Left In Lowell

Anchorman Walter Cronkite has died. He was the voice of news for decades, and spent his influence well.

Rest in peace, sir.

The Lowell City Council will hold a special meeting this coming Tuesday, July 21st to discuss CC A. Kazanjian’s motion on the number of candidates that will “necessitate a Primary.”

Back in March 24th, Kazanjian had made a motion to “Initiate action for Charter Change as it relates to number of candidates required for Primary Elections. ” Our current Charter requires a preliminary election if they are more than 18 candidates for City Council.

Two years ago, when the City Council asked the State Delegation to help pass a home rule petition. At that time, the delegation made it clear that they will not be inclined to do this again and that the City should change its Charter if it wishes to change the number of candidates required to hold a primary.

So all this begs the question, why wait until March 2009 to begin discussion on Charter changes.

In yesterday’s Sun, Matt Murphy reported that The Move to Waive Primary was Gaining Momentum among the State Delegation. Matt wrote “Steve Panagiotakos, D-Lowell, and Rep. Thomas Golden, D-Lowell, told city councilors yesterday they would push the waiver on the condition that the city start the process of changing the city’s charter. ‘I think we can make the case to leadership, given the budget crisis we’re in, as long as they make a commitment to start the charter-change process,’ Panagiotakos said. ‘Obviously, there’s a problem, and a decision should be made one way or another’.”

I guess all this depends on how you define COMMITMENT and START.

UPDATE: I just read on twitter that Rep. Golden was scheduled to be on WCAP to discuss this issue. I am not in town, so I did not have an opportunity to listen to him. I would appreciate it if someone could let us know what was said.

Lots of fun summer things happening, besides campaigning and politics. Everyone can agree, the Lowell Folk Fest is the highlight of the summer in showcasing this city in the best, most interesting light!

If you plan to attend the Fest, remember, it’s the biggest free folk festival in North America. This means it lives and dies by its volunteer corps! So maybe give a little time if you can.

On the flip is more information for some volunteering opportunities.
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