Holaday, Shanley in race for mayor

Since Moak withdrew on June 10, what was shaping up as a contest between Moak and one or more challengers has become a race for an open seat featuring two prominent contenders.

Councilor at Large Donna D. Holaday and Ward 3 Councilor James G. Shanley, the City Council’s president, both jumped into the race shortly after Moak’s announcement.

Meanwhile, Daniel Sweeney, who had taken out nomination papers to challenge Moak, said in an interview last week that he has decided not to run for mayor.

Sweeney, administrative assistant to the Newburyport Sewer Commission, said he had entered the race to ensure there was competition and to spur others to run. He said he was now content to step aside because “there are two other very good candidates that have taken out papers. Both are very capable of operating the city through the mayoral position.’’

Other candidates could yet emerge. The deadline for candidates to take out papers for this fall’s election is July 24, and to return them July 28. (Candidates for charter commission have until Sept. 15 to take out and return papers). The preliminary election, if needed, will be held Sept. 15, and the final election Nov. 3.

As a first-term councilor at large in 2005, Holaday lost to Moak in the race to fill the seat of retiring Mayor Mary Anne Clancy. She bounced back to win an at-large seat in 2007.

Holaday said the mayor’s decision not to run prompted her to try for the seat again.

“John has done an exemplary job in terms of the fiscal management of our city, and this is an area of strength for me,’’ said Holaday, who chairs the council’s Budget and Finance Committee.

In addition to knowledge of municipal finance, she said she brings grant-writing skills from her work as director of grants development and management at Middlesex Community College. She also cited her involvement with schools as a parent and through school partnership programs she has helped develop for the college.

Shanley, a three-term councilor, said Moak’s decision not to run was a “major determinant to my running.’’

“John has done a very good job being mayor and I think the continuity would be very important for Newburyport. But he decided not to run and that changed the whole dynamic. I think it’s a great time for someone like myself to bring my talents to bear on the challenges we face,’’ said Shanley, co-owner of a greeting card manufacturing business in Amesbury.

“I think my greatest strength is that I’m able to work constructively with people who don’t agree with me,’’ he said. “I’ve demonstrated that repeatedly in my six years in office.’’

Although now competing, Shanley and Holaday have developed a friendship on the council, a factor that both expect will make for a race that is civil and issue-oriented.

Both candidates start out as relatively well known in the city. Holaday is the only one of the two to run and serve citywide, but Shanley has gained citywide exposure as council president the past 18 months.

One prominent observer who will not be taking sides is the mayor.

“I would find it very difficult to support one over the other. They are both excellent candidates,’’ Moak said, noting that both are “conscientious about how they look at the issues’’ and “respect the responsibility, the authority of the mayor’s office.’’

Moak’s decision to drop out of the running came after his unsuccessful bid for appointment to the town manager’s job in Winthrop.

In a statement on June 10, Moak called it “an emotional and complex decision involving not only professional but personal considerations.’’

Referring to his previous intent to seek reelection, Moak, whose mayoral salary is $65,000 a year, said, “Unfortunately, with the changing fiscal times that we all face, I have come to the frank realization that it is not economically viable for my family and me to continue this path.’’

Moak said last week that he also felt “out of character in an elected position. I feel I’m more in character in a management-type position, which is what I am going to seek.’’