A legislator with the hindsight to see where we have been and have a vision for where we need to go is rare. One of Representative Sally Kerans’ gifts is the way she integrates what she has learned: MPA from the JFK School of Government, Harvard University; from serving previous terms in the legislature; her life experiences; and her clear visions for the future. The issues she champions are far and wide, but all reflect that integration.

“My grandfather was the first Democrat ever elected to represent Danvers in our State legislature. My parents, from starting the Chess Club at the YMCA, to being president of the Little League, to the Democratic Town Committee, were always involved in the betterment of the town. I guess being civic minded runs in my DNA.”

On Saturday, November 12, 2021, advocates for clean energy from many towns joined Peabody residents in the "Peabody Peaker Push" to protest against the proposed peaker plant and to walk through neighborhoods near the plant location to inform people about the project.

When we stepped into ‘activist central,’ aka, the Hull home of Judeth Van Hamm, her computer sat on a desk, layers deep with books, articles, papers, art that echoed out into a fully utilized office/living room. Her abundant personal library features books on spirituality sitting next to those on Urban Planning, Solar Transit, and Biodiversity. Judeth is a dedicated climate activist who never separates the physical from the metaphysical, and she is determined to change this world for the better.

Guest post by Tracy Valletti, Candidate for Commissioner of the Peabody Municipal Light Plant.

Nothing can quite prepare you for the experience of running for elected office.

When I first started this campaign, I did so because I wanted to stand up against the proposed gas plant, known as the “peaker” plant. I didn’t know if people were aware of the project, or if I could even win. All I knew was that the proposal would harm our communities, and I couldn’t sit by and do nothing.

“I had no intention of running for the Hull Light Board,” said light Commissioner, Jacob (Jake) Vaillancourt, who beat the incumbent by over 200 votes. Once you get him talking, it’s easy to understand how this young man with a remarkably facile mind and ability to circle issues from multiple perspectives eventually saw this role, not as an end game, but a piece of the new energy puzzle that might just keep Hull, and much of our coastline above water.

Tracy Valletti, in response to the planning of an oil and gas peak energy facility proposed for her town, is running to serve on the Board of the Peabody Municipal Light Plant.

Mary Harris Jones, the famous labor organizer, told a group of young miners who’d rented a church for their union meeting:

“Boys, you pray for the dead. You fight like hell for the living.”

Then Mother Jones snatched from the priest’s lap the hat, full of money that they’d paid to use the church hall, and led the miners out of the church into the fields.

If there were a contemporary incarnation of Mother Jones, it would be Pat Gozemba.

Breathe Clean North Shore demonstrated early on the evening of Monday, September 13, 2021 against the Peabody peaker plant during a political gathering attended by Governor Charlie Baker at the Brothers Restaurant on Main Street in downtown Peabody. Carrying signs and distributing flyers, demonstrators staked out both the front and rear entrances, and managed to get the Governor to accept a flyer as he rushed past them.

Some people are so self involved that they don’t notice the world around them, except in the ways it touches them.

Some people see a problem, shrug their shoulders and say ‘That is too big! I can’t do anything about it.”

Lynn Nadeau looks at a problem, rubs her hands together, rolls up her sleeves, and says “Let’s get to it, now!”

[Julie Smith-Galvin and Ron Smoller joined with Jerome (Jerry) Halberstadt to appeal the refusal of the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electrical Company (MMWEC) to provide the public records request for "Engineering, Procurement, Construction (EPC) contract(s) for the 2015A power project."

Rebecca S. Murray, the Supervisor of Records in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, ruled that "the Company is ordered to provide Mr. Halberstadt with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten (10) business days."]