The City of Lynn’s 18 elected officials were asked what his or her top priority is for the next two years, and how they plan to meet those goals. Their priorities included new schools, public safety, and development. Answers were edited for space.
Mayor
Thomas M. McGee
McGee said his priority is beginning to implement the city’s 5-year capital improvement plan, which includes $230.9 million worth of capital projects.
About 70 percent of that plan is devoted to school capital needs, which includes the construction of new schools.
“We really need to focus on that and find the consensus to start to see some results on building our schools and addressing our infrastructure needs. It adds value to the community and it really changes the dynamic. When you make those investments, you also see the private investment that comes in.”
The city’s efforts to stabilize its finances go hand-in-hand with being able to find the funding capacity to cover the 36 projects in its capital plan, McGee said.
McGee said the city can also apply for grant opportunities to fund the plan. Quality of life infrastructure improvements, such as fixing roads, sidewalks and building a community path, will bring private dollars into the city
The mayor said he’s discussing a plan with city councilors, School Committee members and department heads, to fund a nearly $100 million new school without raising taxes or asking for a debt override from voters. The city has been trying unsuccessfully for years to replace Pickering Middle School, which includes a failed vote in 2017.
If accepted into the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) program, the cost of the school would be reimbursed up to 80 percent by the state and the city would borrow the rest. A long-term loan payment would be included each year in the city budget, McGee said.
City Council
At-large Councilors
Buzzy Barton, Council Vice President
Barton said his top priority was to keep the city going in the right direction by trying to bring in more revenue.
“Without revenue, we can’t do a lot of things,” said Barton.
To that end, Barton said he would work to bring in more businesses and development.
Another strategy would be to make sure there’s a strong public safety presence in the city.
“If people don’t feel safe in the city, they won’t want to live in the city,” said Barton.
Brian Field
Field said he plans to continue working with colleagues on the City Council, the mayor and the Lynn legislative delegation to address the needs the city has.
He said improving public safety is his top priority, while making sure that investment does not thwart efforts to stabilize the city’s budget.
Grants have addressed some of that need, Field said, referring to those funds covering an increase in staffing for the Lynn Police and Lynn Fire departments.
In addition, he said the city continues to seek out additional funding sources.
“Like the mayor said at the inauguration, we are all in the ring together to do the work,” said Field. “The decisions we make as a council are carefully thought out to move the city in the right direction — sometimes not as fast as we hope, but always with the best intent.”
Brian LaPierre
LaPierre said his top priority was focused on improving the quality of education in the city, in terms of making improvements to current school buildings and constructing new schools.
“I’m going to take the words of Council President (Darren) Cyr and (Mayor) McGee to heart, that we do need to be building for the next century and beyond,” said LaPierre, referring to their remarks at Monday’s city of Lynn Inauguration.
He said the city needs to replace its outdated school buildings while continuing to work within the constraints of its budget.
To that end, LaPierre said the city needs to find ways to increase its revenue while keeping property taxes reasonable.
Finding the capacity to fund a feasibility study for a new middle school should be seen as a 2020 priority, he said. He would like to see the cost of that study included in the mayor’s fiscal year 2021 budget.
On a related note, LaPierre said the city needs to get back in the “good graces” of the MSBA to be accepted back into the program following a 2017 failed city-wide vote for the construction of two new middle schools.
In addition, the city’s last plan to replace Pickering was rejected by the MSBA in December 2018. Lynn was not invited back into the program because of its unstable finances, the MSBA said at the time.
“I think the new revenue (from development) will help in two ways,” said LaPierre. “It will increase the bond rating for us and that in turn will improve our borrowing ability.”
Hong Net
Net said his top priority is increasing diversity in City Hall staff.
“I’ve been thinking of more diverse employment because I see that we don’t have enough people of color in each department,” said Net. “Our city has become more diverse and people are interested in showing their skills and talents to build our city.”
He said he would work with the mayor, City Council president, and police, fire and DPW chiefs, Lynn Housing Authority & Neighborhood Development, and all city department heads to see if they can find ways to start hiring more people of color in each department.
Net said he’d like to see a quota implemented that would require 25 percent of city staff to be of color.
To achieve a more diverse city employment, Net said people of color could be encouraged to apply. To improve their skills, he said those people could participate in workshops and attend classes.
Ward Councilors
Wayne Lozzi, Ward 1
Lozzi said making sure the city is designated a green community, an effort he has spearheaded, is his top priority.
He said he wants to make sure the city is prepared for the threat of climate change and potential increased energy costs.
“Becoming a green community helps the city be prepared for that,” said Lozzi. “It’s helping the environment and it’s saving money for the city.”
