Officials praise Barrett

Cheshire Selectman Paul Astorino said, ""I believe North County lost a strong advocate who had the ears of the people in Boston and the federal government," he said. "Twenty six years of meeting people, building bridges -- it’s going to be a tough road for Mr. Alcombright to move into, but I’m sure he will."

Building bridges? Building bridges?!? Clearly the Mayor was in office when some City bridges were repaired or rebuilt but to say he built bridges in a social, community building sense is sheer madness!

Truth wrote:

Cheshire Selectman Paul Astorino said, ""I believe North County lost a strong advocate who had the ears of the people in Boston and the federal government," he said. "Twenty six years of meeting people, building bridges -- it’s going to be a tough road for Mr. Alcombright to move into, but I’m sure he will."
Building bridges? Building bridges?!? Clearly the Mayor was in office when some City bridges were repaired or rebuilt but to say he built bridges in a social, community building sense is sheer madness!

True. Barrett did bring in a lot of state and federal aid, but far too much for us to be relying on it so heavily. He brought that money in primarily with his yelling and screaming. There are plenty of statewide politicians who will be happy as clams to have to deal with Alcombright. A friendly demeanor can go a long way in getting what you want/need. That was never one of Barrett's strong points so we'll never know just how much more we could have had here if he'd built true friendships with Boston pols vs. b*i*t*c*hing at them.

To all of those who love John Barrett in other towns-

You can have him. He's free.

Alcombright seems to have been more about hate than everybody realized. All of his people have done nothing but spew invective and abuse on Mayor Barett since he won. What a bunch of bums!

pure hate wrote:

Alcombright seems to have been more about hate than everybody realized. All of his people have done nothing but spew invective and abuse on Mayor Barett since he won. What a bunch of bums!

While I don't like Barrett, I have to respect what he's done for this community. Hopefully, he does well in the future.

pure hate wrote:

Alcombright seems to have been more about hate than everybody realized. All of his people have done nothing but spew invective and abuse on Mayor Barett since he won. What a bunch of bums!

barrett's earned every drop of invective cast his way.

whats the matter, afraid of a little election rhetoric? youre a big girl, you should be able to handle it. after all, you seem perfectly capable of dishing it out.

quit yer crying, granny, and welcome to the real world.

spint wrote:

<quoted text>
barrett's earned every drop of invective cast his way.
whats the matter, afraid of a little election rhetoric? youre a big girl, you should be able to handle it. after all, you seem perfectly capable of dishing it out.
quit yer crying, granny, and welcome to the real world.

I agree,"sprint". barrett has earned every negative comment he has received.

We "reap" what we "sow".

We "get" what we "give".

takecare wrote:

<quoted text>
I agree,"sprint". barrett has earned every negative comment he has received.
We "reap" what we "sow".
We "get" what we "give".

Sounds like the girl I just got rid of !!!

Even thought I voted against Barrett I think it would be nice if they renamed the Hadley Overpass in his honor.It will last as long as he did and it would be fitting.

pure hate wrote:

Alcombright seems to have been more about hate than everybody realized. All of his people have done nothing but spew invective and abuse on Mayor Barett since he won. What a bunch of bums!

OK, you made the same post about hate, etc, under "wow what garbage", "Vicious Alcombright" , "Pure Hate" and "Alcombright Nutjobs" what gives and any way you would let everyone know who you are or would that be to embarrassing for you? It seems that you're spending too much time on hate and the negative side of this. Please stop what you are doing! Thank you!

Barrett brought in alot of State and Federal aid? Really? And just what kind of 'Aid' was that?'Welfare'?'Food Stamps'?'Section 8'? And even if he did,that didn't help anything,that simply maintained the stauts quo. That didn't bring jobs,job training or opportunities. "We don't need any jobs! Forget about working,we're fine. Just keep that State and Federal money coming for Welfare and Food Stamps and Section 8 and we'll take care of ourselves. I've eaten 'Hamburger Helper' everyday since the 80's and I LOVE IT!" From what I can see,about the only thing Barrett did with that money is build base ball fields,his very own "Fields Of Dreams". "If you build it,they will come. Make the entire city one big baseball field and people will come from all over the country,maybe even the 'WORLD' to flood our streets,and all of those people who are unemployed will have jobs selling hotdogs and mowing lawns and painting bleechers. And in the off season,we can take everyone to Florida with all the money we've made. Well,we eventually will. But for now,I'll go by myself,just to,you know,check things out and set things up for when everyone else comes. For anyone to 'praise' John Barrett,it's clear that they either didn't know the man,or never had one of those famous petty Barrett 'run-ins' over parking or who got their coffee first? This is like when someone 'DIES',do you ever hear anybody say anything 'BAD' about them? NO! Why? CAUSE THEIR DEAD! THAT'S WHY! WHO CARES1 MOVE ON! PRAISE' Barrett? Yeah,and they say Osama Bin Laden is alot of 'FUN' at a dinner party,too. Yeah,you guys really make me 'LAUGH'!

