Newburyport Daily News
---- — NEWBURYPORT — Observers of city government are predicting the vote on the Local Historic District will be a close one.
The proposed ordinance requires support from at least eight members of the City Council.
One variable remains Councilor At-Large Kathleen O’Connor Ives, who is running for state Senate. If she wins, she might not be part of the LHD equation.
The election is Nov. 6 and the state inauguration day is in early January.
In a press release this week, O’Connor Ives said that she is committed to being a full-time state senator.
The release said if she is elected, “she would step down from the City Council before she is sworn into (state) office so her full attention can be focused on getting results for the residents of the Merrimack Valley.”
O’Connor Ives yesterday declined to speculate on the future as it might relate to the LHD vote. If she wins the state Senate seat, she said, “I would leave the council when I am sworn in.”
City officials say that because O’Connor Ives is an at-large councilor, the City Council would name a replacement if she steps down.
— Dyke Hendrickson, staff writer