The City Council has already approved the designation, which still has to be signed off on by the state. Once the city is designated a green community, it will immediately receive more than $500,000 in funds for energy efficiency programs, Lozzi said.
The Green Communities Designation and Grant Program is aimed at helping municipalities find clean energy solutions to reduce costs and strengthen their local economies, according to the state website.
One of those potential efforts could be encouraging people to use electric vehicles, Lozzi said, noting he drives an electric car and only has to fill his gas tank once a month.
“We need some electric stations to be strategically placed throughout the city,” said Lozzi. “These are projects we have to take on using green community funds so it won’t cost the taxpayers anything. It will come from state funds.”
Rick Starbard, Ward 2
Starbard said ensuring the city develops in a way that minimally impacts school enrollment and public safety is his top priority.
“Whether (we’re) fixing streets and parks, or investing in infrastructure and new schools, we can’t do it in a way that’s going to cause further overcrowding in the school system,” said Starbard.
He said there needs to be more developments like the ones taking place on the city’s waterfront, which are for smaller units of housing that wouldn’t be a good match for families with children.
“Then hopefully, that type of development spurs commercial development, (such as) new stores and restaurants that cater to that clientele,” said Starbard.
The development also needs to be the kind that does not result in a lot of police calls or issues stemming from tenants that have been seen in other parts of the city, he said.
Darren Cyr, Ward 3, City Council President
Cyr declined to designate one of his many priorities as outweighing the others in importance, but he did speak at length about his focus on development and building new schools.
“Two of my top things is to bring a hotel to the city of Lynn, and to get to work on building at least one, if not two middle schools, and continuing on the development of the downtown and the Lynnway,” said Cyr.
The time is right for that new development and school construction, Cyr said, because the city is more stable financially than it was two years ago.
In fact, he predicted at Monday’s Inauguration ceremony that in the next two years, construction would begin on one or two new middle schools.
He said city officials are in the process of finding the funding capacity for new schools.
Echoing McGee, Cyr said his goal is to fund a new school without asking voters for a debt override, such as the one that was defeated in 2017, which would have raised property taxes.
Cyr said there have been discussions with developers to bring a hotel to the city. There are three possible locations that could work: the Lynnway, Market Street and elsewhere in the downtown, he said.
There are no hotels in Lynn, but there’s a need, he said, noting an increase of people coming into the city to take in shows at the Lynn Auditorium.
“People need a place to stay,” said Cyr. “We want them staying in Lynn and spending their money here.”
Richard Colucci, Ward 4
Colucci said his top priority was public safety.
“We need more police,” said Colucci. “We need some public safety people. Safety and cleanliness is a big thing with people.”
He said there have been discussions with Police Chief Michael Mageary about increasing his staffing levels. The department has already hired 29 new police officers over the past two years, but its manpower remains below the chief’s optimal level.
Colucci said there have also been meetings with Mageary about some of the violent crimes that have occurred lately in the city.
No funding source has been identified for covering the cost of new police officers, Colucci said, but there could be some grants the city could apply for.
“We’re all on the same page: the mayor and the council,” said Colucci.
Dianna Chakoutis, Ward 5
Chakoutis said her top priority was increasing community involvement in her ward.
She said she wants to hold more neighborhood meetings with residents and meetings with business owners. Chakoutis is also interested in starting a monthly newsletter, which would be based on the one Starbard emails to his constituents each month.
“There’s multiple issues we need to start working on,” said Chakoutis. “Every ward is different.”
Fred Hogan, Ward 6
Hogan said reducing crime and flooding in his ward are “neck and neck” for his top priority, but spoke more about public safety.
He said the 29 new police officers who have been hired and the city’s plans to hire more should help reduce crime.
“We’ve got a lot of new faces on the streets now: kids who have been trained and are coming out of the police academy with new perspectives,” said Hogan.
Hogan plans to start a Ward 6 neighborhood crime watch, which will be implemented in the next two years and is aimed at alleviating crime in his ward.
“If we have people in the community working together, it can definitely work,” said Hogan.
John “Jay” Walsh, Ward 7
Walsh said his top priority has always been constituent services.
“(It’s) trying to improve roads and (clear) trees, things that need to be addressed for the people,” said Walsh. “As a ward councilor, I think that’s what our big issues are.”
To that end, Walsh said he would continue to keep providing support for people who need those types of services, such as enlisting help from the city’s Department of Public Works.
What should improve constituent services, Walsh said, is that the DPW could soon have a new tree truck to replace its existing, outdated equipment. City officials are considering the purchase this year, he said.
School Committee
Brian Castellanos
Castellanos said his top priority is advancing the district’s social- emotional learning program and other similar resources to meet the needs of students.
