Meet Salem City Council Candidate Armand Blanchette

SALEM, MA — Salem native and former City Council candidate Armand Blanchette is one of three candidates running to replace outgoing Ward 1 Councilor Robert McCarthy on the City Council this fall.

The open Ward 1 seat — which McCarthy said in May he was not running for re-election for after serving as acting mayor for five months pending the special election earlier this year — is the only office requiring a preliminary election on Sept. 19.

Cynthia Jerzylo and Chris Malstrom are the other two candidates vying for the two-year term. The top two vote-getters on Sept. 19 will advance to the citywide general election in November.

Patch reached out to all three candidates in the contested election with Blanchette telling Patch that increased funding for police and fire, creating more businesses to offset residential tax increases, protecting the city's flood zones amid climate change, and working to mitigate the homeless problem in the city will be among his top priorities on the Council if elected.

"I have been in the hospitality business and I did the hiring, firing, and training of all employees of all genders, all races, and all economic backgrounds," he said. "That's why I feel like I am a great candidate for Ward 1 because I can represent all of Ward 1."

Blanchette previously ran for City Council in Ward 2 but told Patch he did so "as a test point to make this run" with the understanding that he would live in Ward 1 in the shifted districts during the next election cycle. He said he ran the last time as part of his opposition to the LeeFort Terrace redevelopment and he has similar concerns about the proposed redevelopment of Shetland Park.

"I was a lifelong resident of Salem and I got tired of people moving here and telling us how it should be," he said.

He told Patch the city needs to attract and sustain more businesses so that the commercial tax base can offset increases in residential property taxes, and that it needs to react to the effects of climate change that are already upon it.

"They keep saying we have to prepare for the future," he said. "Climate change is already here. We need to shore up our seawalls and stop building in flood zones."

He said he is in favor of the offshore wind industry moving into the district as long as workers on the project can park at a satellite lot off-site with shuttle service, and some aesthetic changes are made to the design.

He said there needs to be a three-pronged approach to dealing with the homeless problem in the city where social services must work with those who are homeless with mental challenges, the state should help take care of those who lost homes because of purely economic reasons, and that the city should displace those who are on the streets abusing substances.

He wants the city to increase police hiring to keep up with population growth and increase fire funding to keep up with development, and said he doesn't "think the city can afford a new high school," preferring a renovation instead of an entirely new construction.

While allowing that "everybody is pretty much burnt out with the special (mayoral) election (this past May)" he has continued to engage residents in advance of the preliminary election on Sept. 19.

"I am still going door to door and people are voicing their opinions on traffic, parking and taxes," he said."I am a big supporter of free parking for Salem residents."

More on Blanchette's candidacy and positions can be found on his campaign website here.

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