Phelan mounting council comeback

LYNN – Former City Council President Tim Phelan has pulled papers to run for an at-large City Council seat, two years after vacating his seat for an unsuccessful mayoral campaign.”Lynn has the potential to do great things, and I think I can help get them done,” Phelan said Thursday at Brothers Deli. “Sometimes in life you get knocked down, and I think it’s important to pick yourself back up, stand on your own two feet and dust yourself off and fight for what you believe in.”Phelan served on the City Council for 18 years beginning in 1995 after two terms on the School Committee. He was elected City Council president in 2008. Phelan challenged Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy for her post in 2013, but lost by a 59-41 percent margin.While he quietly exited the council chambers after his final meeting, colleagues predicted Phelan would return.He hopes to. Thursday morning, Phelan picked up nomination papers at City Hall, saying he had “more energy and enthusiasm to devote” to the city.Phelan acknowledged the mayoral defeat was difficult. But Phelan said he would “absolutely not” have a problem collaborating with the mayor should he be elected.”The last election is ancient history,” Phelan said. “This is solely about continuing to move Lynn forward, and the best way to do that is by working together.”Asked about his message to voters, Phelan said he would get into specifics during the campaign. He also declined to cite specific accomplishments in his years on the City Council.But he said that Lynn needed to get “a little more creative and have a clear vision of where we want to go.”He praised the growth of popular downtown restaurants, and said more focus should be directed to the waterfront, using the ferry as a starting point. Phelan said he was, as always, concerned about taxes and ensuring the police department had sufficient resources to do community outreach to prevent crime.As for perceptions that he was part of the “old boy network” that had dominated Lynn politics for so long, Phelan said he has always been independent.”I’ve always been an independent voice and an independent thinker,” Phelan said. “I’ve always been an initiator ? a person not afraid to put new ideas out there; sometimes people like them, sometimes people don’t … I look forward to healthy debates and critical thinking to move us forward.”