Left In Lowell

When I heard Superintendent Chris Augusta Scott mention that as a cost savings measures she is considering moving the School Dept Admin offices from rental space downtown (Bon Marche Building) to City-owned property (Rogers School), I knew she was going to cause a stir. It’s great to have an outsider who does not know the layout of the political landscape. She is just following what logic dictates. Why should you pay to rent when you own an empty building?

But it is not that easy. First, Kendall puts the word out there that if the schools move out of downtown, gloom and doom will come to Lowell.

Moving the central School Department office is another of those simple solutions that is fraught with danger…The Bon Marché building, where the office is currently located, is perhaps the centerpiece of downtown Lowell. The building was totally renovated and turned into an attractive commercial office building by two of the city’s best citizens — George Behrakis and Nick Sarris — with the total support of a grateful government that saw the need to save this very visible property. The city leaders of that time committed to leasing some of the space to make the project viable.

Then, we read that previous City Manager, former School Committeeman, now real estate agent and often-quoted pundit, Bill Taupier, not only gloom and doom will come to downtown but maybe the end of the world too. If these 150 workers would move 1.5 miles down the road, Mr. Taupier believes that

‘That building [Bon Marche] is the center of the downtown business district,’ said Taupier, who represents Behrakis and Sarris [the owners of the Bon Marche Building]. ‘Anything bad that happens to that building would create a wave. I appreciate the superintendent and the city’s financial situation, but they need to look at the disastrous, long-term ramifications. Five years from now, this move will cost the city $2 million to $3 million in revenue.’

Is it the responsibility of the school system to worry about the economic state of downtown Lowell? I thought their primary responsibility is to educate the children of Lowell that attend public schools.

I do believe that moving the out of downtown Lowell will cause economic hardship to that area; to what extent, I do not know. And to be honest no one else does yet. Perhaps someone could come up with some real numbers as opposed to throwing figures ($2-3 million) out there.

I believe that sometimes government has to help out the few so that many can benefit. But we are fooling ourselves if we think this is the case here. That money that pays the rent comes out of our pockets; I would prefer keeping teachers, cops, firemen, street cleaners and others who provide the necessary services a city requires to function. We are asking all the unions to sacrifice a pay raise; we are asking taxpayers to once again pay more for these services. I am not in favor of the many paying so a few can benefit.

By the way, I commented on mrmillcity.com on the same issue. The boys believe that Giovanni Trends is the hub of downtown business; who am I to disagree. On their blog, I wrote that essentially Mr. Taupier is advocating Belvidere home owners to move out the houses they own, leave that empty and rent a condo or apartment in downtown Lowell, preferably from one of his real estate clients.

UPDATE: It appears that both Taupier and Kendall may have jumped the shark. Yesterday’s Sun editorial supported “vacating the Bon Marche.”

The Sun reports that there are 6, count them 6, School Committee persons who do not understand why they should pay rent when they own an empty building. By the way, according to the Chris Scott article in today’s (6.4.09) article if all parties agree the discussion on this issue does not have to be in executive session.

I’m back from a vacation out of the country (and Quebec/Montreal really is another country, one I recommend you go and see sometime, since it’s right in our backyards). A big huge thanks to Mimi for stepping in a lot while I was busy/away/taking a mental break/working for a living.

I know that often, things don’t really get in full swing for a CC/SC election season until after the summer winds down. More’s the pity, because that ensures incumbents get an even larger advantage, because they can rely on their name recognition to fundraise and for votes.

Two things of note are the rumors that CC Lenzi will not run (and who in their right mind thought he was really very interested in the job these last two years?) and that Joe Mendonca is. If you’re interested in following his campaign, I’d suggest friending him on Facebook. You can find his candidate page here. Good use of Facebook so far from Mendonca, as he’s posted his candidate page and his first fundraiser event there.