Richard Alcombright 'energized' his campaign with a rally at Public on Tuesday.

NORTH ADAMS,  Mass. — The city's mayoral campaign is heating up as the incumbent fired back at his challenger to a packed Public restaurant on Tuesday night.

Richard Alcombright is running for a third two-year term in the corner office against Robert M. Moulton Jr., a former city councilor and local businessman.

"I have been waiting to hear his platform, to hear what is so bad, to try to wrap my arms around why he would run," said Alcombright about his former supporter, saying Moulton's kick off remarks more than a week ago "reeked of the past."

"My biggest disappointment with his announcement is that the same Bob Moulton supported me four years ago on the hope that past practices would be just that ... past practices."

Alcombright reiterated some of the highlights of his administration, including the cutting the city's deficit from $2.6 million to $335,000 this fiscal year through cuts and tax increases; the development of the Health and Human Services Center to keep critical state social services in North Adams and lobbying the state to ensure the courts and the Registry of Motor Vehicles stays here; the openings or expansions of at least 30 new businesses, from Public to the Walmart Supercenter to the retention of Crane's stationery division.

He singled out Moulton's comments about the downtown losing momentum and the need for an economic plan to help Main and Eagle streets. Moulton's family has operated Moulton's Spectacle Shoppe on Main Street and in Bennington, Vt., for years.

"He talks about downtown revitalization and that all I have done are benches and pocket parks and that I use social events to mask the problems in our business district," said Alcombright. "My guess then is that he works in Bennington way too much to have not realized that the vacancy rate in our downtown is the lowest it has been in two decades."

That comment and others received hoots and applause from the crowded room that included local officials and business owners, many from Main Street.

Councilors President Michael Bloom, Keith Bona, Jennifer Breen, David Bond, Nancy Bullett and Lisa Blackmer were in attendance along with former Pittsfield Mayor James Ruberto, city department heads and council hopefuls Kate Merrigan, Benjamin Lamb, Joshua Moran and David Robbins.

Alcombright promised further economic development with the long awaited proposal for Western Gateway Heritage State Park set to be announced on Wednesday afternoon. The privatization of the park has been in the works for nearly two years.

He also jabbed Moulton for implying the city's police force was not well trained and expanded on the efforts being made to combat crime and its sources — poverty and drug abuse — through task forces and partnerships with local service agencies.

"We are no longer blind to these realities and, as a community, we need to admit to and address these problems," he said, "and I have."

North Adams, he said, was still one of the most affordable communities to live in, ranking 330 out of state's 340 towns and cities in terms of most-taxed municipalities.

"We will be unveiling our master plan in the first quarter of next year, that plan when given to the community and driven by our recently hired planner under the direction of our community development director holds significant promise and will be our roadmap for the future," he said, dismissing his challenger's intent to use the 20-year-old Hyatt-Palma report.

Moulton has laid out an "action" plan he says will stick to basics and revitalize the city and accused Alcombright of having no plan and managing the city's finances poorly.

The fundraiser was designed to "energize" the Alcombright campaign, which has been fairly quiet since his announcement to run in late June. The two candidates are expected to have at least two debates before the November election.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The candidates for City Council in two wards have been narrowed.

In the city's preliminary election to narrow down the field of candidates in Wards 1 and 3, incumbent Christine Yon and Lisa Tully defeated Tammy Ives in Ward 1 and Nicholas Caccamo and Richard Latura defeated Jeffrey Germann and Thomas Wells Jr. in Ward 3.

Caccamo led the field with 456 votes — 71 percent of the 642 votes cast in the ward and Yon led the field in Ward 1 with 369 votes - 59 percent of the 623 votes cast there.

Tully reeled in 37 percent of the Ward 1 votes with 233 votes - 166 votes shy of Yon's total. In Ward 3, Latura snuck by Germann by a margin of 25 votes. Latura received a total of 79 votes.

Wells received 52 votes and Germann received 54. In Ward 1, Ives received 21 votes.

A total of 1,265 votes were cast out of a total of 8,376 registered voters in the wards — a 15 percent voter turnout.

The preliminary sets the field for the Nov. 5 general election. That election sees competition in both of these wards but also seven candidates vying for four at large seats —  incumbents Barry Clairmont, Churchill Cotton and Melissa Mazzeo will be challenged by Kathleen Amuso, Barry Clairmont, James Conant, Mark Miller and Donna Todd Rivers. Incumbent John Krol is being challenged by Joseph Nichol in Ward 6 while Kevin Morandi for Ward 2; Christopher Connell for Ward 4; Jonathan Lothrop in Ward 5; Anthony Simonelli in Ward 7 are all running unopposed.

