Left In Lowell

Leaders who do not Lead

15 Responses to “Leaders who do not Lead”

1. Bob Forrant Says:
   July 9th, 2009 at 6:04 pm

   I stated the following the other day and it got side-tracked into a foolish back-and-forth for a dozen posts. We have a city at a very, very serious crossroads right now. Lowell can go forward and overcome, in the next two or three years, the economic harm Wall Street and the big banks have done to the economy, or the city can think in its old style ways and glory in how politics here is a so-called blood spot. Politics ought to be offering a vision for how we can move forward and not th epolitics of evening scores and settling slights/insults real or otherwise. It is a joke that the city manager, whoever he or she is, can not have a go to person that they want. It is a joke that a city with a massive development project at the gateway to its downtown wants to reduce a budget debate to an attack on a single individual as a way to what, let the city know who the boss is? Stores are closing along Merrimack and Central Streets, (anyonenotice)the lists of condos that can not be sold grows longer and longer, the folks in front of the unemployment office get there earlier and earlier in the morning and the lines grow longer and longer. The city council ought to be holding an emergency summit on job creation and the vaunted legislative delegation ought to be offering leadership on how to make the thus far invisible stimulus money actually get here and put folks to work. The candidates for council that challenge the status quo, offer a clean break with the politics of the personal grudge, and put forward a vision for how to involve the entire city, not just a select few, in creating a vision for the way forward are the only ones worthy of any support between now and November.

   Here’s a repost of the earlier post and if you want to see what bankrupt leadership can do for a city look no further than Springfield, MA:

   Springfield,MA struggled for years to get elections changed from an all at-large city council to one with ward representation. It took a long time, a federal court case, a ballot questions and it finally passed. This November will be the first time folks will elect the council by neighborhood. Holyoke has a mix of ward councilors (7) and I believe 4 at-large. So, in a city of very distinct neighborhoods, the council there somewhat reflects the city’s mix of people - unlike Lowell. I helped managed campaigns in Holyoke and it was a lot easier to door knock and identify supporters and get them out to vote in the smaller area you needed to campaign in and it was a lot cheaper than having to produce so much literature and/or take out expensive ads in the newspaper to reach all of the voters.

   Lowell’s current council, esp. the gang of six, feel a sense of historic entitlement and remain protected by the citywide election system and the webs of political families that still hold so much power over events here. While the current controversy upsets and angers us and the points raised by Michael Gallagher and Eileen Donoghue are very good ones, I’m not so sure this moves lots of long-time voters to turn against the ‘gang of six’. There need to be a number of clearly defined issues that spell out differences over how the city is going to move forward in the face of the grinding economic downturn. The voices that can articulate a vision for a better city, for job creation, for ways in which we can benefit from the presence of Middlesex CC and UMass Lowell, for ways in which the Hamilton Canal Project will uplift the neighborhoods around it too, for how the university’s purchase of the D’tree Hotel will generate a good deal of business for establishments around it, these are the voices that will begin to attract new voters and long-time voters over time.

2. waittilnextyr Says:
   July 9th, 2009 at 9:27 pm

   I’d like to second what Bob has said very well. In difficult times it is even more important to do things right, as there is little room for error, so we must elect people who can make good strategic judgments and leave the managing to the City Manager.

3. kpem Says:
   July 9th, 2009 at 10:19 pm

   Hear, Hear

4. Eleanor Rigby Says:
   July 9th, 2009 at 10:57 pm

   Then as I have posted prior to Bob’s elequent post, district representation that gives all neighborhoods a voice in city politics needs to happen.

   I urge Victoria and others to rethink the “weighted vote” proposal that I believe will only empower a few councilors and solidify control within a couple of neighborhoods, and go for a neighborhood representative form of government.

   That would get more people involved at less cost and make certain that the neighborhood “interests” are spread throughout the city!

5. Paul@01852 Says:
   July 10th, 2009 at 6:03 am

   If the leaders won’t lead then we, the people, have to step up and either demand leadership or begin leading ourselves. I’m ready! Who will join me??

6. jdayne Says:
   July 10th, 2009 at 7:13 am

   Thank you, Bob. I have asked “who are the leaders in Lowell” since our move. The response is a list of committees or a dark ” good ol boys”. Occasionally someone mentions the founder of Enterprise Bank and the lovely landscaping he favors. I’ve Googled the zip to see who steps up with national political donations; a short list. I’ve tried Greater Lowell Area Democrats and, rather than being GLAD, been sad. I’ve tried to crack the Ward/City political code and learned our State Senator enjoys adulation. There is no small “d” activity in the City’s Ward system.

   So I continue to ask. Who influences whom? How is power accrued and leverage used? Who is intended to benefit? Where are the citizens? What is being a citizen in Lowell?

   I have listened to voices speak up and out with intelligence and consistency (thank you, Bob, thank you Michael, thank you Eileen, thank you Victoria, thank you Mimi, and others) but heard more from those invested in broadcast complain. Venting and ranting are personal indulgences. The hard work of shaping civic life — Mimi’s dogged reporting, Victoria’s commitment to “Choice Voting”, op ed writers willing to take a stand — these voices offer a foundation for change.

