In my 22 years in Haverhill, periods of distress follow periods of excitement; hope is followed by despair.
Jim Rurak's election as mayor in the early 1990s heralded hope. Haverhill's rusty, low-income image would change. Residents adopted gardens to beautify with Brightside. A Civil Rights Commission was established. Danny's Boys, a mentoring program for at-risk youth, was started. My wife's and my goal of establishing a much needed equine therapy program and free educational programs picked up speed.
By 1998, the horizon seemed bleak. Mismanagement at the old Hale Hospital put the city on the defensive. The school system began to fall apart. The Civil Rights Commission only met when the temple was "tomato-sauced," as if civil rights began only at the temple door. Danny's Boys became a shadow. Brightside diminished. Resistance met our goal of free educational equine and therapy programs.
The next mayor inherited a financial mess and staked his future on a debt exclusion, an override in the public mind — a public distrustful of Haverhill management and school administration.
Discussions with merchants about the Chamber of Commerce met with skepticism. Receivership whispers floated.
Haverhill imploded. State Attorney General Martha Coakley unveiled what no city leader dared: decades-old professional misconduct at the Haverhill Department of Public Works.
The school administration's unresponsive nature and school deterioration made the public unwilling to give support. Rumors of high school accreditation loss surfaced, a disastrous political and social persona for Haverhill.
The election of Mayor Jim Fiorentini offered, again, optimism. Talk abounded about professionals inhabiting luxury condos. An eclectic restaurant colony was next. Beautification efforts would renew.
With the establishment of the first iteration of Team Haverhill, expectations rose. Haverhill was rebounding, again, with unbridled enthusiasm. Maybe this time, many felt. The purchase of the Woolworth Building added anticipation.
The luxury condos? They were a testament to poor architecture with a funereal black faÃßade on Washington Street. Whispers about Section 8 housing began. Professionals did not want to live in downtown Haverhill. The mayor's Task Force on Downtown squared off with Team Haverhill: both charging at each other. Hope was stymied again.
While businesses like the TAP, Make It Personal and The Enchanted Bakery do so much to adorn downtown, other merchants and landlords don't care. Efforts to begin an Adopt A Storefront Project by this writer went ignored by downtown leadership when volunteers had money and time ready to help merchants make the area eye-appealing. Destination cities all have eye appeal with seasonal decorations decorating downtown sidewalks. Perception is critical and appearance becomes perception.
"Merchants," so I was told, "are responsible for their own sidewalk area and storefront." Merchants tell me, "Where's the business chamber and city to help us?" Zero sum. No winners.
Team Haverhill I vanished and was replaced by Team Haverhill II due to the dedication of people like Fran Hogan, Alice Mann, Tim Jordan, and Elaine Barker. Not interested in local political trappings or "turf," these people are the sorts of leaders Haverhill desperately needs.
We read about a city leader who rants and bullies his way into an ice cream/hot dog stand, a city councilor who writes anonymous and derogatory Web comments about his colleagues. A School Committee member mumbles insults. Our school superintendent openly wonders at his "coffee and doughnuts" soirees why Haverhill has such a bad image.
How many reasons would he like? Let's begin with the mushrooming teen pregnancy rate, followed by the intensifying dropout rate.
Making concerted plans to stem Haverhill's burgeoning teen pregnancy rate, beautifying the stretch of "make believe highway" known as Ginty and Bailey boulevards that do not have a flower in sight and enlisting talented merchants to provide off-site course credit for high-schoolers are all relatively simple for those with good leadership skills.
Barely 25 percent of Haverhill voters vote. Democratic and Republican committees exist but expend little effort toward voter registration drives, gathering new members, and hosting monthly or quarterly speakers. Obligatory meeting announcements or breakfasts where local politicos hobnob with each other are not the stuff that engages a disengaged voter.
The Woolworth Building still stands. Any merchant will tell you downtown foot traffic is slim. Millions are lost annually because there is no paid parking and police have only begun real enforcement. Firefighters and the mayor's office are perennially at odds. There is no engagement of the city's vast agricultural and equine facilities with the schools.
If Haverhill is still discussing what to do about parking in 20 years, if the Woolworth Building is not rehabilitated or leveled, if teen pregnancy prevention programs do not begin now, if beautification efforts do not flourish, if, as one merchant told me, "fast talking" doesn't give way to fulfilled promises, then woe betide to Haverhill.
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Michael Veves has his M.Ed. from Lesley University, his M.A. from the University of Arkansas, and is a former English teacher turned equestrian.
