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Lowell Politics: November 23, 2025

The Lowell City Council met on Tuesday, November 18, 2025. The agenda was relatively light considering there had been no meeting the previous week due to Veterans Day and the meeting before that had only lasted seven minutes because it coincided with the city election.

On Tuesday, the Council did pass an amendment to the city’s “Peace and Good Order” ordinance that bans “supervised drug consumption sites” in the city. The amendment, which is available online, operates by defining these sites as “Nuisance Health Establishments” which are illegal to operate. The stated rationale is that these sites rely on individuals bringing illegal controlled substances onto the premises and then departing regardless of their condition and the safety of the public. The ordinance empowers the Lowell Police Department, the Division of Development Services, and the Health and Human Services Department to enforce these rules. An establishment found in violation faces a fine of $300 per offense.

After a brief public hearing, the council passed the amendment (thereby enacting the ban) by a vote of 8 to 2 with YES votes from Corey Belanger, Sokhary Chau, John Descoteaux, Erik Gitschier, Rita Mercier, Corey Robinson, Paul Ratha Yem, and Mayor Dan Rourke. Voting NO were Wayne Jenness and Vesna Nuon. Council Kim Scott was absent.

Both Jenness and Nuon emphasized that they did not necessarily support supervised drug injection sites but that such sites are illegal in Massachusetts under current law, so prohibiting something that does not exist “puts the cart before the horse.” Both further explained that if the legislature ever does enact a law that permits such sites, the council could consider whether to ban them then, and in the process hear from experts in the field about the benefits and harms such sites would bring. Then, after being better educated on the matter, the council could make a rational decision on whether to allow such sites in Lowell.

Councilors who voted for the ban said that while supervised injection sites may not now be legal in Massachusetts, there are bills pending in the legislature that would allow them. Several councilors mentioned that two of the state representatives from Lowell support this legislation, with Councilor John Descoteaux saying, “we need to send a message to our left-progressive socialist state legislators that we oppose this.” Descoteaux, who sounded like he was auditioning for a job in the Trump Administration, added that he is a district councilor and as such is most interested in the opinions of the people in his district and that “90 percent of them oppose this.” As for learning from experts the pros and cons of these sites, Councilor Corey Belanger said, “I’m not interested in hearing from professionals; I’ve seen the damage that drugs cause.”

In the legislature, House Bill H.2196, An Act Relative to Preventing Overdose Deaths and Increasing Access to Treatment, is pending before the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery. The bill would authorize the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) to license and regulate “overdose prevention centers” although such sites would also require local approval by the city council. The bill would provide immunity from state civil and criminal liability for the staff, property owners, and individuals using the sites, provided they operate within the regulations (including immunity from prosecution for “maintaining a nuisance” property). In addition to supervised consumption, the centers would be required to provide access to sterile supplies, overdose reversal care (naloxone), and referrals to addiction treatment and social services.

According to the legislature’s website, Lowell State Representative Tara Hong is among the 37 co-sponsors of the bill. Although State Representative Vanna Howard is not currently listed as a co-sponsor of this bill, she did co-sponsor in the previous session an almost identical bill, S.1242, which died at the end of that legislative session. Presumably, she is the second state legislature, along with Rep. Hong, referred to by city councilors. I believe that Lowell’s third state representative, Rodney Elliott, opposes supervised injection sites.

As for the theory behind these sites, those who support them argue that these sites save lives by allowing staff to immediately intervene with oxygen or naloxone during an overdose. Also, by providing sterile equipment, the sites reduce the transmission of blood-borne diseases like HIV and Hepatitis C caused by needle sharing. The sites can also serve as an entry point for users to access addiction treatment, medical care, and social services they might otherwise avoid. Finally, supporters contend that these facilities actually improve public safety by reducing public drug use and the amount of hazardous litter (such as discarded needles) on streets and in parks.

