Peabody, Massachusetts

The hides that became America’s shoes and belts and gloves once passed through Peabody by the millions, and the tanneries that processed them gave the city a name it still wears: the Tanner City. That industry built your neighborhoods and drew the families whose names fill your class lists. This guide is about the city all that leather left behind: who runs Peabody, the boards that decide what gets built on your street, the legislators who carry your voice to Boston and Washington, and the data that says who lives here now. The city took its name from George Peabody, a banker who gave most of his fortune away, and it has been working out what to do with that inheritance ever since.

The Peabody Civics Handbook

A plain-language guide to how your city actually works: who represents you, how the big decisions get made, and where an ordinary resident can push on them. Read it online, no library card required.

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Peabody at a Glance

54,481Residents (2020)

1916Incorporated as a City

11City Councilors

11Public Schools

Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).

Where: Essex County, on the North Shore about 16 miles northeast of Boston. English colonists settled it in 1626, and the city carries the name of George Peabody, a hometown boy who became one of the great givers of his age.
Who runs it: a strong-mayor government. Mayor Edward A. “Ted” Bettencourt Jr. runs the day to day, and an eleven-member City Council writes the rules and holds the purse.
Schools: Peabody Public Schools teach about 5,600 students across 11 schools, from kindergarten through Peabody Veterans Memorial High, under Superintendent Dr. Josh Vadala.

How Peabody’s Government Works

Peabody runs on what political scientists call the strong-mayor plan, and the name is honest about where the power sits. You elect a full-time Mayor to run the city and an eleven-member City Council to check the Mayor. There is no appointed city manager standing in between. The Mayor commands the departments and writes the budget; the Council passes the laws and decides whether that budget becomes real.

Mayor

Your elected chief executive. Hires and fires the department heads, builds the budget, and sits as chair of the School Committee. One person, accountable to you at the ballot box every two years.

City Council

Eleven members, five elected by the whole city and six by ward. They pass the ordinances, hold hearings, and get the last word on the Mayor’s budget.

School Committee

Seven members, chaired by the Mayor, who set the rules for your schools, adopt the school budget, and hire the Superintendent who runs them.

You vote. Residents elect the Mayor, all eleven councilors, and the School Committee.
The Mayor proposes. The administration runs the city day to day and sends the Council a budget every spring.
The Council decides. It can approve, cut, or reject what the Mayor sends, though it cannot add to the budget.
You push. Public comment, a seat on a board, an email to your ward councilor: these are the levers that move what happens next, and you can pull them before you are old enough to vote.

Explore the Peabody Edition

Civic Calendar

City Council: twice a month, usually on Thursday nights, in the Wiggin Auditorium at City Hall, 24 Lowell Street. The room is open and so is the public-comment list.
School Committee: twice a month, with agendas posted ahead of time on the city and district websites.
City elections: odd-numbered years. The Mayor, every council seat, and the School Committee are all on the ballot, and the next round is November 2027.
State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general happen this fall, with the primary in September and the general in November.

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 Peabody. They appear on your ballot. Now you know what to look for.

District Attorney, Essex District

Paul F. Tucker

In office since 2023
Official site

Sheriff, Essex County

Kevin F. Coppinger

In office since 2017
Official site

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.

Officials for any Massachusetts town

Your First Civic Action in Peabody

You do not have to wait until you can vote to be heard. Here is a concrete path from “I care about this” to “I said it on the record to the people who decide,” using rooms and phone numbers that are already open to you.

Pick the right body. A park, a road, a pothole, taxes, or a line in the city budget is City Council territory. Your school, a class, a program, or the school calendar belongs to the School Committee.
Find the meeting. The City Council meets twice a month, usually on Thursday nights, in the Wiggin Auditorium at City Hall, 24 Lowell Street. The School Committee meets twice a month. Agendas post ahead of time on the city website at peabody-ma.gov.
Know your councillors. Peabody has eleven councilors. Six are elected by ward, one tied to your own neighborhood, and five are at-large councilors who answer to the whole city. City Clerk Allyson M. Danforth staffs the Council and its agenda, and you can reach that office at 978-538-5700.
Speak. Both the Council and the School Committee open their meetings to public comment. You sign up, you get your minutes, and you say your piece on the record.
Or skip the trip. Report a pothole, a broken streetlight, or a trash problem any time through the city’s online request tools at peabody-ma.gov, or call City Hall at 978-538-5900.

City Hall (main line): 978-538-5900
City Clerk and Council agendas: 978-538-5700, peabody-ma.gov
Peabody Public Schools: 978-536-6500, peabody.k12.ma.us

Cities run better when the people who live in them show up. Find your ward councilor, take two minutes at a meeting’s public comment, or put your name in for a board seat. Each one is a door that is already unlocked.

Meet Your City Council

Take Action in Your City

Sources

This guide draws on public sources, refreshed July 2026: U.S. Census Bureau, Massachusetts DESE School and District Profiles, Massachusetts Legislature (malegislature.gov), and the official Peabody government website.