NEWBURYPORT — With seven terms on the City Council under his belt, council President Ed Cameron is looking to make it eight as one of seven residents vying for five at-large seats.
“I’ve always tried to bring a respectful and civil tone to the way I do business on the council. I want to see us collectively focus on issues, not personalities, and do the best we can for all of our citizens,” Cameron said.
Joining him in the race are fellow incumbents Heather Shand, Mark Wright and Afroz Khan, as well as current Ward 4 City Councilor Ben Harman, Prospect Street resident Rani Eng and School Committee member Sarah Hall. The general election is Nov. 4.
The 63-year-old has been a Newburyport resident since 2002 and is married to Suzanne Cameron. They have two daughters, both of whom are Newburyport High School graduates.
Cameron’s seven terms on the council began in 2007 and include a four-year break in 2017.
“I had a more intense job at the time, so I needed to take a step away from the council. I left in 2017, then came back and ran for reelection in 2021 and I’ve been on since,” he said.
Cameron said matters he has contributed to while on council include Waterfront Park, the expansion of Market Landing Park, and working to make the Brown School available for affordable senior housing.
“And lastly, the youth services and recreation center, that was a six-year struggle, and finally we got that over the hump. So I’m very proud of my role in those,” Cameron said.
Regarding relevant experience, Cameron said that since the 1980s, he has worked with and for the homeless, starting at the Pine Street Inn in 1987.
“I did that for eight years,” he said.
Cameron said he returned to the organization in 2019.
“I’ve been there for six years. I oversee about 50 people who are dealing with unsheltered homelessness. So, anybody homeless on the streets of Boston is probably someone that my staff and I are dealing with,” he said.
Cameron said he also spent seven years working for former Boston Mayor Tom Menino, helping to address homelessness and housing among other issues.
“There’s a lot of overlap with how things happen in Newburyport,” Cameron said.
Asked why he would like another two years on the council, Cameron said he wants to continue building on the incremental growth.
“I definitely have a long-term view that change is sometimes hard to make happen, but it’s worthwhile to stick with it,” Cameron said.
The three main issues Cameron said he would hope to tackle are affordability, economic development and infrastructure.
Starting with affordability, Cameron said he wants to do what he can to lower property taxes while making housing options more readily available for middle-class, working folks.
“Part of keeping taxes low is keeping the budget tight, which I think we’re doing an OK job with compared to other municipalities,” Cameron said.
In terms of economic development, he said the city must be better at attracting businesses to the city.
“There was an economic development plan put together by a broad set of stakeholders, including the administration and city councilors, in 2023. We need to pull that report, which is still pretty fresh, off the shelf and start implementing some of those measures,” Cameron said.
He said one of those measures would be to create a city position dedicated to economic development.
“Not just a planning-type job, but someone to recruit businesses, work with our current business community, the Chamber (of Commerce), and get companies to come into our business park. I know it’s tough economic times, but that’s something other municipalities do and we should be doing that,” Cameron said.
Speaking on infrastructure, he said continued improvements are a priority.
“I’ve been supportive of streets and sidewalk improvements over the last few years. We also need to look at some of the bigger-ticket items around water and sewer infrastructure. Those are going to be important measures we’ll have to deal with in the next couple of years,” Cameron said.