Left In Lowell

I’ve known Dee Tension, going on 20 years. I always enjoy his perspective, especially when he delivers one of his ‘man on the street’ reports.

This entry comes from Dee’s Facebook page. Click in, if you have a FB account and read the words of a man who ‘keeps it real.’ - Jack

Ah Umass Lowell Graduation. The day when downtown is flooded by terrified parents who think campus is the only safe place in town. They’re lost but won’t ask for directions. They look at their maps and phones afraid someone is going to stab them so they can’t concentrate which causes people who’ve been married for 30 years to start yelling at each other.

“It’s says go left Walter”.

“No it doesn’t Claire. I think i know how to use GPS thank you”.

I ask “are you lost?” and moms clutch their purses and husbands put their arms around their wives. They park at the first garage they see and then reluctantly walk through downtown waiting for the promised land that is The Tsongas Arena Center Coliseum. They finally see it in the distance and literally say out loud “Oh thank God”.

Quit insulting my town you sheltered numbskulls. No one is going to mug you. Don’t you know we give the crackheads and gangs Saturday mornings off? Believe me I feel much more afraid when I accidentally wander into Westford and can’t find a drive through restaurant or when I go to Concord and my bottle of water is illegal or Wellesely where the cops ask me what my purpose is for being in Wellesly and I answer “where’s the nearest liquor store” which gets me “escorted” to the town line.

Lowell is a real place where real things go down. Things like museums and restaurants and a production of Glengarry Glenross. Oh by the way your crappy kid flipped me off and pissed on my front steps in last week’s pub crawl.

So take a deep breath, enjoy your stay, have a bite to eat at Cobblestones or La Boniche and enjoy your sons and daughters as they celebrate their very significant achievement. It’s sonny and warm and you will always remember how pretty Lowell was on this day.

Also don’t leave your purse, GPS or brief case in your car.

The “HEY! LOOK AT ME!!!!!” crowd is about to embark on a full blown grandstanding jamboree, I’m told. Gerry Nutter got wind of it and now it’s blowing my way, too. We are in for a motion from Councilor Elliott, in the near future, proposing that a charter change be put on the ballot. You can count on Councilor Ditto to second Elliott’s offering.

There is some history to this effort. From 1993:
(h/t Dick Howe, Jr.)

Question 2 - Do you support a change in the city charter to provide for an elected mayor as chief executive instead of an appointed city manager? Yes-10,0441. No-6,760.

That question was put on a city election ballot, as a non-binding resolution. But, it never went any further because after 5 Council incumbents were displaced, the appetite for upheaval diminished. (Funny how that works? Huh?)

Also, another question, that year, showed only a slight edge towards a desire to rid Lowell of Plan E.

Question 1 - Do you support keeping the present Plan E form of government? Yes-8,234. No-8,779.

Should anyone assert that Lowell, circa 1993, has any sort of ‘mandate,’ they should take a few data points into account. (more…)

The jokes write themselves. Did you know the city once had a zoo at Fort Hill? You can read about it on Jen Myer’s blog.

It’s filled with tidbits like this:

Two weeks later another 5-year-old Buck was rescued from the Western Canal by 17-year-old Raymond Donovan of Middlesex Street, treated by Dr. Harold N. Eames for “frozen ears,” treated to “a few shots of good whiskey” and taken to the zoo.

Tonight, as the Council contorts itself to defend the integrity of The Belvidere, please consider something. Who remembers this episode?
(bold mine)

LOWELL CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 25, 2012
CITY HALL, CITY COUNCIL CHAMBER
TIME 6:30 PM
-snip
GENERAL PUBLIC HEARINGS (Scheduled for 7PM)
.
.
9. Ordinance-Amend zoning (Westview Road)

I’m going to quickly paste in a bunch of info, so you can judge for yourself whether the City Council is plague by an integrity problem. Maybe, because of national politics, we have become immune to ‘flip-flopping?’
(more…)

I know in the larger picture this issue which I am about to discuss is not as important as some other problems but it is a quality of life issue. I look at it as a version of the broken window theory.

I am grateful for the Parks Department for posting this sign. I assume that it is not unique to this fence and can be found at all public parks not just at the one where I snapped this picture.
It is evident that Lowell’s dog population is slowly increasing. I do not have hard numbers to support my observation since many dog owners do not officially register their pet with the City but I consider myself a good observer of life in our city. How do I know that their dogs are not registered? I look at the collar.

I am not a dog owner but I have many, many friends who are so please do not attack me as an anti-dog person. I have nothing against dogs except that we have some irresponsible dog owners and we also have some inconsiderate dog owners.

Again, nothing against dogs, some of my best friends have dogs. As a matter of fact, the Lowell blogsphere is dominated by dog lovers. It is the irresponsible dog owners who have to be policed that I am addressing.

So it was with interest that I read, City Manager Bernie Lynch tweet that the City is looking for a non-dog owner to join the Animal Advisory Board. This is not the first time that the Manager has put out the call for volunteers for this position, apparently no one is answering it. I had seriously considered applying but honestly I think with this current CC, I may get the Samkhan Khoeun* treatment. Then my epitaph would read “Here lays a woman who could not even get elected to advise the dog catcher.”

Have you noticed the trend of owning two dogs? There are the mother and child combination (dogs of the same breed, one fully grown and the other a puppy; there are the twins ( I do not know if there are siblings but the two dogs are the same breed and about the same age; and then there is the random two dogs that you have rescued (i.e. Lynne) or purchased. I do see a lot of people walking two dogs. Last Saturday, I was walking behind a woman who had two different size dogs and as she was approaching a utility pole, the two animals decided that one would go left of the pole and the other one right of the pole. Needless to say, there was a traffic jam on the sidewalk.

