Lou

A large crowd turned out on Saturday for the Pride Day flag raising at the Town Hall hosted by the Human Rights and Inclusion Committee.

The committee honored David Mills as Grand Marshall for the town’s annual LGBTQ+ Pride celebration. David is a lifelong Danvers resident who recently finished his final term on the Select Board. He has served as town moderator and a Town Meeting member. He made a career in criminal justice, working as an assistant district attorney, assistant attorney general and judge, and even argued three cases before the Supreme Court from 1974-1980. He is also a Gay man who has fought for LGBTQ+ rights and visibility for decades.

David was given a painting by local artist Em Cherie on behalf of his friends in the community, which depicted him against the background of a rainbow flag. Many DanversDems contributed to the painting.

State Sen. Joan Lovely presented a citation from the Massachusetts Senate and House of Representative on behalf of herself and state Rep. Sally Kerans, who was unable to attend Saturday’s flag raising, to honor Mills’ work for the LGBTQ+ community and the town.

Julie Curtis, Chair of the DanversDems Scholarship Committee presented the committee scholarship to Julia Boyd at last nights Senior Scholarship Award Night @ the High School. Thanks to Julie for leading this committee and congratulations to Julia. The following are Julie’s remarks at the presentation ceremony.

The Danvers Democratic Town Committee is honored to award this year’s scholarship to Julia Boyd.  Julia will be attending a higher education institution majoring in political science and government with a minor in journalism. She looks forward to a career as an attorney working in government.

Some of Julia’s extracurricular activities while at Danvers High School were:

Member of the Women Of The World where she ran an annual drive for women’s shelters as well as holding sexual assault assemblies for over 800 students

As editor in chief of the school newspaper she wrote, proofread, and edited the paper and was the student representative to the Danvers School Committee

In the recommendations submitted for our attention, Julia Bond is referred to as a strong advocate, talented writer and speaker who leads by example because she always acts with kindness first.

Another teacher described Julia as a talented, conscientious and insightful student whose strengths will make her an invaluable addition to her campus

The Danvers Democratic Town Committee agrees wholeheartedly and congratulates you on your achievements.

The DanversDems proudly award our scholarship to Julia Boyd.

City Councilor at-Large Hannah Bowen won Tuesday’s special election to replace State Rep. Jerry Parisella and represent the 6th Essex district on Beacon Hill.

Bowen, a 43-year-old Democrat, won with 73% of votes and carried all six of Beverly’s wards against Republican Medley Long III. “ I am so thankful to the residents of Beve rly and Wenham for entrusting me to represent them on Beacon Hill. I do not take this responsibility lightly,” Bowen said in a statement Tuesday. “I also want to thank the more than one hundred volunteers who always showed up even in the rain, snow, and extreme wind to make this possible.

“At a time when things seem heavy, this campaign reminded me of what is possible when we bring people together.”

Bowen will represent all of Beverly and Precinct 1 in Wenham in the seat Parisella vacated this winter to become a judge.

Wenham voters cast 144 ballots in favor of Bowen and 37 for Long, while Beverly carried 3,949 votes for Bowen, and 1,406 for Long.

 Every candidate on our Slate of Candidates was elected and every DanversDem running for Town Meeting Member won their race. The voters have responded to our message of fairness, inclusivity and experience in town government.

Gardner Trask and Dan Bennett were victorious in the field of seven Select Board candidates.  Gardner topped the ticket with 1,561 votes, earning the top spot in every single precinct.  He will ably succeed our own DanversDem David Mills who has served the town with dignity, competence and honor for many years.  Dan Bennett secured the second spot with 1,378 votes also ranking second in every precinct.  Kevin Berich was third with 1,092 votes and Sandy Franeschini fourth with 892 votes.

Gabe Lopes won decisively defeating Maxwell Rudin for School Committee by a wide margin; 2,074 to 740 votes.

Congratulations to DanversDem Julie Curtis, who was the top vote getter for Library Trustee with 1,956 votes.  Julie was elected alongside Noah Levitt and Kevin Lee.

Michael Swindell was re-elected unopposed for Housing Authority.

DanversDems will be well represented in the next Town Meeting with all six of our candidates elected.  We are especially excited for our four first time Town Meeting Members!

Precinct 1:  Lou George (re-elected) & Jillian Durand (first time member)
Precinct 2: Phil Bolduc (first time member)
Precinct 3: Charlotte Jordan (first time member)
Precinct 5: Liz Brennan (first time member)
Precinct 8: Lou Bernazzani – re-elected

We are deeply grateful to all the candidates who stepped up to run and for your commitment to serve our town.  A special thank you to all the DanversDems who worked so hard in this election.

We have never endorsed candidates in local elections, which are non-partisan, as you know. However, this year is different. The stakes are higher. The prospect of a majority of Select Board members who appear eager to bring the Trump agenda to our town is both worrisome and all too real. Five Republican candidates are running for Select Board and another for School Committee.

We hope you will join us in voting for Gardner Trask and Dan Bennett for Select Board and Gabe Lopes for School Committee on May 6.  

These individuals are proven community leaders who reflect our Democratic values: fairness, inclusion, responsible government, and a deep affection for and commitment to Danvers.  They are experienced, thoughtful leaders, who have shown that they can listen, collaborate and lead effectively.

In a local election, every single vote matters.  We urge you to make a plan to vote on Tuesday May 6 for Gardner Trask, Dan Bennett, Gabe Lopes and our full slate of candidates who will serve Danvers with integrity and vision.

Election Day is this Tuesday, May 6 

Select Board (2 positions open)

• Gardner Trask
• Dan Bennett

School Committee (1 position open)

• Gabe Lopes

Library Trustee (3 positions open)

• Julie Curtis
• Noah Leavitt
• Kenneth Lee

Housing Authority (1 position open)

• Mike Swindell

Thank you for being an engaged member of our community.

At-Large City Councilor Hannah Bowen won the Democratic primary Tuesday night in the race to replace 6th Essex State Rep. Jerry Parisella.

Bowen garnered 2,733 votes, beating Beverly Ward 1 City Councilor Todd Rotondo who received 2,054 votes, according to unofficial election results.

Bowen will now face Republican Medley Long III in the general election on May 13. 

Students and teachers, union leaders and laborers, first-time protesters and veteran marchers. Everyday people from all over Massachusetts came to Boston on a cold, and rainy day to protest the Musk-Trump agenda. They brought their youngsters in backpacks and strollers. Some brought their pets.

All had the same goal: to stop Trump/Musk and MAGA from stealing our democracy, betraying our allies, halting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, erring minority history, crashing our economy for huge tax breaks for the rich, attacking Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, slashing government workers without cause, attacking our colleges, masked ICE agents taking people and sending them to Louisiana or Ecuador without due process …

Between 25,000 and 30,000 people flowed from Boston Common to City Hall Plaza, according to estimates from the Boston Police Department. The sound of drums echoed through the air and people waved American, Ukrainian, and trans pride flags. Despite chilly April temperatures, many came from places outside the city. They flocked from Framingham, Franklin, Gloucester, Danvers, Beverly, Plymouth, and beyond, with homemade signs and umbrellas, prepared for a rainy afternoon.

Estimates are of 100,000 at City Hall Plaza and Boston Common. There were local Hands Off demonstrations in Salem, Ipswich, Wakefield, Gloucester that I am aware of. Julie Curtis was in Salem where she said there were 500+ demonstrators. I went to Ipswich where it appeared to be at least 500 but appeared to be significantly more to me. The response from the streets in Ipswich was overwhelmingly supportive.