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  • Public money woos private investment in Frontrunner City Initiative

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    LOWELL — To represent Lowell on the world stage takes money, and city leadership is investing significant personnel and financial resources in a yearlong effort to bring United Nations-led investment and development to the city through its Frontrunner City for Urban Transformation designation.

    For a seat at the global table — in Geneva, Switzerland and Toronto, Canada — as well as to meet the numerous requirements in the memorandum of understanding signed with the Urban Economy Forum in August, the city has had to front considerable costs for travel, for documents and for access.

    Although the goal of those investments is clear — to position Lowell, the first city in the United States to receive Frontrunner City status, with international private development — what’s not clear, is how much taxpayer funds the city has actually invested.

    “The Frontrunner City Program is a tremendous opportunity for Lowell,” City Manager Tom Golden said by email Oct. 24. “It aligns directly with the Lowell Forward Master Plan, our Green Community designation, and our zoning and infrastructure reforms. It has already opened doors to international partnerships, philanthropic interest, and potential foreign direct investment that would otherwise be out of reach for the City of Lowell.”

    At the Oct. 28 City Council meeting, Councilor Erik Gitschier’s motion requested Golden provide the council with “a detailed report on all expenditures for the frontrunner city, including the program, travel and any other expenses.”

    That response is pending, but a look at publicly available records shows costs associated with marketing and publicity, council-approved travel expenses, UEF filings and documents, as well as broker and conference fees associated with Lowell’s participation in UEF that could exceed $1 million.

    Mayor Dan Rourke kicked off Lowell’s participation last September by attending UEF-6 in Toronto, for an international conference on financing sustainable tourism. Rourke participated as a speaker in the mayoral roundtable and his nominal travel expenses amounted to $1,300.

    “I believe this opportunity will greatly benefit our community by enhancing the City of Lowell visibility,” he said in his out-of-state travel request.

    It was at that meeting that Rourke first learned of the Frontrunner City opportunity.

    One month later, eight people were approved for out-of-state travel to attend the Front Runner Community Initiative Program in Toronto for almost $4,000. The UEF covered the travel costs for hotel, flights and lodging.

    This past February, the City Council voted to appropriate $750,000 from free cash to support economic development initiatives, including promoting the Frontrunner City Initiative.

    Free cash is composed in part of unspent, unencumbered appropriations from the prior fiscal year.

    By July, the city was hosting a UEF and World Pavilion delegation. It is not known how much the UEF contributed toward their visit, nor how much Lowell expensed to host them, which included group meals at the Athenian Corner and Cobblestones restaurants, the latter at which a memorandum of understanding was signed by the city with the UEF.

    During their three-day site visit to Lowell, the Department of Planning and Development pitched the UEF team on a dozen development sites including the Hamilton Canal Innovation District off Dutton Street in Downtown Lowell; both the vacant District and Superior Courthouses on Hurd and Gorham streets, respectively; the Gallagher Terminal area where the city owns vacant land; the South Common area in Back Central; and other locations.

    But the focus was on the development opportunities in the Jackson, Appleton and Middlesex streets area.

    “Lowell’s JAM+ project represents an area ready for transformation and includes infill housing opportunities, new retail and commercial opportunities, improved open space and recreation, improved transit and connections, and a potential geothermal project,” Assistant City Manager/DPD Director Yovani Baez-Rose said in a memo to the City Council.

    To attend the UEF and World Urban Forum at the United Nations Palais des Nations in Geneva in August, the city shelled out $33,258 to cover the costs of 11 people — seven councilors and four staff members, including Golden.

    The business trip may have included some incidental costs paid by the UEF or other partner associations, which were not disclosed.

    “Following the formal announcement of the City of Lowell as the first United States Frontrunner City, we have received outreach and communications from global businesses interested in working with Lowell and the Urban Economy Forum,” Baez-Rose said in an Oct. 7 memo. “The city’s Communications staff have been working closely with the UEF on press coverage for this continued partnership.”

    Lowell leadership returned to Toronto for more Frontrunner discussions Sept. 17-18. One week later, Lowell was represented at the Global Expert Meeting in Toronto by Rourke and Department of Public Works Sustainability Director Katherine Moses. Out-of-state travel costs could not be determined for this trip, which may have come out of free cash.