“We need new schools, but focusing on student success is our goal,” said Castellanos. “I think right now, it’s important to focus on the students we have. Delivering high quality education and the supports we need to put in place is vital.”
To meet the social-emotional needs of students, Castellanos said there needs to be more social workers in schools.
He wants to see more programs like Bridge for Resilient Youth in Transition (BRYT), which helps transition students at Lynn Classical High School back to their classes after a hospitalization for a mental disorder; 100 Males to College, which helps increase access to college for low-income males and males of color; and the Lynn Vocational Technical Afterschool Program (TAP), which offers high school students career-ready trade skills.
Those types of resources allow kids to gain a set of skills that will be helpful in life and also build their self-esteem, Castellanos said. In addition, they can provide a support system for kids who don’t get that at home, he said.
“(We can) build that level of engagement so we can have more success stories and (students can) continue to thrive and compete in the mainstream,” said Castellanos.
Donna Coppola, Vice Chair
Coppola said her top priority is finding additional space for students, which she hopes includes building two new middle schools.
If the city is accepted back in the MSBA program, she said there would be a school building committee that would determine where the best site would be for a new school.
“We’re land poor,” said Coppola. “I don’t know how many times we can say that, so we don’t have a lot of options.”
To avoid heavy public opposition that resulted in a failed 2017 vote for two new schools, Coppola said the process needs to be more inclusive this time around. More community input should be solicited and people need to be educated on why new schools are needed. For instance, the district has more than 16,000 students and enrollment keeps climbing, she said.
In the short term, she said the district needs to find additional space to reduce school overcrowding, but could not pinpoint what some of those options could be.
“That is a really hard question to answer,” said Coppola. “We’re probably on our third or fourth year with really identifying spaces. (We’ve been) taking areas away that should have remained as spaces. We really have to look at building two new schools.”
John Ford
Ford said he hopes everyone on the School Committee shares his top priority, which is building new schools in the district.
City officials are working to identify funding for a new middle school and McGee has indicated that his administration has some money set aside already, Ford said.
The district is banking on being accepted back into the MSBA program, he said, which would result in the city being reimbursed for up to 80 percent of the school’s cost.
“We can go forward with one new school, but we need about six right away,” said Ford. “The fallacy is we’re building it because of overcrowding. The reality is we now have 12 schools that are over 100 years old.”
In addition to Pickering Middle School, Aborn, Cobbet and Tracy Elementary schools are also in dire need of replacement because of their poor condition, he said.
Lorraine Gately
Gately said she is focused on reducing class sizes and overcrowding at the secondary schools.
“Class sizes are getting up there,” said Gately. “It’s not fair to the teachers and students.”
There’s been some progress made with reducing overcrowding at the middle school level, she said, noting that she approached Superintendent Dr. Patrick Tutwiler with a plan that resulted in an eighth grade, vocational skills-based discovery academy opening this year in the Lynn Tech annex.
Now, her focus is on alleviating overcrowding at the district’s three high schools, which have seen 400 new students this year.
“We didn’t know this large number was going to hit like it did,” said Gately.
To combat that, Gately said there’s a plan to add modular classrooms at Lynn English High School, which should help reduce class sizes.
But the ultimate goal is to build new schools, she said.
Jared Nicholson
Nicholson said his top priority is to address overcrowding and improve the physical state of the district’s schools.
“We are working with the MSBA to understand our options and building a team throughout the city to pursue our best options to meet those needs,” said Nicholson.
Although it’s his understanding that the city is ready to move forward on building new schools through the MSBA program, that’s more of a long-term solution, he said.
“In the near term, we’re thinking outside the box to try to take pressure off the schools where the situation is most pressing,” said Nicholson.
For instance, he said the district is planning to add portable classrooms at Lynn English and school administration is working on a high school redesign project, which could result in staggered schedules for students and is aimed at alleviating overcrowding.
Michael Satterwhite
Satterwhite said he is focused on making sure school officials are good stewards of the increase in funding the district will see next year, but his top priority is finding additional space for students.
“The mayor made a bold prediction we’re going to have a new middle school,” said Satterwhite. “In the meantime, we need to find space at the YMCA or with the portables we’re going to be putting at (Lynn) English.”
Other potential options include using large spaces on Boston Street, such as the former Rite Aid. The shuttered downtown Shaw’s could be looked at as temporary classroom space, he said.
But a new school is what the district is striving toward.
At a recent School Committee retreat, McGee said the city’s chief financial officer, Michael Bertino had located enough funds for the city to conduct a feasibility study for a new school if it was invited back into the MSBA program, Satterwhite said.
“That’s a small part of the bigger issue, which is to get buy-in from the community and get approval from the MSBA after being rejected a couple of years ago,” said Satterwhite.
