The city of Haverhill made history November 7, 2023. The voters of Haverhill voted Melinda Barrett to become the Mayor, the first female to lead the city.

 It took over 153 years to break theglass ceiling. In 1640 the city was incorporated as Pentucket and in 1870 was incorporated in as the city of Haverhill. The final results were Barrett, 7,038 votes and Guy Cooper a retired Haverhill Police Officer with 3,024. Barrett won with a two to one margin.

Another interesting fact is Barrett was also the first female to be elected to the Haverhill City Council President.

In her one minute spotlight for HC Media, the local community access station, Barrett stated that her top priorities would be responsible growth, continue the revitalization of the downtown and increasing industrial parks.

When asked, Commonwealth of Massachusetts State Auditor Diana DiZoglio what it meant for

Haverhill she states, “from day one she has been a partner in making Haverhill and the Merrimack Valley a better place, and now I get to call her “Madam Mayor,” Congratulations my friend, even better Congratulations Haverhill!”

Fellow Haverhill City Councilor Tom Sullivan stated “Melinda Barrett is a positive person and believes in good governing practices, moving forward Melinda will ensure an open dialogue, honest answers, and real solutions to the many challenges facing the city of Haverhill.”

In the Eagle Tribune article they stated it was a who’s who of people who attended Barrett’s celebratory speech at Maria’s Galleria, a family owned restaurant in downtown Haverhill as she thanked the many volunteers and supporters of hers.

In her interview with HC Media she stated her family owned a small downtown business for many years and she is going to continue in the revitalization that current Mayor Fiorentini began years ago. Fiorentini remarked “she worked hard and ran a great campaign and more importantly she worked hard over the last several years to prepare herself for the job.” He added “I think she will be a great mayor.”

Barrett stated in her interview with Marc Lemay from WHAV Radio “I love this city.”

Let it be known the City of Haverhill has broken the glass ceiling and a new day is dawning, a city needs all voices to be heard for it to become an even greater city. It is exciting and if you are asked to get involved, will yo u say YES!