NEWBURYPORT — In the first of a series of interviews to be conducted on internet radio program Local Pulse with recently departed city councilors, former Ward 5 City Councilor and recent mayoral candidate Jim McCauley spoke Saturday about his time on the council and his mayoral campaign among other topics.
“Just being a citizen didn’t take long. Citizen Jim,” McCauley joked, when asked how he was adjusting to life no long being a city councilor.
McCauley, who served six years on the council, lost the November mayoral election to incumbent Sean Reardon. Reardon garnered 3,518 votes with McCauley getting 3,211.
“It was a narrow vote,” McCauley said.
Stating that he tried to run his campaign solely on issues, he spoke about what upset him leading into the election.
“So one of the things that didn’t surprise me, but kind of irritated me in the campaign towards the end, is how personal some things got to some people,” McCauley said.
He said that was never the goal.
“The campaign was about affordability. The campaign was about effective and efficient use of taxpayer funds along the way. There was some name calling, there was some online bullying, there were some things like that. Those were all part of the campaign, but that’s the unfortunate things that happen in some of these things,” McCauley said.
As election discussion continued, McCauley shared his disappointment with voter turnout.
“I think one of the things that we and others struggle with is only 6,800 people voted in the election. I mean, 7,000 people didn’t vote. And so how do you reach out and expand voting, or the need to vote, or the urgency to vote, or the need to be able to voice your opinion,” McCauley said.
He said the numbers were especially upsetting given the rise of early voting and vote-by-mail options.
“It lends credence to the voices that say nobody cares, nobody’s paying attention, everybody just wants to complain and not do anything about it — those types of things,” McCauley said.
McCauley also spoke about how six new councilors will be joining this term, as Stephanie Niketic replaces Jennie Donahue in Ward 2; Brian Callahan succeeds Heath Granas in Ward 3; Beth Trach replaces Ben Harman in Ward 4, with Harman moving to an at-large seat; Lisa Medina Smith replaces McCauley in Ward 5; Mary DeLai replaces Byron Lane in Ward 6; and Sarah Hall takes Mark Wright’s at-large seat.
He said these changes come in waves and are not irregular.
“When I came into the council, I didn’t plan to be Tom O’Brien and serve 25 years. I planned to come in to do my job for maybe one, two terms, and the third term I had to be talked into, kind of scenario. And so I think that’s part of it. I just think we’re in a cycle,” McCauley said.
Speaking about the work it took to be on City Council, he said that to succeed it takes commitment.
“The council is a lot of work if you want to be a good city councilor. Because you can just show up and go through the motions, and that happens over time,” McCauley said.
Asked to give a letter grade to the most recent iteration of the City Council, McCauley gave the group, including himself, a B+.
“We passed over 200 pieces of legislation that came in across the board. We tried to be efficient, which means we were doing our work and our workloads,” McCauley said.
To listen to the full episode, visit newburyportnews.com/localpulse/
Matt Petry covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: mpetry@northofboston.com.