Left In Lowell

While most were focusing on “the flu” the Lowell Sun carried an article about an alleged threat from School Committee person Regina Faticanti against Lowell School Superintendent Chris Augusta Scott.

A special School Committee meeting was scheduled then postponed. On Wednesday, when the Superintendent was at WCAP during her weekly appearance, she was asked directly about the alleged threat. Her response “no comment.” There was no denying, rebuffing or clarification, simply, “no comment.” Add the fact that the Sun reported that School Committeewoman hired a lawyer and that attorney did not deny that he was hired, I think we have a problem.

I have posted before on School Committee Faticanti’s abrasive style when she verbally attacked the previous School Superintendent, her colleague Jackie Doherty and recently the City Auditor; then there was her outbursts against school trips. I do not know who her advisors or allies are but whoever they may be, they should sit her down and ask her to publicly apologize. As for her colleagues, sometimes they act like enablers. One can be devoted and dedicated to the students of Lowell and yet maintain their civility.

Perhaps today’s press conference will signal the end of the invasion of the Boston media. They know no boundaries. Regarding the misfortunate the two young boys from Lowell who caught the flu, everyone in a position of authority, the parents, the school, the doctors, health department acted responsibly. Except for the media!

I cannot believe the herds descended on the schools and even in the children’s neighborhood. They even knocked on the door of their house. I believe a lot of this panic was drummed up so that people watch TV, buy newspaper and listen to the radio.

Just to show my disdain for the hysteria mongers, I feel like buying a ticket and flying down to Mexico. Of course, I would take Joe Biden with me.

EDIT: No idea how this post got set to unpublished status, but it was not deliberate.

The legislature this term is severely disappointing.

The bitching and moaning I have heard from some legislators on the news, as well as from some commenters on blogs, that Patrick is putting the hammer down and this is no way to work with the legislature, is not only babyish, but also unhelpful, and wrong. Someone does need to put the hammer down on these people. It’s not like Patrick has not worked well with the legislature in the past, or didn’t try this term to appease the hacks.

Boo hoo, someone is asking you to act like adults. Get over it. I would like to say I’m disappointed in DeLeo, but that would mean that I expected better of him. I am, however, unhappy to be right.

Last legislative term, under DiMasi, saw a record number of bills passed - good bills, on the environment and economic development, and some of the reforms, though not as many as we all would have liked.

This year, Patrick, who, whatever you think about him, is a serious guy who wants to solve problems, put forth some (very very popular) reform proposals, not only of things which appear to be rife with abuse or that makes the newspapers like bad pension stories, but also of the way we fund things like our transportation. Like Patrick’s bill to increase the gas tax $.19, a tax by the way which is not indexed to inflation (meaning we have had almost 20 years of a tax cut on our gas tax, putting our infrastructure into a long, slowly cooked crisis, and which if it had been indexed to inflation, would actually be $.30+ higher than it is now, not $.19).

But under DeLeo, these common sense reforms like pension reform are stalled, and the legislature ignores all the other, better proposals for revenues and reaches right for the sales tax.

Now, a sales tax increase of 1.25% is not the end of the world. Remember, also, that there is no sales tax on groceries, or on clothing for individual items costing less than $175 (if you can afford a $175 skirt, you ain’t broke). So on a $100 purchase, you’d save only $1.25 more than now, if you headed to NH. Think about if that’s really worth it. (You probably use that much gas or more, even at under $2/gallon.)

However, sales taxes are regressive, despite those reasonable exemptions. And while the actual dollar amount increase per purchase isn’t really that much, the perception to consumers is detrimental at this time in our economy when we want to encourage those who can spend, to spend. While the gas tax may have been also somewhat regressive, at least it discourages driving, a behavior we actually want and need to reduce. A sales tax only discourages spending, the last thing we need right now, whether or not it really marks up the cost of something dramatically or not.

Call your legislators. I’m not kidding. Tell them to stop being childish, and stop supporting this Speaker and his strongarming against reforms, who has shown very little imagination when it comes to deciding what policies he puts forward. I’m disgusted, and you should be too. Phone information on Lowell’s Reps and Senator can be found here (Edit: Per comments, Lowell’s Reps voted against the sales tax, for whatever reason probably not related to the Gov’s reason for threatening veto - but calling Senator Panagiotakos is very key). If you aren’t in Lowell, you can find your Reps and Senators here.