    In October, Lowell leadership again traveled to Toronto to attend the seventh annual Urban Economy Forum, a global event dedicated to reshaping urban economies. The almost $10,000 cost to the city was offset by the UEF covering some unspecified incidental costs.

    Golden, Rourke, DPD Deputy Director Camilo Espitia, Assistant City Manager for Fiscal Affairs/Chief Financial Officer Conor Baldwin and Councilors Corey Belanger, Corey Robinson, Paul Ratha Yem and Sokhary Chau attended the conference.

    The JAM project discussed in July is still in the draft phase, but it was presented during the UEF-7 sessions, which included global investors.

    Some incidental costs the UEF may not have covered was the $13,000 to register for the conference, as well as other costs to participate in the sessions and forums.

    In addition to an initial outlay of $12,000 in marketing collateral to promote the city, Lowell has purchased other public relations collateral in various real estate and financial outlets, not all of which has been disclosed to date.

    “It is important to emphasize that the city has not paid the UEF for a title or designation,” Golden said in his October email. “Rather, we have invested in the infrastructure necessary to support our role as a Frontrunner City. This includes the creation of a comprehensive profile of the City of Lowell to be used to attract investors. These are investments in capacity, not fees.”

    Golden emphasized that financial outlays were investments similar to creating Lowell’s Master Plan.

    “Lowell’s designation as the first U.S. Frontrunner City was not purchased — we are continuing to work and earn it,” he said. “It reflects over 12 months of work by our planning, sustainability, and economic development teams, and it positions our city to compete globally for resources and recognition. There has been continuous communication and collaboration between the city and UEF staff throughout this time.”

    The council is expected to receive an update on its Frontrunner City investment status in the coming weeks, and Golden told the council at its Oct. 28 meeting that a dashboard will be posted to the city’s website soon “with everything that’s been happening with the Frontrunner City.”

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    Melanie Gilbert

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  • Lowell’s Back Central neighborhood a ‘mini Mass and Cass’

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    LOWELL — During last Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Councilor Corey Belanger called the city’s Back Central neighborhood a “mini Mass and Cass,” referring to the area of Boston plagued by the same homeless, drug and crime crisis that has been growing for several years in Lowell’s poorest neighborhood.

    “On the back of Charles Street … the sidewalk was completely overrun, tents on the sidewalk, open-air drug use going on,” he said. “We need help.”

    Between March and September, the Lowell Police Department recorded a staggering 10,000 police dispatch entries in the densely populated neighborhood, which is roughly bounded by Appleton Street to the north, Chambers Street to the south, Thorndike Street to the west and Lawrence Street to the east.

    The police calls resulted in more than 18,000 officer call-offs, reflecting the significant resources required to manage incidents in this area. During this same period, 606 arrests were made — or on average, 100 per month — with 117 individuals arrested two or more times, and 20 individuals arrested five or more times.

    Councilors Corey Robinson and Erik Gitschier’s motion requested City Manager Tom Golden have a conversation between the council and key stakeholders centered around “challenges with our transient community.”

    Golden said he was trying to “work toward a solution” on what he described as a “revolving door” of people being arrested by the police only to be released back out on the streets by the judges at Lowell District Court.

    “There’s a lot going on here,” he said. “I can report back.”

    But councilors, while praising the city’s policing and social outreach efforts, were exasperated by the lack of coordination between the courts, state-level departments and other social and legislative agencies.

    “We need everybody together to help on this, otherwise we’re just going to spin our tires,” Gitschier said. “Send them down to the courthouse, they’re going to come right out of the courthouse and these numbers are just going to continue to escalate and escalate and no one really gets help. And that’s the sad part — people are not getting help.”

    Although not exclusively a homeless problem, based on figures released by the LPD and the Office of Homeless Initiatives, which is under the purview of the Department of Health and Human Services, the rise in arrests of homeless people tracked with the rise in homelessness.

    The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development defines individuals as homeless if they lack a “fixed, regular and adequate nighttime address.” Last winter’s federally mandated point-in-time count, conducted during the early morning hours of Jan. 30, reported 250 homeless people in Lowell.

    Two hundred were sheltered through Community Teamwork Inc.’s hotel program in Chelmsford, and in both regular and emergency beds provided through the Lowell Transitional Living Center on Middlesex Street in Downtown Lowell. There were 50 unsheltered people living outdoors.

