LYNN — Election day is less than a month away in the city. On Nov. 7, voters will decide who their representatives are on City Council and School Committee for the next two years.
Among election day’s races are the contested races for Ward 1, Ward 2, and Ward 4 city councilor, with the races for Wards 3, 4, 5, and 6 uncontested.
In Ward 1, dentist Peter Meaney is facing off against St. Mary’s Director of Campus Operations and Athletic Director Jeff Newhall, a former School Committee member.
Both are vying for the seat held by Wayne Lozzi, who decided not to seek reelection after serving on the council for two decades.
Meaney said his top priorities are public safety, maintaining green spaces, and infrastructure, things he said he would pay for not by raising taxes, but by trying to look for more efficient ways to run the city’s government using more cost-effective solutions. He added that it is also important to support Lynn’s business community to help take the tax burden off of homeowners.
“I care about this community and I’m personally and financially invested in this community,” Meaney said. “I’m a citizen that cares and wants to see the ward improved. I have no political background, but I have the knowledge base to work hard and get things done.”
Newhall said that one of his top priorities going forward would also be public safety, including increased access to emergency services, as well as ensuring efficient traffic flow amid construction projects and working toward getting state support for the plan to build a new Pickering Middle School. He said working with Mayor Jared Nicholson and the state delegation toward getting a greater reimbursement from the Massachusetts School Building Authority would be an important step toward the financing of the project.
Newhall added that overall, it will be important to look at how city funds can best be used to support the needs of Ward 1, especially to improve access to emergency services.
“I’ve lived in Ward 1 my whole life. I went to elementary and middle school in Ward 1, I’ve worked in the city my whole life, and have been an elected official before,” Newhall said. “I think this is a great opportunity to represent a ward I have lived in and try and give back to a city that’s given so much to me.”
In the race to fill the seat of departing Ward 2 Councilor Richard B. Starbard, LHAND Property Manager Elizabeth Figueroa is facing off against Full Color Signs and Graphics owner Obed Matul.
Figueroa said that her priorities would be public health in safety, government transparency and accessibility, and infrastructure.
She said that it will be important to seek state and federal funding for city initiatives. Figueroa also wants to reduce what families pay in taxes, but increase the taxes paid by businesses. She added that it would be crucial to tackle inefficiency among the city departments and city government, which includes finding better ways to use tax dollars.
“I’ve been involved in the community enough. I have been doing what I’m doing without being a councilor and being a councilor it will give me more accreditation and more power in order to accomplish more of what the community needs,” Figueroa said. “I love my community… I feel that I can be a voice at the table for people who don’t feel they have been heard.”
“I value community input and I value what my constituents bring up,” Figueroa added. “I feel there’s been a gap between the community and our system. I want to close that gap and I want to be part of the solution.”
For Matul, his top priorities are public safety and access to emergency services, public works and maintenance, and constituent services.
He said that he believes city finances would benefit from increasing the commercial tax base to prevent the city’s costs from falling on taxpayers. He noted that having more businesses in the city would be a boon for the city’s economic and employment needs.
Matul also pointed to the importance of working with Nicholson, the state delegation, and the Lynn Economic Development and Industrial Corporation to pursue more grant and state funding.
“I have been involved in my community. I am a homeowner in Ward 2, I am a resident in Ward 2, so I can see the point of view on both sides,” Matul said. “I have the experience, I have the commitment, and I have the investment to work for the community. I want to make sure that everyone has a voice in City Hall, and be able to improve the everyday lives of our constituents.”
In the race for the seat of current Ward 4 Councilor Richard Colucci, longtime School Committee member and case manager Donna Coppola is running against lawyer Natasha Megie-Maddrey.
Coppola said that some of her top priorities are public safety, public works and maintenance, and issues with King’s Beach.
She said that she would approach the financial hurdles of these issues by pursuing federal and state funds to address the problems at King’s Beach. She also said funds need to be freed up to hire more city employees for departments like the Police, Fire, and Public Works departments in order to fit the needs of the city’s growing population.
“I can make big changes in this ward and make people proud that they live in this ward. I think that we haven’t gotten our share of city services in this ward,” Coppola said. “The experience working as an elected official is going to really make a difference… I will work until the job gets done.”
Megie-Maddrey said that her main priorities include encouraging community involvement, affordable housing, and public safety.
She said programs like the Lynn Affordable Housing Trust fund and other creative approaches to addressing the housing crisis can help the city tackle the need for more affordable and quality housing.
She also noted the importance of the community taking an active role in city government to take advantage of and encourage the use of grant funding for existing programs, as well as new programs that her constituents can take advantage of.
“I have a vested interest in the city of Lynn and specifically Ward 4. Not everyone in Ward 4 is represented and I want to make sure that everyone in our ward feels they are represented,” Megie-Maddrey said. “There’s been a lot of voter apathy, people don’t vote because they feel like their voice doesn’t matter and that’s a big problem for me.”
The last day to register to vote is Oct. 27.
City Clerk Janet Rowe said her office is encouraging people to vote in an election that can often have low turnout compared to the presidential, state, and even mayoral races in the city.
“The election of local officials includes the people responsible for our ‘quality of life’ issues,” Rowe said. “They help to create new laws and ordinances to improve our public safety, public health, schools, roads, water, trash, parks, and housing issues.”
