Current Editorials

Congratulations MHS Class of 2025! You did it! Your parents, friends, family and, humbly, we at the Marblehead Current editorial board are so proud of your accomplishments and excited for your futures. Celebrate (safely), remember to thank the teachers, friends and family who helped get you here. Be extra grateful to your parents and all those who parented you. And when the parties and excitement have settled down, also do this: Get to work. We don’t mean work in the Google Meet, internship, trade or…

This month’s Town Meeting was memorable for many reasons, from the heated yet mostly civil debate over the MBTA Communities Act to votes on repairing a leaky high school roof (it passed) and new recall bylaw for elected officials (defeated, at least in current form). Calling the meetings consequential would be a serious understatement. Yet in our view the most impressive number was voter turnout. Marblehead has 16,571 registered voters, with only 300 required for a Town Meeting quorum. When an estimated 2,000 showed up…

This month, the Current kicks off its annual spring fundraiser. You may think that it is an unusual subject for this editorial space where the Current editorial board expresses its opinions and perspectives on important events and broader issues affecting Marblehead. However, we think raising funds to sustain Marblehead's only nonprofit, independent online and print news outlet is worth a moment of your time. Let us begin briefly with why we are here. The regional and local news crisis has been well-documented, with few communities…

Marblehead Town Meeting 2025 proved to be one for the ages — and not for the faint of heart. First of all, the town's voters deserve a standing ovation for turning out in such unprecedented numbers that the scheduled Monday, May 5 opening night of the meeting had to be postponed and the venue moved to the Marblehead High School field house. In an era in which many decry a decline in civic participation, Marbleheaders happily bucked that trend — at least long enough to…

We have come to expect, rely upon — and perhaps take for granted — the efficient and cost-effective service provided to approximately 10,000 households by our Marblehead Municipal Light Department. MMLD is governed by elected light commissioners who have typically carried out with little public fanfare their duties, one of which is to hire, oversee and periodically evaluate the general manager — since 2018, Joe Kowalik. In 2021, Kowalik was in the midst of his initial five-year contract when the commission, presumably satisfied with his…

“Truth and common sense prevailed.” Those were the words of Gloucester City Council President Tony Gross after voters comfortably approved, by a 60-40 margin, the city’s plan to comply with the MBTA Communities Act in an April 24 special election. We hope truth and common sense will prevail when Town Meeting again takes up our town’s compliance plan Monday night. To that end, we clear up some confusion about the MBTA Communities Act and the town’s compliance plan. In some cases, that confusion is understandable.…

This year, Town Meeting will be asked in Articles 31-35 to take action relative to certain town buildings and to transfer the control and maintenance of the Gerry School Playground, now known as Elm Street Park, from the Select Board to the Recreation and Park Commission. Before addressing the articles, it is important to note that, should the town approve Articles 33 and 34 which pertain to roof and related repairs to certain town buildings, the cost to taxpayers associated with such repairs will not…

A common thread among several Town Meeting articles this year is that they propose small but potentially important tweaks to enhance transparency, both in terms of how Town Meeting itself and Proposition 2 1/2 override votes are conducted, and how the town sets certain fees. All deserve serious consideration. Here’s a rundown of our thoughts. Article 51 Local attorney John DiPiano deserves credit for proposing a warrant article that seeks to tighten up a Town Meeting procedure that might otherwise remain a potential source of…

How we govern and who serves to help us govern should always face periodic review and public consideration. So it is the case with a number of warrant articles on this year’s warrant for Town Meeting. Articles 37, 47, 48 and 52 all seek to reshape the “how” and “who” of managing our town’s affairs. Article 37 Article 37 seeks to allow the hiring of police officers who are over the age of 32 on the date of their municipal police department entrance exam. It…

Rising property values and inflation have put Marblehead’s seniors and veterans in a financial squeeze, and three proposals before Town Meeting seek to offer some relief. Article 28 would boost property tax exemptions for qualifying elderly homeowners while maintaining eligibility requirements. Nearly half of Marblehead's senior citizens living alone earn $60,000 or less annually, with about 3,060 making under $40,000. Seniors 65 and older comprise approximately 22.6% of Marblehead's 20,300 residents, significantly higher than the national average of 17.3%. The financial strain on this population…