Peabody Fire Fighter James Rice Dies in House Fire. Fund for Rice family and displaced residents established.

Veteran Peabody fire fighter James Rice died tragically when he was overcome by toxic fumes fighting a house fire on Hancock Street Friday.  I join my fellow Peabody residents in mourning for the loss of a great public servant.

Salem News Coverage:

• http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1818099849/Rice-mourned-as-help-pours-in-for-family-victims
• http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1666051697/Firefighter-dies-in-blaze 
• http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1666052086/Fatal-Peabody-fire-Photos
• http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1666052036/Arson-ruled-out-in-Peabody-fire

Lynn Item Coverage:

• http://www.itemlive.com/articles/2011/12/24/news/news01.txt

Three funds have been established to assist both the Rice family and the residents displaced by the blaze.

• Firefighter James Rice Memorial Fund, North Shore Bank.
• Local 925 James Rice Fund:   [James Rice Fund, PO Box 4313, Peabody MA 01960]


• City of Peabody Fire Victims Relief Fund, North Shore Bank.
  
  North Shore Bank Donations are being accepted at any North Shore Bank branch office, or can be mailed to the North Shore Bank, 32 Main Street Peabody, MA 01960.

Peabody Election Results 2011

                   Total      % vote     Incumbent? 

 Mayor                                             

 Bettencourt        8703       63.6%   

 Fitzgerald         4980       36.4%           

 At-large CC                                       

 Gould              9012       18.7%     

 Garabedian         7601       15.8%         I 

 Gravel             7526       15.6%         I 

 Liacos             7123       14.8%         I 

 Manning-Martin     7084       14.7%         I 

 Croce              5604       11.6%   

 Donovan            4227        8.8%           

 Ward 1                                             

 Osborne            1547       56.8%         I 

 Forti              1177       43.2%           

 Ward 2                                             

 Athas              1089                     I

 Ward 3                                             

 Mello              1160       59.9%         I 

 Serino              777       40.1%           

 Ward 4                                             

 Driscoll           2182                     I         

 Ward 5                                             

 Gamache            1521                     I         

 Ward 6                                             

 Sinewitz           1955                     I         

 PMLP (6 yr)                                        

 D'Amato            7136       33.8%         I 

 Aylward            4935       23.4%      

 Birmingham         4825       22.9%   

 Feld               4186       19.9%           

 PMLP (2 yr)                                        

 Bonfanti        not reported                I         

 School Committee                                   

 McGeney            8296       27.7%         I 

 Carpenter          8144       27.2%         I 

 Charest            7108       23.7%         I 

 Russell            6434       21.5%      




Red color indicated winner(s) in race.

Ted Bettencourt is the next Mayor of Peabody

Congratulations to Ted Bettencourt. Time to fill those big shoes.

Peabody Mayor: Who will win, who should win.

Well the election is finished and only the votes need to be tallied.

I decided to mostly stay out of the business of this election here at the Roundtable and occasionally jumped into the mix at the Peabody Politics blog.

So who will win and who should win... a mighty bold statement and entirely based on my personal opinion, but here it goes and we will see the results soon enough.

Mayor:

Will Win: Bettencourt

Should Win: Fitzgerald

It is plain to me... Sean has experience at running government on a day-to-day level and a broad background at multiple levels of government... and a true record of accomplishing things in his duties. Ted has been on the council, and even president, for 8 years and accomplished... well not very much indeed. Oh well... maybe he will grow into the shoes he will need to fill.

As for the other races, I think the City Council will be mostly, if not all, returning to their posts. The exception might be Liacos who I think may be given the heave-ho from Gould. Donovan and Croce have the 'old and cranky' attribute that appeals to some folks, but usually doesn't get you elected.

In the wards, I'd love to see Forte win, but I think it will be all incumbents yet again. Sadly Bob Driscoll was able to manuver Jeff Grayson OUT of his ward after last elections 1 vote victory... not the classiest move I have ever witnessed. And while I would love to see Mello ousted, he is very popular.

