Lowell Year in Review 2024

As each years comes to a close, I have composed my list of the top Lowell political events of the year. Here is my 2024 edition:

The local political year began with the new city council taking the oath of office with John Descoteaux being the only newcomer. Dan Rourke was elected mayor by a 9 to 2 vote with Councilors Erik Gitschier and Corey Robinson both voting for Rita Mercier.

The method of electing the city’s mayor came up later in the year. Most councilors seem to want that decision to be left directly to the voters. That effort has been stalled by the still-in-effect US District Court judgment in the past lawsuit against the city for violating the federal Voting Rights Act. Still, the effort remains alive; it’s just not moving quickly.

Another procedural issue that arose this year was the method for filling a vacancy on the city council. Since the adoption of the Plan E form of government in the 1940s, whenever a council vacancy occurred, the unsuccessful candidate in the last election with the most votes was offered the seat. When you had 18 candidates running for 9 seats, having the 10th place finisher join the council worked pretty well. But now with the hybrid system of three at-large and eight district councilors, the “losing candidate becomes the new councilor” approach did not seem as reliable, particularly because some district councilors ran unopposed in the last election. That became more than a theoretical issue this summer when incumbent John Leahy resigned from the council to accept a job with the Lowell Public Schools. Leahy had been unopposed in the last election. Because the timetable for the legislature passing a Home Rule petition the council had previously filed to allow for special elections to fill council vacancies was unclear, councilors opted for the existing method of filling a vacancy when there was no losing candidate available, which was by a majority vote by the other councilors. That’s what happened in July when Councilors Mercier, Scott, Yem, Chau, Descoteaux and Mayor Rourke chose former Councilor Corey Belanger to fill the seat vacated by Leahy. (Councilors Gitschier, Jenness, Nuon and Robinson all voted “present”).

Speaking of elections, one was held this fall. Although Kamala Harris won Lowell and Massachusetts, Donald Trump defeated her nationally and will become president in January 2025. Closer to home, in the September Democratic Primary, Tara Hong defeated incumbent State Representative Rady Mom; and in the Middlesex North Register of Deeds race, Karen Cassella defeated Sokhary Chau and Joe Ready. Cassella will replace incumbent register of deeds Richard Howe (i.e., me) who is retiring after 30 years in office.

Economic development was in the news locally, most notably in the spring when UMass Lowell launched its Lowell Innovation Network Corridor (LINC) initiative, a public/private effort to transform the former Little Canada neighborhood that stretches from the Tsongas Arena to Lelacheur Park into an innovation district with educational, commercial, research, housing, and recreational initiatives all working together. This year the city also committed the majority of its Community Preservation Act funding to several affordable housing projects. The city amended its zoning ordinance to comply with the state’s MBTA Communities Law which requires denser and more affordable housing in communities serviced by the MBTA (including commuter rail). Although this law was easily implemented in Lowell, it has been hugely controversial elsewhere with the state Attorney General suing at least one town to force compliance. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court heard arguments in that case in October but has yet to announce its decision. While the case is specifically about the MBTA Communities Law, it gets at the bigger question of how much control the state can exercise over local zoning decisions so the SJC’s holding, once announced, may be relevant for Lowell in other contexts, like, for example, with ADUs, which the city has previously rejected but which state law might soon require.

Another development, the Lupoli Company’s plans for the Hamilton Canal Innovation District, was in the news for its lack of development. To review, the Lupoli Company purchased several prime parcels in the HCID with the promise to build a high-rise mixed-use building; a smaller mixed use building; and a parking garage for the occupants of the two buildings. Timelines for the start of construction were included in the agreement. Lupoli constructed the parking garage, which opened in March, but failed to begin either of the two buildings. Councilors inquired and Lupoli responded by swapping the buildings he had originally planned for more austere structures, arguing that the high cost of construction made the original plan financially unreasonable (for him). While the original agreement gives the city the ability to opt out due to nonperformance, some portion of city government seems to have embraced a “something is better than nothing” attitude while others believe the city would be better off pulling the plug and starting over. Nothing public about this has been released for months although the council has met several times in executive session to discuss it. As 2024 comes to a close, the matter remains unresolved.

Then there was the sad news just before Thanksgiving that the cluster of retail establishments we know as Mill No. 5 will close in early 2025, and the space they occupy will eventually be transferred to the neighboring Lowell Community Charter Public School. Earlier this month, Enterprise Bank announced that it will be acquired by Rockland Trust. While all Enterprise branches are supposed to remain, losing Enterprise as a separate entity is a notable occurrence. Also notable this year was the retirement of the stellar executive directors of two big nonprofits: Yun-Ju Choi at Coalition for a Better Acre; and Karen Frederick at Community Teamwork.

Several impressive public buildings may have inched closer to demolition in 2024. One is the Smith Baker Center, originally constructed as a church but then used as a performance space and community center, the building has been vacant for at least a decade. Deferred maintenance in the form of a leaky roof has sentenced the structure to demolition by neglect. While some on the council seem anxious to raze the building and put something else in its place, others feel that not every possibility of reuse has been exhausted and so the building remains standing. Also at risk is the Middlesex Superior Courthouse on Gorham Street. That’s been vacant since March 2020 when all judicial functions in Lowell moved into the new Lowell Justice Center. Finding a reuse for this unique structure has been elusive with no magical solution on the horizon. The city did take over the former Lowell District Court on Hurd Street and I believe some type of development of that property is in the planning stages.

One suggested use of the Superior Courthouse was as a kind of one-stop facility for homeless individuals. The issue of homelessness has been a big and ongoing topic for the city council this year with little progress to show for it. After the US Supreme Court held in the Grants Pass decision that local ordinances that result in the arrest of individuals who camp overnight on public land does not violate the US Constitution, the Lowell City Council adopted a similar ordinance although the jury is still out on how effective it will be.

The city does seem to be ending 2024 on a positive note with Mayor Dan Rourke inviting the council to make Lowell a “model city” for a Toronto-based organization called the Urban Economy Forum which strives to implement the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations back in 2015. This effort opens the possibility of Lowell receiving favorable funding by international investors to create affordable housing and to otherwise address many of the challenges such as homelessness and addiction that plague modern cities. At a mid-December meeting, the Lowell City Council voted unanimously to authorize City Manager Tom Golden to negotiate a memorandum of understanding with Urban Economy Forum. Hopefully, something that emerges from that effort will show up in my list of Top Lowell Political Stories of 2025.

Thanks for reading and Happy New Year to everyone.