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Lowell Politics Newsletter: March 17, 2024

March 17, 2024

Much of Tuesday’s Lowell City Council meeting was devoted to discussing the implementation of the new citywide 25 mph speed limit. Councilors seemed confused about it which is understandable: The new speed limit is citywide, yet it doesn’t apply to every street in the city.

According to the report, the sign department this week began replacing existing 30 mph speed limit signs with new ones that say 25 mph. Also, there is a state requirement that on all roads entering the city, a special “citywide speed limit of 25 mph unless otherwise posted” sign is required. The city is erecting these now.

I believe the new speed limit is already in effect, however, for the foreseeable future, the police will emphasize public education over strict enforcement of the law. For example, even when someone is stopped for driving in excess of the speed limit, instead of a ticket, they will be given educational materials.

There are 17 roads on which road-specific speed limit rules have previously been established. These will remain as is and won’t be subject to the new lower limit. A map on the city website identifies these streets. North of the river, the affected roads are Bridge Street, Lakeview Ave, and the VFW Highway/Pawtucket Boulevard. In Belvidere, they are Andover Street, Nesmith Street, and Rogers Street. In South Lowell, Gorham Street. In the Highlands, Chelmsford Street, Stevens Street, Westford Street, and part of Princeton Boulevard.

The purpose of this change is to make our roads safer. Given the built-up, heavily populated nature of much of Lowell, slower-moving vehicles should translate into safer conditions for drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists.

I do expect it will be difficult to achieve widespread compliance with the new speed limit. People are creatures of habit and for decades the habit has been to drive at a certain speed, and it will be tough to get people to change. Still, if the new limit means more people are driving closer to 30 mph than are driving at 35 mph, that will be a good outcome. And no matter what the posted speed limit, the supreme law of the road is “a speed safe under the circumstances” which in Lowell, often should be slower than what is posted.

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Also on Tuesday’s agenda was an informational report on the use of ARPA funds to pay for certain improvements to affordable housing units owned by Lowell Housing Authority and Community Teamwork. This part of the meeting began with a triumphant tone from the City Manager but ended with sour feedback from several Councilors.

In his opening remarks, City Manager Tom Golden framed this investment as continued evidence of the city’s efforts to assist the neediest among us. The pushback from Councilors took several forms. Some argued that the money could be better spent on city-owned facilities and projects rather than providing it to a separate governmental agency like Lowell Housing Authority which should have its own funding sources. The other objection was the more familiar, “We already do so much for the homeless in Lowell, but we don’t want to spend any money helping homeless who come from other places since those other places aren’t doing enough.”

The criticism wasn’t universal. Several Councilors adopted a “the money may be going to LHA but it’s residents of Lowell who live in LHA properties so it’s a legitimate expenditure of city funds.”

I anticipated a dramatic roll call vote to end the discussion, but that’s not what happened. Instead, Mayor Rourke simply said, “motion to place on file” and moved the meeting along. It turns out this item was just for informational purposes and needed no Council action.

While the case for spending the money on LHA and CTI projects seemed logical, the report was light on justification for such an extra-jurisdictional expenditure. For example, is the city even allowed to divert money provided to the city by the Federal government for expenditures by other agencies like this? Presumably it is but it would have been nice to affirmatively hear that explanation. Similarly, there is an ever-lengthening list of things that need to be done to city-owned properties that perhaps could be funded with ARPA money. In the big picture, why is this project more important than those other things? Hearing the thinking behind that decision may have pre-empted some of the questions.

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The “we shouldn’t be paying to care for homeless people from other communities” mantra gets at a bigger question on the power relationship among individual cities and towns and between those municipalities and the state. Last week I wrote about this conflict in the context of the state’s MBTA Communities Zoning Law and the fight between the Commonwealth and the town of Milton over its implementation.

CommonWealth Beacon, a nonprofit, non-partisan, online news site on Massachusetts politics, provided an update on that dispute. “A divided Milton heads into court” reports that with filing deadlines rapidly approaching in the suit filed against the town in the Supreme Judicial Court by the state Attorney General, the town has not yet even hired legal counsel to represent it in this case, mainly because the Select Board of the town is itself bitterly divided over the issue. Attorney General Andrea Campbell, on the other hand, is marching ahead, objecting to continuances requested by the town, and urging the SJC to keep to a tight schedule in deciding this important issue of government authority.

According to the CommonWealth story, here is what Campbell wrote in her opposition to further delay:

“The public interest strongly favors prompt resolution of the issues presented by this case, in view of the 129 cities and towns that are obligated to enact compliant zoning by December 31, 2024,” Campbell’s office said in a brief filed with the SJC last week. “Those cities and towns need this court’s guidance on the important issues that this case presents, and they need that guidance as soon as possible so that they have time to take the necessary steps to meet their own end-of-year deadlines.”

