! And I take great pride in saying that we now know just how 'OUT-OF-TOUCH' ALL OF YOU WERE'! HIS SUPPORTERS! THE TRANSCRIPT! THE EAGLE! AND ALL OF YOU 'TRUE BELIEVERS WHO WANTED TO 'KEEP THE MAYOR THE MAYOR' ARE!

I agree,"dave".

[takecare]

Congratulations Dick.

I would like to say Thank-you, for standing up to the plate and running for mayor.

The positive energy at the Eagles last night was incredible.

We are all reclaiming our city back,"Fall of the Berlin Wall of sorts".

Dick you will have a tough job ahead of you, and will have to clean up the mess of another.

I wish you much luck and success.

[wonderful]

I love the section where barrett said that he had a bad feeling in the am when a different crowd of people came, a younger crowd...well John, there comes a time when all of the people that don't like change dwindle off and their offspring that watched them struggle in a city going now where with all kinds of promises, take over. The worst thing you could have done is list all the unimportant "things" that you have brought to North Adams.The skating rink? Are you kidding me, maybe back in the 80's it did well.The list of all the washed up buildings/business that were going to save the city...what a laugh.
I will tell you this that it is time for change and we all welcome it. We have a wonderful campground that is run by a tyrant that was hired by Barrett and she needs to go...bring new blood in and get rid of the "old lady" anyone who has camped in NA. knows that things are not good up there. please put that on your list of things to do. Bring campers back to NA.
Lets get this job of bringing in Lowes done already. The food chain Aldi wanted to come into NA, the people at the Bennington store said they were going to build in the spring of 2008, What happened??? That store would save a lot of people money from the big prices at big y. The people who live down town and don't drive have no choice but to pay too much for food. Lets not be so choosy when it comes to stores coming in and let them come, let them try the area and bring some jobs into this jobless area.

[Just Sayin]

Congratulations, Mayor Elect Alcombright!

[Interesting12]

Well if Dick is in a "pickle" due to his mother being on the city health insurance plan Barrett is the one who put him in the pickle. Also if this is correct then I guess all the rumors of Barrett having people on the city health insurance that don't belong there must be true. If this is true then one can certainly understand why he didn't want to release any information and it would make one wonder what else was done in the administration that shouldn't have been done.

[BrianJewett]

For starters, I'm ASTOUNDED that Barrett was blindsided by the lack of support from the arts community. As a member of that faction I'd be surprised if he got a single vote from any of us. As far as I can tell he's still fighting the same Quixotic battles he started 26 years ago with no knowledge that the landscape has changed and has never shown any support for this towns new residents. He can see us but he could never believe that we really mattered. Christ, you can't even safely drive through this town the first year you live here. The only reason there aren't more accidents in town is that by the time we learn the secret traffic code, we also learn to watch out for the tourists who haven been here long enough to understand them.

I'm also hoping that with Barrett on his way out of office, the transcript and Eagle might finally grow a backbone. I've never seen such spineless news reporting anywhere I've ever lived. Maybe you could start by looking into whether all the NAPD officers carrying Barrett signs at the polls yesterday were on the pay roll at the time.

[just wondering]

wonderful wrote:

I love the section where barrett said that he had a bad feeling in the am when a different crowd of people came, a younger crowd...well John, there comes a time when all of the people that don't like change dwindle off and their offspring that watched them struggle in a city going now where with all kinds of promises, take over. The worst thing you could have done is list all the unimportant "things" that you have brought to North Adams.The skating rink? Are you kidding me, maybe back in the 80's it did well.The list of all the washed up buildings/business that were going to save the city...what a laugh.
I will tell you this that it is time for change and we all welcome it. We have a wonderful campground that is run by a tyrant that was hired by Barrett and she needs to go...bring new blood in and get rid of the "old lady" anyone who has camped in NA. knows that things are not good up there. please put that on your list of things to do. Bring campers back to NA.
Lets get this job of bringing in Lowes done already. The food chain Aldi wanted to come into NA, the people at the Bennington store said they were going to build in the spring of 2008, What happened??? That store would save a lot of people money from the big prices at big y. The people who live down town and don't drive have no choice but to pay too much for food. Lets not be so choosy when it comes to stores coming in and let them come, let them try the area and bring some jobs into this jobless area.

Have you ever been to Aldi's?You make this store sound like a missed opportunity for what I don't know.With the 3 supermarkets we have to choose from in thie city the last thing we need is a "dollar store" supermarket.I'm sure we can shoot for better than that.

