City Council

CITY OF SALEM JANUARY 6, 2025 SPECIAL ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL A Special Meeting of the City Council was held on Monday, January 6, 2025 at 6:00 P.M. for the purpose of organizing City Government for the year 2025. Notice of this meeting was posted on December 26, 2024 at 4:47 P.M. All Councillors were present. City Clerk, Ilene Simons, called meeting to order and Councillor Prosniewski, Senior Member, assumed the chair. Acting Council President Prosniewski called upon Councillor Davis and Councillor Harvey to lead us in the pledge of allegiance. #1 – ELECTION OF PRESIDENT The following Order introduced by Councillor Merkl was adopted by a roll call vote of 11 yeas, 0 nays, and 0 absent. ORDERED: That the City Council proceed to organize for 2025 by the Election of a President. Councillor Cohen nominated Councillor Prosniewski. Councillor Hapworth seconded the nomination. Councillor Stott nominated Councillor Merkl. Councillor Morsillo seconded the nomination. Councillor Jerzylo moved that the nominations be closed. It was so voted Acting Council President Prosniewski read the roll call vote. Eleven Members Present, 6 members voting in the affirmative for Councillor Prosniewski, 3 members voting in the affirmative for Councillor Merkl, and 2 members voting present. Councillors Cohen, Hapworth, Harvey, Jerzylo, Prosniewski, and Varela were recorded as voting for Councillor Prosniewski, Councillors Davis, Morsillo and Stott were recorded as voting for Councillor Merkl and Councillor Merkl and Watson-Felt were recorded as present. Councillor Prosniewski was declared the newly elected City Council President for the year 2025. Councillor Hapworth motioned that the vote be reflected as unanimous. It did not pass. Councillors Davis, Merkl, Morsillo, Stott and Watson-Felt were recorded in opposition. Please see below for Council President Prosniewski’s speech: Thank you, Councillor Cohen, for your kind words. Thank you, Councillors, for your votes of confidence. Thank you, Madam Clerk, for organizing and coordinating this evening's event, A special thanks to my family and friends who have joined me here tonight and patiently supported me for these last five years. I would also like to thank those honored guests who have taken the time out of their busy schedules to attend tonight. Representing Senator Joan Lovely’s office is my friend Robert McCarthy, former Council President , former Mayor. Representative Manny Cruz, District Attorney Paul Tucker, Mayor Dominick Pangallo Chief Lucas Miller, Former Chief of Police Mary Butler Former Councillors Josh Turiel and Lisa Peterson School Superintendent Steven Zrike, School Committee members, Mary Manning, AJ, Hoffman, Veronica, Miranda and Beth Ann Cornell. Our Sheriff Kevin Coppenger Our SATV staff and I almost forgot our Fire Chief Alan Dionne. Our city department heads, And especially the citizens of Salem who I eagerly continue to serve and represent. Part of my job and responsibility as Council President will be to continue to steer this ship, which President Ty Hapworth has left in such great shape, with a fine crew, in a direction that will continue to move Salem on a progressive, yet responsible course, and will enhance the quality of life for all our citizens without diluting our history, our culture, or our character. A welcoming community that creates an equal sense of belonging, engages its residence in an authentic and transparent manner, where uniqueness is valued, respected, and supported through the opportunities we have created, and will continue to create. We have challenges ahead and decisions to make on issues that will have a significant impact on our city. I am confident that this Council, working with our mayor and city staff, will create more opportunities, while continuing to enhance the quality of our lives. We have work to do now, so let us get on with it. #2 – RULES AND REGULATIONS The following Order introduced by Councillor Stott was adopted. ORDERED: That the Rules and Regulations of the City Council of 2024 be adopted as the Rules and Regulations for the year 2025, and that the same be suspended for this meeting. #3 – MAYOR ADDRESS COUNCIL – STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS AND J.D. SCRIMGEOUR, SALEM’S POET LAUREATE The following Order introduced by Councillor Watson-Felt was adopted. ORDERED: That His Honor the Mayor be invited to address the members of the Council at this session and that J.D. Scrimgeour, Salem’s Poet Laureate, recite the poem “1625” Please see below for the Mayor’s speech Congratulations, President Prosniewski. Councillors and School Committee members, District Attorney Tucker, Senator Lovely, Representative Cruz, and fellow Salemites – thank you for being here. Last year we announced that starting in 2025, Salem will be celebrating the artistry of the written and spoken word through a new honorary appointment – the City Poet Laureate. It gives me great pleasure to announce Salem’s first Poet Laureate, J.D. Scrimgeour! J.D. is an accomplished writer and is the Coordinator for Creative Writing at Salem State University. He’s earned awards from the National Society of Arts and Letters and the Academy of American Poets, and his work has been nominated for a Spoken Word Grammy. J.D. created and still directs the Salem Poetry Seminar, is a founding member of the Salem Writers’ Group, chairs the Salem Athenaeum Writers Committee, and is an executive board member of the Massachusetts Poetry Festival. Please join me in welcoming Salem’s Poet Laureate, J.D. Scrimgeour, to share an original poem entitled “1625.” 