LYNN — Ward 4 City Councilor Richard Colucci announced Monday that he will not be seeking re-election in 2023 — wrapping up a nearly 31-year career in municipal government.
In a written statement announcing his decision not to seek reelection, Colucci, Lynn’s longest-serving city councilor, endorsed school committee member Donna Coppola to run for the Ward 4 chair this fall.
“I would like to see a Ward 4 councilor replacement that is compassionate and experienced. My friend Donna Coppola has these qualities, and I wish her well in her campaign,” Colucci wrote.
Colucci first took office in a special election in April, 1990, beating eight other candidates in a nine-way race. In 1995, Colucci lost to former Ward 4 City Councilor Robert Cipolletti by a seven-vote margin. He was reelected in 1997, and has served Ward 4 ever since.
“There’s nothing as unforgiving as time — it went by real quick,” Colucci said in an interview Monday afternoon.
Discussing his achievements over the past three decades, Colucci said that he was proud to have pioneered the city’s first public land auction nearly 20 years ago, which generated approximately $1.8 million in revenue. He added that he was most proud of his service to Ward 4 over the past 30 years.
“I am most proud of having served my constituents in any possible way. Everything from having a street paved, a pothole fixed, and a street light fixed,” Colucci said. “The best part of my job was serving my constituents and working with my colleagues, who I admire.”
Colucci pointed to police and firefighter layoffs, and online “keyboard warriors” as some of his career’s low points.
“It’s not like it used to be. Now it’s stressful with the with the social media stuff. They bash you out. They don’t know you, but they bash you for things that you can’t control,” he said.
Colucci said that he decided to leave public office to tend to personal issues. After stepping away from city government, he plans on traveling with his wife of 35 years, Carolina.
“ I’ll still be local. When people call me, I’ll help if I can. I want to go on vacation now, and then my wife wants me to go on a vacation too. For 33 years, she’s been with me every year I’ve been doing this, so I have to give her a lot of credit for putting up with it,” Colucci said.
Coppola, who decided to run for City Council this weekend, said that she hopes to help tackle a number of issues — from the King’s Beach cleanup project to creating parking spaces downtown. She said she wanted to expand housing and constituent services in the Highlands.
“I’m passionate about the Highlands,” Coppola said. “It’s a neighborhood that needs a lot of support — whether it’s an economical, education-wise, helping families that they’re, you know, finding programs, whether it’s schooling they need, or anything else.”
Coppola, first elected in 1999, is the longest-serving school committee member. She now serves a foster mother, and a board member at the My Brother’s Table soup kitchen. In every election from 2011 until 2017, Coppola had the majority of the votes.
“I love sitting on the school committee and my strength is helping people — whether it’s parents’ issues with schools, staff, or just people in the community. That’s my strength, and that’s what I see as a ward councilor,” Coppola said. “This is a great ward —we go from the beach, all the way up to High Rock Tower. Due to COVID, people have felt isolated. I’d like to work to help them get back and get the neighborhood’s up and going. I think that’s where my strength is.”
Coppola will not run for Ward 4 unopposed. Lawyer and second-grade teacher at Connery Elementary Natasha Megie-Maddrey ran for the Ward 4 City Council chair in 2019 and 2021, when she lost to Colucci by a 59-vote margin.
Megie-Maddrey said that she will run again in 2023, with the aim of improving transportation, voter turnout, and direct constituent service. She said that, if elected, she will hold monthly ward meetings to ensure that her constituents’ needs are heard.
“People need to feel like their voice matters. I want to make sure that all voices are heard. For me, it doesn’t matter if you’ve lived in Lynn your entire life, 50 years, or if you just moved to Lynn today. I want every single person in our city to feel welcome here,” Megie-Maddrey said.
As the daughter of Haitian and Dominican immigrants, Megie-Maddrey said that she hopes to bring diversity to City Hall that reflects the city’s growing diversity.
“ Our city is very diverse. It’s becoming more diverse every day, and when you look at our city council, it’s not as diverse as the city is. It does have some diversity, but it should have more diversity,” Megie-Maddrey.
When asked how she felt about squaring off with Coppola in the race for Ward 4, Megie-Maddrey said that she welcomed the competition.
“ I’m very happy to have competition because I do feel that every candidate should have a challenger in every election — I really don’t think that seat should go uncontested. You should be working for your city all the time, like you need to be present. It’s not just during election time when you need to show up,” Megie-Maddrey said. “I definitely want to be one of those counselors that shows up for the people, answers their calls. Constituent service is key — it’s number one.”
Colucci, in his last few months in office, said that he was grateful to have worked with his colleagues, alive and deceased, and for the opportunity to serve Lynn.
“Having served over 30 years, I have been fortunate to work closely with a group of tremendous elected and appointed officials. Sadly, many passed away. I truly have been blessed to serve this city,” Colucci said.