School committee will be all the same faces... and its too bad because the only one who seems like he should REALLY BE on the committee is Russell - a real educator who might have made a real difference to our schools. I will keep hoping that McGeney or Carpenter will falter a bit and he will be elected, but this is Peabody and the incumbents rarely lose.

As for the Light Commission... I don't really care except that I would like it if Aylward DID NOT get elected as I strongly oppose his position on the Massachusetts Go Green initiative.

Well now I will wait for the results like the rest of you...

Election Update: With Donovan In... we all lose.

The Salem News and Peabody Patch report that Russ Donovan has filed papers to run for mayor in Peabody... again.

The Salem News has not published this article on-line for some reason.

The Peabody Patch article is here: Donovan Enters Peabody Mayor's Race

Now the Salem News article has a short interview and here are the main points of Mr. Donovan's reasons for running:

• He doesn't think either Fitzgerald or Bettencourt will make the needed changes in Peabody
• He is a non-politician
• He is a fiscal conservative
• He has no plans to raise money for a campaign
• He wants to end bus fees for Peabody students
• He wants to cut spending
• He wants a 20% personal exemption for property taxes
• He would slash the mayor's salary (to the avg. city worker pay)
• He would not accept city health insurance (to set an example)

So in his effort to cut the cost of city government he is going to run a non campaign with no fund raising, he will (I assume) hit the pavement and be speaking to people (but not spending any money on literature, outreach, etc.) in order to explain how he will CUT SPENDING while INCREASING SERVICES!

Of course his non campaign is going to already COST THE CITY because he is forcing a CITY WIDE PRIMARY! I called the clerks office and they were unable to tell me today what the approximate cost of a city-wide primary election will be... but other I have spoken with estimated the cost to be between $15-20,000 TAX DOLLARS!

All so a non candidate can run a non campaign on the platform of saving the city money.

Russ Donovan is just as welcome as any other citizen to run for office. However... if you are going to run for office... THEN RUN FOR OFFICE! Don't make this some symbolic gesture that has no value to the city... except to cost us all $$$ for your personal ego building.

I mean... that $15,000 would actually pay for 50 Peabody students to ride the bus to school for the year. Wouldn't that be money better spent?

Fitzgerald joins Bettencourt in race for Mayor

Sean Fitzgerald, the current Town Manager of Plaistow, New Hampshire, has joined the race for Mayor of Peabody.

Salem News: Ex-chief of staff is mayoral hopeful

This can only be good news for all the citizens of Peabody. I think that the public can only be better served with a healthy debate of the issues and the platforms of these two men.

I only hope that the campaigns can be kept positive and informative... instead of diving into the muck and mire that has plagued our political system as of late.

I have actually not seen Mr. Fitzgerald for some time. But I have found him to be an honest and forthright person. Don't get me wrong, he's still a politician... but he seems to have high expectations for himself and I have rarely seen him lose his cool.

While I would say that Mr. Bettencourt has gotten off on the right footing... and is leading the charge at the moment, I look forward to seeing what Mr. Fitzgerald will bring to the table.

But no matter who you favor now in March... it is going to be a much more interesting election season after today!

Bonfanti to Step Away - Will Not Seek Re-election

Mayor Michael Bonfanti in the State of the City address tonight has announced he will NOT be seeking re-election in the Fall.

Salem News: Bonfanti: I will not run again

So who will be the one who will fill the corner office next?

The big two expected candidates are, of course, Ted Bettencourt and Dave Gravel. But there are a few other possibilities out there. Anne Manning-Martin is very popular as is Beverly Griffin Dunne. And don't forget old Sean Fitzgerald who has always wanted to be top dog in his hometown.

Old Salem News Story: Mayor's Race in Peabody up in the Air

It will be an interesting election cycle!