Guy E. Cooper, a retired Haverhill police officer, is challenging incumbent Melissa J. Lewandowski for the Ward 4 seat on Haverhill’s City Council in next Tuesday’s general election.

They each sat down with on WHAV’s “Win for Breakfast” and answered a series of questions about their candidacies. Here are their answers in the order the candidates will appear on the Ward 4 ballot.

Why do you want to serve on City Council?

“I’ve been a contributor to civic organizations even before I held office because I like being boots on the ground, showing up, answering the call, doing the work. I’ve had some successes in moving some items forward while I’ve been on Council, but there is an opportunity obviously to do much more and I aim to finish what I started,” Lewandowski said.

“I want to continue my civic duty for the City of Haverhill. Haverhill is my home, what I consider my hometown and I want to continue serving the citizens of Haverhill in that capacity now,” Cooper said.

There is a perception Haverhill is building too much housing.

“What’d I like to see is senior housing similar to what they did with the YMCA in Methuen where they had particular senior housing for the 55-plus demographic. I’d also like to see conversion of some of our buildings that we might be able to identify as surplus properties,” Lewandowski said.

“I believe in growth, but growth with a purpose. The growth that we have now, the apartments and buildings that are going in, they’re not very affordable for people at this point. Also, as we now know, there is a very big strain on our infrastructure,” Cooper said.

What can City Council do to promote more affordable housing?

“I along with a lot of my colleagues are interested in home ownership, not rentals. We need a combination of state and city funding, in my opinion, to allow nonprofit developers to build homes,” Lewandowski said.

“I think the city can put some type, I believe, they can put some type of a limit on, having an idea of what their out cost will be when completed to what you are going to rent or what you are going to lease and what it’s going to cost a person to rent or lease. I think that is something we should look at first,” he said.

The death of Francis P. Gigliotti II while in police custody and the death of Officer Katelyn M. Tully have left the public looking for answers, especially in light of changes at the top of the police department. Do you think the public has the right to know more and how quickly and what types of information do you think is properly withheld?

“What can be shared, in my opinion, is general information—date, time, location of incidents, facts and circumstances surrounding those incidents; an overview of what an investigation entails; what is the scope of it and; most importantly, in my opinion, we think that we need to be better on progress reports and timelines for the public,” Lewandowski said.

“I do believe 100% that we should be telling them what’s going on or even if that the process is still moving on. But I think the silence, that’s very hurting. I do believe everybody needs to know everything that’s happened,” Cooper responded.

Do you believe that residential property taxes are too low, too high or about right?

“Well, too high. If people are hurting and they can’t afford to stay, then the answer is too high. We need to ensure our taxpayers can continue to live here. This year we saw an increase, the debt exclusion made up the majority of that increase, but there were other factors, of course, employee benefits, general inflation, not getting enough money from the state. But going forward we can’t allow our property taxes to be our out,” Lewandowski said.

“Because of inflation, prices of everything is going up. I do believe now, though, again

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Political newcomer Brandon F. Burns is challenging incumbent Melinda E. Barrett for mayor of Haverhill in the city’s general election Tuesday, Nov. 4.

A small business owner for 23 years, Barrett, 62, served on Haverhill’s City Council for 10 years before making history when she became the city’s first female chief executive. Burns, 23, graduated from Haverhill High School in 2020 as part of the classical academy program. He currently works as an accountant in Boston.

Both Barrett and Burns sat down in separate, live WHAV interviews during WHAV’s morning program, “Win for Breakfast.” Each answered five questions on major issues facing the city. These are their answers in the order their names will appear on the ballot.

Why do you want to be mayor?

“Well, we have done a lot and we’ve made a lot of progress. But there is so much more to do. Two years for a mayoral role is rather short. All our surrounding communities have gone to four years. We have a lot of things in the pipeline. We’ve accomplished a lot. I’d like to see them through,” Barrett said.