Opponents of these sites argue that they normalize illegal drug use and attract drug dealers and increase crime, loitering, and social disorder in the surrounding neighborhoods. They also argue that whatever resources are available should be directed to treatment and detoxification rather than a facility that allows continued drug use.

At first glance, the concept of supervised injection sites seems misguided, but history is replete with examples of things that seemed wrong turning out to be right. Three hundred years ago in Boston, the minister Cotton Mather argued for widespread inoculation to prevent the spread of smallpox. Most people thought that purposely injecting a healthy person with the smallpox virus was insane, but that turned out to be an effective preventative measure that saved thousands of lives.

The bigger story from Tuesday night’s meeting is not that the council pre-emptively banned safe injection sites, but that a majority of councilors were unwilling to consult with experts before deciding a complex public health matter and instead relied on gut instincts.

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Another item that triggered considerable discussion by councilors was a request from City Manager Tom Golden that the council appropriate an additional $500,000 to the Fire Department’s overtime account. For fiscal year 2026 (which runs from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026), the city appropriated $2 million for Fire Department overtime, however, as of this month, which is just more than one-third through the fiscal year, the Department has already spent $1.4 million of that $2 million appropriation.

Memos from Fire Chief Phillip Charron and Manager Golden in support of this request stated that the faster than forecast expenditure of overtime was due to a combination of vacancies, sick time, and Family and Medical Leave requests. To help close the funding gap, the Chief proposed stricter scrutiny of sick time usage, transferring firefighters with administrative assignments to line duty and closing one fire company per shift. However, even with these measures, an additional $399,000 would be needed, hence the need for the supplemental appropriation.

Councilors objected to closing fire companies as a tool to cut overtime spending. The inclination was to send the vote back to the City Manager with instructions to craft a solution that did not involve closing companies (also known as “brown outs”), even if it meant more money for overtime. However, CFO Conor Baldwin explained that the timetable of city finances made it imperative that the council address this issue immediately. Councilors then asked if transferring $750,000 rather than the $500,000 initially requested would cover overtime through June 30, 2026, without closing any stations. When the City Manager and Fire Chief assured councilors that it would, the vote was amended to the higher amount and passed unanimously.

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The City Manager also presented a Loan Order to councilors that would borrow $40 million for the Lowell High School project in addition to the $382 million already borrowed. This additional money is to remediate the floor and foundation problems discovered in the 1922 building during the project.

An earlier increase of $40 million due to a Covid-related spike in material costs was covered by State Building Authority funding, however, according to Manager Golden, this new overage will fall entirely on the city which will result in a 1.6 percent tax increase in the coming fiscal year.

As they were obliged to do, councilors – with some grumbling – referred this to a public hearing at the December 2, 2025, council meeting.

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The recount in the District 3 city council race was held Friday at City Hall. The election night result stood with Belinda Juran defeating Dan Finn. The initial unofficial count on election night gave Juan a four-vote margin of victory with her receiving 1143 votes to 1139 for Finn. A small batch of ballots that had to be counted by hand the day after the election added six more votes to Juran’s lead. After the recount, Juran’s total stood at 1149 with Finn at 1138.

Another element of a recount is for the candidates to challenge the decision of the election commission on contested ballots. If the matter was to be further challenged in court, the judge’s review would be limited to those contested ballots. My understanding is that the number of ballots contested by Finn during the recount was fewer than Juran’s margin of victory, so even if a judge sided with Finn on all of those ballots, it would not yield enough votes to change the outcome so it’s likely that the result reached on Friday will be final.

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The Spinners are back! It has been previously reported that UMass Lowell and the Futures Collegiate Baseball League had agreed to bring a team from the Futures League to the University’s LeLacheur Park for next season. On Tuesday, the University introduced the owners of the new team which, we also learned, will use the Lowell Spinners name.

The original Spinners were born in Lowell in 1996 as the New York Penn League affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. The team played through the 2019 season, had the 2020 season cancelled due to Covid, and was then disbanded when Major League Baseball contracted the number of minor league teams it supported.