[Reality]

BrianJewett wrote:

the transcript and Eagle might finally grow a backbone. I've never seen such spineless news reporting anywhere I've ever lived.

So true how PATHETIC both of these rags are. The lack of true journalism and true journalists has made these papers irreleveant in Berkshire County. Congratulations to Mayor Alcombright and perhaps now the citizens of North Adams can work together for the betterment of North Adams. Because if the mayor fails then we all fail.

[we will see]

I have seen nothing but hate coming from alcombright backers sure hope dick is not like you all. Thanks John for your hard work!!!!

takecare wrote:

<quoted text>
I agree,"dave".

[Phil Carbin]

Quote Mr. no name wrote: I guess since the guy I wanted to win won, it might pay to be humble but.. The rest of the junk I snipped!
This above person is just another poster afraid to post their name to their own written material, what a coward.
The way I and many others look at this is that Alcombright faces a slew of enemies going into office, you are making even more for him.
Its really a shame that Alcombright can’t control his own people like the ones that are on this silly board using their false names or no names at all. If this is who he is then most likely he wont be able to control his office people either as this is an area of show where he falls really short.
John Barrett made three enemies a week making decisions he had to make, this added up over his tenure. Alcombright already has plenty of enemies going in and the more sh** you shovel the more haters you will make for him. But believe it or not that’s a good thing as it will make Alcombright another Sara Hawaway, a one termer, for idiots like the above poster she was ousted after one two year term.

[Congrats]

"I'm also hoping that with Barrett on his way out of office, the transcript and Eagle might finally grow a backbone. I've never seen such spineless news reporting anywhere I've ever lived."

The same holds true for the Transcript's coverage of Williamstown, which as the editor well knows has had its own, let's just say "idiosyncratic" leader, albeit appointed rather than elected.

[Reality]

Phil Carbin wrote:

Quote Mr. no name wrote: I guess since the guy I wanted to win won, it might pay to be humble but.. The rest of the junk I snipped!
This above person is just another poster afraid to post their name to their own written material, what a coward.
The way I and many others look at this is that Alcombright faces a slew of enemies going into office, you are making even more for him.
Its really a shame that Alcombright can’t control his own people like the ones that are on this silly board using their false names or no names at all. If this is who he is then most likely he wont be able to control his office people either as this is an area of show where he falls really short.
John Barrett made three enemies a week making decisions he had to make, this added up over his tenure. Alcombright already has plenty of enemies going in and the more sh** you shovel the more haters you will make for him. But believe it or not that’s a good thing as it will make Alcombright another Sara Hawaway, a one termer, for idiots like the above poster she was ousted after one two year term.

Although many people such as this poster sound very upset and vengeful but now the citizens of North Adams must come together and work together as a community and set aside bitter emotions for the betterment of our city. The people of this city have spoken and now we must all work together or else we all fail.

[dave]

wonderful wrote:

I love the section where barrett said that he had a bad feeling in the am when a different crowd of people came, a younger crowd...well John, there comes a time when all of the people that don't like change dwindle off and their offspring that watched them struggle in a city going now where with all kinds of promises, take over. The worst thing you could have done is list all the unimportant "things" that you have brought to North Adams.The skating rink? Are you kidding me, maybe back in the 80's it did well.The list of all the washed up buildings/business that were going to save the city...what a laugh.
I will tell you this that it is time for change and we all welcome it. We have a wonderful campground that is run by a tyrant that was hired by Barrett and she needs to go...bring new blood in and get rid of the "old lady" anyone who has camped in NA. knows that things are not good up there. please put that on your list of things to do. Bring campers back to NA.
Lets get this job of bringing in Lowes done already. The food chain Aldi wanted to come into NA, the people at the Bennington store said they were going to build in the spring of 2008, What happened??? That store would save a lot of people money from the big prices at big y. The people who live down town and don't drive have no choice but to pay too much for food. Lets not be so choosy when it comes to stores coming in and let them come, let them try the area and bring some jobs into this jobless area.

Most of the people who voted for Dick,Alcombright were also voting 'AGAINST BARRETT' and the way he did things,particularly,how he has handled the local ecomony with the lack of jobs and opportunity 'FOR YEARS',etc. And while I can appreciate your love of the Great Outdoors,I think the new mayor has,as they say,bigger fish to fry. If something does'nt happen with the ecomony around here,'WE'LL ALL BE CAMPING'! I think they call it-'HOMELESSNESS'!