SALEM — Mayor Kimberley Driscoll is crystal-clear on her goals for the city: recover from the pandemic, rebuild the city’s finances, and create a “more welcoming and thriving community.”
In a State of the City address delivered to city councilors last week, Driscoll focused on COVID-19’s toll on Salem by asking councilors to join her in a moment of silence for 111 city residents who died from COVID.
“While the state of our city is strong, and getting stronger every day, our community is poorer for the lives we’ve lost,” Driscoll said.
Two years ago, one out of every 124 Salem residents had contracted COVID-19, but Driscoll said statistics updated last week indicate that number has dwindled to one out of every four.
City government is focused, she said, on rebuilding and recovering from the pandemic by leveraging and investing relief funds.
By making sustainability and equitability priorities in this effort, the city can support programs aimed at improving public-health access and outcomes and strengthening the local economy.
Pandemic-recovery goals also include supporting renters, workers and families; boosting the public schools, and preparing for future challenges.
Driscoll said the city’s unemployment rate has returned to its pre-COVID levels. She also said the city had no net loss in businesses during the pandemic and the downtown storefront vacancy rate is at a record low thanks to the “intrepid small-business owners, along with the members of our Economic Recovery Task Force and the city staff who have supported them.”
“I also want to highlight and acknowledge our public-health staff and particularly the volunteer service of the members of our Board of Health — experts in the fields of public health and medicine, who made difficult, but appropriate decisions in the face of an overwhelming crisis and public scrutiny,” Driscoll said. “Enormous credit is due to the members of our school community — teachers, staff, families, administrators, and students alike — who all worked so hard and so unselfishly to keep our kids and teachers safe, to maintain as much learning time as possible, and to support the emotional and mental-health needs of Salem students during this trying time.”
Other accomplishments Driscoll highlighted included instituting new measures for transparency, bidding contracts, and reforming health insurance; opening up government to more people living in the community by asking for feedback on projects or programs or by serving on a board or commission; and establishing financial policies to rebuild rainy-day funds and bond ratings.
“Because of our stewardship, we’ve made historic investments in parks, schools, infrastructure, and public safety,” Driscoll said. “We did this, together, by setting aside the pettiness of political bickering and getting behind a unified vision for a city with a rich history and an even brighter future.”
As local officials, Driscoll said they are “on the ground, in our most urgent fights — from COVID response and recovery, to racial equity, the climate crisis, strengthening our public schools, and making housing more affordable.”
Dricsoll highlighted Salem’s progress in education and transportation. Opportunities are expanding for 4-year-olds to participate in a high-quality pre-kindergarten setting and high-school students to continue to engage in robust college and career pathways.
Emerging transportation alternatives include ride-share, car-share, and bike-share options, and the city’s work towards right-sized housing supply for every resident, regardless of age or income.
“The work we do now will help lead and ensure we deliver on our goals for 2026,” Driscoll said.
In four years from now, Driscoll said Salem will enter 2026 well-positioned as a community that serves as a hub for offshore-wind operations throughout the Northeast.
“I’m proud of the vision we have for our community — one that is inclusive, just, professionally run, and committed to the people we serve,” she said. “As we set to work on the people’s business, let’s keep striving for that highest possible improvement of our city, for acts worthy of the community we love and the rightly high standards of the people we serve.”