This is great news for the city and should help build momentum for the University’s LINC project.

From Alaska: Remembering Poet Tom Sexton

Poet Tom Sexton (photo by Kevin Harkins)

Thanks to Michael Burwell of Alaska for sending us two recent commentaries on the late Tom Sexton and his final book of poems, “Dark Cloud in Isabel Pass” (Loom Press, 2025). Michael’s review-essay appears in “Cirque” literary magazine of Alaska and Nancy Lord’s book review appeared in the “Anchorage Daily News.”

Tom was born and grew up in Lowell and lived most of his life in Alaska where he published numerous books of poetry and taught at the University of Alaska. He served a term as Poet Laureate of Alaska. He is on the Distinguished Alumni list at Lowell High School. He passed away earlier this year.

One link is here:

Michael Burwell’s tribute to Tom Sexton (flip-book format, go to page 131)

And below is Nancy Lord’s review of Tom’s final book on 9/13/25 in the “Anchorage Daily News”

Review: Tom Sexton’s last poetry collection is a treasure

Living Madly: Quiet Blessings

Photo by Alison Innes

Living Madly: Quiet Blessings

By Emilie-Noelle Provost

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. There’s always been something special about waking up on Thanksgiving morning: the low-slung angle of the sun as it lights up the bare trees, multicolored leaves scattered along the ground, the quiet street, the delicious smell of sage and onions sautéing on the stove.

I love eating anything I want to without feeling guilty about it, and I look forward to spending time with people I don’t see very often. I can drink wine in the daytime, and catch up with my sisters on the back porch, enjoying the cool air away from the heat of the kitchen.

For years, my mother, sisters, and I took turns hosting Thanksgiving dinner, dividing up the work to make celebrating the holiday with our extended family manageable. But I’ve cooked Thanksgiving dinner and hosted my entire family at my house every year since 2019, when my mother was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer.

At first, I enjoyed doing it. Hosting Thanksgiving for my family made me feel useful during a difficult time. This was especially true the first couple of years after my mother died, when my stepfather was grieving and alone, the holidays an especially difficult time for him. But as the years passed, Thanksgiving began to feel like a grind. I stopped looking forward to it and instead began to dread it.

Part of the reason for this is because of the large amount of work involved: days of shopping followed by more days of cooking; cleaning my entire house from top to bottom both before and after the event; endless heaps of dirty dishes, and, worst of all, the petty, toxic backbiting among my sisters, nieces, and nephews that began a couple of years ago when my stepfather brought his new girlfriend to Thanksgiving dinner.

Last month, my daughter, Madelaine, who just turned 27, came over to visit. She sat down on the couch, looked at me and said, “I don’t want you to do Thanksgiving this year.”

I began to protest, explaining that I had to do it because one of my sisters does Christmas and the other one now lives two hours away. It wouldn’t be fair to expect someone to host two holidays so close together or to expect people to drive so far.

Madelaine said, “I don’t care. It’s too much for you, and I know you hate it. I don’t want you to do it.”

For a moment, I was speechless. Out of everyone in my extended family, Madelaine is the only person who noticed this, or at least she’s the only one selfless and brave enough to say it out loud.

When I finally agreed, telling Madelaine she was right, I didn’t really want to do it, she smiled and said, “Good.”

She then proceeded to come up with a plan for her, my husband, and myself to celebrate a quiet Thanksgiving together, dividing up the shopping, cooking, and cleaning. There will be no bickering, no drama, just lots of delicious food, love, and each other.

Sometimes, the things we have to be thankful for sneak up behind us on stocking feet.

May you have a happy, safe Thanksgiving full of love, joy, and good things.

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Emilie-Noelle Provost (she/her) – Author of The River Is Everywhere, a National Indie Excellence Award, American Fiction Award, and American Legacy Award finalist, and The Blue Bottle, a middle-grade adventure with sea monsters. Visit her at emilienoelleprovost.com.

