By Paul Leighton Staff Writer Dec 21, 2020
Dec 21, 2020
BEVERLY â The last time a local city council met to fill a vacancy on its own board, the meeting lasted past 2 a.m.Â
In 2013, the Salem City Council took 300 votes without reaching a consensus before finally choosing a winner at a followup meeting the next week.
The Beverly City Council is hoping to avoid the same fate on Monday night but is facing a similar scenario as it considers nine candidates to replace Ward 6 City Councilor John Frates.
Frates will step down on Dec. 31 because he is moving to another ward in the city. Because there is one year left on his two-year term, the remaining eight city councilors are charged with choosing a replacement.
BEVERLY A new face will be joining the Beverly School Committee in 2021.
Kenann McKenzie was appointed to the position on Thursday evening during a joint meeting of the Beverly City Council and Beverly School Committee. Beginning Jan. 1, she will finish out the term of Kelley Ferretti, who officially resigned from her Ward 2 seat last month.
McKenzie holds a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University, a master’s from the University of Virginia and a Ph.D. from Columbia University and has over 20 years of professional experience in education and non-profit settings.
“I’ve rolled up my sleeves wherever I’ve lived just as a compulsion,” she said. “I was in Brookline for several years before coming to Beverly. I volunteered with their school committee and I particularly had a baptism by fire during this remote learning experience in the beginning of that process.”