This is like when the republicans praise Ronald Reagan or Richard Nixon,holding them up to be their standard bearers. If this is the best they can do,they're in alot of trouble. The same with Sara Palin. The RNC must've done some polling and saw how popular 'CARTOON CHARACTORS' are. Remember when they wanted to put Reagan's head on Mt. Rushmore. While I am sure that 'Ronnie' was a very nice man,he deserved to have his head on Mt. Rushmore as much as I do. Although,if that's what they want to do,then I am all for it. Dig him up,cut his head off and put it right up there. But,don't be spending my hard-earned tax dollars carving anything.

doc wrote:

<quoted text> I think considering all he's done for gambling it might be more fitting if the named the Keno machine at xtra mart after him. Or,how about a bronze statue of a 'Bully' of a teacher/mayor,holding a Keno ticket in one hand and a little kid by the hair in the other.

I think they should close your ignorant head in a vice.

Just wait watch and sink as NA Crumbles

Barrett was a no show for Veteran's Day, sent puppet Marden. JB on Vacation, HUH HUH

All of you haters of Mayor Barrett ask yourselves this one important question.

What would the city be like if he did not work hard and make North Adams and berkshire county a better place to live and work what it be today?

Arts, a beautiful Main Street make this man wish that his present city had a 1/2 of what the Mayor has done for North Adams.

I wish the new Mayor the best of luck. With that said, I hope he can carry on a proud tradition for the city!

Mayor Barrett, My hat is off to you! best of luck!

dog ears wrote:

Barrett was a no show for Veteran's Day, sent puppet Marden. JB on Vacation, HUH HUH

Marden was there by virtue of being Council President-chbpod

Average Joe wrote:

Arts, a beautiful Main Street make this man wish that his present city had a 1/2 of what the Mayor has done for North Adams.

The kicker is that it probably DOES. Another mayor--a charismatic one with the same business sense that people would ENJOY WORKING WITH--might have gotten twice what Barrett got.

You guys tooting JB's horn are hampered by a lack of a control group. Ever since way before this election it was pretty obvious to me that while JB had helped raise the city from its depths 20 years ago, he had fostered an environment where nothing happened unless it was either his idea or he got the credit. Plus, he has hangups about city liability, kids, and keeping the retirees disproportionately happy. Not exactly a progressive stand, especially from someone whose background isn't exactly that of a well-traveled nor worldly man capable of thinking very far out of the box.

Things won't change overnight--nobody said they would--but I think you guys will all be surprised in more than a few ways within the year 2010.

dog ears wrote:

Barrett was a no show for Veteran's Day, sent puppet Marden. JB on Vacation, HUH HUH

Alcombright's most active supporters, the ones who are doing all the crowing and cackling, are typified by this kind of raw, moronic hatred. And this hate is already damaging Alcombright severely. North Adams does not want to hear bad things about Barrett, and Alcombright appears incapable of reining in his most vocal bullies.

Alcombright will have to work hard to keep these howlers happy - otherwise.....they'll look for fresh meat.

The media will be impatient with Alcombright because they know the real issues and they know how valuable Barrett honestly was to the Berkshires. He replaced Barrett with promises of change he is incapable of delivering.

Alcombright's natural base of political support outside of the dum-dums is not energized. His campaign's real energy came from the goon squads.

Neither does he have Barrett's mental toughness - when they figure out Alcombright lied to them, the unions will go to war against him. Hell hath no fury, etc., etc.

Alcombright will be unpopular and politically finished by the end of next year, at about the same time the next mayoral campaign will start.

Get out your scorecards for 2011. Cariddi? Marden? Bloom? Bond? Return of Mayor Barrett?

An over-dependence on grants and state/fed funding was not a good thing. I believe decisions were often made based solely on the money it would bring to the city, not on what was the best course of action for the people. Getting $$ was all that mattered ... kind of like winning on a lottery ticket?