BOOK REVIEW: The Hikes into a Higher Consciousness: A Mental Map of Then to Now

Chath pierSath is the author of several books including the poetry collections “Echoes Lost to the Wind,” “On Earth Beneath Sky: Poems & Sketches,” and “This Body Mystery: Paintings and Poems.” His paintings have been exhibited in Europe, Asia, and North America. He holds a graduate degree in community social psychology from UMass Lowell. Chath lives and works on a family farm in the Nashoba Valley of Central Massachusetts. He is a past contributor to this blog.

 BOOK REVIEW: The Hikes into a Higher Consciousness: A Mental Map of Then to Now

By Chath pierSath

Paul Marion’s “City Hikes: Field Notes” is a profound journey into the memory of a place. The book explores a landscape of sweeping changes across American cities—a landscape where the present (“Now”) is inseparable from the past (“Then”). In its pages, one can revisit childhood villages and memories: the taste of an icy lime rickey drink, the excitement of baseball, hot dogs, and riding in a parent’s car, all set against a backdrop of window shopping among fellow pedestrians searching for deals and a good place to eat.

This nostalgia is central to Marion’s work. He guides us through Lowell, his beloved birthplace, which has endured centuries of transformation. Lowell is known for its constant revival, having overcome decades of physical and psychological depression. Its historic rocks, stones, and New England bricks stand as enduring monuments. When the light shines on the cobblestones, it clearly evokes childhood memories for Marion, and perhaps, thoughts of his predecessor author, Jack Kerouac—the constant traveler, philosopher, and dreamer, whose words are inscribed on stones in the downtown park dedicated to Jack.

A Walk Through Memory and Change

“City Hikes” is a form of meditation, almost twenty thoughtful strolls through the city’s industrial past and present. Those who have traversed its grounds will fall in love with its history—both the good and the bad. Like the changing seasons, the city evokes potent recollection. Though the streets and neighborhoods remain, the inhabitants are new, speaking different languages, practicing diverse cultures, and working to be absorbed into this new environment. Over time, these new generations claim their right to shape and reshape Lowell, their acquired memories defining what the city means to them. Shops, cafés, and restaurants now display signs in multiple languages and scripts, welcoming visitors to a flowering city. In this urban garden, more flowers mean greater shine and vibrancy—from the rainbow dust of its canals, dug by the sweat and tears of Irish laborers, to the old pubs serving lagers and ales.

As a Cambodian-born resident who lived in Lowell for seven years, I recall the map, the streets, and some of the neighborhoods Marion mentions during his walk. The book is a document, a poet’s search for purpose and meaning in the ordinary yet extraordinary presence of the Merrimack River, forever flowing and rising against the stone banks of its beautifully architected mills. As Marion points out, some mills are abandoned outside the national jurisdiction, much like the ancient ruins of Cambodia, left for tourists to wander in awe of the great Khmer empire.

I picture Marion walking, sometimes alone, sometimes with a friend, asking the same questions I’m asking: Why was this then? Why is this now? I walk with him page by page, following a map divided into distinct sections: The scrappy Acre, the better-off Centralville, the French Canadians descended from Little Canada beside the later Greeks, and now, the Cambodians, Africans, Indians, and Vietnamese. The sound is now a plurality of new languages and cultures, replacing the almost too well-known echoes of the past, when the noise of the looms drowned out the simple sound of young girls giggling down the hall about prom dresses and boys.

I mourn with Marion, yet I am more in awe than despair. I welcome the changes from then to now and embrace the seven years of literary memories I acquired learning at UMass Lowell. I remember the bank on Merrimack Street and nearby café where I felt free to love any man—black, white, red, or brown. Everyone there was my friend until 2 a.m., when we’d head to the train car diner for breakfast before the Saturday noon sleep.