“I want to make sure I serve the community and I think the status quo isn’t working for many individuals anymore. And we really need to see some new leadership from the top down and make sure that we accommodate to everybody in the city,” Burns said.

Is it ever appropriate to use free cash to avoid tax hikes?

“It can be. But right now, we are in such a deficit. When I came into office, we were well over 60% using free cash, which by our financial rules we are only supposed to have 20% being used for continuing funding of operations. Right now, we are making strides, but we’re still well above where we should be. We are down to 2%. Every year we are going to chip away with that. So, we are in a position to do something like that,” Barrett said.

“I think that using the surplus to your advantage, I mean that’s kinda of the way accounting works is you make sure you have a safety net, for example, and if ever times were to get tough, you should be able to use any resources available to alleviate the stress from homeowners and your residents,” Burn said.

Do you support raising taxes closer to the city’s Proposition 2 ½ cap and, if not, what spending would you cut?

“Well, the goal from this last two years is to get into a position where we are living within our means for a long-term period. We have to be disciplined, keep our costs below 2 1/2%. Some departments may edge up a little, but that we will take from others. So, 2 1/2% is where we have to be per Mass. state law so that where we are going to be. We just had to correct some major financial problems the last two years,” Barrett said.

“I believe that the budget was very firm under Fiorentini. I’m sure that there are those that say we kicked the can down the road. But, after the recent override, we’ve increased the budget over the past two years by $30 million when under the previous administration it was only projected to increase by $16 million. So, we have an additional $14 million now annually within our budget. I think there is plenty of money. So, my first thing is that I think we need to start with a zero budget. That means we are going to perform an audit first. That is going to be one of my first actions,” Burns said.

Would you favor a debt exclusion to build a replacement John Greenleaf School?

“I believe that’s probably the way it will have to go, up or down. If it goes down, we’ll figure out another way to do it because those children definitely need a newer facility to learn in. I think J.G. Whittier, some argued at the time, would have been the next school to do. Former Mayor Fiorentini chose to do the Consentino first. Both were in need, no denying that,” Barrett said.

“My big question to everybody on City Council and

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Sheriffs in other counties are drawing scrutiny for their spending and other practices, but Sheriff Kevin F. Coppinger appeared live on WHAV to demonstrate how Essex County shines.

This week, the legislature withheld $162 million request from county sheriffs following complaints in Norfolk, Hampden and Suffolk counties. Coppinger, who stopped by WHAV’s “Win for Breakfast” program last Friday, discussed instead how his office prepares inmates for re-entry and helps correctional staff stay on top of mental health. Among the job training and re-entry programs the Sheriff’s Department runs is the farm at the Pre-Release and Re-Entry Center in Lawrence.

“We average about 3,600 pounds of produce. This is our time of year. That’s one of the things we do. We teach the inmates also vocational skills. The farm is incredible. We hire an actual farmer to come in and teach the inmates, but the inmates do all the cleaning of the fields in the spring. They plant them. They take care of them all summer. Then they harvest them and we take the harvest. We take some of it to feed our inmates in all our facilities. We also donate a lot of it to charities and non-profits,” Coppinger explained.

The department also has a partnership with Northern Essex Community College which runs classes for inmates.

“Our philosophy is, while they are in there, no pun intended, we have a captive audience. Let’s do what we can and we partner with President (Lane A.) Glenn and the staff at Northern Essex to come in and teach the inmates, whether it is high school equivalency or maybe a college level course. It’s amazing when you see the inmates transition to a learning environment,” Coppinger said.

Finally, the sheriff talked about an initiative to help relieve his staff’s stress level—a comfort dog.

“His name is Pasky. Pasky was named after Officer Anthony Pasquarello, who was one of our correctional officers and it’s a sad story. But, at the age of 37, he passed away during the peak of Covid. He was a great officer. He just caught COVID, got a bad case of it and we lost him and it was troubling. So, in his memory in cooperation with his family we got our first comfort dog and we named it Pasky in honor of Officer Pasquarello. It just kind of keeps his memory alive with our officers. He’s there for the staff,” Coppinger said.

