Mayor Bettencourt Makes Inaugural Address

PEABODY, MA - Thank you Reverend Clergy. Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I am truly honored to be here with you this evening. Let me start by recognizing my wife Andrea and our three beautiful daughters Taylor, Ally, and Avery. Thank you for your love and support and for the many sacrifices you make which allow me to serve the city I love.

Thank you all for your friendship and for your ongoing commitment to the city of Peabody. To the members of the city council, school committee, electric light commission and board of library trustees: Thank you for the hard work you do each day on behalf of your constituents.

Congratulations to the newly elected members of the City Council, School Committee, and Board of Library Trustees. Each of you has endeavored to give your time and energy to the great calling of public service. Thank you on behalf of a grateful community.

I would like to thank all of our city department heads, staff, and municipal employees for dedicating their professional lives towards improving our city. I also extend my gratitude to the many volunteers who serve and have served over the years on our boards and commissions. Of course I want to recognize our military veterans and their families and say thank you for your service to our country.

Thank you as well to the men and women who serve our community as police officers and firefighters. Each day my respect and admiration for you grows as I witness your commitment to public service and the many sacrifices you make on behalf of our community.

Tonight, I am truly honored to begin my third term as your Mayor. As I have said before, serving as mayor of the city I love is fulfillment of a lifelong dream. I thank you once again for this great privilege.

100 years ago in 1916, residents of the Town of Peabody went to the polls and voted in favor of becoming the City of Peabody. In January of the following year, in a ceremony similar to this one, Peabody’s first Mayor and first City Council were sworn into office. This evening I feel especially blessed to be the Mayor who kicks off a great yearlong celebration of our city’s centennial anniversary. Our outstanding Centennial Committee has planned five major events to mark this historic occasion in grand fashion; A Family Festival at Brooksby Farm on May 15, 2016, a Stars and Stripes Concert on July 23, 2016, a Grand Centennial Parade on October 2, 2016, a Centennial Birthday Party on January 2, 2017 and finally, a Centennial Grand Ball on April 30, 2017.

And as we begin our centennial year, I am pleased to report that Peabody has much to celebrate. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of so many people in this room tonight – as well as a great many others across the city, Peabody has made great strides in the past four years; and we have laid the groundwork for a momentous period of growth over the next decade and beyond.

We’ve made great strides in economic growth and development. During my first inauguration in 2012, I identified Centennial Park and downtown Peabody as two key areas of focus. Shortly thereafter, I appointed an Economic Development Council which implemented a series of action steps designed to improve Centennial Park. Those efforts paid off with the opening of Centennial Crossing, a 40,000 square foot retail and office complex just off of Lynnfield Street.

This development is now home to shops, restaurants, and professional services which provide valuable employee amenities within walking distance of many of Centennial Park’s largest companies. Centennial Crossing is the most significant expansion of Centennial Park in 25 years; and it gives a tremendous boost to our efforts to attract new businesses to Peabody with good-paying jobs for our residents.

Continuing the momentum created by the Main Street redesign project, we secured a one point five million dollar state grant to help redesign Peabody Square and greatly improve the flow of downtown traffic. This project breaks ground in the spring. It will relocate the Civil War monument away from traffic and make it the centerpiece of a new greenspace in front of the district court building. By eliminating dangerous and confusing slip lanes and synchronizing traffic lights, the project will create a more traditional four way intersection and make the entire square more attractive and more business and pedestrian friendly.

Our aggressive pursuit of state dollars to help finance significant downtown infrastructure improvements has attracted private investors. During the past four years, developers purchased several key downtown parcels and have begun injecting millions of dollars in business and residential development into the area.

In addition, the city has agreed to purchase St. Paul’s Church on Washington Street and has begun the process of acquiring the historic O’Shea Building at the corner of Washington Street and Main Street. The St. Paul’s property provides the city an additional 54 parking spaces; and together, the two properties could inspire something truly special in this gateway section of the city. With the hope of creating a true destination downtown, the two properties represent a tremendous value which will pay dividends to the city for years to come.

Overall, our efforts to position Peabody as a hub for new business development and job creation are paying off. Last year, the City issued 300 new business certificates and I have been privileged to attend 50 ribbon cuttings for new companies just in the past two years alone. With a continued focus on downtown Peabody and Centennial Park, Peabody will continue to be the economic engine that drives the entire region.

We are making great strides in education. Four years ago, I acknowledged the challenges facing Peabody schools and I committed my administration to addressing them. Chief among the issues we faced were school buildings in various states of disrepair, underperforming MCAS scores, and an English Language Learner program deemed deficient by the state. With so many talented and hardworking teachers, paraprofessionals, building principals and district administrators in our system, I knew we could do better. And do better we have. The latest MCAS scores were just released and I am happy to report that every single elementary school in the district is now performing at a Level 2 or better. Our Higgins Middle School, the largest in Massachusetts, continues its great progress moving from a Level 3 to a Level 2. After years of lagging behind statewide averages, 94% of Peabody High School students scored Advanced/Proficient in English Language Arts and 72% scored Advanced/Proficient in Math and Science. Perhaps most inspiring of all, the state has not only removed Peabody from the deficient list, but now recognizes us for having a progressive ELL program whose students out-perform their peers across Massachusetts. I want to thank Superintendent Herb Levine, Assistant Superintendent Cara Murtagh and members of the School Committee for their tireless work on behalf of Peabody students.

