The Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce honored outgoing Haverhill Mayor James J. Fiorentini at last night’s 2023 Annual Chamber Dinner.
The awards ceremony, held at Michael’s Function Hall in Haverhill, recognized a number of Merrimack Valley business people and residents with Fiorentini receiving an Appreciation for Leadership Award for his 20 years of service.
Chamber of Commerce Chairman Michael Sullivan, who held the position of mayor in Lawrence for eight years, made the award presentation. For his part, Fiorentini spread the praise around pointing to the hard work of members of his staff as well as members of the City Council.
“We’ve had a lot of success in Haverhill over the last 20 years. New investment in our downtown, a thousand new residents in our downtown, thousands of new jobs. None of these things happened by accident. They happened because of a tremendous staff that I’ve had in the city over the years and because of a City Council willing to work with me,” he said.
The featured speaker at the event was state Auditor Diana Dizoglio who took a moment before presenting her citation, acknowledging Fiorentini for his many years of service.
“Now I see in the room here, Mayor Fiorentini and (his wife) Martha. It’s great to see you both. Mayor, thank you so much for your years of service. I know it’s your last year. Thank you for your work,” she said.
Dizoglio used the forum to rally support for her plan to audit the House and Senate in order to find ways to eliminate wasteful spending.
“We are conducting an audit of the state legislature. This issue has gotten so much attention, unnecessarily so. If our legislative leaders would simply comply with our offices’ audit like every other state entity across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, this would not even be an issue,” she said.
Her call for support appeared to receive enthusiastic support among the hundreds of chamber members in attendance.
Other awards presented were the Ralph B. Wilkinson Good Citizenship Award to Michael Sullivan, Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo house rehab coordinator; Emerging Leader, Bill Deluca IV of Bill Deluca Family of Dealerships; Non-Profit Award, Karen Frederick of Community Teamwork; and Business Development, Juan and Luis Yepez of Yepez Properties.
Related