The House passed the sales tax increase by a tiny veto-proof margin, two votes. It may well be that some of the more progressive members of the House voted for the increase under duress. I think it’d be easy to find a couple willing to support the Governor. And don’t forget, the Senate has not yet voted on this, and Senate President Therese Murray has been on the record stating that she is not interested in revenues before reform.

Show the people of Massasachusetts that you want to spend the people’s money wisely, and I know that they understand that to keep government services at some reasonable level in these tough times, revenues must be found - maybe even from the sales tax. After all, Patrick campaigned on the idea of “deciding what we want government to do, then decide how we want to pay for it” in 2006 and the people overwhelmingly elected him. I applaud Patrick for making a stand for reform, and hope that the legislature can be talked down off this ledge.

Another lovely day out there. As you can probably tell I’ve been really busy lately, and today’s no exception. So here’s an open thread to discuss the news.

Some scary stuff about swine flu, and interesting turns of events in Pakistan, for starters! And then there’s the state’s budget woes…

Fellow Lowell Blogger and U. Mass Lowell official, Paul Marion posted this press release in the comment section. I think it deserves its own post.

UMass Lowell today made a major announcement regarding the future of the Doubletree Hotel in Lowell. The University released a report describing plans to transform the hotel into the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center. Following is an excerpt from the report with a link to the complete document:

The UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center: A Report to the University and Community
April 2009 - UMass Lowell and the City of Lowell Realize Full Potential for Partnership

(Executive Summary) The University will create the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center at the former Doubletree Hotel in downtown Lowell.

The Inn & Conference Center (ICC) will transform this key facility in the heart of the downtown into the social, cultural, and intellectual hub that was imagined in 1986 when the hotel opened. Combining educational excellence, successful partnership-building experience, and a wide variety of goals shared with its partners, UMass Lowell will make the ICC a home base for activities that will enhance and showcase the resources and attributes of the City of Lowell, its educational institutions, and its business and cultural communities.

Dynamic, forward-looking and eminently achievable, this plan strengthens the bond of City and University as, together, the partners strengthen Lowell as an economically thriving and socially vibrant urban community.

Click here for the full report:

We will provide additional posts on this issue as soon as we finish reading the full report and digest the information. M.
UPDATE: (4.24.09 7:53 p.m.) I have finished reading the full report. The marketing plans for the hotel (Inn & Conference Center, ICC) are impressive. And the operative word here is “plans.” A lot of the activities it outlines are already being done but now they will be concentrated and focused with the ICC as the hub for these conferences, meetings, gatherings, etc… (more…)

From a press release of the Patrick administration:

GOVERNOR PATRICK AWARDS $3.56 MILLION TO BOOST LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Funding to Spur Infrastructure Improvements in Lawrence, Fitchburg, Hopkinton, and Lowell

AWRENCE – Thursday, April 23, 2009 – As part of his Massachusetts Recovery Plan to secure the state’s economic future, Governor Deval Patrick today awarded four Community Development Action Grants (CDAG) totaling $3.56 million to Lawrence, Fitchburg, Hopkinton, and Lowell. The communities will receive funding for public infrastructure projects that promise to generate significant economic activity in each community. Taken together, the grants will create more than 490 new local jobs and 160 affordable housing units.

Created as part of the Patrick Administration’s 2008 Housing Bond Bill, the CDAG program provides funding for publicly-owned or managed projects that improve the overall economic condition of a city or town. CDAG grants are designed to support workforce and affordable housing needs across a range of incomes, create or retain long-term employment opportunities, and leverage significant private investment.

Specifically, the funds in Lowell are to go to:

In Lowell, $1 million in CDAG funds will support the construction of approximately 800 LF of new sidewalks with historic lighting on the North Side of Jackson Street along the frontage of the new American Heritage Foundation project. The grant will also be used to build approximately 740 LF of landscaped canal side walkway, sidewalks, new on-street parking, and historic lighting and resurface approximately 200 LF of sidewalks along the south side of Jackson Street. Lowell stands to benefit from the CDAG award in the following ways: $17 million in private investment, 65 new affordable housing units, and 120 new construction jobs and three full-time positions in property management/maintenance.

