NORTH ADAMS — Williams College therapist and educator Alexandra DiAddezio was selected Tuesday to fill a vacant School Committee seat after a joint convention with the City Council that also included approval of borrowing for a new fire truck.

The appointment filled a seat that opened after last year’s municipal election. Four candidates addressed councilors and committee members before a vote was taken, while the council also approved borrowing $1.75 million for a new fire truck and made a series of board and commission appointments during the meeting.

Each candidate for the vacant seat was allotted a three-minute speech, then the School Committee and City Council were given 10 minutes for questions. The convention elected DiAddezio based on simple majority vote — on the first try.

"A few of you [who spoke tonight] said you thought this would be easier than running, and I don't think it is," said Councilor Keith Bona. "It's close, I feel like I'm going to flip a coin or something ... I was impressed."

DiAddezio won the seat after touting various roles in public education and a priority of making sure families know the resources public schools offer.

For eight years, DiAddezio was a high school English teacher and head of the English Department at a school in The Bronx and also has master's degrees in English secondary education and mental health counseling.

“I've basically centered my career around educational pursuits,” she said.

Williams College therapist and educator Alexandra DiAddezio is sworn in as a North Adams Public Schools Committee member on Tuesday.

Committee member Cody Chamberlain asked each candidate how they would manage the interests of teachers, families and students during teacher contract negotiations, which start again this year, and DiAddezio said having a fair wage was “essential to people choosing to be there.”

The other three candidates were Jackie DeGiorgis, a 30-year Drury High School biology teacher; Kayla Sullivan-Lane, a Stamford, Vt., public school teacher who also taught in Tokyo; and two-time previous School Committee candidate Eric Wilson, who championed improving public schools for kids with disabilities.

On Tuesday night, the City Council also unanimously approved the borrowing of $1,751,351 to purchase a new fire truck — one that became available after another community that ordered the truck was unable to complete the purchase. The city was given a hold on the truck to buy it at a 2025 value.

"We understand this is a big impact on our taxpayers and the reason we brought this to you is because of the big savings," said Fire Chief Brent Lefebvre, who said the purchase would save the city roughly half a million dollars, with Mayor Jennifer Macksey adding the borrowing would be within the city's municipal budget.

The truck would also arrive in May, said Lefebvre, whereas ordering a new truck would mean it would take about three years to arrive.

Macksey said there is currently no other funding stream for purchasing the truck besides borrowing the money. The department's current 1999 Smeal aeriel ladder truck was purchased 27 years ago, and has exceeded its expected 20-year lifespan. Lefebvre made the case that if the city continued to wait and the truck fell out of National Fire Prevention Association certification, which is imminent, the fire department could not send it out on calls.

During the three-hour meeting, Macksey tapped Nancy Bullett, Aimee Annichiarico, Ross Jacobs, former City Councilor Wayne Wilkinson and Christine Girard as the first commissioners of the newly formed Affordable Housing Trust Commission.

William Hooper will replace Councilor Andrew Fitch on the Airport Commission, and Rita Sporbert will also join, marking a full five-person commission.

After Planning Board member Robert Burdick stepped down from his position on Monday, former City Councilor Pete Oleskiewicz was appointed to the Board.

Ross Jacobs and Christopher Thomas were appointed to the Zoning Board of Appeals and City Assessor Ciera Dowling was appointed to the Board of Assessors.

The Council also passed a resolution to support the Massachusetts Teachers Association’s Fiscal Crisis Campaign, with Councilor Peter Breen voting no.