LYNN — If Gina O’Toole becomes the next city councilor to represent Ward 2, she plans to be on the job 24/7.
“I know I can be the voice to best represent the residents of Ward 2 councilor,” she said. “As a Lynn School Department employee, if elected, I will be required to forfeit this position, which I’ll do, and serve full time.”
The North Shore Community College graduate is in a crowded race to replace William Trahant, who served on the Council for nine terms. The other contenders include Richard Starbard, 53, owner of Rick’s Auto Collision in Revere, Peter Grocki, the 50-year-old maintenance worker at the Salem Housing Authority and salesman Christopher Magrane, 51.
O’Toole said while she her husband, Lynn Police Department Capt. Mark O’Toole, have lived in Fay Estate since the ’90s, her family’s roots go way back.
“My great-grandparents, the Tammaro family, settled in Lynn’s Brickyard neighborhood more than 100 years ago after immigrating from Italy,” she said. “My husband’s family, the O’Learys, have been in Lynn since the 1840s.”
Her children attended the Aborn and Shoemaker Elementary schools and Pickering Middle School.
The campaign has taken her door-to-door where she learned residents have concerns ranging from gang problems, absentee landlords, noise and traffic complaints, overgrown trees and broken street lights, she said.
“Some of these may seem trivial, but they are real to our residents,” she said. “They deserve an immediate and thorough response which can only be sufficiently addressed by a full-time councilor.”
O’Toole said one of her priorities is to streamline permitting for people who want to open businesses.
“Several business owners have told me that the process of establishing a business in Lynn is complicated and frustrating compared to other communities,” she said.
To solve the delays, she proposed assigning one person from a city agency to guide the applicant through what can be a complicated process.
On school spending, O’Toole said other city agencies are taking a financial hit because of the need to boost school funding.
“As a result, staffing and services of the Lynn Police and Fire Departments and Department of Public Works and other city agencies have been drastically reduced,” she said.
She vowed to form a City Council and School Committee Task Force with the authority to audit, analyze, and make recommendations to meet the city’s educational financial obligations.
Noting that fire stations have been closed in the neighborhood for years, she supports replacing many of the aging stations. She did not offer a way to pay for it.
O’Toole said she supports a public-private partnership to connect the city by Wi-Fi, but did not say how much it would cost and how it would be paid for.
“I have an unwavering commitment to the best interests of residents of Ward 2 and to the citizens and businesses of Lynn,” she said.
