Left In Lowell

This is a repost of an open letter to Senator Panagiotakos regarding the anti-gay rights-stripping amendment which is up for a vote in the Constitutitional Convention in two weeks. I’m revising and editing it from the original to include Rep. Nangle, who also has voted to forward this amendment in the past. To Reps. Golden and K. Murphy, my most profound thanks for your support of gay rights.

If You Can’t Vote No, Abstain

Dear Senator Panagiotakos and Representative Nangle,
I’m writing this open letter in a public forum to ask you for something very serious. I’m asking for your help to preserve the civil rights of tax-paying and voting citizens of the Commonwealth. I am referring to the inevitable Constitutional Convention where, for the second time, legislators will vote whether or not to let civil rights of our gay neighbors, family members, and friends be decided by ballot. I’m talking about the anti-gay-marriage amendment.

I, and many of your constituents, have begged, pleaded, and cajoled you to change your mind on this issue. I’ve even used some strong language - which I still stick by - and many efforts to appeal to your logic and reason on this matter. It is obvious you have an unshakable conviction, and despite the fact it saddens me greatly, I have to respect that.

I am hoping to convince you, then, to abstain from voting on this matter.

I understand that you may not be able to bring yourself to vote “no” to the ballot initiative. A No vote, of course, allows for gay marriages to continue to be legitimate in the eyes of the state. It will not change any religion’s right not to marry gays in the church, but merely carry civil weight of the same rights and responsibilities of marriage that I myself have enjoyed for seven years now. But we’ve exhausted all those arguments, so I will merely plead this: the people of the Commonwealth overwhelmingly wants this issue put to rest. They do not want another two years of a biting, hateful campaign. They don’t want any more out-of-state interference in our Commonwealth’s affairs; they do not want a vote. By voting “yes” on the constitutional amendment ballot initiative, you will be subjecting your constituents to inevitable media campaigns and harassment. And it will be that much easier to hurt our gay brothers and sisters with words…and maybe even worse.

If you go on the record with a “yes,” I believe your conscience will not be easy. In order to satisfy your convictions, you would have put hate on the state ballot, put civil rights up for popular vote. What if interracial marriage had been put on the ballot in the midst of the civil rights era? Would that have been fair or just?

The bar for allowing a ballot initiative to change the state constitution is too low. By abstaining, you will keep your conscience clear on both accounts. If you cannot bring yourself to vote “no,” please bring yourself to allow the rest of the legislature to vote their conscience to prevent a civil rights disaster. You will have had no part in it, save to allow the Commonwealth to move on as it has, working on the important issues of the day, instead of continuing the distraction of hate and bigotry.

Thank you for your service,
Lynne L
Left in Lowell

Tonight’s regular scheduled Lowell City Council meeting will convene early, 5:00 p.m., so that agenda can be completed in time to begin a review of the FY 2008 Budget.

It you have not had a chance to look it over, I would strongly suggest you do. It is a 150 page document, 24.9 MB, PDF file.
In my opinion, these are the highlights of the proposed budget:

Layoff of 22 City employees (not police or fire), 11 through attrition

Reduce the City’s contribution to the School Budget by $1.6 million

Taxes increased by 2.5%

Restructuring of the Departments at City Hall to achieve greater efficiency

The School Budget discussion has received some discussion on this blog as well as Jackie’s and Dick’s blogs. I am not sure if those who are proposing we reinstate that $1.6 million want taxes to be increased or they want the funds to come from the budget of other departments. We will find out tonight.

Also, I was surprised that the school portion of CM Bernie Lynch’s budget and School Superintendent’s Karla Brooks-Baehr’s budget had such a difference. Perhaps next year, the two, who seemed to get along well, can close that gap

This past weekend the Budget received media scrutiny. First, the Sunday Lowell Sun had an editorial supportive of the City Manager’s $288 million municipal budget. I and many others have to concur with their opening statement, “that [the budget] is more comprehensive, contains more detailed information on revenue and expenditures, than councilors have ever before faced.”