The importance of this issue transcends the MBTA Communities Act. It goes to the heart of “local control” of things like housing and education. Consider where the housing crisis might stand if zoning decisions were made statewide rather than by local planning boards. Or how the state’s achievements in K-12 education might improve if school assignments were made without regard to town boundaries.

Cities and towns are creations of the state, not the reverse, so my guess is that the SJC will side with the Attorney General in this case. If that is what happens, it will be interesting to see how much further the legislature will go in trying to dilute local control in this and other areas.

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day.

Happy Evacuation Day.

Happy Blog Birthday

This blog celebrates its 17th birthday this week. It was born on March 11, 2007. I purchased the URL “richardhowe.com” a year or two earlier in preparation for my 2006 reelection campaign for register of deeds. Once that campaign was over, I added Lowell City Council election returns to the site which was static in that the content remained the same day after day. But by 2007, blogs were surging in local politics, led by leftinlowell.com. So when Marty Meehan announced that he was leaving Congress to become Chancellor of UMass Lowell, I decided to activate a blog on my existing richardhowe.com website to cover the special Congressional election that would fill the vacant seat. Seventeen years later, it’s still going strong.

I’ve copied below a selection of posts or partial blog posts from that first week.

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Welcome to the new richardhowe.com
March 11, 2007

Welcome to the new look of richardhowe.com. In one way, this site hasn’t changed: it’s always been about politics in Lowell and that will continue to be the case here. But this latest iteration will balance the historical with the contemporary. City council election results from 1965 through 2005 are still available by clicking on the appropriate “page” link in the right-hand column and in the coming weeks I hope to add much more about the fascinating story of politics in Lowell. But with a special election for the Fifth Congressional District and another city election both looming, it’s the perfect time to launch a new website/blog offering observations about local politics.

 

“The Column” – March 11, 2007
March 11, 2007

Like all political talk in Lowell these days, The Column was dominated by the expectation that Marty Meehan will become the next chancellor of UMass Lowell and the resulting speculation about who will succeed him in Congress. Everyone (me included) in Lowell, it seems, expects the position to be offered and accepted by Marty this Wednesday which will set off the race – make that the sprint – to succeed him. That contest will be especially interesting because, unlike the traditional congressional campaign that is often decided by who raises and spends the most money, the nature of a special election creates an entirely different dynamic. For the candidates, this race will be all about identifying their voters and getting them to the polls. But based on the timing suggested by the Sun (a primary in August and the general election five or six weeks later), Representative in Congress might not be the only office on the ballot. With the Lowell city election already scheduled for early November with a primary in October, wouldn’t it make sense to hold the special Congressional election at the same time? In terms of minimizing the cost to the taxpayers of Lowell it certainly would. Lowell might have to move up the date of its primary in this scenario, but the city primary used to be in September up until 15 or 20 years ago so moving it back should be easy. This would become a bit dicey for the governor (who sets the date of the special election) and Congressman Meehan (whose resignation will start the clock running) since combining the special and city elections would certainly benefit the candidates from Lowell. And what of the city election? Here it is, mid-March, and the city election didn’t warrant a single word in the column. It will certainly get plenty of mention here, but you’ll have to wait until another day.

D-Day for the Fifth
March 13, 2007

Frank Phillips reports in today’s Globe that UMass President Jack Wilson will announce his choice for UMass Lowell Chancellor later today and  all signs indicate that Marty Meehan will be that choice. The announcement will be made today and not tomorrow as originally scheduled to allow the new Chancellor to appear at a dinner of the UMass trustees tonight. (By way of background, Phillips is a former Lowell Sun reporter who, along with Kendall Wallace, made The Column the “must-read” section of the Sunday Sun).

Even though the still unofficial race to succeed Marty has dominated political discussion in Lowell, most of us have severely underestimated the attention this race will draw from outside the district. For example, a post on Blue Mass Group yesterday ignited a vigorous debate about the relative strengths of the candidates and Adam Reilly criticized the Fifth District’s state senators for not stepping up and joining this race.

In other news, State Senator Steve Baddour (D, Methuen) announced yesterday that he would not run for Congress this time. This was reported on the Sun’s website yesterday and in today’s print edition (not yet online). Today’s Sun also reports that a new candidate has emerged: Stephen Kerrigan of Lancaster, a 35-year-old former top advisor to both Ted Kennedy and Tom Reilly, has formed an exploratory committee. Jim Miceli (D, Wilmington), another candidate, will appear with Jim Campanini on NewsTalk Live tonight (call (978) 364-8255 at 7 p.m. to listen in). I’m sure there’s much more, but that’s it for now.

