Croce Pulls Papers for City Council

Peabody native Bob Croce, a past candidate for School Committee and City Council, is entering the race for public office once again. Croce pulled nomination papers on Wednesday for an At-Large seat on the council.

He is the sixth candidate to enter the race for five at-large seats, essentially turning it into a race after all. Croce joins Tom Gould to challenge incumbents Anne Manning-Martin, Jim Liacos, Dave Gravel and Michael Garabedian.

“I made this decision based on my desire to serve my hometown and after realizing only one challenger had stepped up to run against four incumbents,” Croce said in a prepared statement. “This is about giving people an option to vote for new leadership and new ideas.”

Croce, a Peabody high school graduate who grew up in West Peabody, is the Director of Wellesley Information Services based in Dedham. He and his wife Maureen have two daughters: Erin and Ashley.

Croce ran against Ward 5 Councilor David Gamache in 1999 and then launched a bid for School Committee in 2001, also unsuccessful.

He said his main goal, if elected, would be to work with Peabody’s next mayor to create a “roadmap” to keep Peabody an affordable community for families and seniors as well as “committed to offering excellent services and world class public education.”

“I feel it’s time to stop talking about how bad times are and start bringing intelligent, innovative people together to work on a plan for our future,” Croce said.

He believes the city needs to continue growing its tax base by adopting a more welcoming culture toward new businesses and “responsible developments.”

“This is what will lead to higher property values, major improvements for our schools and a better quality of life for our citizens,” Croce said.