Left In Lowell

The Franky Descoteaux campaign now has a comprehensive bio from the candidate on their website. The campaign posted about this in comments here.

Despite the fact that the drive-by commenters who complained were, without a doubt, smear merchants of some sort, the campaign responded in what I think is a pretty mature and thoughtful fashion. And added another dimension on their website to help voters make their decision in the fall.

The agenda of tonight’s City Council meeting features two motions on quality of life issues:

“Manager have the Solicitor investigate possibility of instituting local ordinance banning use/possession of marijuana on public property.”

“Manager have the Police Chief Address escalating prostitution problem on Middlesex/Jackson/Appleton Streets.”

The marijuana motion is in response to the new State law decriminalizing possession of a small amount of the drug. This is a good motion; it should be illegal in the City of Lowell to smoke marijuana in public places, outdoors and indoors.

As for the second, the “prostitution problem” is a long time issue that has impacted certain neighborhoods. This is not a victimless crime; the women who are in this profession often have limited opportunities or believe they have no other options. It is one thing to move them out of the JAM area but sending them to the Lower Highlands or Lower Centraville is not the answer. The City’s many social service agencies need to figure out how to help these people.