Just today, I was driving north on Lawrence Street, I saw a woman at the small park located right after Moore Street. She had a very large dog and no bag in her hands. While the dog was doing his business, she was busy socializing on the phone. This park has a very large sign that reads “DOGS NOT ALLOWED.” It is a relatiely small park but there is a lot of kids that play there. Can anyone be more inconsiderate?

If they cannot properly take care of their dog, maybe they should get a cat or better yet a gold fish.

FERC had a brainfart.

The cub reporter quickly blurted out the bits his Editor want to float:

“We find that the proposed pneumatic crest gate system can be installed without unacceptably altering the dam or adversely affecting the park and historic districts,” FERC wrote in its ruling. “The crest gate system will also provide important benefits to recreation, fish passage, dam and worker safety, and project generation, and will help alleviate upstream backwater and flooding effects to the maximum extent possible.”

Of course, there are little gems stashed in the “Order Amending License.” (h/t Corey Sciuto)

Project Economics
47. The licensees’ proposal to install an inflatable crest gate system has an estimated capital cost of $5,980,000. This capital cost results in an average, annualized cost of $956,000. We estimate that the annual cost to operate the system would be minimal.

48. Operation of an inflatable crest gate system instead of flashboards could enable the project to generate more power, because the gates could be reinflated relatively soon after high flows. In contrast, the flashboards would be washed out for an estimated three months. The licensees estimate that project operation with the inflatable crest gates would result in an increase in annual generation of approximately 8,000 megwatt hours (MWh). Using a regional estimated alternative energy value of $38.74/MWh, as determined from the Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlook for 2012, this additional generation would be valued at $310,000 annually. Therefore, the net cost of the licensee’s proposed action, including total capital costs and generation benefits, would be approximately $646,000 annually.

49. Although our analysis shows that the cost of installing the crest gates would exceed the value of the increased generation, it is the applicant who must decide whether to accept this license amendment and any financial risk that entails.
(bold mine)

There is a lot to digest. Please give it a go, then chime in here.

PS. We are about to find out, if the Dept. of Interior folks are willing to take it to the next level. The Dept. of the Interior(Parks) has a brand new Secretary and Energy(FERC) is due to get a new Secretary. So, leadership may come from the locals until Obama’s Cabinet members can find their way around. This matter may be determined by which Department has better insulated its ‘Legal Eagles’ from sequestration. :v\

I’ve been a little too heartbroken to write about yesterday’s tragedy and its aftermath. But the stories are starting to trickle in. The 8 year old Martin Richard of Dorchester who lost his life and whose mother and sister were severely injured. The adorable Krystle Campbell, 29, of Arlington who was also killed. It was only a matter of time before it came home to Lowell, where the lives of a Lowell mother and her daughter, a senior at Lowell High, and their family are irrevocably changed.

…on Monday, shrapnel from one of the bombs that exploded during the Boston Marathon shredded both of Sydney’s legs, leaving her with deep arterial injuries, said her older brother, Tyler Corcoran, during an interview Tuesday morning in the kitchen of the family’s home in the city’s Pawtucketville neighborhood.

Sydney, with her mother, Celeste, and father Kevin, were in Boston to watch her aunt, Carmen Accabo, of Westford, finish the storied event. Celeste, too, was struck by shrapnel and overnight had both legs amputated below the knee, Tyler said.

Stuck in a place where I could only consume news and be saddened since yesterday, the only place I’ve been online besides news sites was facebook, where I was alternatively angered, disgusted, depressed, crying, and angry again. But if you are looking for a way to help and can donate, a fund has already been set up for Celeste and Sydney. Let’s be the community that makes sure this family does not have to suffer any more than they have to in their recovery.

And keep the victims and their families in your hearts in the coming days. Love to all.

Update: Wow, two fundraising goals are already blown through. Let’s be totally amazing, Lowell.

Update II: You can also donate to the fund for Jeff Bauman Jr. of Chelmsford.

Update III: A third victim from Dracut, Roseann Sdoia, also has a fundraising page.

After a FB tip from Gerry Nutter, I went over to check out the ‘protest.’ Yes, indeed. I spoke with the holder of this sign, who leveled charges of adultery at one of the monks. He felt the ‘leadership’ was corrupted and not in keeping with core principles of their faith. A more prominent Cambodian leader, who was part of the temple’s fundraising efforts, stated clearly, when ‘(he) asked for an audit, I was called a devil.’

The Cambodian community in notoriously fractured. I can’t bring myself to say, one way or another. The folks, today, are perfectly clear. The support for the Temple is there, but there are heavy concerns about who is running the show.

[Update: Dick Howe has his take as well.]

There is so much to write about tonight’s City Council meeting I hardly know where to begin, and honestly, after an almost 2.5 hour discussion on the floor, I need a break. I’ll have more to say (such great video fodder!! dear god Elliott!) later I am sure.

But nothing showcased “old” and “new” Lowell like this meeting. In podium speech after podium speech from the public, “new” Lowell came…townies and recent arrivals, women and men, older and younger…veterans, minorities, professionals, entrepreneurs, and artists…row after row of them.

There is your reality. It’s scary I know. But Lowell can’t survive without those people wrestling the reigns out of your aging, tired hands. No offense. But the “new Lowell” is only growing stronger. You could have gotten on that boat…still could, if you’d stop fighting it. Certainly, lots of “townies” like Dick Howe are also “new Lowell.” They welcome new blood into the mix, they want more voices to speak and better city government. They don’t want to cling to the old ways, just because they’ve been around a long time.

(more…)

Here is a detailed breakdown of the Governor’s proposal by MassBudget.org.