Haverhill City Council candidates prepare for the forum Oct. 7. Moderator Rebecca Backman is in the foreground.
Undecided Haverhill voters will have two more chances to learn more about candidates for Haverhill City Council and Haverhill School Committee Sunday afternoon and Monday night.
WHAV rebroadcasts the League of Women Voters of Greater Haverhill’s “Meet the Candidates Night” Sunday, Nov. 1, at 1 p.m. and Monday, Nov. 2, at 9 p.m. The forum originally took place Wednesday, Oct. 7, at Haverhill High School library.
School committee candidates launch the forum, providing opening and closing statements and answering questions during the fist hour. Participants include incumbents Scott W. Wood Jr. and Shaun P. Toohey and challengers Pamela Conte, Gail M. Sullivan, former City Councilor Sven A. Amirian and Michael Shurman.
During the second and third hours, the 13 participating city council candidates also provide opening and closing statements and answer questions. They included incumbents Melinda E. Barrett, Colin F. LePage, William J. Macek, Michael S. McGonagle, John A. Michitson, Mary Ellen Daly O’Brien, Thomas Sullivan and William H. Ryan and former councilors David E. Hall and Kenneth E. Quimby Jr., Katrina Everett, Fred A. Simmons and Andy Vargas.
Rebecca Backman, of the League of Women Voters of Andover/North Andover, served as moderator.
Here is mayor Failurentini’s resume on what he’s done in Haverhill:
~He advocated for the purchase and then sale of Hale Hospital leaving the city $100Million in debt.
~Created parking taxes downtown, which he is aggressively trying to raise.
~Bought a city vehicle and hired employees to drive around downtown to ticket as many cars as possible
~Created a meals tax on restaurants throughout the city
~Hired Trash Police to go door to door to fine people for not putting garbage at the street correctly
~Increases property taxes 2.5% EVERY year
~Taxes have increased over 25% in just the past 8 years
~Increased taxes in 2013 by 2.5% and then ended the year with a $3.5Million budget surplus and kept the money to give out in the form of raises
~Increased water rates
~Increased sewer rates
~Inconvenienced visitors and business owners downtown to make a few thousand dollars from a movie studio
~Double dipping on all youth sports leagues by charging a fee to use fields they have already paid to maintain
~Charges a fee to park in a garage downtown taxpayers paid to build
~Charges a fee to drop recycling items off at DPW that he turns around and sells at a profit
~Entered into private sector investment again with Harbor Place using taxpayer funding
~Kept 29 city employee felons on the city payroll after they committed larceny of over $54,000.00
~Allowed a city cop to easily retire after he was found to be literally sleeping every night while on duty
~He even clear cut a forest to raise a few thousand dollars
He’s messed up this city so bad no one in their right mind would want the job given the debt he’s run up. So with him running unopposed we’re stuck with him. But that doesn’t mean you have to vote for him. Don’t check the box next to his name. Send a message this hack is a failure and Haverhill deserves better.