Having watched the amazement on the faces of friends and family visiting Lowell when I take them through the parts which have already received this sort of attention, I can tell you it makes a world of difference. Lowell can’t move forward without restoring its historic waterways and cleaning up its public spaces. This invites private development, new homeowners, and ultimately, jobs. The more amenities we can offer, the better.

I am disregarding the advice I often give to others which is “do not pay attention to the paper’s editorial rants.” Yesterday’s editorial on “parking” was just too much for me to swallow. With three articles on the subject (link here, here and here) , you knew an editorial was coming.

And of course, whoever wrote this editorial completely dismissed the detailed articles written by City Hall reporter Jenn Myers; one on the plans for FY 2010 budget and the other on the City’s plan for layoffs. I guess those facts were going to get in the way.

I found it so ironic that the Sun was lecturing City Hall on finances. If they are so clever, and if they know so much about controlling expenses while providing a quality product, they should share that knowledge with their parent company.

This morning I heard CM Bernie Lynch during his regular appearance on WCAP and he reiterated that unlike the private sector, municipal governments have to provide a basic service: police, fire, public works, and schools. Yes, a lot of the City budget goes towards salaries and benefits but to blame the current administration for this situation is “buffoonery.”

Let’s try to deal with facts. The problem with the “parking” budget is the Early/Middlesex Street/Hamilton Canal garage.

Let’s go back to the Spring of 2006 when most of us did not even know who Bernie Lynch was and the City Council and the previous administration were discussing the “JAM Plan garage.” As some of us recall, when the bids finally came in the cost was $21M, $5 Million more than originally planned.

That is when our problems began. As I wrote back in May 2006, the vote was 6-3 in favor of increasing the cost of the garage. (Seven (7) of those CC members are still on the Council today. It was obvious then and it is obvious now, that the cost will be absorbed by the tax payers and the residents and visitors who utilize the garage.

By the way, you can catch a re-run of any of those City Council meetings on LTC’s streaming video page. I am going to watch it again, just so I can remember what was said then and compare it to what will be said when this subject comes up in front of the City Council.

As for the free parking space for City employees, I do think it is worth taking a look at it. Certainly the teachers and staff at LHS should get free parking. Most employers do not require their employees to pay for parking. Whey should someone who works at the DPW Yard or works for the Cemetery get free parking but the Library clerk pay for it? Where is the equity there? But the whole thing should be reviewed; there is no harm in that.

So fast forward to today. The Parking Garage Fund has a debt service of $2.5 Million and a budget deficit of about $750,000. How are you going to pay for that? Increase fees or increase our property taxes; there is no other choice. Yes, I guess we could cut back on ordinary expenses but then we would go back to the days of dirty, unsafe, poorly maintained, crumbling City garages. No one wants that.

So for the life of me, I do not understand why is the current administration being blamed for trying to balance the budget on the garage. And speaking of blame… The editorial states “Since City Manager Bernie Lynch arrived on the scene in August 2006, the city’s total budget appropriation has soared from $285,160,133 to $318,636,487 this fiscal year, or $33.5 million.”

How disingenuous? The FY 2007 budget was passed in June 2006. A full two months before CM Lynch arrived on the scene. You want to judge CM Lynch’s performance you need to view the FY 2009 Budget; FY 2008 was an adjustment on incorrect revenue assumptions as well as underfunded expenses. If I am not mistaken in FY 08 we were faced with a budget shortfall of about $6.5 Million based on erroneous FY 07 figures. According to my calculations, the budget increase during the three previous years preceding CM Lynch increased by $32.2 Million. Why isn’t that fact presented?

And as far as taxes are concerned, the paper writes “During the same period, the property-tax levy has soared from $77,280,078 to $95,420,809, or $18,200,731. That’s a whopping 23.5 percent tax increase in three fiscal years.” Doesn’t the levy have something to do with the evaluation and new builds? Does anyone really believe that the Lynch administration is fiscally irresponsible

Both FY 2008 and FY 2009 Budgets are on line. There is also a pdf file on FY 2007.

It is easy to say cut “payroll and programs.” But which programs? The Parks? Marketing? The Auditorium? Cops and Firemen? I am sure that there are still some areas where the City could operate more efficiently. Automation is one option. But you would think the management at the Sun would know what may happen when you cut back on “payroll and programs” your product suffers. Is this what we want for our City?

