Haverhill voters support change to representation

Mike LaBella, The Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, Mass.
·3 min read

Nov. 3—HAVERHILL — Voters approved two non-binding ballot questions asking if they would like the city to change its form of representation from the current at-large city council and school committee to a combination of at-large and district representation.

Question 1, which passed 5,548 to 2,999, asked voters for their opinion on increasing the size of the City Council from its current nine members to 11 members, with four elected at-large and seven district councilors. They would continue serving two-year terms.

Question 2, which passed 5,410 to 2,996, asked voters for their opinion on increasing the size of the School Committee from its current six members plus the mayor as chairman, to nine members, with five elected by district and three at-large, plus the mayor as chair. The question would also change the terms of office from the current four years to two years.

City Council President Melinda Barrett said the idea of changing the system of representation was discussed during City Council meetings and that depending on what legal challenges or other factors arise, the city may have to make the change.

At its Aug. 10 meeting, the city council voted 8-1 to include the two questions on the November election ballot as non-binding, meaning the results of the vote would simply serve as advisory to the council.

Councilor John Michitson had said that out of concern for a potential lawsuit, the council may end up filing a home rule petition with the state Legislature regardless of what voters decided. By filing a home rule petition, the city would ask the state Legislature for permission to change the city charter to allow for a mix of at-large and district representation.

"It should be made very clear to them (voters) that we may make the change anyway depending on circumstances," Michitson said.

If the city ultimately decides to move from the current at-large representation to a mix of at-large and district representation, the earliest those positions could appear on a city ballot is 2023, city officials said.

Mayor James Fiorentini, who asked the council to include the two questions on the November ballot, had said he wants every neighborhood in the city to have representation on both the City Council and School Committee.

"We need to act before we get sued," the mayor said in reference to a letter he received in July from a group of civil rights lawyers working on behalf of the city's minority residents.

The Boston-based group Lawyers for Civil Rights is threatening to bring a voting rights lawsuit against the city if it doesn't voluntarily change its decades-old, at-large electoral system to a mixed system of ward and at-large representation.

In that letter to the mayor, Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, executive director of Lawyers for Civil Rights, said that on behalf of minority voters led by the Latino Coalition of Haverhill, electoral change is necessary to ensure the city's compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act.

Haverhill is one of just a few in Massachusetts yet to adopt a system of electing city councilors from wards. Lawrence and Methuen both use wards or districts, as do Gloucester, Amesbury, Newburyport and Salem.