Peabody City Council Candidates Offer Ideas On Housing Costs

PEABODY, MA — It's easy for political candidates to point out what isn't working, so it was no surprise that candidates running for Peabody City Council in November mostly agreed that the high cost of housing was one of the biggest challenges facing the city when they met in a candidate forum Wednesday. Fixing the problem, however, is a different matter. We followed up Wednesday's debate by asking each candidate in contested city council races to offer specific plans or proposals on addressing housing costs in Peabody.

Here's what they told us:

At-Large City Council Candidates

There are four incumbents, one sitting Ward City Councilor and two challengers running in a seven-way race for the five at-large seats on City Council that are up for reelection on Nov. 5.

Incumbent Thomas Rossignoll said he supports the residential overlay district introduced by City Council. The housing overlay district is designed to minimize the impact of new housing on existing neighborhoods.

"I strongly believe we need to have a long range vision both to improve our infrastructure and to maintain Peabody’s high quality of life for each and every resident," Rossignoll said. "This can be accomplished by working closely with the Community Development department to establish and enhance the long range master plan for our city."

Incumbent Ryan Melville also supports the housing overlay districts. He also supported the city's sale of the Crowninshield Apartments to Winn Development. "The cooperation of the City and State kept 235 apartments affordable for Peabody residents," Melville said. "I will continue to be vigilant and proactive to ensure that Peabody remains affordable for our residents."

Anne Manning, another incumbent, said council members can help keep Peabdoy affordable by keeping a watchful eye on the budget and working to avoid property tax increases. She said she has, for example, consistently voted against automatic salary increases for nonunion employees.

"I have made budget cut recommendations and held the line year after year on taxes," Manning said. "If we do not curb our spending, seniors will be taxed out of their homes, rents will continue to rise, and Peabody will not be affordable for many residents."

School committee member Jarrod Hochman, who is running for an at-large council seat, said he would support housing initiatives that minimize traffic impacts and would also support tax abatement programs and grants to encourage those types of developments.

"Millennials and empty nesters have expressed an interest in simplifying their lives by living within walking or bicycle distance from their workplace," Hochman said. "I would encourage this type of housing by introducing incentives for developers that provide workplace housing, for employers that actively attract Peabody residents to work for them and to Peabody residents that are employed by a business located in Peabody."

Related story: Peabody Traffic Is Bad: How Would City Council Candidates Fix It?

The other candidates in the race — Peabody Police Capt. John DeRosa Jr., incumbent Tom Gould, and Ward 1 Councilor Jon Turco — did not respond to requests for comment for this article. During last week's debate, DeRosa said he would work with state legislature to get more housing built. Gould said he would work to keep the city's tax rate affordable, especially for seniors. Turco said the city "has done a great job" of trying to reach the 10 percent limit and only needs to 163 more affordable units to reach the threshold.

Ward 1

Craig Welton, who is running against Russell Donovan for City Council in Ward 1, supports the ongoing residential overlay efforts as a way for the city to meet the 10 percent affordable housing threshold set by the state. He also supports expanding further residential development withing a mix of business and commercial uses.

Donovan did not respond to requests for comment for this article. In last week's debate, he blamed traffic problems on approval of housing projects by the city.

Ward 2

"The city council, including my opponent have been far too concerned with attracting developers to the city. We need to concentrate on quality of life for the residents that are ALREADY HERE," Jaclyn Corriveau, who is challenging incumbent Peter McGinn, said. "We should have a concrete vision that is driven by existing neighborhoods with resident input. The vision for our community should not be driven by the developers. I’m sick and tired of bad decisions leading to terrible development proposals that the neighbors end up having to fight without a proper advocate or representative. My opponent has taken a hands off approach to leadership that is ineffective and inexcusable."

McGinn said he tries to look at each housing proposal on its individual merits.

"For example...I supported the residential overlay district which I believe will enable the establishment of some housing in areas, such as the mall, that will have minimal impact on existing neighborhoods," he said. "I was a leader on the Council in the process that preserved 284 units of affordable housing at the Tannery 1 Apartments which is located in Ward 2. The residents will benefit from ongoing affordability and major upgrades to the property planned by the new ownership, WinnDevelopment. The City has avoided losing 284 units counted by the State as affordable which would have been a major setback in achieving the City’s affordable housing goals."

Ward 4

Incumbent Edward Charest, who is being challenged by John W. Salisbury-Roswell, didn't offer specific proposals in response to Patch's questions but said he supports "housing that provides quality living....without a burden on city services." Those projects should also raise tax revenue.

"Ideally, people would live here and spend their disposable income in our city establishments and businesses," Charest said in an email.

Salisbury-Roswell could not be reached for comment for this article. In last week's debate, Salisbury-Roswell said overdevelopment, including plans for the former J. B. Thomas hospital site, is the biggest issue facing Peabody.

Ward 6

Keith Doucette, who is challenging incumbent Mark O'Neill for the Ward 6 City Council seat, said the city needs to focus on meeting the 10 percent affordable housing mark set by the state. Municipalities that don't hit that mark lose zoning control over proposed projects and face other penalties. Doucette suggested offering local tax breaks to multi-family home owners that keep rents affordable in the individual units.

"Maybe with tax breaks we can find 170+ apartments throughout the city to nudge us over the mark needed for State Minimum. If we meet that with smaller multi family homes then we can reach the higher levels with the larger projects that are being looked at in the city," Doucette said. "This will also allow us not to hear the constant threat that if something is not allowed the developer will go to the state for approval for 40B as we will have met the State Minimum."

O'Neill did not respond to requests for comment for this article. In last week's debate, O'Neill said he wants to find ways to upgrade the city's infrastructure while keeping the city affordable.

Note: Ward Three City Councilor James Moutsoulas and Ward Five City Councilor Joel Saslaw are running unopposed for reelection.

Dave Copeland covers Peabody and other North Shore communities for Patch. He can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).