    Those unsheltered people were mostly living in squalid encampments scattered throughout the city, including South Common Park, a 22.5-acre public green space in the city’s Back Central neighborhood.

    The City Council passed an ordinance in November 2024 making it unlawful to camp on public property in the city of Lowell. The civil ordinance is enforceable through the LPD, and the city sanctioned so-called “sweeps” of numerous homeless encampments, including South Common.

    In early October, one person was killed and another person hospitalized after a garbage truck backed over them on Spring Street. Witnesses said the two homeless individuals had been sleeping on the narrow, alley-like street after they had been repeatedly told to leave other parts of the city, most recently South Common.

    But even homeless people with an emergency bed at night become unsheltered during the day when the LTLC, the largest adult emergency shelter north of Boston, asks its clients to leave the premises.

    According to the LPD, complaints about trespassing increased from 519 complaints in 2021 to 1,369 complaints in 2024, a more than 150% increase.

    The shelter clients generally congregate in the Jackson Street, Appleton Street, Middlesex Street, Summer Street, and Gorham Street corridors.

    “These areas have experienced a high concentration of transient individuals, which has led to recurring public safety and quality-of-life issues,” Assistant City Manger Shawn Machado said in the motion response dated Oct. 21.

    Councilor Vesna Nuon suggested that the task force approach the city took to address gang violence in the city almost 20 years ago may be a guide to Lowell’s current crisis.

    “When we had a gang issue in the city, the juvenile court judge and others participated in this,” Nuon said. “The [District Attorney] the [Middlesex] Sheriff’s Office, [Department of Children and Families] and all those entries, joined in. The court plays an important role in this.”

    Machado’s motion response noted that the city’s Community Opioid Outreach Program had been active in the neighborhood, offering outreach and services to individuals in need.

    “Despite their daily efforts, there remains a significant number of individuals who decline the services offered,” Machado’s motion response said. “This underscores the complexity of the issue and the need for a more comprehensive, multi-agency approach to address the underlying causes of chronic homelessness, substance use, and mental health challenges.”

    Machado said Golden will extend invitations to a representative from Sheriff Peter Koutoujian’s office, leadership from the LPD, district court judges serving the Lowell area, an a representative from the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.

    “The goal of this discussion is to explore collaborative strategies that address the root causes of recidivism, improve outcomes for individuals experiencing homelessness or substance use disorders, and enhance public safety for all residents and businesses,” Machado said.

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    Melanie Gilbert

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  • The Column: Open meetings, local elections and overrides

    The Column: Open meetings, local elections and overrides

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    CLIFF KRIEGER, a member of Lowell’s Licensing Commission, reached out to The Column to note that among its many duties, the board also licenses palm readers, also known as fortune tellers under Massachusetts law.

    The commission has the authority to “adopt rules and regulations for licenses and license activity that address matters of local interest in compliance with the laws of the Commonwealth.”

    So, if you go and get your palm read in the city of Lowell, the proprietor should have a license displayed on premises. But then, they already knew that, right?

    Based on previous reporting about Open Meeting Law complaints filed in Lowell against both the City Council and the School Committee, a reader reached out to let The Sun know that a complaint had been filed with the Attorney General’s Office against the Tyngsboro Housing Authority, alleging that three members colluded to oust longtime Executive Director Melinda Theide from her position.

    A quick check of the THA website shows a job positing for Theide’s position and the board voted not to renew her contract at the Jan. 31 meeting. A subsequent meeting was scheduled for Feb. 28, but its agenda is not listed on the THA site, nor is there a recording of that meeting available on the Tyngsboro Media Channel.

    The Attorney General website listing of pending OML complaints show the THA complaint as filed with the AG on March 7. There are no other complaints in the system for the town.

    In contrast, Lowell has five complaints on file — two against the City Council and three against the School Committee. All of the complaints were filed by Laura Ortiz.

    The Sun previously reported on Ortiz’s complaints against the City Council.

    In January, Ortiz, who listed a P.O. box as her address, filed her complaints regarding the tabling of Councilor Corey Robinson’s motions by a majority of his colleagues on the Lowell City Council.

    According to Ortiz’s lengthy filing, “On or before 11/20/23, Lowell City Councilor believed to be Wayne Jenness outside of the Open Meeting Law process, called an quorum of (9) peer City Councilors to ask them to make a statement and also to pressure fellow City Councilor Corey Robinson (a minority federal court decree ward duly and legally elected city council representative) into resigning his seat as the elected representative of Centralville … .”

