PEABODY — Anne Manning-Martin, the longest-serving councilor on Peabody’s City Council, announced Monday she is running for reelection.
Manning-Martin has served the city as an elected official for 22 years. A fifth-generation “Peabody-ite,” she is currently in her seventh term as councilor-at-large. Before that, she served eight years on the School Committee.
Manning-Martin sees herself as a strong advocate for residents’ quality-of-life issues while keeping an eye on taxes. She said her full record demonstrates her commitment to being a constant voice of reason on the council.
“I am a strong financial watchdog with a detailed eye on expenditures and tax rates while balancing the equally-important need to improve quality of life,” said Manning-Martin. “I feel I consistently speak with an informed and independent voice guided by principle and practicality rather than politics.”
Over the years, Manning-Martin has worked to improve the council’s Rules of Order to allow councilors to receive information sooner in order to be better prepared to handle the public’s business, as well as put an end to late night meetings.
“How can we conduct the public’s business while the public is asleep?” Manning-Martin said. “Some of those meetings went beyond 11 p.m. That does not instill trust in your constituents.”
Manning-Martin said the pandemic has presented many challenges for city residents while keeping the council extremely busy.
“I felt that people may have been out of sight, but we had to make sure we didn’t forget them, and we needed to continue to reach out to make sure they were heard,” Manning-Martin said. “I focused on making sure that nobody was left behind or excluded. Given the current situation with the coronavirus, the challenge is still to be open and have transparency, and it is critical that we maintain that in municipal and state government.”
Manning-Martin feels that another critical component in guiding the future of Peabody is listening to constituents.
“Peabody is a changed city with tremendous growth and development sometimes altering the quality of life,” she said. “We need to listen to our constituents and fight for them. We need to be fiscally responsible in every decision we make regarding quality of life. We need to improve the quality of life for our residents.”
Manning-Martin said she is a strong voice for neighborhoods fighting for their quality of life, citing her positions on several issues, including unsightly billboards, cell towers and overdevelopment.
“Peabody is a great city with a hot housing market to prove it. It’s important that we work to maintain our city’s character and honor the history and traditions that make Peabody such a desirable location,” she said. “I am not afraid to challenge proposals or projects I feel are not in the citizens’ best interest. I have strongly advocated for the best use of the city’s property and tax dollars.”
Manning-Martin said she welcomes “good” development, including the plan to work with developer Ed Greeley to convert the O’Shea building into a bed and breakfast.
“I welcome development — good development — and the residents deserve nothing less,” she said. “An example of that is the O’Shea property, a deal the city worked with a friendly visionary developer that will provide great promise and revitalize the entrance to our downtown.”
She sees herself as an independent and outspoken voice on the council, one who will speak up and ask questions, even unpopular ones, often taking stances that may not align with her peers to make sure that residents’ voices are heard.
The deputy superintendent of the Massachusetts Department of Correction, Manning-Martin has been the only female member of the council since her first year in 2008.
In the November 2019 election, she tallied the third-highest vote total among council candidates, trailing only Tom Rossignoll and perennial favorite Tom Gould.
A 1988 graduate of St. Anselm College where she majored in criminal justice, Manning-Martin was a three-sport standout and captain at Peabody High, playing field hockey, basketball and softball.
The last day to take out nomination papers for the 2021 election is Friday, July 23. As of Monday, five candidates have taken out papers for councilor-at-large seats — incumbents Ryan Melville, Jon Turco, Tom Gould and Tom Rossignoll and challenger Bukia Chalvire. Manning-Martin said she plans to pull her papers this week.
“Now more than ever as we turn the corner on this challenging year, the citizens of Peabody need a councilor with my institutional knowledge of where we have been and how we got here,” Manning-Martin said. “I’m looking forward to continuing to advocate for the residents and taxpayers of Peabody.”
