Left In Lowell

City Council Meeting 07/12

by Mimi at 4:43 pm.

Last night’s regular scheduled City Council meeting featured a couple of motions which dominated the discussions. The meeting did not end until almost 10 p.m.

CC Rodney Elliott had one asking the CM to “address complaints from the Jackson Street residents.

About a dozen “new” Lowellians marched up to the microphone and one after another complained that the free parking space that came with their condo was unceremoniously taken away from them. I found all of them to be articulate and somewhat convincing. I think they overdid regarding the issue of being scared to walk from their cars to their condo building.

The DPD had placed announcements on and around their cars telling them that they have a couple of days to get parking permits at cost of $30/month from the City and then they have to scramble to find a designated parking spot. This is the same DPD that lured these people to Lowell with a successful marketing campaign (Lynne’s favorite), Mills to Martini.

That parking garage cannot be built fast enough. One of the issues raised was that there are not enough parking spaces for the businesses, the charter school, the residents and visitors in that area who will be displaced by the destruction and construction that is necessary to bring about the realization of the JAM Plan. One of the speakers said that 300 placards were issued for 100 parking spaces.

The DPD was there and explained to the CC that they are trying to come up with a plan and are reaching out to these people. The CC waived the $30 fee for now until something is settled.

I hope that these residents remain active in the political life of Lowell. We always can use new ideas.

The other interesting motion was on public safety. In case you have not heard we have had 8 homicides in the City to date this year.

All eyes and ears were on the Chief of Police, Ed Davis. He came prepared. He had his information; he knew what message he wanted to get across and he did not back down from the attempted political spin and attacks of some City Councilors.

The Chief explained that it took more than putting more cops on the street to combat this latest crime wave; by the way the CC wants more uniformed policemen out there but no one has suggested how they will be paid.

Davis said it take a comprehensive community policing to prevent crime. For example, have the Licensing Board do something about the liquor establishments which are often the location of these types of crimes; have strong neighborhood organizations; and keep kids off the streets.

I wish the Chief of Police had mentioned where the hand guns used in these crimes originate. He did say that the City has an excellent arrest and conviction record but he did agree we have to have a better prevention record.

He also said that most of these murders are based on drugs, gangs and domestic violence and this was cyclical. Also, that overall serious crime is down. I think that is why the majority of clear thinking Lowell residents still feel safe; we agree with him and have confidence in the Lowell Police Department.

On another issue concerning the CC, I do not understand the Auditor’s attitude. Can somebody explain to me why this man cannot for once answer a question from the CC completely, cheerfully and clearly?

[Filed under City Council] [link]

18 Responses to “City Council Meeting 07/12”

K-R-S Says:
July 12th, 2006 at 6:19 pm
Mimi, I’ve been asking “why?” about the Auditor for a long time!
Mr Lynne Says:
July 12th, 2006 at 6:25 pm
Who attacked Ed Davis?
Mike Says:
July 12th, 2006 at 6:34 pm
Not for nothin, and makes it no less easy for the families, but most (or all) of the murders are either gang and/or drug related. The people involved aren’t usually innocent bystanders. Gang prevention work is the way to go to reduce these acts.
erika Says:
July 13th, 2006 at 2:40 am
What I find frustrating - I used to work with the at-risk teens in Lowell, and I know how hard we fought for summer jobs for teens. I remember fighting to keep the pools open, raising money with other organizations so that the kids would have something to do and a few more teens would have jobs, hopefully keeping them off the streets…

And while I thoroughly enjoyed the fireworks, I couldn’t help but watch them and wonder - how many summer jobs could they have paid for? What additional programs could have gotten funding to help with the gang-violence prevention? How could that money have been used to better our city in something a bit more long-term than a couple of pretty flashes in the sky?
Mill City Says:
July 13th, 2006 at 10:20 am
The forever pontificating, no solution offering Bud Caulfield.

Hey Bud,

Try reading a few articles on The Broken Window theory, by criminologists James Q. Wilson and George Kelling.

Some suggestions:
– The Tipping Point, How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, by Malcolm Gladwell; Chapter Four.
– Freakonomics, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner; Chapter Four
– Google; The Broken Window theory,
Mill City Says:
July 13th, 2006 at 10:35 am
To answer Mr. Lynne’s question. Bud Caulfield was attacking the Chief of Police.
Mr Lynne Says:
July 13th, 2006 at 10:52 am
Thanks MC.

Have not read Freakonomics yet, but been thinking about picking it up for a while.