1625 Those who lived here called it What they called themselves, “Naumkeag,” The fishing place. The fish were huge back then, Though, back then, that was just what fish were. Almost no one spoke English. There were no petitions To stop the persecution, No ammunition bunkers on Winter Island. The immigrants hadn’t yet chosen here, But they would, and, in time, The wharves emerged, splayed fingers Clutching the sea and its bounty. And then a nation’s first millionaire, First telephone. The founder of kindergarten. In 1625, there was no secret staircase, No gables, no toxins in the soil On the banks of North River. No cellphones, no drones. Looking backward, we can see what wasn’t, And then what was. Cautions and wonders. In this city unafraid of the undead, The popcorn at the Willows is still The best around, and the new pier Is a good place to fish. Thank you, J.D., and congratulations on your appointment to this role – I know we’re all greatly looking forward to working with you in the months ahead! To my colleagues in public service and to all who are with us this evening or watching at home: it’s an honor to share with you an update on the state of our city – a place where the stories of our past are always present, but where our future remains our own to write. To paraphrase slightly from Salem’s 26th Mayor, Robert Rantoul, “The year 2025 – an unwritten page in the history of Salem – lies open before us. When it is closed, we shall have traced upon it something that will endure for good or ill, to this ancient community.” On the page prior, 2024, we wrote about incredible achievements realized through a collaborative spirit, but also about efforts not yet complete and that requires an aligned vision from all of us for a City that strives to work for everyone. That means a City that functions with, not just integrity, transparency, and competence – but also with compassion. One that recognizes that the challenges our residents face day to day – the cost of housing and the cost of living in general, the need for reliable and safe ways to get around, the right to great schools, and the challenge of contending with climate impacts like flooding and fires – these are all inextricably connected to the kind of city that we want to be. And despite what challenges the year ahead may present, we’re focused with intention on the important work and the transformative projects that we know our city needs, and on what it means to be a compassionate community. We must support one another, especially our most vulnerable neighbors. We've always been a city that welcomes everyone, and nothing will change that. Salem is, and has been, a place where we love and lift up our neighbors - no matter your means or where you come from, how long you’ve lived here, the language you speak, who you love, how you identify, your age, or your ability. We’re a stronger, better city because of that. Our commitment is for Salem to be a beacon - a city that works for and welcomes all. And that commitment is unwavering, no matter the tides. That commitment isn’t new, of course, either - it was reflected in the work of this past year, as well. This year gone by we broke ground on projects that will create 185 new affordable housing units for Salem residents. But we know the need is far greater. One study found that Salem needs 2,200 new housing units over the coming decade to stabilize rents and prices. That sounds like a lot. But we’ve done it before. That’s around the same number of new housing units built in Salem in the 1970s, and around the same number built in the 1980s. If Salem of the 1970s and 1980s could achieve that benchmark, surely we can meet the moment now. So, in the year to come we’ll work to advance other projects to right-size our housing supply. The price to pay if we don’t take positive action on this is very real. Over the last five years for every dollar that incomes went up in Salem, home prices went up by nine dollars. And demand, especially for affordable units, is high: a recently completed 39-unit affordable housing building drew over 950 applications. It’s the most fundamental rule of economics: when demand is strong and supply is stagnant, prices go up. The consequences of this are reflected in the story of a Salem resident who came to my office in 2024 and was helped by Lori Stewart, our Housing Stability Coordinator. For privacy reasons, I’ll call this woman Sandra. Sandra was born here and lived in Salem all her life. She put down roots, raised her own family here. She’s worked hard in a good paying office job, walking distance from her apartment, and was looking forward to retiring in the next year. A few months ago, Sandra got word that the building her apartment was in