The editorial concluded with urging City Councilors “to approve Manager Lynch’s FY08 budget as well as his restructuring plan. This will be another step toward increased accountability, greater fiscal responsibility and expanded transparency in the city’s government.”

(On her blog, School Committeewoman Jackie Doherty differs with the editorial’s view on the School Budget, “No Surprise local paper doesn’t support schools.” Jackie is right, the paper never misses a chance to take a swipe at the teachers’ union.)

Additionally, the Boston Globe’s Northwest Section reporter, Alexander Reid had an article in Sunday’s edition, “Proposed Budget in Lowell Includes 22 Job Cuts; Police, Fire Forces Won’t Be Trimmed.”

In the article, Reid is quoting City Councilor Bud Caulfield, “The city manager is saying to department heads that we have to hold down the budgets and watch spending, yet he’s adding a new position,” he said. “I can’t support that. It’s a huge contradiction.” (more…)

Hi from the Great White North! We’re spending the Memorial Day weekend in Montréal. It’s a great city for many reasons, in particular because of its focus and devotion to art. It even permeates its Métro.

We spent quite some time in Vieux-Montréal (Old Montreal) on a beautiful cobblestone street, Rue St-Paul. There were more commercial art galleries jamming into four blocks than I’ve seen even in Boston or Cambridge. I fell in love with a new painter, Janusz Migacz, whose work can be found at the Yves Laroche Galerie D’art.

Wandering Rue St-Paul made me understand just how far the New England art scene has yet to go. The art in Montréal is hugely professional (not that we don’t have wonderful mature art in Lowell, but it rarely has its chance to shine - and be bought), and Montréal’s art is edgy, envelope-pushing and unafraid.

Lowell’s politicians love to talk about how much they appreciate its art and art scene, but truth to tell, they would be up in arms about art like that displayed in Montréal, should it grace the galleries and walls of Lowell. It hearkens back to the totally looney objections of the Lowell bougousie on the substance of the goth/rock festival back in 2005. Imagine them standing in front of the Useless daughters of Noah, a painting I saw today.

But for me, today’s foray into the commerical galleries of Rue St-Paul was total bliss, and a glimpse into what the future could hold for Lowell.

Tuesday night around 8:45 p.m. I received a call from a company that identified itself as conducting a poll on the 5th Congressional race. They asked if I would participate and I said, of course. I was told that it would take about 20 minutes.

Four questions later and 2 minutes into the conversation, the woman said thank-you and hung up. These were the questions she asked me:

1. Are you a registered Democrat (yes); 2. Are you a paid employee of one of the campaigns (no); 3. are you a member of the media (no, bloggers are not media members); and 4. will you vote in the primary; she offered a number of choices with very highly the last one. That was my answer. The polling abruptly ended when I enthusiastically told her I was going to vote. Did they correctly interpret my answer to mean, I have already made up my decision and it cannot be influenced by the line of questions? Perhaps.

I would not have thought much about it but Lynne had relayed to me on Saturday that she was just polled on the telephone on the Massachusetts 5th Congressional race. It was a pretty lengthy interview and some of the questions were blatantly leading.

I found out through the blogsphere that the polling company that called me is a Utah-based telemarketer with a reputation for doing push polls. I am now curious, first what interest or candidate is conducting that poll and more importantly, is it a push poll?

I know it is not the Donoghue Campaign conducting this poll and I do not think it is the Tsongas Campaign. Both have done their early polls already. Maybe it is the Republicans!

Tomorrow on Thinking Out Loud (my last thing to do before my much-anticipated vacation!) we’ll be talking to the lawyers who have been working on behalf of the former Julian Steele residents. Should be a very interesting interview! Listen live on WUML 91.5FM, or online.

I broke down and started using Flickr. I’m starting to really love this camera I got. There’s some of the more decent shots of the candidates from last night’s debate in my new album, so check them out!

This will probably be the last substantive post I have until I come back from my weekend getaway to Montreal (I’m away until Tuesday night), but reading down what I’ve written, it’s a doozie, and should take you days to get through.

