PEABODY — Jim Liacos is at home on the road.
The longtime educator has used his summer breaks to crisscross the country, often with his two sons along for the ride. Liacos estimates he has visited three-quarters of the country's National Parks over the years. He has driven to the Grand Canyon five times.
"I've always had a love of nature," Liacos said. "I probably feel more comfortable there than I do in the city."
But the pull of the outdoors and the open road hasn't kept Liacos from serving the city where he grew up. He spent 20 years on the School Committee and the last decade on the City Council.
"After 30 years," Liacos said, "it's almost a part of my fabric."
Among a seven-candidate field for five open seats, Liacos is seeking a sixth term as councilor-at-large. "I still like it. I still think I can do a good job," Liacos said. "I certainly know the issues, and I know the city very well."
The council will have to work diligently in the next two years to keep city spending in check, Liacos said. That will mean carefully scrutinizing proposed capital expenditures, including $3 million to build a 300,000-gallon elevated water storage tank and the installation of new water mains along Route 1. Liacos is firmly opposed to the project.
"When the bottom is falling out, you don't build a water tank," he said.
Liacos said he is open to supporting a new regional vocational school, which could cost Peabody $9.5 million, because he views the current separation of some vocational students at Higgins Middle School deplorable and does not see an alternative solution. But he wants Peabody, which could shoulder 30 percent of the cost of the school, to have proportional influence in overseeing it and making decisions about its operation.
"We have to have a major say in it," Liacos said.
JAMES LIACOS
Address: 3 Cosmos Drive
Age: 57
Occupation: Professor of horticulture, North Shore Community College
Education: Peabody Veterans Memorial High School, 1969; associate's degree, Stockbridge School of Agriculture, 1972; bachelor's degree, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 1975.
Elected office: School Committee, 1978-1999; city councilor since 2000
Family: Wife, Janis; sons, James, 24, Ryan, 20
Will you accept the city's health insurance coverage? Yes
Grade the mayor's performance: It's really the voters that should grade the mayor. If you asked me if I think he deserves a raise, I would say yes.
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