Seven candidates will be vying for six seats on the School Committee. Incumbents Katherine Yon and Daniel Elias are being challenged by Joshua Cutler, Brittany Douglas, Pamela Farron, Anthony Riello and Cynthia Taylor.

Neither the mayor's office or city clerk's office is being contested with Mayor Daniel Bianchi and City Clerk Linda Tyer both running unopposed.

Mayoral candidate Bob Moulton and his 'supermom' Carolyn Moulton. Moulton said the support of his family, including his children and wife, Bonny, were most important to him.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Robert M. Moulton Jr. laid out the themes his mayoral campaign will hammer on going into the November election: finances, economic development, public safety and schools.

"I want the people of North Adams to be proud of the city again, I want them to have a mayor who will not be out of touch with them, and they will have a government that is there to help them," the former city councilor vowed as some 100 friends, family and supporters clad in red "Bob for Mayor" shirts applauded at the American Legion on Friday night.

The three-term councilor said he decided to run for mayor because "I believe North Adams is headed in the wrong direction."

Moulton took aim at incumbent Richard Alcombright, who is running for a third term, saying he had failed to follow through with his campaign pledges of the past four years.

The administration's failures "are the direct result of misguided priorities and broken promises," said Moulton, claiming that Yankee Magazine had once described the city as a "hidden jewel," but "after nearly four years of indecisive leadership, the jewel has lost its luster."

Many of the charges that Moulton fired at his longtime friend were repeats of former Councilor Ronald Boucher's campaign two years ago, including that Alcombright had cried poverty while handing some $700,000 in raises to the school system, that his administration has been far less transparent than he says and that he has failed financially.

Moulton had been a strong supporter of Boucher, as he had supported Alcombright in his first run. This time it's topsy-turvy, with the man Moulton helped Alcombright beat in 2009, now going all out to get Moulton elected.

"Bob Moulton's my candidate for mayor," declared former Mayor John Barrett III, in introducing Moulton. Barrett, currently a city councilor, also thinks the city's on the wrong path. He said he considered running for mayor again but decided he was "too old" so he's throwing his considerable political weight behind Moulton.

"I had long discussions with Bob Moulton before I made a commitment that I was going to support him and throw it in big time," said Barrett. "I wanted someone I thought had the ability, the common sense and, most importantly, understood the average middle class of this city."  

Moulton has been in the middle of North Adams, literally, for decades in the family owned Moulton Spectacle Shoppe on Main Street. Picking up on the vision theme — and taking a jab at the current administration's North Adams 2030 master plan — Moulton's put a "2020" on his campaign signs.

It's also because the incumbent has left the city waiting — waiting for development of the Mohawk Theater, waiting for an economic development plan, waiting for a solar array and waiting for action on substandard housing. "We're still waiting," said Moulton.

"With me for mayor, there will be no master plan, there will be an action plan and I will walk the talk," he said, adding it was time for a new vision. "My vision will basic and simple, but it will be doable and it will set us on the road to recovery."

He vowed to add well-trained police to combat the recent rash of break-ins and violence and make the streets safe — and leave the policing up to them. "You will not see me at the scene of the crime talking to the news media, that's a job for the police director," said Moulton, referring to the mayor's run-in with TV media this week.

Moulton said he would replace a lost post in inspection services to fight blight and take an "aggressive stance in my dealings with these landlords"; take advantage of grants and tax credits the current administration hasn't; and create a city-run charter school for math and science in partnership with Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

"We must start thinking outside the box if we are to improve our school system," he said, calling for a return to innovation and smaller class sizes. Money should not have been spent on the old Conte School but directly on the students' educational needs, he continued.

He pledged to create an economic strategy with the aid of former mayors and administrators, and business leaders, people "who have been in the fray," and to revive momentum he says has been lost in the downtown.

Five years ago, he said, condominiums were selling in the downtown for excess of $300,000 and 85 Main was being transformed into high-end housing, but all that's on hold. Moulton claimed the administration is spending "hundreds of thousands of dollars" on an urban renewal plan behind closed doors. He, on the other hand, would dig up the 1995 Hyatt-Palma report and use its recommendations for the downtown.

The key is to revitalize Eagle Street and restore its historic buildings (and maybe that boutique hotel idea that's been kicking around for years) and, more importantly, get the Mohawk completed and programming in it to draw the crowds from Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.

"That's how you do it, it's not rocket science," said Moulton.

The next step, he said, is tell residents they were wanted in this campaign by knocking on doors in every neighborhood over the next seven weeks.

"I'm up for this job and I want very much to be your mayor," Moulton said.
 

