Haverhill Council Confirms Acting Police Chief, Sends Heating Assistance Plea to Congress

HAVERHILL — October 21, 2025 — Haverhill City Council unanimously confirmed Wayne Tracy as acting police chief and voted to pressure federal lawmakers over a frozen heating assistance program threatening low-income residents this winter. Mayor James J. Barrett, calling Tracy "uniquely perfect for this job at this moment," introduced the 21-year department veteran to a packed chamber of supportive officers; the council separately approved Tracy's appointment as lockup keeper. Community Action Inc. CEO Kerrie Sharon Perry told the council her organization at 3 Washington Square had already received 2,036 applications for heating aid — close to 90 percent from Haverhill residents, including 136 first-time applicants — but holds no spending authority because the federal contract, due to start October 1, remains unsigned. "There doesn't seem to be an end in sight right now," Perry said, warning that without a state bridge loan from roughly $8 million in fiscal year 2025 carryover funds, residents could face shut-offs before National Grid's November 15 moratorium takes effect. The council also approved 11-0 a special permit allowing a gym at 261 Primrose Street, accepted a three-parcel land gift from the Kissel family on Gyle Street, and authorized easements for the Little River dam removal project, with DPW Director Bob Ward projecting new athletic fields on the landfill's northern mound could open by fall 2027.