City Government
Newburyport City Council
About the Council
Eleven people hold the legislative power in Newburyport, and six of them are yours by address. The city is divided into six wards and each one elects a councillor of its own. The other five are elected at large by every voter in the city. Every councillor serves a two year term that begins on the first Monday in the January after the election. The Mayor writes the budget; the Council is the body that votes it. It also sets the tax rate, passes the ordinances, and reviews the Mayor’s appointments to the city’s departments and boards.
- Sets policy and law by adopting and amending city ordinances. A majority of the full Council is required to adopt one.
- Controls the budget by voting the appropriation orders the Mayor proposes. Six affirmative roll call votes are required, and six members are a quorum.
- Reviews the Mayor’s appointments to city offices, department headships and multiple member bodies under Section 2-10 of the charter, and may send any nomination to a standing committee that can ask the nominee to appear.
- Hears you first. The charter requires every regular meeting to provide a period of public comment.
Council Members
The Council picks its own President for a one year term as soon as practicable after each municipal election, and the President presides, decides questions of order, appoints every committee, and votes on every measure like any other member. At the city’s inauguration on January 5, 2026 all eleven councillors elect answered the roll and took the oath, and the Council then elected Councillor Heather L. Shand President for 2026 on a recorded roll call: six votes for Shand, four for Councillor Afroz K. Khan, and one member voting present. The charter creates a President and no Vice President, and no Vice President was elected, so none is listed here.
Heather L. Shand
Afroz K. Khan
Edward C. Cameron Jr.
Ben Harman
Sarah Hall
Sharif I. Zeid
Stephanie Niketic
Brian Callahan
Beth Trach
Lisa Medina Smith
Mary C. DeLai
The whole Council can be reached through the Council office at CityCouncil@newburyportma.gov or (978) 465-4407, and individual contact details are published on the city’s own City Council page.
Meetings & How to Participate
- When: in the City Council Chamber at City Hall, 60 Pleasant Street, at 7:00 pm, generally twice a month on a Monday, with a Zoom link posted for each meeting.
- Get an item on the agenda: the city posts a filing deadline for every meeting, usually 9 a.m. on the Wednesday before, and items go to the City Clerk’s office.
- Committees: six standing committees do most of the detailed work. They are Budget and Finance, Community Services, General Government, Licenses and Permits, Planning and Development, and Public Works and Safety.
- Watch: meetings are broadcast live on Newburyport Comcast Channel 9 and streamed by the Greater Newburyport Community Media Hub, which posts the recordings afterward.
- Petition: a petition signed by 100 or more voters obliges the Council to hold a public hearing and act on it within six weeks of filing.
Public hearings and meetings are where residents shape city decisions.