Menu
In case you’re looking for my notes on last night’s Lowell City Council meeting, I was previously scheduled to lead a talk at UMass Lowell on the subject of Lowell history so I wasn’t able to watch the meeting in real time. I will catch a replay as soon as…
Read More »Last Tuesday, several Lowell City Councilors outed themselves as vindictive bullies in their handling of the appointment of Salmira Mitchell to the Library Board of Trustees. Here’s the context of what happened: City Manager Lynch presented four board appointments to the city council. The first, of Dr. Julia Hans to…
Read More »I watched the local broadcast of the Lowell City Council meeting last night. To my surprise, a woman who offered to serve as a Trustee of the Pollard Memorial Library and whose appointment by City Manager Lynch was before the Council for a vote of approval was denied an opportunity…
Read More »CC Rourke asks to have Executive Session (to discuss with the manger his staying beyond his stated resignation date) vote taken out of order and have it held early in the meeting. Mayor Elliott relinquishes the chair and says he will oppose going into executive session. Says “we’re kind of…
Read More »Special meeting on hiring process for hiring new City Manager and Auditor. First item: Review Auditor job description and salary range of $85,000 to $100,000. Councilor Martin questions whether salary should be posted/advertised or left until the end and depend on the successful candidate. They add “municipal law experience” to…
Read More »An excerpt from Cotton Was King in a chapter written by historian Mary H. Blewett, longtime professor at now-UMass Lowell: ” . . . The movement for the adoption of Plan E [city manager-council government] was headed by Harvard-educated Yankee lawyer Woodbury F. Howard. City government under Plan E would…
Read More »The Lowell City Council meeting of January 14, 2014. The following is not a verbatim transcript but my notes taken as the councilors speak. For brevity’s sake, I just use the last names of councilors. Elliott: Reads letter from Auditor Sheryl Wright informing council of her planned retirement on February…
Read More »The Lowell City Council meets at 5:30 pm in special session to discuss the process for selecting a new city manager and a new city auditor. The following is not a verbatim transcript but my notes taken as the councilors speak. For brevity’s sake, I just use the last names…
Read More »Last Wednesday night I was the guest of a UMass Lowell Community Psychology class. The students had all attended the prior evening’s Lowell City Council meeting. That was the meeting at which there was a lengthy discussion about the location of the city’s Nativity Scene and at which City Manager…
Read More »On the first Wednesday in January in each of the past five years I’ve ventured to the south campus of UMass Lowell to speak with students in a Community Psychology class. The course runs “intersession” (i.e., between the fall and spring semesters) and meets for many hours on many consecutive…
Read More »