The Haverhill Preliminary Mayoral Election is Tuesday September 12, 2023
Now we focus on the opinions of Haverhill Mayoral Candidate
Guy Cooper
Background:
Guy Cooper has lived in Haverhill for most of his life. He is a retired Haverhill police officer, having served 26 years for the city. After graduating from Haverhill High School, Cooper joined the US Marine Corps. A back injury cut his career short, and he returned to Haverhill, working for the Essex County Sheriff’s Department. After six years, he joined the Haverhill Police Department. Cooper attended Western New England College and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice. Cooper is a single father with a young daughter.
Public safety: Cooper advocates hiring social workers to work with the police to focus on mental health, the homeless, and veterans and help address current drug problems. More programs and shelters would help with the homeless problem.
Economic development: Cooper seeks to find ways to get more people to visit the city and spend money at local restaurants and shops. He pointed to downtown parking being a problem due to the growth of apartment units. Family-oriented events and venues would also help attract more visitors or keep residents from going out of town for those activities. He points out that Haverhill has no movie theater and only one bowling alley when there were once three. He believes the city needs a facility to hold large events to attract visitors.
Education: Cooper wants City Hall and the School Committee to work together, which has not happened in the past. He will strive to increase federal grants to invest in the schools, particularly computers and a more up-to-date curriculum. He suggests re-instituting Home Economics classes. He also wants to find ways to get parents more involved with their children’s education. He believes that the diversity of school staff is essential and suggested that a recruitment program with local colleges might help.
Infrastructure: Cooper advocates a return to the Clean River Project, believing that a clean Merrimac Rivier will be a more significant attraction. He also wants to examine how maintenance of infrastructure is managed. Rather than repetitive minor repairs, he believes a longer-term perspective on maintenance could save the city money and eliminate waste.
Housing: He believes menntal health and behavioral issues contribute to the rise in homelessness. More shelters and programs are needed to address this problem. He also noted that streamlining the permitting process can help.
Read more about the Haverhill Mayoral Candidates on our MA1st 2023 Mayoral Candidates page
By Citizen for Truth Contributor
Sources:
http://haverhillcommunitytv.org/video/haverhill-mayoral-candidate-interviews-august-2023
Massachusetts First 
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