The former chief of the Lynn Police Department with 40 years in law enforcement, Coppinger was first elected Essex County Sheriff in 2016 for a six-year term. He is currently serving his second term.

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When signing up for a website or cell phone app Massachusetts consumers in the future would be able to decide how much of their personal information they want to share under a data privacy and security bill being sponsored by state Sen. Pavel M. Payano.

Payano discussed the importance of the legislation being debated by the state Legislature during a recent interview during WHAV’s “Win for Breakfast” program. The senator said even when consumers are careful, their personal data and even their precise GPS location can be shared and sold to third party vendors without their knowledge.

“We are not aware of the type of data we are constantly sharing with these apps. We think we might be sharing it with the app that connects you to a dog walker. But then app goes in and they sell the data to a bunch of third-party folks and God knows what they do with that data,” Payano said.

The legislation, which will be taken up next by the state House of Representatives, would give broad enforcement powers to the state attorney general, Payano said. The bill would put even tighter controls on data sharing by minors and would allow consumers to opt out of ads that target them based on their personal preferences.

“You’d be surprised how they are able to target these ads and manipulate you into choosing something that maybe you wouldn’t have chosen, or how a bad actor can get this information and then use that information maybe to hack you,” Payano said.

Payano also discussed the importance of the $234 million emergency medical package recently passed by the state Legislature. It is expected to bring much-needed relief to Merrimack Health, the new name for Lawrence General Hospital and its sister hospitals in Methuen and Haverhill, as well as the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center by supporting efforts to provide services to low-income patients.

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The newly renamed Merrimack Health Haverhill Hospital could soon be home to the healthcare system’s expanded state-of-the art sleep study center.

Diana L. Richardson, interim president and CEO of Merrimack Health, formerly Lawrence General and Holy Family Hospitals, a recent guest on WHAV’s “Win for Breakfast,” discussed what will stay the same at Haverhill’s hospital and what services are expanding.

As of Oct. 1, any patient who comes into the emergency department and needs to be admitted will be transported to another healthcare center— most likely to its sister Merrimack Health Methuen Hospital, formerly Holy Family Methuen, as the few in-patient beds in use will be shut down, Richardson explained. Services provided by the stand-alone emergency department, however, will not change, she said.

“The actual services are the same. You have an ambulance that needs to get you care in Haverhill, you come to our emergency room. You have a condition at home you want to come into the emergency room, we are there. Full service, lab, radiology, all the things you are used to today will not be any different come Oct. 1,” Richardson added.

Because so few in-patient beds were occupied in recent years, an average of nine a day, Richardson said this change will impact few of the hospital’s patients.

“Every hospital has different capabilities. Sometimes you need the really advanced services of some of our academic partners in Boston. So there could be times when you come into an emergency facility and your are transported there or transported to another facility in the region that has services that are only available in a few locations,” Richardson said.

Richardson added the local healthcare center has an upgraded wound management center and that hospital officials are considering making its Haverhill location the headquarters for a state-of-that-art sleep study center.

“So one thing we’ve already done is we’ve put in new hyperbaric chambers and really expanded our wound care service there. And the next service we’re looking at. . . there is a small sleep center there in Haverhill now. But we have the opportunity to really make it a showcase for our system and make it a much larger system-based sleep center that provides all services so we are going through that process now,” Richardson said.

Lawrence General Hospital, now Merrimack Health, purchased the two Holy Family campuses in Haverhill and Methuen from bankrupt Steward Health Care last year for $28 million with state assistance. In May the new owners announced plans to close Haverhill’s general in-patient beds and keep its emergency department as a free-standing service.

Haverhill has had a hospital since City Hospital opened in 1887. It was renamed Hale Hospital in 1898 and moved to Buttonwoods Avenue in 1901. The city acquired it in 1931 and built a modern hospital at its current location in 1984. By 2001 the hospital was insolvent so the city sold it to Essent Health Care but kept most of its debt. The city finally paid off all but pension liabilities in 2021.

