Left In Lowell

A friend of mine reminded me that although some City Councilors questioned City Manager Bernie Lynch on the potential budget shortfall, no one has presented a motion for tomorrow’s night meeting.

In case you are not following, the Lowell FY 2010 Budget has an estimated revenue of $450,000 that is to come from a local meals tax of 0.75%. The State Legislature increased the meal tax from 5% to 6.25% and also allowed for a local option.

As you can see from the video clip of last week’s meeting, it seems that some City Councilors will not support a local meal tax of an added $0.75 on every $100 spent. Jennifer Myers wrotein the Sun that, “According to the DOR, the city must approve the additional .75 percent local meals tax by Aug. 31 to implement it on Oct. 1.” I do not see anything on the agenda.

No one wants their taxes increased but I am not sure where the City is going to find that money. Is there a new revenue stream that we have not yet uncovered? So where are the cuts going to come from?

I know I do not speak for most Lowellian but I am willing to sacrifice that extra0.75% when I am eating a meal in one of Lowell’s restaurants.

At the end of this video clip, there is a short discussion on the Arena. As CM Lynch explained, the target for the transfer from the City to the University is the first of the new year. As for the City and revenue shortfall, it appears that the FY 2010 Budget has the Arena/Stadium deficit numbers cover the entire year. I guess just in case, the University does not get the funding it had planned to receive from the State.

BMG posts about the city of Boston’s new online tool that “allows you to report and track maintenance requests, see political boundaries and police districts, and all kinds of other useful information.”

We’ve talked often about measurement of government services in order to determine effectiveness and efficiency. Could this be one model of how to do so? Particularly on the tracking of maintenance requests and other interactions of residents and city government.

Stomv in comments has some very pertinent ways this needs to work to be effective. It’s a good spec list. If I were building a website system that could do this, those are the sorts of specs that need to be worked out definitively.

David at BMG points out the asshattery.

Now, on Kennedy’s suggestion, again, I’m not sure how I feel. Certainly I applaud his support for keeping the special 5-month-election timeframe for replacing a seat in the House or Senate, which is both a principled stand and also consistent with his being instrumental in the change of law in 2004. And the idiots (including the MA Republican leadership) are lying to you about Kennedy’s proposal and should be mocked and derided.

But the adding-the-interim-appointment debate really is about circumstances. Even if it were the right thing to do (not leave MA without representation while the election plays out), it’s more about the 60-seat majority - ie, tactics - than about representation, which has been lived without before (look at Minnesota). Would we want a 5-month interim so bad if a Republican governor were to be the appointer?

On the other hand, with all the very serious issues before the US Congress right now, particularly the economy and the environment, can we afford to be without representation? (Look at Minnesota.) Often, having two Senators and your full slate of Representatives can be the difference between millions or billions of dollars coming to your state in the form of stimulus, green grants, etc. Our state delegation (along with our very well prepared Governor, more about that another time) is gangbusters at doing this, and losing that power in Congress even for a short time might be undesirable.

I can see both sides, and as long as we are okay with the “shoe on the other foot” test (ie, if a Republican were to become governor, we won’t just take it away) then sure, look at the law. But it would be nice if the Republicans in MA were actually honest about what is being proposed in the first place. In fact, it’d be nice if they’d be honest about a lot of things…like what’s being proposed for healthcare reform…or the environment…global warming…

Aw hell, I know I’m asking too much sometimes.

The schedule is set for the Mass Poetry Fest 2009. I can’t even tell you how awesome last year’s was - and in its mere second year, this October boasts a much bigger, even better Festival. I block out the entire weekend for it - yes, I am a former poetry geek, it was my focus in college…but seriously, this rivals the Folk Festival’s music-related events in quality, and quantity, of poetry events. It’s first class.

Last year, after attending my first day, I was hit with the inspiration to write a poem for the first time since just after college, after attending workshops and readings and wandering around downtown Lowell on that bright, perfect autumn afternoon. For a long time, I’ve promised myself I would someday go back to writing poetry, but life, work, and my political activism has made that very difficult. For me, being immersed in others’ writings, and workshops, is the key to my own writing, and that’s something I can’t fit in daily right now. So at least I will get one weekend to bury myself in one of my most cherished loves - poetry. And who knows? Maybe I’ll write another one this year.

Go check out the new website and just-released schedule, and reserve your seat (tickets are free, but they need donations!).

Correction - I did write one poem since college…posted on this blog on July 28 2006 about the Folk Fest preparations. Not my best work and definitely not edited into a final form but there you have it.

Groan. Apparently MassHighway is going to work on the Plain St overpass of the Connector.

