LYNN — Lifelong Ward One resident and former School Committee member Jeff Newhall has pulled nomination papers for the Ward 1 city councilor seat.
During his time on the School Committee from 2001 to 2009, he said he always thought about running for City Council.
“The Ward One council seat was always intriguing to me,” Newhall said.
Besides serving on the School Committee, he has been the athletic director at St. Mary’s for the past 16 years. He has also coached high-school basketball for 23 years.
According to Newhall, during his time as athletic director he has had to solve problems and communicate effectively. Those traits and his experience as an elected official, he said, make him a qualified candidate for Ward One city councilor.
“But I also feel like I probably have the best knowledge of our ward and the issues that really affect our ward, as someone who’s lived there for all 46 years of my life,” Newhall said.
Traffic and public safety are two of the issues that Newhall said he will focus on if he is elected.
Traffic congestion in the ward due to the construction project on Lynnfield Street and upcoming construction on Broadway is an issue that needs to be addressed, he said.
Not having a hospital in the city is also deeply concerning to him, and Newhall said that making sure Ward One has proper emergency services is a top priority.
He said that while there are important issues such as these to work on, many people tend to talk only about the negative aspects of Ward One. This is something that he wants to see change.
“I think we sometimes lose sight of the fact that Ward One is one of the best places in the state to live,” Newhall said. “There’s a lot of positive things going on as well, and we need to focus on those as much as the issues. Sometimes we get bogged down by all the ‘bad stuff.’”
Newhall said that maintaining those positive aspects, like Lynn Woods and other public parks, is essential.
The other candidates running for Ward One city councilor are Peter Meaney, Todd Bacon, Paul Gouthro, Michael Satterwhite, and Jennifer Long.
Nomination papers can be pulled until July 14 at 5 p.m., and they can be filed until July 18 at 5 p.m.
Those looking to run for ward-specific City Council seats are required to obtain 100 signatures from that ward.
Those looking to run for a councilor-at-large seat need to obtain 350 signatures, with no more than 100 signatures coming from any one of the city’s seven wards.