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Area nonprofits are looking for helping hands and the Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce is acting as matchmaker Tuesday.

The 2025 Volunteer Fair showcases a variety of nonprofit organizations dedicated to almost every imaginable cause. Potential volunteers are invited to peruse the needs, ask questions and consider hoe they may help. Chamber President and CEO Katie Cook, who appeared last month on WHAV’s “Win for Breakfast” program, explained how it works.

“What a volunteer fair is. It’s at the Riverside Church here in Haverhill and it’s Sept. 16, from 4 to 7, and you just come. We have about 30 nonprofits that are going to be there and have tables set up. And you can come. Please bring your children. and you go around to each of the tables, learn about the nonprofits, who they are and what they do and how you can volunteer your time,” Cook said

Riverside Church is located at 278 Groveland St., Haverhill.

Among those expected to participate are AgeSpan, Bread and Roses, Common Ground, Department of Children and Families, Debbie’s Treasure Chest, Emmaus, Essex County CASA, Family and Community Resource Center, Haverhill City Clerk’s office, Hill View Montessori Foundation, MakeIT Haverhill, NEET, NFI, Open Hand Pantry, Opportunity Works, Pregnancy Care Center, Saint Vincent de Paul Conference, Salvation Army, TEK Collaborative, Tufts Medical Care at Home and WHAV.

Another way the Chamber seeks to help nonprofits is by helping them avoid scheduling competing events. Cook said the Chamber launched a unified city calendar of events.

“I know a lot of time people are like, ‘I want to host an event in November, some Saturday in November. I wonder if anything else is going on,” Cook explained.

The calendar can be found on the chamber’s website at HaverhillChamber.com.

“Our public events calendar is ready to rock and roll. So we are super excited. So anyone who is interested in putting in an event. If you are not a Chamber member can reach out to me directly,” Cook said.

Cook’s email address is President@HaverhillChamber.com.

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Voters in two Haverhill wards cast ballots Tuesday to narrow the field of City Council candidates in those neighborhoods.

Three candidates are squaring off for two spots on the final ballot for Ward 6 city councilor in the general election in November.

Incumbent Michael S. McGonagle and one of his challengers, Timothy F. Carroll Jr., appeared on WHAV’s morning show and answered questions about specific issues in Ward 6. The third candidate, Oliver Aguilo, did not respond to telephone, email and social media requests for an interview.

McGonagle and Carroll are Haverhill natives. Carroll is a Haverhill firefighter and former president of firefighters union local 1011. McGonagle is retired.

Answers are presented in the order candidates appear on the ballot.

Ward 6 faces traffic disruptions due to the Rosemont Street and Snows Brook bridge replacements? Do you plan to take steps to influence detours, ease congestion or something similar?

“The reality of that is that is it is only going to get worse with those bridge changes coming up. So I think a lot of signage, I think a lot of working with the traffic and safety department,” McGonagle said.

Carroll responded, “So, living up in that area, it is very difficult to detour around anything going on up there. The only thing I can say right now is that you got to be patient up there when they are doing roadwork up in that area. It’s traffic from noontime to 7 p.m. on 125. You can’t get up there without sitting in traffic.”

For many years there has been talk of a Route 125 bypass directly into Plaistow, N.H., to avoid the bottleneck at the New Hampshire line. Do you see traffic as a concern especially as it might influence emergency vehicles?

McGonagle replied, “I think from a public safety standpoint, these are all the considerations that will be talked about on a weekly basis as these projects move forward.”

“The thing you can do on Route 125 is you can widen it to two lanes. That’s about the only option you have. You would have to take some of the sidewalks away and some of the property going down 125 away which then you would have to fight with the homeowners going down on 125,” Carroll said.

Ward 6 has an industrial section, Hilldale Avenue, near the New Hampshire border. It’s been described as a wild west with mixed uses and few amenities for bicyclists. What improvements, if any, would you push along that corridor?