had been sold and that the rent was going to go up, by almost 30%. So, she came into our office to meet with Lori. The increase in her rent was a lot, more than she could afford and it would mean that more than 60% of her income would be going to her rent each month. Despite that, the increase wasn’t enough to qualify Sandra for emergency status, for public housing. Lori and Sandra checked on waiting lists and filled out applications, all to no avail. Sandra had a tough choice to make: Stay in her unit and not be able to afford groceries or medications – go onto the streets until she found a place to live – or leave the city she grew up in and lived in all her life, possibly giving up her job just before achieving retirement. Ultimately, Sandra chose the third option. She found a unit, not ideal, still pricey, but affordable enough to last the year, and just one city away, in Lynn, so she can stay at work and get to retirement. But now she’ll need to figure out transportation from Lynn to her job here in Salem – the office isn’t close to a bus route and Sandra doesn’t own a car. For years, she walked to work, keeping a car off our streets – but now she may need to add one to them, to keep her job and have a place to live. Sandra’s parents made Salem their home, and she went on to raise her own family here, too. She wanted to stay in Salem, but our community didn’t have space for her. That should make us all furious. And Sandra isn’t alone. In 2024 Lori helped over 700 Salem residents in crisis, many facing similar situations as Sandra’s. And hundreds more have used Salem’s free Housing Stability Service, a program we offer with the Essex County Bar Association. In 2024, of every five calls to the Mayor’s Office from residents seeking help, two of them were about housing insecurity. To any who might think that Salem does not have a housing crisis, I invite you to spend a day – spend an hour – sitting next to Lori, as she works with a seemingly un-ending stream of Salem people in need. People who have lived here all their lives. People who have jobs. Even people who have decent incomes, but just cannot find a place in Salem. People like Sandra. The day Sandra had to move out of Salem, the state of our city became poorer. In 2025 it’s our responsibility to lose fewer Sandras. That’s why this coming year we’ll tackle zoning that requires too much unused parking at new housing projects and zoning that prohibits single occupancy housing. We’ll advance a new ordinance to slow the pace of condo conversions that, last year alone, permanently eliminated around 60 rental units in our community. We’ll propose new financing mechanisms to invest in the City’s own Affordable Housing Trust Fund. We’ll look to new opportunities to leverage publicly-owned and vacant land to create affordable housing. And we’ll launch a new initiative to cut the red tape when it comes to our own internal process for reviewing housing projects. We’re taking these steps, not in despair, but because we’re optimistic about the future of our city. In the year ahead we see challenges, but also possibilities. And some of the most exciting possibilities are embedded in our schools. In 1854, Salem’s 9th Mayor – Joseph Andrews – observed the following: “The right of every person to the best education which a community can afford is now held to be a well-established right; and out of this grows the corresponding duty of providing the means. A schoolhouse is a better investment of the common fund than stocks or bonds and, ultimately, will yield a better return. It is wiser to pay the teacher, rather than the jailor or the keeper of the alms house.” Today, our mentality about education is a bit different, but the spirit is largely unchanged: the most powerful and positive investment we can make in our future is in our kids. Here in Salem, we’re seeing the fruits of that work. Today Salem Public Schools are a model of a thriving school district, where a culture of achievement and high standards is proving successful for kids. Across the 26 Gateway Cities in Massachusetts, when it comes to the number of accountability targets that the district met or exceeded Salem is now Number 1. In the Commonwealth, less than 15% of all public schools met or exceeded their targets, but here in Salem 50% of them did so. Not one of our schools is now in the bottom 10% of schools statewide, and every one of them improved their accountability ranking compared to the state —two of them, Bates and Salem High School, with double-digit increases. Of the over 1,750 public schools in Massachusetts, the state only named 57 of them “Schools of Recognition” based on their exceptional performance. Two of those 57 were Salem schools — Horace Mann Laboratory School and Salem High School. Speaking of Salem High School, it saw its most significant gains ever, in all subjects. Across all three Salem high schools — New Liberty, Salem Prep, and Salem High — the gains eclipsed pre-pandemic levels and were among the largest increases at the high school grades across the entire Commonwealth. On top of that, Salem’s multilingual students outperformed the state in English proficiency. And among our