WORCESTER—City officials that Worcester residents elected in November are set to be sworn in at an inauguration ceremony on Jan. 2.
The ceremony at South High School Auditorium includes the swearing-in of the mayor, city council, and school committee.
Mayor Joseph Petty will be sworn in for a historic seventh term after winning a decisive victory in the fall, earning 10,867 votes compared to second-place finisher Councilor At-Large Khrystian King’s 5,877 votes.
The majority of city councilors have experienced swearing-in ceremonies before, with only two new faces on the council. Pulse Magazine Editor Jenny Pacillo and Worcester Public School Assistant Principal Luis Ojeda take over the seats vacated by District 1 Councilor Sean Rose and District 4 Councilor Sarai Rivera, respectively.
The school committee, on the other hand, welcomes several new faces. The 2023 municipal election marked the first in Worcester with school committee districts.
Previously, the school committee had six at-large seats, but a 2021 lawsuit brought against the city by the Worcester branch of the NAACP and Worcester Interfaith, along with eight residents of color, argued the practice was discriminatory. The group won their suit and Worcester split the school committee into six district seats and two at-large seats.
The newly established voting districts led to a shake-up on the committee, with five people making it onto the council who were not on the 2022-2023 committee. Former Worcester Superintendent and first-time school committee candidate Maureen Binienda was the top vote-getter in the at-large race with 11,040 votes. Incumbent At-Large School Committee Member Sue Coghlin Mailman won the second seat with 8,539 votes.
Molly McCullough, Vanessa Zuleyma, Alex Guardiola, and Jermaine Johnson all won their district seats – A, B, D, and F, respectively—unopposed.
Former School Committee Member Dianna Biancheria beat out sitting School Committee Member Jermoh Kamara in District C and Kathleen Roy beat out Nelly Medina to win the District E seat.
The Jan. 2 ceremony will include an inaugural address from Petty and performances from Worcester Public Schools students, according to a press statement from Petty’s office.
The event starts at 5 p.m., but the mayor’s office is asking attendees to be seated by 4:45 p.m.
The inauguration is free and open to the public. Tickets are available at the City Clerk’s Office in City Hall and will also be available at the door.
The ceremony will also be live-streamed on the city’s Facebook page, website, and City Government Channel-Spectrum 192.
Kiernan Dunlop is an award-winning journalist who has spent the past five years reporting in Worcester, New Bedford, and Antigua and Barbuda. Her work has been published in Bloomberg, USA Today, Canary Media, MassLive, and the New Bedford Standard Times, among other outlets. She can be contacted at kdunlop@theworcesterguardian.org
