Cahill Focuses On Coronavirus, Climate At Beverly Inauguration

BEVERLY, MA — Coronavirus recovery and the city's role in the fight against climate change were at the center of Beverly Mayor Michael Cahill's inauguration address as he was sworn in for a fifth term Monday at Beverly High School.

Cahill touched on several issues facing the city — including promoting diversity and smart development that focuses on public transportation — the work to help businesses and residents recover from the two-year pandemic and combat greenhouse emissions were top themes.

"Including and beyond our schools, the pandemic has taken a toll in many ways on everyone," Cahill said. "So, we will focus on the physical and mental health needs of our employees and the residents we serve through our many city programs and departments.

"This must and will be a high priority for our ongoing work."

While looking forward to personal and business coronavirus recovery over his next two-year term, Cahill allowed that the burden it continues to place on the city’s health care workers remains a daunting challenge that residents must help face in the present.

"People are getting sick and people are dying," Cahill said. "Now, and for the next several weeks, we all need to continue to be vigilant. For all those who medically cannot, we all need to mask, get vaccinated and get boosted, to limit our exposure to people outside our family circles.

"While none of these steps are guarantees they all help to protect us and others. We owe this to our health care professionals and their families."

Cahill said housing for all age levels and incomes will be a priority and that changes to zoning for the Bass River Waterfront will be presented later this spring.

He added that the city's racial equity audit of the city government will soon be completed and presented as well.

"There is a richness that diversity brings to a community and we are blessed that people from all over continue to discover our city and choose to make it their home," he said.

Cahill focused much of his speech on climate initiatives that he said Beverly must implement within the city as a vulnerable coastal community.

"It is most urgent because the clock is ticking," Cahill said. "That responsibility is to address the climate crisis. As extreme weather events become more frequent and deadly, if we are going to provide our future generations the best opportunities to live their best lives in this world, we need to prevent the worst in climate change. That means we need to cut greenhouse dramatically now and eliminate new greenhouse gas emissions fast.

"Climate needs to be considered in almost every decision we make day in and day out. While this is the challenge of the whole world, and this challenge will require great leadership nationally and internationally, it does not matter that we are just local officials in one small city in the Northeast United States.

“We cannot sit back and leave this work entirely to others. This is our responsibility in Beverly as much as it is every person's, every government's and every person's responsibility the world over."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)