It appears Salem (MA) Mayor Kim Driscoll has another tiger by the tail in the effort to include Salem Common as one of the venues for Haunted Happenings events this October.
When she first approached neighbors about allowing Fiesta Shows to put children’s rides within the historic park’s boundaries, she made it clear she was not requesting their permission to do so. That, she said, was a matter for the Park & Recreation Commission to decide.
But in an uncharacteristic slip, Atty. Driscoll and her staff overlooked a city ordinance that prohibits mechanical rides on the Common.
It will be interesting to see whether members of the Salem Common Neighborhood Association press their advantage to keep their park free of any Halloween-related events.
Councilors may be reluctant to buck the group seeing as they have to run for re-election in November, while Driscoll gets a pass by virtue of being in the middle of her four-year term.
That’s yet another flaw in the charter change pushed through by Councilor at large Tom Furey extending the mayor’s term from two years to four. A majority of Salem residents may like Driscoll’s no-nonsense style, but we’ll have to wait another two years to find out for sure.
Meanwhile, many councilors will prefer to play it safe by continuing to pander to the various special interest groups in the city.
That’s why former Peabody mayor Peter Torigian, one of the few politicians who always put the interests of the majority ahead of those of any single group of special pleaders, was perfectly content to run for re-election every two years. Voters liked his style and repeatedly told him — and the council — so.
