By Paul Leighton
EDITOR'S NOTE: Five people are running for councilor-at-large in Beverly. These are the last two candidate profiles. Michael Cahill, Bill Coughlin and Pat Grimes were featured in yesterday's paper.
BEVERLY — On Nov. 3, voters will elect three councilors-at-large to represent them on the nine-member City Council.
The race includes two incumbent at-large councilors, Bill Coughlin and Pat Grimes; a former council president, Paul Guanci; the city's former state representative, Michael Cahill; and the co-founder of the anti-override group Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility, Elliott Margolis.
Paul Guanci
Address: 54 Cross Lane
Age: 44
Occupation: Co-owner of Super Sub Shop and Casual Catering
Education: Bachelor's degree from Saint Anselm College
Elected office: City councilor-at-large, 2000-2007
Family: Wife, Kristin; daughters, Anna, 14, and Julia, 2; son, Noah, 4
Grade the mayor's performance: A
Will you accept the city's health insurance? If needed
The last three times Guanci ran for City Council, he ended up as the top vote-getter and council president. He's now back in the race after taking the last two years off to devote more time to his family and downtown sub shop business.
"I thought my personality brought a lot to the council," he said. "Also being a taxpayer, a business owner, a parent and a homeowner."
The defeat of a Proposition 21âÑ2 override attempt last year proves that most residents want the city to operate within the constraints of its budget, he said. He did say, however, that residents might consider a more limited override, called a debt exclusion, for specific projects such as a middle school and a police/fire station.
"That's more of a sell than a general operating budget override," he said. "You can show people you have a tangible asset."
Guanci said local officials must push for reform in state government. He pointed to a bill by the state Legislature that he said would force cities and towns to pay the costs for the Quinn Bill, which boosts the pay of police officers with college degrees.
"A lot of people on Beacon Hill are out of touch with what we need here," he said.
Guanci said he would like to be council president again, "but the president's vote counts as one just like the other eight councilors. Other people who are running are more than capable of being president also."
Elliott Margolis
Address: 6 Cobblers Lane
Age: 59
Occupation: Manufacturer's sales rep
Education: Bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst; master's in public administration from Northeastern University
Elected office: None
Family: Wife, Caryl; sons, Josh, 32, Aaron, 29, Matt, 29
Grade the mayor's performance: B-
Will you accept the city's health insurance: Yes
Margolis is the only at-large candidate who has never been elected to office, but he does have a couple of political victories to his credit.
As a co-founder of Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility, Margolis led the effort to defeat last year's Proposition 21âÑ2 override. He was also Tom Crean's campaign manager when Crean upset Bill Scanlon in the 2001 mayoral election.
Margolis said he is the only council candidate offering specific solutions to the city's financial problems. He said he would remake the empty McKay School into a new City Hall, turn City Hall and the adjacent police station into a new public safety facility, and ask nonprofits who don't pay taxes to help pay for it.
He would cap the amount of money the city contributes to employees' health care benefits at a certain flat fee, rather than the current method of paying 80 percent. And he would convert employees' pension plans to 401(k) plans.
Those changes would have to be negotiated with the unions. Margolis said he would present them as a better alternative than layoffs.
"The unions work for the city. The city does not work for the unions," he said.
Margolis said he would probably accept the city's health insurance, for which city councilors are eligible, but at the same time would work to reduce the benefit to save taxpayers money.
"The council is a bunch of good people, but there isn't a leader among them," he said. "I'm the leader."
Staff writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2675 or by e-mail at pleighton@salemnews.com.