The other book I’m thinking about getting sometime soon is Diaries of an Economic Hitman… have you, by chance, read that one?
Turtledove Says:
July 13th, 2006 at 11:55 am
Someone please check my math…
There are 244 officers. Let’s say that 1/3 of them are on vacaction in
July/August on any given day. That leaves 146.
There are three shifts per day, that should mean 48 officers on each
shift.
However, we know directly from LPD that there are between 10 and 14
officers assigned to the late-night shift, the time at which
much violence occurs.
Am I missing something? Is there some reason assests can not be
deployed better than this?
K-R-S Says:
July 13th, 2006 at 1:41 pm
Turtledove, I do beleive alot of the staffing “issues” you have pointed to are steeped in their contract and seniority.
You bring up a great point regarding the number of officers who are on vacation, disabled or Admin Leave (for whatever reason).
The this leaves us with diminished staffing levels on the street.
Davis had it right in bringing in code enforcement, working directly w/ youth prg. in the city that have consistent contact
w/ gang members, empowering our neighborhood groups, bringing back neighborhood watches, toughening up our statutes with
strong punishment for gang related crimes…putting more officers on the street is not the end all solution to this problem.
I’d like to see the officers we do have back on the job and out on the street.
Then, this leads me to the next thought…gang violence & crime is cyclical..we have loads of data backing this assertion..
Has the PD addressed this in terms of their staffing? My point is..if we have less crime, say in the Fall (when kids are back in school) and we have more crime in the Summer…wouldn’t it be mmore effective to not allow vacations in the Summer for the PO and stagger
the vactions in the off peak times through the year?
Look at Vacation communities (the Cape, Hampton, Salisbury)..they hire extra Pol. Off. in the Summer because of the tourist
influx. I will bet, the year round Pol. Off. in those communities aren’t taking their vactions during their peak enforcement
periods.
Just my two cents..
Mill City Says:
July 13th, 2006 at 1:52 pm
Your are correct, that the present police assets could be deployed better. However, you could have 1,000 police officers on duty every night, they would not be able to stop random acts of violence.

Maybe through better enforcement of existing laws & rules, people may thick twice before acting.

As Always more questions then answers; such as, why are sections of Lowell with little or no police presents consisted safer then areas that receive the greatest amount of attention. Not being a criminologist, I am unable to answers such questions, this is a good place to start our search for a community solution.
Mill City Says:
July 13th, 2006 at 2:06 pm
Mr Lynne,

You are welcome to borrow my copy of Freakonomics. I have not heard anything about Diaries of an Economic Hitman, thanks for the suggestion.
Mr Lynne Says:
July 13th, 2006 at 5:29 pm
MC thanks for the offer. I just started John Dean’s new book so I’ll consider your offer after I’m done with that.

With regard to the Diaries, it first came to my attention from CSPAN’s BookTV.
Mr Lynne Says:
July 13th, 2006 at 5:34 pm
My bad… the title is Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins.

http://666fs.com/viewtopic.php?t=500&view=next&sid=e67519588e354e3bd007c526aa081562
K-R-S Says:
July 13th, 2006 at 8:38 pm
Mr. L…just purchased Confessions of an Economic Hitman..looks like a great read.
Mr Lynne Says:
July 13th, 2006 at 9:33 pm
You beat me to it!?? Is this some kind of competition?

;)
K-R-S Says:
July 13th, 2006 at 9:59 pm
Mr. L…I’m always looking for a great read! No competition here…get reading..I need someone to discuss it with!
Mr Lynne Says:
July 14th, 2006 at 7:46 am
Just finnished “Kingdom Coming”. Started “Lapdogs” but then the book got lost . My favorite over the last couple of years though is Samm Harris’ “End of Faith”.
Eleanor Rigby Says:
July 14th, 2006 at 5:29 pm
erika wrote:
“And while I thoroughly enjoyed the fireworks, I couldn’t help but watch them and wonder - how many summer jobs could they have paid for? What additional programs could have gotten funding to help with the gang-violence prevention? How could that money have been used to better our city in something a bit more long-term than a couple of pretty flashes in the sky”?

You are correct in the sense that the money could have gone to other programs etc. However Lowell
has not had fireworks in several years. As the Sun pointed out in its article on the fireworks,
those programs were not funded when the city did NOT have fireworks.

I am in favor of someone stepping forward and privatizing the fireworks, much like has been done
in Boston. But don’t make the assumption that if we don’t have fireworks, or the folk fest, or
the winter fest that things like summer programs and swimming pools will benefit. They haven’t
in the past and all indications are they won’t in the future.

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July 12, 2006

City Council Meeting 07/12

18 Responses to “City Council Meeting 07/12”

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