LYNN — The only ward race worth watching this fall is the four-way battle to replace departing Ward 2 City Councilor William Trahant.
But a closer look at two of the candidates makes you wonder if there’s something in East Lynn’s water.
First, there’s Christopher Magrane, 51, who caused a stir at a Lynn Public Library event to watch the first total solar eclipse visible in the U.S. in nearly 100 years.
Library staffers distributed more than 200 protective glasses to help people safely view the eclipse in the weeks leading up to the celestial happening. On the day of the eclipse, the staff had 40 pairs for patrons to borrow and return for others to use on the library’s front lawn.
Magrane demanded two pairs of glasses to keep, according to a city employee who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal. When turned down, Magrane reportedly asked: “Do you know who I am?”
I’m sure they knew who he was since his green T-shirt boasted “Vote Christopher Magrane Ward 2 councilor.”
Magrane declined to be interviewed.
The other candidate we’re watching is Gina O’Toole.
Her video went viral five years ago when the hockey mom, sporting a pink coat, stormed onto the ice to break up a fight in her 16-year-old son’s game. It won her a spot on “Good Morning America.”
Fed up with the referees’ failure to stop the brawl between the Boston Raptors and the Connecticut Tribe, O’Toole, 51, wasn’t satisfied with one ref just blowing his whistle and standing idle. She got tossed off the ice.
“I got a 50-50 response to the video,” she said. “Hockey officials understood clearly the fear I had of my son possibly getting a head injury and seeing kids taken out on a stretcher while the other half insisted I was a helicopter mom, that I was overprotective, boys will be boys, and it’s part of the game. I don’t think so.”
There’s not much drama from the other candidates, Peter Grocki, and Richard Starbard.
But there’s still a few days until next Tuesday’s primary.