    The complaint is the latest incident in which Robinson’s personal life has collided with his official one. The newly reelected Robinson was arraigned in Lowell District Court on Nov. 16 on two charges of assault and battery on a family/household member.

    The alleged criminal incident took place at the Dracut residence of his “on-again/off-again” girlfriend, during which Robinson is alleged to have hit, chased, strangled and pulled out the victim’s hair.

    The alleged incident took place eight days after Lowell’s municipal election, in which Robinson was reelected to serve a second term representing the Centralville neighborhood. Robinson, 46, was released on bail that included an order to stay away from the alleged victim that was enforced by a GPS tracking bracelet.

    Since then, the council struggled to deal with the first councilor since the adoption of Plan E form of government in 1943 to be arrested while holding office, according to Lowell historian Richard Howe.

    Robinson also has the dubious distinction of being the first sitting councilor to be inaugurated and take the oath of office while wearing a GPS ankle bracelet, as well as sitting in the chamber making motions and voting on agenda items with the tracking device affixed to his left ankle.

    Robinson’s case is due back in Lowell District Court on Monday, April Fool’s Day, for another compliance and election hearing date.

    On the subject of domestic assault, The Sun updated the language on its arrest logs, which run several times a week, and list arrests from multiple communities, including Lowell.

    Domestic violence arrests do not show up in the logs that are one of the paper’s most popular items.

    Former Gov. Deval Patrick signed legislation in 2014 that requires police to scrub names of those arrested on domestic violence charges from the public police log.

    The intent is to protect victims and ensure they report their attackers, but the effect creates the impression that no domestic violence crime takes place in the city.

    But according to police recordings, violence against women — and women are still 91% of the cases of domestic violence nationwide — is still very much a problem in the city of Lowell.

    On this last day of Women’s History Month, The Sun corrects that misrepresentation with the following statement preceding every arrest log article:

    “The following arrests were made recently by local police departments. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Massachusetts’ privacy law prevents police from releasing information involving domestic and sexual violence arrests with the goal to protect the alleged victims.”

    An epidemic of deficits and overrides

    UNPRECEDENTED TURNOUT for a March 26 Town Meeting compelled Groton officials to dissolve the event due to larger-than-anticipated attendance. More than 900 people came out for a vote to override Proposition 2½ to cover a budget deficit, which has become a near epidemic among town governments across the commonwealth.

    Not very far away, the town of Dunstable is also attempting an override. Other nearby communities trying to solve budget deficits include Acton, Dracut, Dunstable and Westford.

    The Groton-Dunstable Regional Middle School Performing Arts Center auditorium and an overflow room could not accommodate the crowd that turned out this past week. Groton is now seeking a space that can hold a crowd of that size.

    Despite the delay in holding the Town Meeting to attempt an override, the town will go ahead with its planned special election on the override petition. The election is scheduled for Tuesday, April 2. Dunstable, joined with Groton in a regional district, will also hold its special election on Tuesday. The two towns have been trying to follow the same schedule.

    An override requires approval by Town Meeting and by ballot in an election. Both votes must succeed for the override to pass.

    Groton Select Board Chair Peter Cunningham explained what’s behind the $50.5 million town budget, including the $27.7 million school budget.

    In his statement to The Sun, he raised an interesting point about Proposition 2½.

    “Groton is experiencing the confluence of a number of factors that are impacting the revenues available to the town to build its budget. At the core are the limitations of (Proposition 2½) which by itself does not keep up with inflation and the cost of providing services,” Cunningham said.

    Inflation is one of the primary reasons that towns are struggling to cover important services like public safety and education.

    The proposition passed by ballot measure in 1980 amid what has been called a “tax revolt” around the country, starting in California. The country was in recession in 1980 and was about to fall into a deeper recession. With high unemployment, the tax limitation measures were especially appealing. But inflation brings a different view to town governments.

    In addition to the pressure of inflation, Cunningham noted the end of funding for many federal programs that were available during the pandemic. He also cited relatively flat state aid for both municipal and school services, mandatory increases in the Middlesex County Retirement assessment, increased health insurance costs and a number of unfunded state mandates which for the most part impact the schools.

