Haverhill city elections are Tuesday; ballots include two questions

Mike LaBella, The Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, Mass.
·3 min read

Oct. 31—HAVERHILL — Voters on Tuesday, Nov. 2, will be casting ballots for mayor, city council, and school committee and will decide on two ballot questions about changing the city's charter to allow for at-large and ward city councilors and school committee members.

Two longtime councilors, Mary Ellen Daly-O'Brien and William Macek opted not to seek reelection, while Councilor Colin LePage decided to run for mayor.

"This guarantees there will be three newcomers, versus the last election, in which all nine incumbents sought reelection and all retained their seats, therefore there were no successful challengers," said Macek, the longest serving councilor in city history with 26 years served.

Daly-O'Brien served 20 years and LePage has 12 years on the council.

"The council is losing 58 years of experience," Macek added. "It's been quite a while since there were this many open seats on the council."

The mayor's race is between LePage and incumbent Mayor James Fiorentini, who is seeking a record 10th term in office.

Running for re-election to the council are Timothy Jordan, Melinda Barrett, John Michitson, Thomas Sullivan, Michael McGonagle and Joseph Bevilacqua. Challengers are Melissa Lewandowski, William Taylor, Catherine Rogers, Shaun Toohey, Kenneth Stevenson, Tomas Michel, Dee Jacobs O'Neil, Fred Simmons, Josiah Morrow, Katrina Hobbs Everett and Kenneth Quimby Jr.

Running for reelection to the school committee are Maura Ryan-Ciardiello, Richard Rosa and Paul Magliocchetti. The lone challenger is Miguel Quinones.

One ballot question asks voters for their opinion on increasing the size of the city council from its current nine members to 11 members, with four elected at-large and seven by district. Councilors would continue serving two-year terms.

The other ballot question asks voters for their opinion on increasing the size of the School Committee from its current six members plus the mayor as chair, to nine members, with five elected by district and three at-large, plus the mayor as chair. The question would also change the terms of office from the current four years to two years.

Both questions are non-binding, meaning, the results of the vote would simply serve as advisory to the city council.

The Boston-based group Lawyers for Civil Rights is threatening to bring a voting rights lawsuit against the city if it doesn't voluntarily change its decades-old, at-large electoral system to a mixed system of ward and at-large representation.

The issue was raised with the City Council last year, but progress stalled due to the pandemic.

In a letter to the mayor, Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, executive director of Lawyers for Civil Rights, said that on behalf of minority voters led by the Latino Coalition of Haverhill, electoral change is necessary to ensure the city's compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act.

Haverhill is one of just a few communities in Massachusetts yet to adopt a system of electing city councilors from wards. Lawrence and Methuen both use wards or districts, as do Gloucester, Amesbury, Newburyport and Salem.

To find your polling location, visit the Secretary of State's website at www.sec.state.ma.us.