Left In Lowell

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Do what these folks did:

I’ve heard a few “important” Lowellians opine that the desecration of the Pawtucket Falls Dam is a done deal. Really? Well, for sure, if Lowellians roll over.
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I missed this until I went through all my blogs at lunch today, but Greg had an April 2nd post about a Google contest where people “modeled their towns” in 3D. Beryl Reid’s render of Lowell is in the final six. So, go vote!

I have to admit, when it comes to these things, I am totally on board with the “Lowell Firsters.”

I know it’s old news now, but I wanted to front page my congratulations to city data analyst Michael Herbert and his leadership, which landed Lowell, alongside four other communities, a Community Innovation Challenge grant to take performance management to the next level. That is some amazing feat! I’m sure that there was a lot of competition for the grant, but data nerds rejoice!

With Lowell serving as the lead community, the five cities will use the money to help develop a “performance management’’ system that all Massachusetts municipalities can use.

Lowell enlisted the four other communities in the grant effort because all five have taken an interest in performance management, which refers to efforts to operate efficiently, according to Michael Herbert, Lowell’s data management analyst.

Lowell in the lead. It has a nice ring to it. It only happens when we have professional city management and staff. You can bet that we are going places. Learn from us, Commonwealth!

PS: The CM’s blog has more, here.

This is just turning into a bizarre set of examples of a total misreading of plain old English.

Does Scott Brown actually know how to read? Does he have any skills at all in reading comprehension? Did Tufts neglect this very important part of his education? I know I learned those skills in grammar school, but man, if he got into college without them, one would have hoped Tufts could have picked up the slack somehow. I have never seen an adult this epically bad at plain old reading comprehension.

Because now Brown is reading extra meaning into a letter Ted Kennedy sent a dying Pope about religious exemptions where he wrote

I believe in a conscience protection for Catholics in the health field and I’ll continue to advocate for it as my colleagues in the Senate and I work to develop an overall national health policy that guarantees health care for everyone

and claiming that Ted Kennedy would share his view of the Blunt amendment! Who in their right mind would think Kennedy would support this amendment?? Kennedy was specifying that a doctor or nurse should have an exemption from performing a medical procedure their religion disagrees with (a la abortion etc). NOT that employers should be able to discriminate against covering birth control for employees of their non-core institutions like hospitals.

This is beyond sad and insane. I can’t believe a sitting US Senator would be this dumb and exhibit such poor intellect. Never mind how bad it would be if Senator Brown knows exactly what the language in the letter (and in the Blunt amendment) mean but has decided to lie about it, an even worse situation. A wrong interpretation of an obvious plain English statement, or a lie to distort and exploit Ted Kennedy’s legacy - either way, it’s flabbergastingly terrible.

Many of of us simply accept the notion that Lowell is destined to be a city strapped by poverty, with a broad swath of social maladies plaguing it. That this condition just is.

Do we ever wonder, if those serving the less fortunate among us are truly motivated to minimize poverty? Or, are they inclined to sustain an “acceptable level,” so that they may enjoy a long and fulfilling career? Do the do gooders do as much good, as they could do?

Community Teamwork, Inc. is the mothership of such services.

SAVE COMMUNITY ACTION!
WE NEED YOUR HELP!

Programs that serve our Most Vulnerable Citizens are targeted for cuts by the Obama Administration. See our fact sheet to see how Community Action impacts the Greater Lowell area. Help save Community Action–the only nation-wide program providing a comprehensive approach to helping vulnerable families! Find out more at www.capworks.org

Mission CTI’s Mission is to assist low-income people to become self-sufficient, to alleviate the effects of poverty, and to assist low-income people to participate in the decisions that affect their lives.

Vision
CTI will be an advocate and catalyst for systemic change on issues that affect low-income people, including education, workforce training, housing, economic development, and civic engagement.

CTI is not a passive organization, by the way. They work hard at engaging the community around them, applying themselves at every level. My understanding is that CTI’s Executive Director Karen Fredericks Testerman encourages staff members to seek public office.

This holistic philosophy has recently taken an interesting turn.

Panagiotakos registered as a lobbyist in early January.

Besides CTI, he is also representing the Massachusetts Chiropractic Society and a California-based educational services firm he also does consulting work for.
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In addition to running his Lowell-based law firm, Panagiotakos has also worked as a strategic policy adviser for the firm Greenwood & Hall, a national educational firm that contracts with universities to assist with admissions, financial services, retention and other student services, after leaving the Senate. Greenwood & Hall is now one of Panagiotakos’s lobbying clients.

Panagiotakos said he is still working out what his clients’ legislative priorities will be. He said he is not advocating for any particular piece of legislation.

He said his work with CTI, a local nonprofit community action agency, will focus on issues such as housing, homelessness, mental health assistance and employment.

“Right now it’s in its infancy,” he said. “Strategizing. Getting it up and running.”

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After last night, after what is being reported as “an 82 percent increase in violence and disorder around downtown bars since the beginning of 2011,” you still hear malarkey from the License Commission like this:

Weicker said all complaints about downtown come from the same four residents.

*facepalm* And maybe the patrons and employees beaten all to shit, too, maybe? They can’t make the meetings, some of them are still in the hospital.

“The License Commission cannot be out on the street at 2 in the morning,” Akashian said, adding more police should be downtown if crime is increasing.