Tick … Tick … Tick …

Tick … Tick … Tick …

By David Daniel

I am haunted by clocks.

Last weekend brought the semiannual conspiracy of mass self-deception wherein we pretend to alter the space/time continuum. Sure, I know. It’s good to have a little more daylight at the end (or the beginning) of the day. And what does it cost, really? A small disruption in sleep, maybe a late appointment or two, and a meager expenditure of effort as we reset clocks. Because I rarely look at clocks, however—one of the perks of retirement—this would not be a big deal, but there are those in my household, nameless here, who attend to time assiduously, and for whom an inaccurate clock is anathema. So in the interests of peace, local if not world, I set about synchronizing our house with the others in this small corner of the galaxy.

Fortunately, technologies have alleviated some of the burden. As I walk through the house, phone in hand as guide, I recognize that the television and several computers have quietly taken care of this themselves. Their small glowing eyes wink at me, as if to say, “No worries, bro, gotcha covered.” But there are other clocks that do need my assistance. There’s the stove, the microwave, the Cuisinart coffeemaker, and the Bose Wave radio (I know; so yesterday), each with its own digital display and method for adjustment. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

The work comes with the wall and table clocks. There’s at least one in every room. These are battery-powered analog clocks in many styles. They require a step stool and, in one case, a stepladder. There is a  clock that wouldn’t look out of place hanging in South Station, and one resembling a stem-winder pocket watch the March Hare might have left behind in his haste. There’s a faux antique desk clock with Roman numerals. In the foyer stands a tall cabinet clock that my dear father, may he rest in peace, built by hand from a kit. It’s part of his legacy to us. Although the Westminster chimes were a bit much, I always found the steady tick-tock soothing, but I don’t bother setting it anymore. All those chains and counter weights and the frequent rewinding. . . . It’s right twice a day and that’s enough. On its brass face is a reminder: Tempus Fugit.

There’s one other clock that even thinking about makes me break out in flop sweat. The dashboard clock in my car.

The car isn’t new enough to have the time-set be automatic, so this requires human  intervention. When I bought the car, certified pre-owned, for some reason the owner’s manual in the glovebox was  for the same make and model but one year newer than my car. In the changeover year, although the vehicles are identical in almost every other way, the clocks are not. According to the manual, the process is painless: press this, tune that… voila! Yeah, if only. In truth, performing the two-step process described in the manual does nothing. And when you try it again, more nothing—beyond calling to mind that oft-given definition of insanity (Einstein?) as doing the same thing and expecting a different result.

There isn’t anything intuitive about setting my dashboard clock. It’s the antithesis of intuitive. So, because there’s an answer to every question there, I go to the internet. I enter the make, model, and year and watch a 13-minute YouTube video on how to reset my clock. It involves manipulating buttons on the panel, toggling this, poking that, twisting the other a specified number of turns. It’s a process so convoluted that it takes me repeated watchings and even then it feels like trial and error. And as for recalling it six months later, fuggedaboutit. So instead of wasting all that mental bandwidth twice a year, and since I’m usually alone in my car, I do nothing for as long as I can. I simply make the mental one-hour addition or subtraction. If the occasional passenger sometimes expresses dismay—“Omigod! The time! We’re gonna be late! – I calm them with gentle words.

But none of us is ever fully absolved of time. As the poet of old wrote… “. . . at my back I always hear/ Time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near…” Generally, at some point in the six months between time changes, having fallen far enough in own estimation of myself as a competent individual who can set an effin’  dashboard clock! I go back to YouTube and then through trial and error do finally reset the dashboard clock. After last fall I managed to avoid this until just a few weeks ago, so the clock showed the right time for about a month. Now it’s wrong again.

Like many, I have attempted to understand time. Once I picked up Stephen Hawkings’ book A Brief History of Time, and over the course of some weeks, I went at it, always hopeful I was on the brink of discovery. But finally—around page 300—I gave up. Those hours might as well have fallen among thieves. I haven’t checked to see if there’s a YouTube video.

Just last week my friend Stephen O’Connor, whom some of you will know from his clever writings on this forum, told me it was his birthday. It was a number, he said with a note of woe, ending with a nine. Stephen is a raconteur of great skill and Hibernian charm. He told me that once, at a wake, he expressed to his friend Jay Linnehan that he was dreading turning 70 because then he’d know the next whistle stop was 80. Linnehan, who has a background in accounting, and his own Hibernian wit, said, “No, Steve, the next whistle stop is 71.”