Now, like Mr. Lynch, I’m happy that bridges that are long overdue for work are slated for immediate projects, ones that will stimulate the construction industry and fix our infrastructure backlog, and that Lowell is getting its fair share of these projects.

But we just had a new traffic pattern created upon repaving that whole area. For a year with rough pavement, my car went bumpity bumpity once we hit Plain St, and now there’s an added light at that intersection, which just went into effect. (It’s a boon when waiting to turn onto Plain from the Connector, especially turning left, though frustrating when you could turn right on red but you can’t; it’s a curse when you are leaving Tanner St onto Plain and immediately have to try to maneuver your vehicle into the left lane so you are positioned to turn left onto the Connector after the overpass. Sigh.) And just wait til the new Target opens and traffic is increased…

All politics (and bridge working) is local I guess. I hope they don’t make it too difficult to travel around that area. It’s been kind of a pain waiting for everything to be done, and now that it is, the bridge gets construction. Meh.

The verdict is clear: no matter what, elected officials like Councilor Rita Mercier are more important than city council challengers, or the residents and voters of the city. The state legislature has passed the Home Rule bill so it now goes to the Governor. If you aren’t already elected, apparently your voice counts for nothing.

Yes, that sounds like hyperbole, but that is honestly what has happened here. There are few people outside the majority of the city council that want to eliminate our primary this year. There is far too much interest in this election, and voters want to vote.

Back in July, Governor Patrick told the Lowell Sun in a sit-down that “he hopes the petition never reaches his desk and that he would prefer to respect what a city’s charter provides.”

One can read that in two different ways. One is that Patrick might well decide to veto the measure. The other is that he is saying he hopes he doesn’t have to - but that he might sign it if it comes. In other words, it’s unclear. If you are for a preliminary election, you need to call or email the Governor’s office and tell them that you urge the Governor to veto it.

Move Lowell Forward has also published an op-ed open letter to the Governor which 11 candidates have signed on to as well. I was hoping to let it run in the Sun, but due to unforeseen email disaster that was delayed and time is short. So I am publishing it on our PAC website, and you can read it here.

Call the Governor. Our supposedly-elected-by-the-people state delegation think they have this all locked up. From the Sun article:

“We did what the local governing body asked of us and we supported it. I believe we will have an answer from the governor’s office by tomorrow and I expect the governor will sign off on this,” said Rep. David Nangle, D-Lowell.

He also decided to inflate the possible “savings” as well. $50,000 is the number Nangle kicks around. Too bad that’s probably not the real number ($40,000, approximately, is about what it costs to run a preliminary election). I guess democracy just costs too much for Rep. Nangle. I’m sure he’d love to forgo having to run every two years.

Another candidate has gotten their campaign on the web. Syed Hussian, resident of Pawtucketville and a councilor for the disabled and developmentally challenged, has put up his virtual shingle.

Syed worked with us back in the Greater Lowell for Peace and Justice days, so it’s good to see his name out there. His new website has some good introductory information, and I hope to see more soon.

The Lion of the Senate has written a letter to ask that the legislature allow Gov Patrick to fill his Senate seat when, eventually, we lose our senior Senator.

The bill he seeks isn’t a complete repeal of the special election process; rather, he is asking for a short-term, temporary appointment to fill the seat for the five months that such a special election takes place, and asks that the Governor extract a promise from the appointee that they will not seek the seat.

I give the Senator credit for wanting to adhere and retain the special election rules for vacancies - if it was fair for circumstances under Romney, it’s still fair now. I also see why the urgency for Massachusetts to keep two Senators in the meantime, particularly on health care reform. We need all the votes in the Senate we can get - particularly a vote similar to Kennedy’s. The lies and smear tactics in the health care from some quarters on the right have been nothing short of spectacularly disgusting. I know I haven’t written about health care reform like I would normally do (given that we’re so mired in an important local election season here) but I have been following it.

By the way, this is how you fight fire - or rather morons - with fire. Can’t we have a real honest debate without this sort of crazy stupid bullshit? (By the way, watch the full video here - she’s actually worse than you think.)

I wonder if the Senator’s influence will have any affect on the legislature.

As Cliff pointed out in an earlier comment, City Council challenger Frankie Descoteaux has issued her first You Tube campaign video. Here it is. I like it. I hope others join her and Challenger Patrick Murphy who has already done a couple of You Tube campaign messages:

The Mr. and I are off to enjoy a day in the sun. Mimi is in charge today, so play nice.

Don’t forget, Move Lowell Forward is holding their kickoff event this Friday, Aug 21, 6:30pm at Garcia Brogan’s, 135 Middlesex St (the new garage). You can RSVP online here.