Mayor Samaras On Tuesday morning, City Councilors elected William Samaras to be the next Mayor of Lowell. Here is how the roll call vote went: Councilor Cirillo: “Bill Samaras” Councilor Conway: “John Leahy” Councilor Elliott: “John Leahy” Councilor Kennedy: “William Samaras” Councilor Leahy: “John Leahy” Councilor Mercier: “John Leahy” Councilor…
Lowell High School – Future Location Cawley or Downtown? Like weekly episodes of a dramatic television miniseries, that was the question that confronted the people of Lowell throughout 2017. The process was slow to start, but then one group of residents mobilized a vigorous campaign to build an entirely new…
MORE FROM THE PAGE’S RESTAURANT DRINKS MENU (From the mid-20th century) Page’s Restaurant at the Clock in the Square Lowell, Massachusetts Wine List Cocktail Bar Main Dining Room … Private Dining Room Second Floor Fountain Specials on Back Page . . . Scotch Whiskies White Horse .35 Black and White…
Ink drawing of Page’s Clock by Richard Marion, c. 1975 (Menu text from the 20th century, maybe early 1940s) Page’s Restaurant At the Clock in the Square, Lowell, Massachusetts Wine List, Cocktail Bar Main Dining Room … Private Dining Room (Second Floor) Fountain Specials on Back Page Whiskies Straight or…
Discussion of two proposed modifications to the city’s zoning code dominated last Tuesday’s Lowell City Council meeting. Both involved parking and both were rejected by councilors. The first would have eliminated the parking requirement for a microbusiness, meaning a business in a small space with few employees. This amendment was…
Dick Howe, Jr., encouraged me to mine my files for writing that can be posted on the blog as a way to look back on recent history. Over the years, Charles Nikitopoulos and I have exchanged hundreds of email messages about all kinds of things. Charlie is a retired professor…
This coming Tuesday will be the last city council meeting of the year and of the 2016-17 council term. The first item on the agenda, under Mayor’s Business, is “Recognition – Mayor’s Holiday Fest Committee.” That event – the First Annual Mayor’s Holiday Fest – took place on November 28,…
The following just arrived in my inbox from Councilor Samaras: Why I want to be Mayor: A Vision for Lowell As I’m sure most people are aware, I have decided to seek the office of Mayor of the City of Lowell. In the weeks following the election, I have had…
Selecting a Mayor One of my earliest memories of Lowell politics is from January 5, 1970. A new city council was being inaugurated and my dad, just reelected to his third term, was going to be mayor. Or so we thought. As our family walked into City Hall for the…
Founded as a town in 1826, Lowell’s first governing body was a board of selectmen. The rapid growth of the mills made a city form of government preferable, and so in 1836 the state legislature granted Lowell a city charter. The city charter brought a new form of government consisting…