Dear friend, fellow resident of our City of Lynn, respected city councilor, and hopefully my City Council colleague in January,
I write to you with nothing but respect for your hard work and decisions made over the years for the good of our city and its residents. I think I understand some reasons for your current opposition to the Broadway construction project, but I ask with all due respect to please reconsider your no-vote and vote in favor when the subject comes off the table.
I know that you and all the other at-large councilors, including our beloved Buzzy Barton, have borne the brunt of citizens’ complaints for this and many other issues in Ward 1. I have never been more deeply aware of the process flaws of any project compared to this one. I have tried hard from my position as a caring resident of Ward 1 as well as an active political candidate for Ward 1 councilor to help address many of the process issues and questions about this project. I know many have been addressed, but some have not been fully addressed and/or resolved yet.
Therein lies the basis of my request for you to vote in favor when this subject comes off the table. This project is way too important for the citizens of that neighborhood as well as our surrounding neighborhoods and neighboring cities to be canceled by a no-vote of the council. Nothing is perfect, and this project hasn’t been and will not be in the future, but we owe it to our citizens and their successors to approve this project now and not to cancel it.
I also know that sometimes the state agencies might appear to be looking down at us and backing us into a corner. I say try to throw away your pride in this, and move on with what they are really giving us, and I’d say thank you very much. Don’t let pride, hate, or anything like that get in your way to what I know is truly in your heart – what’s best for our residents.
With approval to move forward now, we can and will continue to work the issues and address any open concerns as we move forward. We will also address currently unknown issues as they arise. This is what we all do. This is what we all get paid for. Even if not elected in September or in November, I hereby vow to help to the best of my ability with any and all concerns and issues, to put them to bed or to meet them head-on when they arise.
Sometimes it’s good and advantageous to retreat from a tough issue and pause and re-tool, review strategy and may change tact, but not this time. We must not retreat from this issue. We must approve and move forward. It will be hard work, but we can and will work together, and rest along the way as we go.
Please vote in favor of the Broadway construction project. Please help it be a unanimous vote to approve. Please let’s show everyone that Lynn is one of the best cities in the Commonwealth, if not the best.
Thanks,
Paul G. Gouthro
Candidate for Lynn Ward 1 city councilor
