During his successful 2004 campaign to become the mayor of Haverhill, Massachusetts, James Fiorentini (LA '69) campaigned so vigorously that he actually injured himself: he tore his knee ligament walking door-to-door. Fortunately, his current reelection campaign has proven less strenuous - and the accomplishments he's made in the meantime have made the injury worth it.
Fiorentini's work as mayor has focused on getting municipal finances back on track and drawing people back to the city. "I've worked to turn Haverhill around - it was in fiscal crisis," said Fiorentini, who served on Haverhill's city council for eight years before becoming mayor.
"We've worked to revitalize the downtown," he said.
Having grown up in Haverhill, Fiorentini has seen a lot of changes in the town - most noticeably its shrinking population. From his time in high school and until recently, the population of the city was decreasing. Haverhil is 40 minutes north of Boston, in the northeast corner of Massachusettes.
"For a long time, Haverhill was thought of as a shrinking city - people I went to high school with all moved away," Fiorentini said.
The trend seems to be reversing: the city's population is around 60,000 from a low of approximately 40,000. The mayor has increased efforts to bring more people to his city, including the renovation of factory buildings into upscale housing and the establishment of a downtown arts district.
"I think cities can be very proactive to bring cities in and residents in, and you do that with zoning laws, rezoning, widely advertising that the city wants young people," Fiorentini said. "I think it's worked. We are now one of the fastest-growing cities in the state."
Finances have proven to be the most challenging aspect of his job. "Everything must be looked at through the prism of 'is there enough money' - more money for one thing means less money for firefighters and teachers," Fiorentini said.
But these fiscal problems are not by any stretch unique to Haverhill. "Every mayor in the country right now has budget problems. It's been a tremendous challenge," Fiorentini said.
His time at Tufts enhanced his already strong interest in politics. "I had a great experience at Tufts, and it certainly prepared me for office," Fiorentini said. "We had some very lively discussions in class. Also, at the time the anti-war movement was very strong at Tufts. That really heightened my interest in politics."
Fiorentini's undergraduate years were dominated by a passion for politics. The political science major spent time working on political campaigns for Eugene McCarthy and Robert Kennedy, working under Barney Frank (now a U.S. Congressman for Massachusetts) for the Boston City Council, being involved in the anti-war movement, and leading the Tufts Democrats as their president.
For Fiorentini, Tufts is a family tradition: his father, uncle, and cousin all graduated from the University, and he took his daughter on a tour of the Hill in an effort to persuade her to attend.
"The campus seemed about the same: when I was there, we had the new coed dorms. They seemed great when I was there, but not so great with my daughter there," Fiorentini joked.
Fiorentini's interest in politics is motivated by the desire to help people. "When I was at Tufts, someone said that politics is the greatest helping profession," Fiorentini said.
This desire to help the community also pushed him to look into teaching: during his final year at Tufts, Fiorentini worked as a substitute teacher in Medford, Stoneham and Boston. This interest and experience in education is something Fiorentini says he draws on as mayor.
After graduation, Fiorentini spent time in VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America, a division of Americorps) working with students who had dropped out of school. He went on to earn his J.D. at the Northeastern University School of Law. He practiced law for 30 years, focusing towards the end of his career as an attorney on personal injury and workers' compensation.
While he would not absolutely rule out running for a higher office in the future, Fiorentini enjoys the work he is doing at the municipal level.
"I never say never, but I like what I'm doing," Fiorentini said.
