Kennedy sets sights on the year ahead

LYNN – As she starts her sixth year as Lynn?s mayor, Judith Flanagan Kennedy said her love for the city?s residents and the chance to see positive changes unfold in Lynn keep her “waking up with a smile.”?I will do this as long as people have confidence I will lead the city in the right direction,” Kennedy said during a wide-ranging Item interview Wednesday.Elected as the city?s first female mayor in 2009, Kennedy won a resounding re-election in 2013. She is starting 2015 juggling city financial concerns centered on Lynn?s public schools; specifically, Kennedy is waiting for state education officials to give the dollar figure the city must meet to address its net school spending obligation.Under state education law, cities and towns must meet minimum local public school spending requirements set by the state in return for receiving state tax dollars.Local concerns over net school spending escalated last February with the state warning that Lynn could lose some of its state public school Chapter 70 money if it did not resolve an $8.5 million spending imbalance.The state Legislature provided some relief last year for Lynn by addressing city concerns about how retired teachers? health insurance is calculated relative to net spending, but Kennedy is seeking a waiver from the state this year to also help with the spending problem.?We have not gotten a decision on the waiver,” Kennedy said, adding she will keep a commitment to add at least $1 million to the school budget.Kennedy said fears last year about possible city budget cuts forcing municipal employee layoffs have lessened, in part because she anticipates estimates on city free cash – essentially a budget surplus – will be higher than initially calculated.Kennedy wants to put Community Liaison Team police officers back on the streets, but said calculating available money that could help restore the patrols will not occur until school spending concerns are resolved.Kennedy will not “meddle in the Water and Sewer Commission?s affairs” when it comes to weighing in on a plan to spend $106 million – maybe more – to separate storm water drainage from sewage in West Lynn.?If we can get the desired results that meet DEP (state Department of Environmental Protection) requirements, for less money, I?d side clearly with people who want to spend less money. If it?s something that?s going to alleviate flooding in West Lynn, it should be done no matter what,” she said.Kennedy said she shared the City Council members? disappointment with developer Mayo Group?s decision to move state housing clients assisted by local nonprofit Centerboard into a renovated building at 137 Broad St.?I brought (Mayo principal) John McGrail into my office to express that to him personally. But legally there is not anything the city could have done to prevent him from entering into that lease with Centerboard,” Kennedy said.She said McGrail called the lease “a business decision,” but Kennedy said Mayo?s decision to rent to Centerboard was a “step backwards when it came to sharing a vision with the city of a revived downtown.”Her own downtown vision includes – when possible – allowing businesses to set up shop without the city “micromanaging” development plans.Asked what she likes best about her job, Kennedy cited the “unpredictability” of it and the pleasure she takes at seeing “the changing landscape and changing attitudes in Lynn.”?I love to see the city revive itself,” the mayor said. “I love interacting with people. You realize how many people love the city and want to see it do well.”