Dick broke the news layoffs-at-the-lowell-sun/ on Friday that the Lowell Sun had yet another layoff. “The Lowell Sun laid off a number of employees today – I heard the names of at least six news-gatherers – and another moved to the Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise.” News gatherers, that sounds ominous.

I have not been able to find an article on line announcing this work force reduction. I think it would appropriate to inform the readers of what is going. Last Month when the Herald lay-off 24 employees, the workforce reduction was announced on its Business pages.

The Sun’s parent company, Media News Group is in financial trouble as are many other media companies including Gates House Media (they own over 100 New England daily and weeklies) and of course, the New York Times Co. However, not much is written about the Media News Group’s problems. Here are some of the facts:

April 3, 2009 “MediaNews Group Inc., owner of the Denver Post, has reached a deal with its lenders and bondholders to delay payments on its considerable debt while it reorganizes its finances, according to news reports. As part of deal, the Denver-based nationwide newspaper chain skipped paying the principal on a debt payment to lenders that was due March 31, instead paying only the interest.”

March 20, 2009: “…Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services just withdrew all its ratings on MediaNews ‘per the company’s request,’ according to an S&P announcement. Another ratings agency, Moody’s Investors Services, estimated last December that MediaNews, with annual revenues of about $1.2 billion, is carrying $962 million in debt. At the time, privately held MediaNews vigorously disputed Moody’s estimate that its so-called leverage ratio was more than 8 times debt to EBITDA.”

March 18, 2009: “Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service has lowered its issue-level rating for MediaNews Group Inc.’s secured credit facilities to CCC from CCC+.”

December 12, 2008: “Moody’s Investors Services on Thursday said that William Dean Singleton’s MediaNews Group faces increased risk of defaulting on its loans, as it downgraded almost $1 billion of the debt…Moody’s said it is concerned that the ‘downturn of the company advertising sales will be significantly more protracted than previously anticipated, further straining the company’s liquidity profile and heightening the probability of a covenant default’.”

June 6, 2008 “The Standard & Poor’s credit-rating service has lowered its assessment of Denver-based MediaNews Group Inc. by two levels, from B-minus to CCC, saying it expects the nationwide newspaper chain to “pursue a restructuring of some kind. CCC is four levels above default as S&P defines it, and well into the ‘junk bond’ range.
MediaNews’ bonds lately have been trading at less than 50 cents on the dollar. ”

Back to the Sun staff, as far as I can tell my favorite reporters are still there; yeah!! And speaking of reporters, did you notice that a few weeks back Christopher Scott went from City Editor to City Editor/reporter and today he is back to City Editor. What is that about?

The Lowell Blog roll keeps on growing. Another blog has joined the ranks. Lowell Shallot made its debut last week. The anonymous author describes his blog as “a satirist view of Lowell” and adds “It’s unreal how this city operates with all of the infighting, politics, and factions at war with each other for power and control. Moreover, it’s funny.”

Although I agree with the view of how politics operates in Lowell and I would not always label it as funny; it is actually sad and frustrating. But I do have a sense of humor and the posts on Lowell Shallot do bring a smile to my face. I like the graphics but what’s with the van dyke mustaches?

During the bloggers’ on WCAP this past Monday morning, we touched upon was Dick’s (richardhowe.com) analysis of voter registration patterns in Lowell.

During that discussion, we asked why with 51,000 registered voters in the City of Lowell, do we get such a small turnout for municipal elections; in my opinion, the most important one. This is when a vote really counts.

Lowell is not unique. Look at the low turnout in our neighboring towns. Ted Panos mentioned Tewskbury; their elections were held on Saturday. A lot was at stake, yet the turnout was dismal. According to the Sun, the hard-fought election drew 3,649 of the town’s 20,053 registered voters, 18 percent.

In 2006, 21,00 Lowell voters turned out for the gubernatorial election. In 2008, 31,500 Lowell voters turned out for the presidential election. And what happened in between, in the 2007’s municipal election, well about 12,000 Lowell voters came out. Why?

In a recent post, commentators Victoria and ER had a lengthy discussion on charter changes, district representation and cumulative voting. Those are a few ways to get more people involved.

Dick has provided additional information in another post and he promises to continue with additional analysis. Maybe some activists armed with this information will formulate a plan and motivate the electorate.

Otherwise, it will continue to have government of the few for the many.