With Next Meeting Tuesday, North Adams Mayor Discusses Airport Controversy

North Adams, Massachusetts has its first new mayor in almost a decade. After his 2017 election victory, Tom Bernard took office in January — just around the time skydiving business owner and convicted rapist Alex Kelly’s bid to lease space at the North Adams airport began to make waves at the city’s airport commission meetings. In the wake of the controversy surrounding Kelly’s involvement with the public airport — which culminated in the city leasing him space at June’s commission meeting —  residents have raised questions about management of the facility and the city’s role in shaping the decision-making around it. The commission is due to meet again on Tuesday. In a conversation with WAMC Landes, Mayor Bernard says one of his first moves regarding the airport was to install two new members to its commission: Dean Bullett and Mark Morandi.