Rochelle Agneta, a first-time candidate for mayor, is a small business owner and community volunteer who grew up in Peabody, where she lives with her husband and two children.
Massachusetts First Citizens for Truth recently interviewed Peabody Mayoral Candidate Rochell Agneta about her background, why she is running for mayor, and her plans to improve the city if elected on November 7th.
This interview will be published as a series of articles, each featuring one question and answer.
Question:
Reducing the number of cars on the road is one of the goals of the Peabody Net Zero Roadmap draft, which is noted as an urgency of completion by 2025. Even though the lack of parking will reduce the number of cars, it will also deter anyone from living in the apartments above the shops and visiting local shops in the Square.
I’m unaware of any public input or survey done to determine the percentage of Peabody residents willing to walk, bike, or take public transportation in and around Peabody. If one hasn’t been done, would you consider doing this?
How do you feel about the Net Zero Roadmap?
Agneta:
Honestly, I think Peabody is going to have a tough time with it. I do believe in bringing in transportation for the city. I stated long before Bettencourt spent the $7.2 million on open land that the money should have been used to purchase part of the Rousselot property. We already have the train tracks that could have brought in the MBTA, and they want to work with Peabody. Part of the plan for Rousselot would have been to build a parking garage because that’s what we’re lacking on Main Street. People have talked about it for years. We’re a very large city with one Main Street going through it. For us to actually get cars off of the roads is going to take a lot more than the Net Zero Plan of trying to eliminate parking. Unless we’re going to push for this Net Zero, the parking lot is the way I would go.
I’ve asked people from Salem straight out what they think of Peabody, and they said it’s a cut-through to Route 1. The city is a cut-through. That’s what it is. We don’t build up our Main Street. We don’t build into our history. We have so much in Peabody. We have beautiful farm areas in Peabody that we don’t yet utilize. It’s just a shame. You want to start fixing things and put in a parking garage for the businesses. That way, people will come to the businesses. People don’t come to the businesses because they can’t park. We have some of the best food on Main Street, but I don’t even go down there. I love the food down there, but if I can’t find parking, I don’t go. I think building a parking garage is really the way. Peabody has to think about that one.
About the Net Zero Plan, I get it, and again, if I were doing it, I would have brought in the MBTA. I know that’s a long-time plan. But it is a way to get people in and out of our city and get some cars off the road. If we bought part of that Rousselot property, we could widen roads and add roads. There is so much we could do with that property, and it’s so sad that we’re not. The mayor promised on the TV show You Make the Call that it wouldn’t be used for housing because it’s an industrial zone and we can control everything through zoning. Rousselot will close in another month, and we don’t know what will happen to that property.
To learn more about Rochelle Agneta please visit her Facebook campaign page, Agneta for Change in Peabody.
Look for our next article in this series coming soon.
VOTE NOVEMBER 7TH!
By Citizens for Truth
Click here to download the Peabody Net Zero Roadmap draft
Massachusetts First 
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