“Should that road at some point be looked at? I believe it should. I just don’t know where that money would come from right now and, with the bridge work going on now, I think the best thing we can do is monitor the speed,” McGonagle said.

Carroll said, “We need more businesses in the community. That’s where the money comes from. That’s where we are going to keep the taxes down on our residents if we get more industrial space and more companies coming in and spending tax dollars and getting the revenues from those tax dollars.”

What is Ward 6’s best feature?

“What I love about Ward 6 is its well-established neighborhoods,” said McGonagle.

Carroll mentioned the businesses, saying, “All the restaurants on 125. I am right there. I can walk to several so I’ll use that as the answer,” Carroll said.

Interviews with Ward 4 candidates, Kenneth Quimby, Guy Cooper and incumbent Melissa Lewandowski are heard during the next WHAV newscast.

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Three candidates are facing off in Ward 4 for two spots on the ballot in the general election Nov. 4. Incumbent Melissa J. Lewandowski is being challenged by Guy E. Cooper and Kenneth E. Quimby Jr. Lewandowski and Quimby are lifelong Haverhill residents. Cooper moved to Haverhill as a child and graduated from Haverhill High School. He is retired Haverhill police office. Quimby works for Bethany Homes in Haverhill and Lewandowski is an attorney who represents children in neglect and abuse cases in juvenile and probate court.

Each candidate appeared on WHAV’s morning show and answered five questions about issues specific to their ward, Ward 4. Answers are presented in the order candidates appear on the ballot.

Ward 4 is home to Holy Family Hospital Haverhill. What services would you like retained or brought back? What services would you add? Would you convert part of the complex for housing?

First, Quimby responds, “As far as the housing there, I would vote no. We need to keep that hospital. I was one of the persons that went to Boston, brought petitions to Gov. Healey to fight to keep it open. But I am disheartened. I am really still upset about it. When Lawrence General bought them, I thought it was going to be a full -capacity hospital. We need to have that hospital full.”

Cooper gave this response, “Well, I can certainly say that I would like to see Haverhill, being such a big city, I’d like to see that hospital up and running a little bit more fuller than what it is. The services a little bit more. It’s a great location. We have a lot of cities and towns. And I really think Haverhill needs to keep a hospital there. For part housing for that? I think we really need to take a long look at our infrastructure and what we can sustain at this time before we start adding,” he said.

Lewandowski said, “Ideally, I would like to see geriatric services there, a geriatric ward, particularly geriatric and mental health. I would like to see prenatal brought back because I think that’s obviously a very important aspect that people need access to. It would be great to have a breast imaging lab as part of some women’s healthcare. I think that the radiology department, while it is intact, my understanding from talking to some nurses that are boots on the ground, is that a lot of time what primary care physicians are finding is they’re sending tests there, whether it be for x-ray, CT scans, blood work, and they don’t get them back within a timely period of time to be able to make a diagnosis so I would like to see that particular area which is intact there enhanced. If housing was proposed there, I think that it would have to be senior housing,” she said.

What traffic and sidewalks improvements do you believe are needed in Ward 4?

Quimby said, “Some of the traffic lights, when you push the walk signal, people are still taking a right turn even though it says ‘Yield to pedestrians.’ And it’s not enough time for them to walk.”

Cooper responded, “Well, Ward 4, I know it came up down on Amesbury Line Road at Merrimac Road that there was an issue with a stop sign, wide roads, people running it and accidents. And being a police officer patrolling that area for several years I think maybe a little bit more enforcement if we could get it down there. On top of that people really need to pay attention. There are stop signs. They do need to stop and pay attention.”

Lewandowski offered, “This is very timely because I just had an agenda item on about Amesbury Line Road because there were a lot of complaints about people going too fast. The way that the intersection is configured makes it very confusing for folks. There have been accidents there, etc. We put it on the agenda and had a very robust discussion involving the city engineer as well the police department and the mayor’s office. They were

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