Bettencourt: Peabody Poised To Emerge From 'Dark Days' Strong

PEABODY, MA — While the "dark days" of the coronavirus crisis have yet to pass, Mayor Ted Bettencourt said Peabody is poised to emerge from the pandemic strong with the help of dedicated city employees, strong municipal services, relatively low property taxes and upcoming projects that will improve the qualify of life.

"People recognize that great things are happening in Peabody," Bettencourt said during Monday night's inauguration and city government organization. "And want to be part of our success. There are still areas in need of improvement, of course, but we have a great deal to be proud of in our city.

"I am committed to maintaining Peabody's high level of affordability while maintaining the high level of municipal services that residents expect."

Bettencourt cited the work of Sharon Cameron and the Health Department for helping the city persevere through the challenging waves of the pandemic and credited the fire, police and EMS departments that operated short-staffed for much of the past two years as first-responder academies were closed and the city could not make new hires. He added that at the start of 2022 there will be 10 new police officers sent to the police academy before joining the force and that the city intends to hire 10 new firefighters as well to get that department back to pre-pandemic staff levels.

He also thanked school staff who have worked tirelessly and elected officials for their service during the difficult past 22 months.

"We have all experienced challenges we did not see coming and we have had to make decisions and votes on matters that had never been on our radars before," he said. "There existed no playbook on how to govern during a pandemic. At times we have disagreed on issues and relationships have been strained.

"Too often these past two years we've had to say 'no' to residents because of pandemic factors, and none of us are in this business to say 'no.' We do this work because we want to say 'yes.' We want to help people. And we love this city."

Bettencourt said looking ahead "there are many positive improvement projects in the works," including the transformation of 2 Washington Street into a 10-room bed and breakfast with a restaurant, speakeasy saloon and spa, and permanent children's museum he said he plans to propose to the City Council at the former TD Bank building on Main Street.

"I believe this is a seminal moment to further expand the Main Street corridor and to continue the revitalization of downtown Peabody in supporting other business," he said.

Other signs of progress he noted include a water infrastructure project, a capital bond improvement order, the Central Street improvement project, the downtown riverwalk project and the expansion of the Peabody Independence Greenway bike path.

He said Peabody has the second-lowest tax rate in Essex County, while being the No. 3 housing market in America, according to Realtor.com.

"There is no doubt these are dark days for all of us as the pandemic continues to upend our lives," he said. "But Peabody is a very strong community. We are made up of very resilient people.

"I have great faith that we will emerge from this dark chapter stronger than we were before."

(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.)