    Groton is in the unique position (at least among area towns) of being home to two prestigious and tax-exempt private schools, Lawrence Academy and the Groton School. And faculty and staff at the two schools send their children to the Groton public schools. Groton is not reimbursed for that, Cunningham said.

    If approved for Groton, the $5.5 million override request would be added to the tax levy over the course of three years, not all at once. In fiscal 2025, the tax levy would increase by $1.7 million; in fiscal 2026 by $1.8 million; and by $1.7 million in fiscal 2027. Cunningham emphasized that the numbers are not set in stone. “There are a number of other factors which could affect the actual number in each fiscal year,” he said.

    The epidemic of deficits and proposals for overrides has also caused a delay in the Westford annual Town Meeting, which was set for March 23 for the Westford Academy gym and auditorium, and will now be held April 27 at the Westford Academy football field because of expected turnout.

    In Acton, the town will vote by ballot on an override April 30 and at Town Meeting on May 6.

    An override in Dracut likely will not be put before voters at least until the fall. When, and if, it does land before voters, it will test the town’s tradition of never approving an operational override. Voters have voted for debt exclusions before, which, unlike overrides, do not permanently add to the tax levy. But debt exclusions are more suited to capital projects.

    Stay tuned for Dracut’s decision on whether to attempt an override.

    A “Thank You For Voting” sign sits outside the McCarthy Middle School in Chelmsford during a previous election. This week kicks off a flurry of local town elections. (Melanie Gilbert/Lowell Sun)

    A peek at local down-ballot races

    IT IS a busy local election season and while much of the focus tends to be on the races for select boards and school committees, there are other races appearing on local ballots that voters should be prepared to decide on as well.

    In Billerica there are contested races almost all the way down the ballot this year in the April 6 election. In addition to the contested races of the Select Board and School Committee that have been covered in more detail by The Sun in recent days, the position of town moderator and seats on the Planning Board also have some competition.

    The town moderator seat is a race with incumbent John McKenna seeking reelection against challenger James Reef. The Planning Board is a three-person race for two three-year seats between Anthony Ventresca and incumbents Marlies Henderson and Christopher Tribou. Incumbent Taryn Gillis is uncontested in seeking one of Billerica’s two seats for a three-year term on the Shawsheen Tech School Committee.

    Billerica has a representative Town Meeting, and each voting precinct will have different options to choose from in that race.

    In Chelmsford, in addition to the contested Select Board and School Committee races in the April 2 election, the Planning Board has three open seats with three-year terms being sought by four candidates: Doreen Deshler, Christopher Lavallee and incumbents Paul McDougall and Deirdre Connolly. The Board of Library Trustees also has some competition in Chelmsford with two seats with three-year terms up for grabs between Joshua Wimble, Bina Upadhyay and incumbent David Braslau.

    The seat for Planning Board associate in Chelmsford is uncontested with just Joel Luna seeking a one-year term. The same is the case with a three-year term on the Cemetery Commission, with just Candace Chase on the ballot for the seat. As with Billerica, Chelmsford has a representative Town Meeting, and those seats will appear on the ballot for each individual precinct.

    Tewksbury will have its election the same day as Billerica on April 6, to the dismay of a certain reporter that covers both communities. Though beyond the hotly contested Select Board and School Committee races, no other board or committee seats have any competition.

    The Planning Board in Tewksbury has one seat for a three-year term up for grabs with only incumbent Vincent Fratalia’s name on the ballot. Likewise, the Board of Library Trustees has two seats up for election, with incumbents Christopher Castiglione and Bonnie Page as the only two names on the ballot.

    George Ferdinand and Christine Janeczak are the only two names on the ballot for the Board of Health race, with Ferdinand seeking one of two three-year terms and Janeczak seeking an unexpired two-year term. However, multiple write-in campaigns have been announced, with five candidates in total appearing at the candidate forum for the race on March 28. The write-in candidates are Luke Miller, Pamela LeFave and Donna Robitaille.

    A five-year term on the Tewksbury Housing Authority is on the ballot with just John Deputat in the running for the seat. On the Shawsheen Tech School Committee, Robert Hutchins is uncontested for a three-year term in one of Tewksbury’s two seats.

    This week’s Column was prepared by reporters Melanie Gilbert in Lowell, Prudence Brighton on local overrides, and Peter Currier on local election races.

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