I had a birthday last month which, too, ended in a nine. Next year, the Good Lord willing, that particular clock will reset to zero. I try to avoid thinking about whistle stops. Still, as with the grand delusion of saving daylight, I know it’s a mind game. Remember the Twilight Zone episode titled “Time Enough at Last”? Where Burgess Meredith plays a milquetoast little guy with coke-bottle eyeglasses, a harried-by-life bookworm who wants only to be left in peace to read. And he finally gets his wish . . . for a short time.

Books: a fictional interlude in our non-fictional life by Marjorie Arons Barron

The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons Barron’s own blog.

Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein is a short, dense and intense meditation on what it means to be an outsider and a survivor. The first-person narrator speaks directly to the reader spinning the tale of how, as a child, her family had taught her to subdue her own wants and silence her own voice to be “good.” Throughout her life, she has been repressed, nowhere more so than with her own outwardly successful and entrepreneurial brother. When his marriage fails, he beckons her home to care for him and his manor house.  She meets his every domestic and physical need, cooking, cleaning, gardening, shopping and, when his health fails, bathing him, tending to all his more intimate needs for care. But there’s more.

As she meditates on her struggles relating to others and to the outside community, we share the discomfort that an outsider experiences. She is Jewish, a survivor of anti-Semitic persecution, and has resettled in a town in the northern part of some unnamed, English-speaking country. She speaks four languages, but not one of them English, further estranging her from the townspeople. The reader may wonder if she is also autistic. It’s unclear. She certainly lacks interpersonal skills or the ability to understand how others perceive her. Some of her behaviors, done with the best of intentions, are taken for a kind of witchcraft, provoking fear and hatred.

The whole telling of it echoes Edgar Allen Poe or Nathaniel Hawthorne’s tales of superstitious small towns in New England. The novel has the feel of a parable, minus the moral a parable is expected to yield. But the isolation of “the other” also recalls the dystopia of Kafka. This book will definitely prompt vigorous discussion in book clubs and is open to many interpretations, none of them uncomplicated.

The Bird Hotel by Joyce Maynard is a richly written, spellbinding narrative that continues to surprise to the very last sentence. Irene is a young woman, artistically talented, whose life has moved from childhood traumas to adult tragedies. After the calamitous deaths of her husband and son, she flees the United States to a small Central American village, where she builds a new life running a hotel bequeathed to her, finding tranquility and friendship amid beautiful gardens beside a large lake at the foot of a volcano.

The environment Maynard creates in such a vivid painterly style is clearly enhanced by her having lived for some 24 years by Lake Atitlan among the indigenous Mayan people of Guatemala. As did The Bird Hotel’s protagonist, Irene, Maynard purchased a guest house in Guatemala, cultivating its gardens, and expanding it while creating jobs for local workers struggling to support their families. The flora and fauna, the Mayan culture, even the fisherman, all populate this novel.

When life’s beautiful moments are upended by betrayals and calamities, Irene discovers inner strengths and learns resiliency. There are moments of magical realism that recall Gabriel García Márquez or some of Isabel Allende, but not so many as to spoil the book for me. Richly drawn characters and plot twists and turns all add to the reader’s enjoyment of this fine novel.

Count the Ways is an earlier book by Maynard. It is a family saga told by Eleanor, a woman whose life and personality are shaped by her difficult childhood. An only child of two parents, totally absorbed in one another, she was never wanted and shipped off to boarding school where she never fits in, not even with her roommate. When Eleanor’s parents both die in a car crash, the roommate’s parents take her in until graduation. She is aimless till she meets Cam, tall, handsome, easy-going, a maker of wooden bowls.

I won’t go further because the strength of this book is in Maynard’s storytelling.  Much of Eleanor’s adult life is focused on their children and giving them the love, family and home she never had. Alas, even the most committed, intensely focused mother cannot control their lives.  This book is about love, betrayals, tragedies, resilience, mysogny, rage and, ultimately forgiveness. Themes of finding oneself, professionally and personally, abound.

Some readers may remember Maynard for her ten-month December-May affair in 1972 with J.D. Salinger. He was 53 years old, and she, 18, just one of a series of Salinger relationships with young women whom he reportedly “groomed” to become his lovers. She wrote of him in her then-scandalous memoir At Home in the World, and many elements of her own family background show up in the character of Eleanor.

Count the Ways is more linear and traditional than The Bird Hotel. It lacks the touches of magical realism. The settings in New Hampshire and Boston are detailed, but they are less lushly painted than the small village in which Irene settled in Central America in The Bird Hotel, written X years later. Still, Count the Ways is a good read about a relatable woman and the twists and turns of her life, some good, some horrific, a life ultimately well lived, which the reader can share and from which the reader can learn.

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