LYNN — Mayor Jared Nicholson delivered his first State of the City address Tuesday evening, touching on the city’s efforts toward expanding public housing, workforce development, infrastructure, education, and public safety.
A large crowd of approximately state and local officials, first responders, and community members piled into City Council Chambers, which was standing room only by the time City Council President Jay Walsh introduced Nicholson.
Nicholson kicked off his address by listing and thanking all the organizations that helped provide emergency relief over the weekend, when sub-freezing temperatures flooded residential buildings across the city, displacing hundreds.
“I’m glad that the timing of this speech allows me to publicly thank you for stepping up without hesitation to help our residents in need. Now for the state of the city” Nicholson said. “The state of our city is strong. The future of our city is bright. Both of those statements are true because of the strength of our people — they’re true even in the face of the many challenges we face.”
Before discussing the city’s efforts to expand affordable and senior housing, Nicholson noted that the city of Lynn comprises a diverse range of cultures and creeds, all of which, he said, should be served equitably as the city grows.
“Every day when I walk into my office, I see the more than 50 flags representing countries of origin of students in the Lynn Public Schools. I’m reminded that there are people here from all over the world counting their blessings that they overcame so much to finally make it here. And they are counting on us to be there for them as new challenges await,” Nicholson said. “Foremost among those is making sure this city feels like the precious gem that it is for all of us, regardless of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, origin, or creed.”
Housing
On housing, Nicholson began by celebrating the city’s work to pass the Inclusionary Zoning Act late last year, which required a certain percentage of all new residential developments to either include affordable housing units, or donate to the city’s recently-formed Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
Nicholson pledged to develop more affordable and senior housing units at a number of sites across the city.
“We have projects in motion that we will continue to push, from veterans housing at the Lynn Armory, to senior housing at the former Marshall Middle School site and the former Union Hospital site, to the conversion of an out-of-date rooming house into suitable living arrangements at the Hennessey House in our downtown,” Nicholson said.
The mayor said that he would work to combat substandard living conditions for renters across the city, and work to better address the city’s high cost of living in 2023.
“While we create all these opportunities for new housing that’s affordable, we won’t forget the need to address the old housing stock and needs of our existing residents. We will fund improvements, help protect renters, and fight the scourge of unsafe and substandard living conditions,” Nicholson said. “The need to address our cost of living is clear and we have acquired the means to do so. 2023 will require the diligence, focus, determination, and collaboration necessary for implementation.”
Workforce Development
Nicholson said that the city intends to grow its job market, by the model of Greater Boston, by expanding its innovation economy. He listed manufacturing, construction, education, health care, life sciences, technology and clean energy as priority industries outlined in the city’s workforce development plan.
“We are enveloped by one of the most dynamic job-creating ecosystems in the world in Greater Boston’s innovation economy. We’re working hard to plug Lynn into that growth,” Nicholson said. “Our zoning overhaul last year helped prime several key sites for commercial and industrial growth. We’ve made inroads in the life sciences development community with our developer tour and platinum readiness designation from that industry.”
On March 8, Nicholson said that the city will hold an event with BioConnects New England – a coalition seeking to open life sciences growth to populations historically excluded from the industry.
The mayor added that while hosting innovative industries, the city must ensure that the projected onslaught of innovation companies moving into the city benefits Lynn workers.
“We can’t just think about what properties might take off. We have to focus on our own people. If we’re successful with workforce development, our residents benefit no matter when the investment finally comes to Lynn, because those jobs already exist in the region,” Nicholson said.
Schools
On education, Nicholson addressed the city’s need to accommodate a growing student population despite limited resources. He referenced the city’s plan to build a New Pickering School, and construct additional modular classrooms with the aim of reducing class sizes.
“What we have learned so far is that if every elementary school had the educational spaces you would expect, we would need additional classroom space for more than 600 students. In other words, as it is we’re short by the equivalent of an entire elementary school,” Nicholson said. “We’re adding modular classrooms at every level [and] we hope to add a new Pickering School by 2026.”
Nicholson added that he aims to secure state funding to expand the city’s pre-k programming. One in every four Lynn children, Nicholson said, attend pre-k, compared to an average of nearly two thirds statewide.
“This is a glaring disparity that surely affects our students’ learning trajectory and one that we want to take on,” Nicholson said. “We’re going to continue to be creative and aggressive in finding space, supporting quality across the board, and emphasizing inclusion, particularly for pre-K students with disabilities.”
Infrastructure
As the city grows, Nicholson said, so must its parks and roads. He referenced the city’s Roadways Improvement Plan — as part of a more than $100 million effort to enhance pedestrian and cyclist safety on Lynn roads, and improve the city’s more dangerous intersections.
Nicholson added that the city plans to use a portion of its approximately $1.9 million in cannabis host revenue to mitigate traffic impacts near dispensaries.
“We’re investing hundreds of thousands of dollars to improve traffic signals, addressing the impact of increased traffic to cannabis stores with the city’s cannabis funds, including dangerous intersections such as South and Summer, along Western Ave and Chestnut Street, and more,” Nicholson said.
The mayor mentioned the approximately $16 million dollars in American Rescue Plan Act funding dedicated toward park improvements.
Through cooperation with the state delegation, Nicholson added, the city is “closer than it’s been in years,” to a functional ferry service.
Public Health and Safety
Before wrapping up his address, Nicholson pledged that the city would move to address the opioid crisis, announcing that the city would launch an Opioid Working Group, to allocate funding toward opioid addiction prevention and recovery.
“Our Opioid Working Group, which we are soon launching, will help direct our efforts in allocating state funds we’ve received to support that work,” Nicholson said.
Nicholson thanked the police and fire departments for their roles in keeping the city safe, before adding that the city made headway in partnering with Eliot Community Human Services to create an unarmed emergency response team in Lynn.
“We have taken major strides in creating an independent, unarmed crisis response team, an idea put forward by the Lynn Racial Justice Coalition, to address mental health needs in the city and systemic racism. We should be ready to launch an initial version of this new team later this year,” Nicholson said.
Ending the address, Nicholson likened his role as mayor to wrestling. He said that in both roles, even though there’s only one person in the limelight, a quality team goes a long way.
“When I’m up here at this podium, there’s no one else coming to save me. But one of the things that I love about wrestling is that while it might look like you’re by yourself out there, your team is really out there with you,” Nicholson said. “We have a great team in the City of Lynn. My staff in the Mayor’s Office, everyone that works for the city, who serves on our boards and commissions, my fellow elected officials, really anyone who cares about this community and our future together.”
