The four candidates on the ballot in the mayoral preliminary election in North Adams, Massachusetts, have been winnowed down to two.
Lynette Bond and Jennifer Macksey agree on a few priorities: the need to improve old infrastructure, especially the public safety building, and increasing affordable housing.
Macksey, a nearly lifelong resident of North Adams, with experience in City Hall, remembers peering out the window of her parent's variety store and seeing the streets teaming with workers from the now-closed Sprague Electric.
Macksey wants to make the city a bustling community that's safe from drug dealers.
"Our kids need to be safe on our playgrounds and be able to to play without having to worry about drug dealers or hypodermic needles or things like that," Macksey said.
Bond said one of her big strengths is her relationship with state and federal funders through her job in development at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. She wants to make it easier for people to set up new businesses.
"And how we really expand and make North Adams a welcoming, inclusive place. And encourage those investors to think about housing. It's a real need in our city," Bond said.
The two candidates will face off on November 2nd. The winner will be the first woman to serve as North Adams mayor since it was incorporated in the late 19th century.
The city's current mayor, Tom Bernard, did not to seek a third term.