   For a city facing what Lowell is about to face in a grim and new economy, every citizen with an interest in his or her economic outcomes should want to step up. To speak out. To insist on capable elected City officials. To sign the petition for Choice Voting. (Read about it at http://www.fairvotelowell.org/.)

   Leaders matters. Supporters matter. They empower, educate and hold accountable good leaders. Parochial, uninformed individuals in positions of civic power undermine our collective and individual future. I used to tell my husband that the Dark Ages could, in fact, return because I do not believe progress is linear. I had not meant to be prescient so early in my life. But yes, things can go badly backwards and undue decades of progress.

   Gardner and I love living in Lowell, We love its scale, structure, history, range of demographics . . . and I have no interest in seeing the Dark Ages take hold here. November is an opportunity to course-correct in Lowell. The 3.5 months until November are an opportunity to engage in the process, to speak with friends and neighbors, to register the unregistered to vote, to write a check or two to favorite candidates, to hold up signs or seek signatures . . . because given the talents of much of the City’s elected leadership, right now our future truly is up to us.

7. jdayne Says:
   July 10th, 2009 at 8:17 am

   Quickly, before the ball-peen hammers come out, I know that individuals who like landscaping do much more than day lilies for the City. (And I love landscaping, too.) I also know that there are individuals and groups with power in the City. There are individuals and groups who may, in fact, have great control and influence and pretty much run things.

   Leadership, being a leader, is quite different from power or control. It is the willingness to lead, to engage, to debate and, when times are difficult, to make difficult decisions. It is the willingness to operate in the open and ask others to do the same. Leaders make better citizens. They do admonish us to “ask not . . . . Every effective, ethical and engaged organization has individuals one can readily name as a leader. So that no one can answer my question here in Lowell deeply troubles me.

8. Rick Hetheringtowne Says:
   July 10th, 2009 at 11:20 am

   If I can take off on jdayne’s comments and say that being a good leader sometimes means that you let others have “power and control” at appropriate times.

9. Bob Forrant Says:
   July 10th, 2009 at 12:35 pm

   In a column I wrote in the Lowell Sun a while back I asked for the city and the university to convene a set of conversations open to the public regarding the national state and local budgets, where the local economy was headings and brainstorm ways in which more folks could have their voices heard on these important matters. The silence was deafening, as they say - or someone says. We still need to do this. Where are the bailout billions. Why didn’t the money stave off the ruination of several important programs at Lowell High School for example? Where is the dough that was supposed to come here and deal with home foreclosures and put homeless families into decent housing? Where are the people sitting around a large table discussing future job creation in the region - this is afterall not simply a Lowell problem. So long as we let the politics of the personal dominate the discussion wecan look for a Springfleid-like situation here before we know it.

10. joe from Lowell Says:
    July 10th, 2009 at 2:17 pm

    Does everyone remember Rush Limbaugh saying that he hopes the new president fails?

    This vote makes it clear that a majority of the sitting City Council hopes Bernie Lynch fails, is working to make sure he fails, and considers the harm it would do to Lowell to have a failed City Manager to be an acceptable cost for getting a G.O.B. back into that office.

    Shameful.

11. joe from Lowell Says:
    July 10th, 2009 at 2:22 pm

    Leadership, being a leader, is quite different from power or control. It is the willingness to lead, to engage, to debate and, when times are difficult, to make difficult decisions. It is the willingness to operate in the open and ask others to do the same. Leaders make better citizens. They do admonish us to “ask not . . . . Every effective, ethical and engaged organization has individuals one can readily name as a leader.

    Conrad Gauthier - now THAT was a leader.

    And he loved him some landscaping.

12. jed bartlet Says:
    July 10th, 2009 at 2:48 pm

    Ann Marie Page from Centralville should run.

13. Jack Mitchell Says:
    July 10th, 2009 at 3:31 pm

    R.I.P. Conrad Gauthier.

    My wife started caring for the garden at Aiken/VFW a few years back. Conrad never missed a beat making sure all the little details were taking care of, so her energy was focused on that garden. Conrad set a fine example for us all to strive for.

    He should be honored in some meaningful way.

14. Mimi Says:
    July 10th, 2009 at 6:00 pm

    My friend (yes, I have friend who are tea baggers, and fellow blogger Cliff at Right-Side-of-Lowell answered my challenge and posted on this issue with the appropriate title Saving Plan E Government. Cliff calls on the AG to look into this and analyzes thoughtful commentary not only focuses on the political reasons why she will not.

15. Jack Mitchell Says:
    July 10th, 2009 at 10:34 pm

    Friends don’t let friends teabag.

    I have nothing against folks with different views, though they are not likely to sit at our table and break bread. Especially folks that worship Grover Norquist and his desire to drown government in a bathtub.

    My oldest is going to be a senior at LHS. She left the Lyceum after her Freshman year to join the Fine Arts Academy. Now many of her teachers are laid off.

    What does the city seal say? Don’t Tread On Me?

    But I digress, glad to have Cliff speak up. We all should want professional, efficient government. I prefer one that provides Art classes in its schools.

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