Attorney General Martha Coakley meets with voters in Pittsfield and North Adams during a campaign swing in the Berkshires to announce her run for governor.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The self-described "Berkshires Girl" was back in the county on Tuesday seeking support for another run at office.

This time Attorney General Martha Coakley has her eye on the governor's office next year, and she's hoping the Berkshires will once again back her as it has overwhelmingly in the past.

The North Adams native swung through the Berkshires as part of her three-day "barnstorming" across the state to announce her candidacy, focusing on the twin themes economic recovery and education. She knows that when the economy sinks, it sinks even further in Berkshire County.

"I grew up here, my father owned a business in Berkshire County," said Coakley. "I know some of the issues but I know some have changed but I want to stay involved."

Tuesday brought her to an impromptu stop in Lee before Pittsfield and eventually to her home city of North Adams. At Dottie's, there wasn't a big stump speech — it was just coffee shop chatter, chatter she hopes to hear throughout the campaign and beyond.

"Certainly as governor one of things I want to do is to make sure we are able to have this economy turn around not just for some but for everybody," Coakley said after meeting more than a dozen voters during the afternoon stop in Pittsfield that that included District Attorney David Capeless, Berkshire Brigades leader Sheila Murray, Middle Berkshire Register of Deeds Patsy Harris and Edith "Kit" Dobelle, former U.S. Chief of Protocol. "And that means for regions like Berkshire County, north and south, taking into account what our strengths and weaknesses are, working with our local businesses and our local folks here and our not-for-profits."

Those experiences include going after bank mortgage practices, lowering the cost of health care and lowering the energy costs. But there is more she feels she can do. To kick start the economy, Coakley says the education system needs to be improved for both children and adults.

"I hear a lot of the same theme, about people feel a little more optimistic about the economy but they're still struggling," she said in North Adams. "One of the reasons I'm running for governor is to make sure we continue progress in Massachusetts on the economic front but that we do it for everybody, not just for a wealthy few, and that we make sure that we modernize our education."

She wants to focus on economic development, infrastructure and education but the details will be parsed out during the campaign. But her skills and experience is what drove her into the race, calling it a "critical time" for Massachusetts.

"I'm really excited about my chance to work with and for the people of Massachusetts."

Coakley will have set herself apart from what's becoming a crowded field of Democratic candidates, which so far includes early favorite Treasurer Steven Grossman, two former Obama administration executives and at least one entrepreneur, with a couple of high-profile candidate still on the fence.

What she won't have to do is fight for recognition in a region that's heavily backed her in the past, including her unsuccessful Senate race three years ago. In North County in particular, everyone knows her name.

"In that room right now are several classmates from high school, my trigonometry high school teacher, Mr. Cove, who I haven't seen for a long time but who I just remember fondly," said the Williams College graduate. She's spent most of her life outside the Berkshires, building a legal career as Middlesex district attorney before running for state office. But she came back in 2007 to be sworn in as attorney general at Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Arts.

I appreciate that I made some mistakes in that race and my biggest regret is that people think I didn't work hard. I certainly regret that but I went right back to work in the attorney general's office, going back to work for the people in Massachusetts. on the 2010 U.S. Senate campaign

Coakley moved around the Freight Yard Pub introducing herself and her husband, Thomas F. O'Connor Jr., but the connections were already there in many cases — they'd gone to school with one of her sisters, they'd known her father, they'd sat beside her in class — they connected somewhere in the myriad relationships found in a small town.

The gathering wasn't large but a number of community leaders were on hand, including Mayor Richard Alcombright, City Councilors Marie Harpin, President Michael Bloom, Jennifer Breen and Lisa Blackmer; a contingent from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts including President Mary Grant; Berkshire Community College President Ellen Kennedy and attorney John DeRosa, and Adams Selectman Joseph Nowak.

Kristen Gilman and Joy DeMayo, teachers at Sullivan Elementary School, were having supper before orientation in the evening. They hadn't realized that Coakley was going to be there but they chatted with her for several minutes about the school and teaching.

If they'd had a chance to consider, what would they have said Coakley or another gubernatorial candidate?

DeMayo's was straightforward: "Our youth is the future." Gilman's more on process: "I just want her to come to Sullivan to see what's going on up there, dealing with what we have to deal with all day. The reality of it."

Coakley's looking for that input.

"I would love to have the help and support of Berkshire County voters during the campaign. I want your ideas, I want your suggestions about how we in Boston — I know that is how we think about state government — can be more engaged and involved in what you care about, what we care about," she  said. "I'll be out here not just for the campaign but more importantly as governor."

Before she headed back toward Boston for another day of campaign stops, a woman came out of the pub to shake her hand.

"I love you as attorney general and you got my vote," she said.