At the high school, we opened a school-based health center to provide comprehensive primary care to students as well as routine sports physicals, immunizations, and case management of chronic health conditions such as diabetes and asthma. The center also provides behavioral health services and is a tremendous resource to help combat the opiate epidemic that has affected Massachusetts and the entire New England region.

Also at the high school, we completed a major renovation of the outdoor athletic complex, highlighted by a new track and multi-use turf field. We made dramatic upgrades to the cafeteria and are exploring renovations to the auditorium and gymnasium. In our continuing efforts to maintain and extend the life of our school buildings, we are replacing the roof and windows of the McCarthy Elementary School. We will also replace the roof at the high school in the summer of 2017. Both of these projects will benefit from significant financial reimbursements from the Massachusetts School Building Authority, the MSBA.

And of course the largest MSBA reimbursement we will receive is 56% of the costs of our new Higgins Middle School. What was once just an open field that played host to soccer and flag football games is now home to a state-of-the-art, three story school building, featuring the latest technology for 21st century learning. The largest construction project in our city’s history, I am pleased to report tonight that the new Higgins remains on schedule, on budget and ready to open to students this fall.

We are making great strides in public safety. As the son of a police officer, I know that the success of our city depends on the safety of our citizens. Police Chief Tom Griffin and I were privileged to swear in 8 new full time police officers in 2014 and Fire Chief Steve Pasdon and I swore in 6 new full time firefighters. We continue to fill the reserve lists with well qualified applicants to ensure the best police and fire protection for years to come. And just last month, Chief Pasdon and I received strong City Council support to increase staffing at each of the district fire headquarters. The result is better fire protection for residents and businesses and improved safety for our firefighters.

We are making great strides in improving our open space, parks and recreational opportunities. This past fall we dedicated the Mayor Michael J. Bonfanti Nature Trail and Conservation Area at Sydney’s Pond. This is phase one of the South Peabody Trail Network which opens up 300 acres of city land from Sydney’s Pond to Spring Pond to walkers, joggers, and cyclists. Largely financed by a nine hundred and twenty-five thousand dollar state grant, the project will be completed this spring. In a similar vein, I am happy to report that the restoration of Crystal Lake is well underway with the design and permitting phase nearly complete. This year, the vital dredging and restoration work will begin and the area will be transformed into a true natural treasure in which all of us can enjoy and take great pride.

Our commitment to improving existing city parks, ballfields, walking and biking trails and other recreational amenities is ongoing. And I am pleased to announce tonight that we soon benefit from a number of new playing fields in the space occupied by the current Higgins building. We are making great strides in municipal services. As everyone is aware, many of our roads took quite a beating last winter and were in desperate need of repair. Fortunately, we were able to demonstrate a greater need for state aid this year and we received an additional six hundred and thirty thousand dollars above our typical allotment. This allowed us to significantly increase the number of repaving projects without adding extra burden to the taxpayers. This past fall, city work crews put the finishing touches on nearly two million dollars worth of road improvement projects across the city. The work encompassed large scale repaving projects on Lowell Street, Russell Street, Gardner Street, Lynnfield Street, Lynn Street and Bartholomew Street as well as smaller scale projects on many of the city’s secondary roads.

We also finished work on the Gardner Street Water Quality and Drainage Improvement Project. Work crews replaced two outdated water mains - which frequently broke costing taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars in repair costs, installed 10 new fire hydrants and 67 water service connections. Thanks to the oversight of our Department of Public Services as well as the patience and cooperation of nearby residents, the project wrapped up on time and under budget.

We are making great strides with community events and quality of life. As Mayor, I am committed to strengthening Peabody’s sense of community with special events designed to bring our fellow residents together. In 2014, we breathed new life into Peabody’s signature community event – the International Festival. In moving the festival onto Main Street, we were able to accommodate more vendors than ever before and improve access to amenities and public safety facilities. This past fall’s Festival drew an estimated 75,000 people who saw firsthand the great pride and culture of the City of Peabody. In September we held our third annual Senior Day at Brooksby Farm. City employees served a hot dog lunch to nearly 500 guests who enjoyed hayride tours of the apple orchards and exclusive access to some of the Peabody Historical Societies crown jewel properties.

Peabody has been selected as the host city for the 2017 U.S. Senior Open Championship. This is certainly a point of pride and distinction for the City as the tournament will draw tens of thousands of spectators and be viewed by millions more around the world. I have established a committee to help represent the city’s interests and help ensure a successful event.

And in addition to the five major Centennial events I outlined earlier, there will be a number of smaller events and festivities this year to commemorate our 100th birthday. Finally, we are making great strides in maintaining our affordability and high level of services. Over the past four years, we have invested heavily in Peabody’s future; from education and infrastructure to public safety and quality of life. These investments and our collective efforts have paid dividends. For the second straight year, our average residential home value has increased; this year by 6.7%. Despite the many projects we have undertaken together, Peabody remains one of the most affordable places to live in all of Massachusetts. In Essex County alone, Peabody’s tax bills rank among the lowest of any city or town while our levels of municipal services rank among the highest.

As mayor, I am proud of the strides we have made together during the past four years. I am committed to continuing our progress and I look forward with great optimism to a bright Peabody future. So as we begin Peabody’s centennial birthday year of 2016, let us celebrate together our pride, our progress and the great possibilities that lie ahead. Thank you.