Haverhill, Massachusetts

How Haverhill’s Government Works

Haverhill runs on a strong-mayor system, which splits power on purpose. You elect the mayor to run the city day to day, and you separately elect an 11-member City Council to write its laws and approve its money. A School Committee oversees the public schools, and the mayor chairs it. Three ballots, three levers, and all of them are yours.

1. The Mayor writes the budget, hires the department heads who run city services, and can veto an ordinance the Council passes.
2. The City Council, four members elected citywide and seven elected by ward, passes ordinances, approves or trims the mayor’s budget, and can override a veto with a supermajority.
3. The School Committee sets school policy and hires the superintendent who runs the district. The mayor chairs it automatically, just by holding the office.

Explore the Haverhill Edition

• Mayor’s OfficeMeet Mayor Melinda Barrett and the city administration.
• City CouncilYour 11 at-large and ward councilors.
• School CommitteeThe board and superintendent who run the schools.
• City DepartmentsWho to call for city services.
• Boards & CommissionsThe volunteer boards that shape the city.
• LegislatorsYour voice on Beacon Hill and in Washington.
• Haverhill HistoryFrom Pentucket to the Queen Slipper City.
• DemographicsWho lives in Haverhill today.
• Non-ProfitsOrganizations serving the community.
• Student DataEnrollment and school performance.

Civic Calendar

• City Council meetings: generally every other Tuesday evening at City Hall, 4 Summer Street. Agendas and recordings are posted on the city website.
• School Committee meetings: held regularly during the school year; schedules are posted by Haverhill Public Schools.
• Municipal elections: held the first Tuesday in November of odd-numbered years, mayor, City Council, and School Committee are all on the ballot.
• State & federal elections: held in November of even-numbered years.

Your County Officials

Two of the people with the most direct power over your life are elected countywide. The district attorney decides who gets charged with a crime, and what they get charged with. The sheriff runs the county jail. Both of them answer to the voters of Essex County, and that includes Haverhill. They appear on your ballot. Now you know what to look for.

Every county in Massachusetts elects its own, and the job is the same everywhere: the charging decisions, the jail. Look up any town in the state and see who holds these two offices there.

Your First Civic Action in Haverhill

You do not have to be 18, and you do not need an appointment, to start. Here is a path that fits in one afternoon.

1. Find your ward. Haverhill has seven wards, each with its own City Councilor and School Committee member. Your ward councilor is the official closest to your street and the easiest to reach.
2. Pick one thing you can see. A crosswalk, a park, a bus stop, a class your school cut. Specific beats general every single time.
3. Make contact. Email or call your ward councilor directly, or reach the Council office through Administrative Assistant Laurie A. Brown at lbrown@haverhillma.gov, City Hall Room 204. For a service problem like a pothole or a missed pickup, dial 311 in the city or 978-358-1311 from outside.
4. Show up once. The City Council meets most every other Tuesday evening at City Hall, 4 Summer Street, and the agenda includes time for residents to speak. Walking in and saying your piece is the whole job.

Want a second lever? The School Committee decides what happens inside your school, and it takes public comment too.