LYNN – The Gateway Cities Legislative Caucus delegation visited the North Shore on Monday to experience in person the communities and gather insight into both economic development and COVID-19 recovery in the region.
Co-Chairs of Gateway Cities Caucus Sen. Eric P. Lesser (D-Longmeadow) and Rep. Antonio F. D. Cabral (D-New Bedford) led the delegation which made stops in Salem, Peabody, and Lynn to see the successes and learn about the specific challenges.
State legislators from these communities were co-hosting the visitors, including state Sen. Joan Lovely (D-Salem) and state Rep. Peter Capano (D-Lynn).
“I am so grateful that the Gateway Cities Caucus took the time to come to the North Shore,” said Lovely. She said that Lynn has a lot of opportunity and not enough people see and understand that it is a beautiful and great city.
Lesser said at their last stop, in Lynn, that the focus of the tour was the effects that COVID-19 had on the state’s gateway cities.
“We know that our gateway cities, places like Lynn, were very hard hit with COVID. The goal of the Gateway Cities Caucus is to make sure that they are coming out of it and the state is committing resources it needs to make sure that the recovery is full and includes everyone,” said Lesser.
The state identifies gateway cities as municipalities with populations greater than 35,000 and less than 250,000; a median household income below the state average; and rate of educational attainment of a bachelor’s degree or beyond that is also below the state average.
The idea behind the Gateway Cities Caucus is to coordinate the requests for the gateway cities at the state level and advocate for them collectively on issues like housing, transportation, job training, equity issues, and criminal justice reform, Lesser said.
Capano said that such tours give everyone an idea where state money is going, how it is being used, and how effectively gateway cities are able to recover from economic and infrastructural setbacks.
Capano said that they toured downtown Salem that was busy because of the Halloween approaching and spoke to some restaurant owners at the Chamber of Commerce.
“Everyone is having a hard time finding help no matter what industry,” said Capano about the main takeaway from such conversations. “They are trying to balance the needs of their business with what’s going on with the pandemic. In Salem, they are doing very well compared to everyone else, according to them.”
In Peabody, the delegation visited the Mills 58 marketplace that opened in an old leather mill complex with more than 75 small businesses.
Then the delegation drove to Lynn and walked from the North Shore Community College parking lot to the state-owned Heritage Park on the waterfront using the overpass bridge above the Lynnway.
Here, Capano and Lynn Mayor Thomas M. McGee spoke to the group about the new developments on the waterfront, plans for the future Lynn Harbor Park, and restoration of the ferry service.
McGee pointed out that public investments into the gateway cities and their infrastructure lead to private investments.
“Those public investments are as important as private investments,” said McGee.
Capano and McGee also spoke about the need of the region for better, 21st-century transportation, and a regional electrified railway.
“We all have the infrastructure, we don’t have to build another (rail) line in,” said McGee. “It would be transformative for our communities.”
Capano criticized the MBTA for not taking proper care of the Republic Parking Garage which it owns at the Central Square station. He said that closed stairs and divestment leads to nobody using it.
McGee said that the garage needs a $50 million investment to bring it back to life. Maybe these garages need private investment to build four to five stories on top of them and create a different kind of development, he said.
Lovely agreed that the state needs to make an investment into transportation and the electric rail.
“And we can find the revenue to do it; we just need to make a decision and make it happen,” she said.
She said that this caucus is a very strong one. It is heavily attended every month by both legislators and their staff.
After such visits, Lovely said, they put together a list of points reflecting where they would like to see state dollars invested. With almost $5 billion coming in from the federal government, there is an opportunity to invest into the unique challenges of the gateway cities ― the education systems, transportation, and business communities.
“We’ll put together a letter off to the Ways and Means and the governor of the priorities. That’s what the point of these tours is all across the commonwealth ― to be able to advocate on behalf of our gateway cities,” Lovely said. “And we will just keep at it. Stop talking and do something about it.”
Alena Kuzub can be reached at [email protected].