multilingual second-graders, the first class to go through Salem’s Pre-K Partnership, a record number, more than seven in ten of them, achieved benchmarks, demonstrating the success of our innovative approach to early education here in Salem. We’re also seeing more student enthusiasm to be in school: when it comes to reducing chronic absenteeism, for example - of the 26 Gateway Cities, Salem went from the bottom of the list, Number 25 in 2019, to Number 3 today. When kids are engaged and connected to their education, incredible things can happen. And that’s one reason why Salem Public Schools’ enrollment has increased over the last four years by 166 students. While these achievements are worth celebrating, we still have work to do to ensure that every child reaches their academic potential. Despite the work still to be done, though, Salem Public Schools are, without question, moving in a positive direction thanks to the dedication of our educators, the support of family and caregivers, and, most importantly, the commitment and hard work of our students. This work matters because a thriving city needs thriving schools – and the reputation and strength of a community is directly related to the reputation and strength of its schools. That’s why this year this work will extend beyond the school walls and into our community. In the year ahead we’ll re-launch the Salem Youth Commission and strengthen the work of the new Children’s Cabinet, including building on the Pre-K Partnership that the Commonwealth is now using as a model for other cities. We’ll also continue to advance the Salem High School project. This is a transformative opportunity for our community to leverage state funding and create a new school facility that will better serve Salem kids for decades to come. All of this and more is waiting to be written on that blank page of this year ahead. What we’re doing to address transportation challenges, sustain the Salem Skipper, advance the South Salem train station project, and create safer roadways. On that note, let’s take a second to recognize that while we’ve not had a traffic-related death in Salem in a year and a half, we still have lots more to do achieve the goals of Vision Zero and implement our Safe Streets for All plan. Also to be written on the page before us are our efforts to take on climate impacts, achieve the Climate Leader designation, move the offshore wind port project forward, and lessen our own contributions to the climate crisis. To invest in City infrastructure, sidewalks and streets, and parks – over the last two years we planted nearly 600 City trees, started a new citywide sidewalk repair initiative, upgraded playgrounds, and leveraged historic federal funding opportunities to carry out major upgrades to water and sewer systems. Those efforts must continue in the year to come. So, too, must our collective efforts to support job creation, entrepreneurship, small businesses, and economic vibrancy. All of this work is tied together by the idea of a more livable, more affordable city. A city where you can live in the community where you work, and retire where you live. Where we use the tools available to us to try to make it easier for folks – two bucks to ride on the Skipper anywhere in Salem and now also many places in Beverly and Danvers, Salem PowerChoice, a shared electricity program that’s saved ratepayers nearly $22 million on their electric bills since we started it, cracking down on wage theft and housing displacement, maximizing property tax breaks for our most vulnerable residents, including seniors and others living on fixed or limited incomes – we use these tools, and more. It’s why we launched Uplift Salem, our guaranteed basic income pilot. And why we used ARPA funds to provide additional heating assistance to nearly 800 Salem families last year and are doing so again this winter. It’s why we prioritize the professional management of City finances, which resulted this year in just a 1.8% increase in the average single family tax bill – the lowest on the North Shore – as well as the affirmation of our city’s record bond rating and continued growth of our largest reserve fund levels ever. We know that far too many in Salem struggle to pay their bills, to afford the rising cost of basics like food and housing, or to save for the future. We’re working to bring down the cost of living in Salem, and to protect our economy, our workforce, and our community. That’s what I hope we can write on the blank page of 2025 together, united in this cause – in the words of Charlotte Forten – “with true hearts and purpose high.” So that when this year has come to its close, as we turn the page to 2026 and this City’s 400th anniversary, we can each of us look back and say with confidence that we thoughtfully took on those “cautions and wonders” that J.D.’s poem spoke of. That we left our city more livable to those whom we have the privilege of representing. That we remained committed to the progress that we’ve already achieved, and that we made Salem a city that truly does work for everyone. On the motion of Councillor Morsillo the meeting adjourned at 6:43 P.M. ATTEST: ILENE SIMONS CITY CLERK