Maybe it OUGHT to spend some time examining the goddamned problem. Oh, I’m sorry, you think you are above staying awake a couple nights in a month to personally take a look at the problem. Of course, your sleep is so much more important than property, life, and health of our downtown residents, business owners, and customers.

Weicker said incidents appear to be concentrated in some sections of the downtown, including the Enterprise parking lot near where the beating took place. Weicker said Duncan may be trying to shift the blame to the commission.

Yes, it must be George Duncan’s fault…for having a BANK downTOWN. He’s to blame for trying to run a reputable establishment with windows that aren’t broken! Dear me!

Please. Someone get me an aspirin.

What is the Commission waiting for? For the next drunken bar brawl/riot to land at their meeting doorstep at 3pm in the afternoon?? All of you, all three of you, you should be too ashamed to be walking around this city.

PS - Kad also had a rant about the same article. I think it’s safe to say he’s as astounded by the words coming from the License Commission as I am…

James McSwain, employee at the Old Court, was one of those attacked in our fair city in recent months, last December the 15th. Local bands are putting together a show (Facebook event link) at the Old Court for him:

Please join us on Friday, February 17th for a special show at the Old Court to benefit James McSwain. James is an Old Court employee who was severely injured in a vicious attack on the night of December 15th after walking a friend home. James suffered multiple skull fractures and major brain trauma in the attack and is undergoing extensive rehabilitation at the New England Rehabilitation Center in Woburn.

We’re donating all proceeds from our show for a couple reasons - first, the Old Court has always been a great venue for us and we were inspired by their earlier benefit for James. Second, we were all horrified by the extreme violence of the attack and think it’s unacceptable that you can’t feel safe just walking home from work downtown.

We hope you’ll join us and donate what you can. And we’ll try and put on a good show for you.

The Abbadons
The Subprime Lenders
MED

Tickets at https://www.wepay.com/events/rock-for-james. This would be a good opportunity to check out Lowell’s rock scene for a good cause. The community needs to come together, and not just to solve the problem for the future, but to help victims of past violence.

In a previous post, I started a conversation about the news stories about downtown late-night incidents. The latest comment by a woman named Jane on this post ought to give the city and governmental bodies real pause:

I am so sad to read this blog and recent articles about downtown Lowell. My husband and I are getting ready to sell our home in the suburbs west of Boston. We fell in love with some of the lofts we have seen in Lowell, and have been trying to understand the city better, thinking we would enjoy living there. I just had not been able to piece together why downtown condos are not selling and don’t seem to be renting well, either, and at such relatively low prices. Now we are dropping the idea of even renting in downtown Lowell, given the nighttime activities. I don’t understand how it has come to this in a city that has come back in so many ways, has wonderful restaurants, theater, museums, galleries, etc. I hope all of you dedicated people will be able to work effectively with the city to turn this situation around.

Though I think perhaps there might be a mistake in assuming these incidents are the main reason downtown condos aren’t selling (condos, and housing in general, were in trouble long before this increased very-late-night activity, due to the housing bubble aftermath), I do think this comment is a wake-up call for the city to start paying attention to residents and address the issue quickly and firmly.

The fact that the License Commission seems to have taken on the attitude that they work for and with alcoholic establishments only, not abutting residents or other businesses affected by said establishments, is contributing to a fundamental problem for the city - both on a PR level, and on a physical safety and cleanliness level.

There are a lot of residents and other businesses in downtown. This is by design - the creation of downtown condos was the opening salvo in architecting the revival of the area. But revivals need constant maintenance. Self-examination about what sort of downtown we want to have, and by extension what sort of city we want to be, is so important to the process.

And we shouldn’t be making any plans to evict downtown’s residents. We’d be fools to do so, don’t you agree? A vital downtown depends on them. But that is where we are headed if we do not address the concerns of people like Jane, looking to relocate, but becoming uncomfortable about the direction of our fair city. Nor is it a good idea to dismiss the concerns of its existing residents when they say that the actions of this License Commission are not enough to stem the direction in which our downtown is heading. Not if we want to keep them.

We’re in the beginning stages of a bad cycle, and I commend the residents of downtown for not giving up on it, but instead for fighting, publicly when their complaints went unheeded by a dismissive regulatory board.

I still think many residents of downtown do not regret their choice. I know a lot of people downtown love their lifestyle there and are excited about the changes happening around them, for the most part. The tantalizing possibility of a trolley system, the creation of artist live-work studios in the beautiful new Appleton Mill building, the JAM plan. But having a vision of the future is not enough. We need to constantly evaluate and reevaluate the needs of the neighborhoods we already have.

What would you say to Jane? Those of you who live in downtown, what is your response? (And it should go without saying, keep it respectful.)

This one from a new transplant making his way in Lowell. Great photos and and interesting perspective on life in Lowell. Welcome, and I’ll add you to the sidebar.

(Hat tip to KRS.)

The Tanner St meeting last night was well attended with local residents, business owners, and interested Lowellians filling up the conference room and then some (there was a funny moment when Adam Baacke was talking about the elected officials in attendance, and he mentioned Mayor Murphy was there but out in the hallway because it was standing room only). Speaking of official attendance, besides our mayor, notables included Councilors Mendonca, Martin, and Lorry.

I’ll take this rather long post to after the flip: (more…)