Good morning and Happy New Year. As we welcome 2018, we do so prepared to continue the traditions of public service and leadership that have for so many years been hallmarks of city government in North Adams. We do so with gratitude and humility, mindful of our rich heritage of creativity and innovation, and inspired by the new energy and new ideas that will build on that proud legacy.

 

As we celebrate a new beginning for our city and chart a course toward a prosperous future I am honored to be joined in chambers this morning by many dedicated leaders who have given so much service to our community.

 

First to my predecessor, Dick Alcombright. Thank you for eight years of committed leadership as mayor as well as for your decades of service to our community in so many ways.

 

Welcome and thank you to our former mayor and current state Rep. John Barrett III. As mayor, John guided North Adams during more than a quarter-century of change and reinvention. I know this legacy will continue in his new role.

 

Welcome also to former state representative Daniel Bosley who has been a champion for North Adams and the Northern Berkshires from Main Street to the State House to our nation's Capitol, and beyond.

 

I also want to acknowledge the memory and legacy of our late state Rep. Gailanne Cariddi, who also gave many years of dedicated service as a city councilor in this very chamber.

 

Welcome also to the other elected officials and community leaders who are with us this morning, including:

I am honored to have these colleagues and partners here as we mark a new beginning in the business of local governance.

 

I also want to acknowledge and express my gratitude to two of the remarkable spiritual leaders in our community: Rabbi Rachel Barenblat — who was instrumental in bringing me back to North Adams — and Father William Cyr — who as pastor of St. Elizabeth of Hungary parish offers comfort, guidance and inspiration to his congregation, as well as to me personally. Thank you both for your presence and your words this morning.

 

Congratulations to our newest school committee members for the North Adams public schools as well as to the returning members of the McCann School Committee. I look forward to working with you on the most important work a community does — engaging the talents and nurturing the potential of our young people. You are leaders in education. Along with our teachers, paraprofessionals, coaches, school administrators and staff you are charged with meeting standards of achievement and ensuring continuous improvement in our students and our schools. Know that you do not do this vital work alone. We all have the opportunity and the obligation to serve the cause of education in our community by conveying knowledge and information, teaching critical skills, modeling the values of citizenship and critical inquiry, and instilling a hunger for learning and discovery in each student.

 

To the returning members of the City Council, and especially to your newest colleagues, my heartfelt congratulations. I am confident you will exercise the responsibilities inherent in the oaths we took this morning with dignity, sincerity, mutual respect, and a deliberative spirit. Public service is a public trust. Our responsibility is to listen and lead in equal measure. Our task is to act according to the most sincere dictates of our consciences and wisdom to shape a strong, prosperous future for our city.

 

Congratulations especially to Council President Bona and Vice President Lamb, for taking on the particular responsibilities of administrative leadership of this body. I look forward to working with you to bring forward important work on behalf of our constituents.

 

Finally, thank you to everyone who works in city government — to those in City Hall, to our first responders in public safety and to our public services staff. You are on the front lines of serving this community, especially on a cold morning like this one. As I join you in this work I do so committed to ensuring that we are responsive to and inclusive of the needs of everyone whose lives we touch. We'll double down on the things we do well. We'll work together to improve ineffective and outmoded practices. And we'll never be satisfied with the idea that good enough is good enough when it comes to serving the people of North Adams.

 

As those of us who hold elected office swore our oaths today, we did so as the inheritors of a tradition of service passed down from previous school committees, councils — and in my case from the 25 mayors who preceded me. Their actions and decisions shaped the city we live in and lead now. We have the responsibility to take the best from their examples while adapting ourselves to the conditions, resources, tools, and opportunities available to us.

 

Beyond the connection to our history and our predecessors in governance, none of us who serve this community arrived in this place alone. We are here because of the family, friends, neighbors, supporters and volunteers who believed in us. They placed their trust in us. They shared their hopes and concerns with us. They were willing to work as hard — if not harder — on our behalf than we were for ourselves. They pitched in and asked what they could do to help, and they showed us kindnesses large and small. These acts of generosity continue to humble us and inspire us to be better than we otherwise would be on our own.

 

For me, that support, and that motivating energy, comes first and foremost from my family. I'm especially grateful to my parents, Jane and Tom Bernard; my sister, Kate; and most of all to my wife Jen and our daughter Alex for sustaining and believing in me. Thank you.

 

As I stand here this morning, I am reminded of the rich history and resiliency of our city, and of a community that has weathered many challenges but that remains proud and strong. In preparing my remarks this morning, I looked to that history, and found this passage in the Gazetteer of Berkshire County, Mass., 1725-1885:

 

I quote: But I think bright, busy, bustling, dashing North Adams, with its lively streets and peculiar surroundings, will show off well in this cool, clear atmosphere. To my mind, the most notable thing in this fine old town, or its bright village, is the people...North Adams is, I verily believe, the smartest village in the smartest nation in all creation; the concentrated essential oil of Yankeedom. As you pass through its streets, you see evidence of this great truth everywhere; in the shops, in the manufactories, in the hotels: and, if these do not convince you, there will be no room for doubt when you come to the Hoosac Tunnel."

 

With just a few small substitutions, this passage applies just as powerfully to the North Adams of 2018 as it did to our city in 1885. Our strength is indeed in our people, whether they count their North Adams tenure in generations, months, or mere days. And while we have work to do in the arena of economic development outreach and advocacy — particularly throughout our downtown — signs of progress and entrepreneurial vision are everywhere. From Greylock Works and the Tourists hotel to the Narad mill, B&B Micro Manufacturing, and the Lever incubator, lifelong residents and recent arrivals are working in common purpose - investing and building equity in our community.

 

Our job is to nurture these investments and the financial equity and social capital being generated in our city — from our neighborhoods and schools to our public services and city government to our anchor institutions. Indeed, we all can agree that there is no room for doubt that North Adams is "the place" when you come to the massive edifice of Mass MoCA and see our tradition of innovation and creativity on full display at a scale as ambitious and audacious in our time as the Hoosac Tunnel was in the 19th century.

 

And so I look with excitement toward the work of my administration, and toward the future that we will shape together. In his recent book "87 Marshall Street," John Sprague recounts the rich and complicated history of the site that over the past two centuries has played host to various industries including Arnold Print Works, Sprague Electric and its current occupant, Mass MoCA. In the book's final chapter Mr. Sprague writes about economic development. He writes about harnessing the opportunities that arts, education, and tourism provide while also aggressively pursuing necessary opportunities to diversify and grow our economy. He concludes with the prescription that will unite our potential and our aspirations: leadership.

 

And his formulation of leadership resonates with me as I assume the duties of this office, just as I imagine it resonates with my fellow officials who were sworn in today, as well as with all who work in service to our city and its residents. Mr. Sprague writes "Leaders are

human and fallible and can and will make mistakes but will never fail for lack of trying."

 

Indeed, that's the only promise I make to you today: I WILL make mistakes, but I will never fail for lack of trying. I will listen attentively to your concerns and suggestions, and I will make difficult decisions. We will learn and we will grow together. We will deliberate and we will disagree. We will face challenges and celebrate achievements together. We will do all these things animated by our belief in the awesome responsibility of service and by our love for, and our belief in, the potential of our bright, busy, bustling, dashing North Adams.

 

Thank you.