I headed tonight to the Iraq/Afghanistan/foreign policy debate in Chelmsford sponsored by the The Citizens for Civic Courage, the Chelmsford DTC, GLAD, and the 3rd Middlesex Dems. It was a packed house in the police training room, with overflow and standing room only. I’m kind of gratified to see how many people appear to be interested at this race even with several months to go. I hope even more people will be jumping in to inform themselves as the race goes on.

This debate was the first in a series of issue-specific forums (the next is on health care), allowing the candidates to really dive into the discussion and prove if they’ve got what it takes. I commend the organizers and the moderators, Brian Hart and Sam Poulten, for a job well done.

For what it’s worth, I will be trying to get the video online; I’ve got the permission, and the technical volunteers, now I just need the time to work how to host a long streaming video. So when I get back from vacation, hopefully we get that squared away and you’ll be able to watch it at your convenience.

I took extensive notes so I might as well use them for something (my hand still hurts…I need a laptop! And now I have Mini Viao Envy after seeing Dick Howe’s new toy. Who by the way has posted on the forum as well.). For more… (more…)

Wow. The Lowell City Council unexpectedly (for me anyways) went into Executive Session at the conclusion of this meeting. CM Bernie Lynch asked the City Council to go into Executive Session which means the 9 City Council, CM Bernie Lynch, the clerk, the city solicitor and maybe a couple of others met to discuss the Devils lease and the contract with the City.

According to published reports the Devils do not intend to leave the City but we want them out. We do not have a profitable deal and we believe that they are not holding up their end of the bargain. Oh, great, another law suit, maybe. (more…)

Both School Committeeperson Jackie Doherty, and Dick Howe, have great posts centering around an online video about the city’s proposed budget for schools. In the video, Lowell state Rep Kevin Murphy gives his view on the local option taxes. But more importantly (to Jackie and Dick) he also made a point of saying that the local officials need to guarantee that extra money goes to the schools. From Murphy:

I don’t really have a problem with local options [tax]…I just hope you [the schools] get the money, because that hasn’t been guaranteed….the city side commitment to public education in Lowell falls short of where it should be.
[…]
We ought to be telling the city council that they should step to the plate [on school funding]…we’ve done as much as we can…so I suggest you continue to lobby them, and get some type of commitment…

Specifically, it appears Murphy was talking about the local options meals taxes Governor Patrick proposed. Since the April 25 video of Murphy was shot, Lynch proposed his Lowell budget, which does show where any extra money from local option taxes (which could also include revenues from rescinding the outdated 93-year-old telecom pole tax exemption) might go. If I recall, some would go to schools, but not all. (It’s also not clear if local options taxes will be earmarked for property tax relief, not spending, although one easily can argue that the cuts to the budget are already tax relief for this coming year.)

Lynch’s budget is bare-bones, and responsible, and very transparent. However, I differ with the city manager in that I would rather pay a few dollars more in property tax (and if this summer we become home owners, this affects me very much) than see such drastic cuts from the schools, who have already lagged behind in funding for years, and are showing it. Our property tax burden is nothing compared to other local towns, and we should be willing to ensure our schools don’t fall apart any further. I would call on the city councilors, who are staring down an election year, to have half a backbone and call for a modest increase from the proposed tax rate for next year. Costs are going up (health care, building and maintenance costs, especially) and until the state fulfills the promise of a buy-in for towns into the statewide health care for government employees, we will have to bite the bullet.

Another question posed to me was, did the city side of the budget have as much as 8% cut from it, which is the amount being asked of the schools? Enquiring minds do want to find out…anyone good in math want to take a peek at the budget for me?

Next Tuesday night, May 29, the Lowell City Council at 5:30 p.m. begins its public hearing on the FY 2008 Budget. It promises to be an exciting discussion. It seems there is something in the budget to displease just about everyone.

The City Council can accept the budget or it can make changes, in this case, increase the budget and then they can decide to raise property taxes. Today, that is the only option we have to increase our revenue stream. We can lie to ourselves and pretend that the City Manager and the CFO have underestimated the revenue and challenge them on those figures. But let’s be honest; if we want to increase the budget we will need to increase property taxes. I am not opposed to that; I believe in investing in the future. (more…)