Petty wins historic fifth term as Worcester mayor
WORCESTER - Joseph M. Petty made history Tuesday in coasting to a convincing re-election victory as mayor, becoming the first person to capture a fifth two-year term for that office.
City Council incumbents had a good day as well, with all five at-large incumbents — Petty, Kate Toomey, Khrystian E. King, Gary Rosen and Morris A. Bergman — winning re-election, while District 5 incumbent Matthew E. Wally easily defeated challenger Johnhaynes Honeycutt Sr. to keep his council seat.
In addition, Donna Colorio, who is currently serving on the School Committee, captured the sixth and final at-large City Council seat, finishing ahead of former District 1 Councilor Tony Economou by more than 500 votes, according to unofficial results.
After an eighth-place finish in the September preliminary election, Colorio was able to leapfrog Etel Haxhiaj and Economou to capture sixth place in the 13-person at-large field.
When the next City Council takes office in January, Colorio will fill the vacancy created when longtime at-large Councilor Konstantina B. Lukes steps down at the end of this term. Lukes did not seek re-election after serving 15 terms (30 years) on the council.
Also, by virtue of her second-place finish in the mayor's race and having won an at-large City Council seat, Colorio will be the vice chair of the 2020-2021 City Council.
City Council incumbents who were unopposed Tuesday and will also be returning for another term are: Sean M. Rose, District 1; Candy Mero-Carlson, District 2; George J. Russell, District 3; and Sarai Rivera, District 4.
Petty, 59, coasted to victory in the four-person mayor's race, as he was the top vote-getter in all 50 precincts. According to unofficial election results, Petty received roughly 61% of the vote, followed by Colorio who received 23% and Bill Coleman and Owurakwaku Sarkodieh, who each both received about 8%.
No other person has been elected to more than four two-year terms as mayor. Eighteen people have served as mayor since Worcester changed to the council-manager form of government in 1950, but Petty will be the first to take the oath of office for a fifth time.
He was one of three people to serve four two-year terms, with the others being Jordan Levy and Raymond V. Mariano. Levy was elected three times by the voters (1987, 1989 and 1991) and once by the City Council (1980) before the voters elected the mayor, while Mariano was elected by the voters all four times (1993, 1995, 1997 and 1999).
Under Worcester's charter, the mayor has no executive powers; instead, the city manager is the chief executive. The mayor chairs both the City Council and School Committee and makes the appointments to the standing committees of both bodies. Even before Worcester switched to the council-manager government and had the so-called "strong mayor" form of government, no mayor came close to serving 10 years in office.
Petty was first elected mayor in 2011. In addition to winning a fifth term as mayor, he was also elected to a 12th term as an at-large city councilor. When the 2020-2021 City Council takes office in January, Petty will be its most senior member.
In an interview at his post-election party, Petty credited his victory to "a lot of hard work" he has done as mayor and an at-large city councilor. He said his electoral success is the result of a "good team and community effort."
"You can't do it yourself," Petty said. "It takes a total team effort. I've been out there a lot in the community and I think people appreciate that."
During his mayoral tenure, Petty said he has also made an effort to make Worcester a more welcoming city. He credited the city manager and City Council with helping make that happen.
"The city is going in the right direction, and it's not because of one person," he said. "We are all very proud of what Worcester has become and the direction it is heading in."
The outcome of the City Council election is expected to keep the status quo in regard to the annual and often contentious tax classification debate at City Hall.
For the past several years, there has been a 6-5 majority on the council that has supported more favorable tax rates for homeowners compared to the tax rate for businesses, creating a wide gap between the two rates. Lukes was one of the six councilors who has always supported the more favorable tax rate for homeowners.
With Colorio succeeding Lukes, that 6-5 majority in favor of a more favorable residential tax rate is expected to remain intact. One of the main focal points of Colorio's campaign was her support for the lowest residential tax rate. In contrast, Economou was in favor of gradually closing the gap between the residential and commercial-industrial tax rates over time.
He said he believes the best way to provide tax relief for all property owners is to grow Worcester's commercial tax base, but Colorio countered that would place a financial burden on many homeowners, especially those on fixed incomes.
Her message appeared to have resonated more with the voters.
According to unofficial results for the at-large council race, Petty was the top vote-getter, with 9,207 votes, followed by Toomey (8,448), King (7,586), Rosen (7,314), Bergman (7,206) and Colorio (6,519).
Rounding out the at-large field were Economou (6,002), Haxhiaj (5,832), Coleman (4,793), Sarkodieh (3,202), Ralph A. Tiscione Jr. (2,675), Evan Corrigan (2,251) and Jesse G. Gibson (2,040).
In the District 5 race, Wally easily won re-election to a second term, capturing 78% of the vote (3,478), while his opponent received 21.5%.