♥ COMPASSION ♥ EDUCATION ♥ LOVE
♥ LIBERTY ♥ UBUNTU ♥
WHO IS
ASHLEY SHADE
In 2019, Ashley Shade arrived at the Fall Foliage Parade for its first planned Pride float and found she was the only one who had come ready to march. She raised her rainbow Gadsden flag and headed down Main Street alongside another group marching in support of civil rights. Along the route, Ashley spotted two teenagers wearing Pride flags of their own. They were thrilled to see someone like them walking in the parade, waving a giant Pride flag. Ashley went over, invited them to join her, and together they finished the parade route.
Ashley took one lesson home from that day and has carried it into public life ever since: it is always the right decision to show up, even when you are alone.
Ashley Shade is President of the North Adams City Council, chosen unanimously by her colleagues in January 2026 to lead the council in her third term. She was first elected in 2021 and re-elected in 2023 and 2025. At the beginning of her second term, her colleagues unanimously elected her Vice President.
A North Adams resident since 1991, Ashley graduated from Charles H. McCann Technical High School and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. She works in healthcare as a billing and collections specialist, and in March 2026 she was inducted into the North Adams Women's Leadership Hall of Fame.
PROVEN PROGRESS & PROMISES
GUIDED BY PRINCIPLES OF COMPASSION, EDUCATION, LIBERTY, LOVE & UBUNTU
HISTORY MADE
FIRST OPENLY TRANS CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT IN MASSACHUSETTS, 2026
Called the second in the United States by The Berkshire Eagle
♥ COMPASSION ♥ EDUCATION ♥ LIBERTY ♥ LOVE ♥ UBUNTU
HONORED
INDUCTED INTO THE NORTH ADAMS WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP HALL OF FAME, 2026
♥ LOVE ♥ UBUNTU
PASSED 9-0, NOVEMBER 2026
S.A.F.E. A.I. ORDINANCE
One of the most comprehensive municipal AI policies in Massachusetts, with a public online registry of every AI tool the city uses.
♥ LIBERTY ♥ EDUCATION
ADOPTED 2025
LGBTQIA+ SANCTUARY RESOLUTION
Co-sponsored the resolution declaring North Adams a sanctuary for the LGBTQIA+ community.
♥ LOVE ♥ LIBERTY
ADOPTED 9-0, OCTOBER 2026
RENTAL ORDINANCES
Introduced three ordinances updating short-term and long-term rental rules so the city can enforce registration and inspections, with fines going to the Affordable Housing Trust.
♥ COMPASSION ♥ UBUNTU
EXPANDED 2026
PUBLIC COMMENT
Increased speaking time from two to three minutes, dropped the address requirement and added a countdown clock in council chambers.
♥ LIBERTY ♥ UBUNTU
IN PROGRESS
CITY ORDINANCE MODERNIZATION
Chairs the Codification Review Committee, reviewing the entire city code to remove contradictory and outdated ordinances.
♥ EDUCATION
REPEALED 2022
CURFEW ORDINANCE
Pushed for months to repeal the curfew on residents age 16 and younger.
♥ LIBERTY ♥ COMPASSION
ABOUT
NORTH ADAMS
Over the past four decades, North Adams has gone through tremendous changes and faced extremely difficult struggles. More than 40 years have passed since Sprague Electric closed its doors, an impact we are still working to recover from.
Our city has done an excellent job of rebranding and making North Adams a tourist destination rich in arts and culture. However, we have neglected the most important piece of our city: the residents who live here. Our poverty rates are among the highest in the state. Our hospital sat closed for ten years before reopening in 2024, and our residents face an opioid epidemic and high rates of domestic violence. Those struggles are tied to our lack of quality jobs, economic development, and mental health resources.
North Adams has the potential to be the economic center of the Berkshires. We have plenty of space for businesses and low real estate prices, and we are centrally located between Albany, New York City, and Boston, without all the crazy city traffic. We also have two tremendous resources that people overlook: the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and our neighboring institution, Williams College.
