Happy Holidays!!,

While this may be my last newsletter, it may also be my longest. Let's go.

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I still can't believe that we are now in December as it seems like the year just began. I guess time flies the older that we get. Even though this is the time of year when things quiet down a little for the holidays, this month will be a very busy month with many meetings, important votes and transition to some new faces on the city council and school committee.

I would like to thank those who sacrificed so much of their time this past year by running for office and congratulate those who won their races. It takes a large investment of time away from your family and work as well as money to run a successful campaign. I remember the first time that I ran for school committee back in 2009, a former co-worker at Tech who was pretty experienced in campaigning told me not to run a "church campaign". When I asked what that meant, he said, "don't throw up a bunch of signs and pray that you win". Nothing could be more true as I think that we all agree that signs don't vote and you must put in the work being out meeting voters where they are, whether it is at events or at their homes. I don't think that anyone put in more work during their campaign than Ward Two Councilor-Elect, Obed Matul. I will talk a little bit more about that later.

At last week's Traffic Commission Meeting, Councilor-Elect Matul and I joined residents of Allen Ave in the long time effort to create resident parking on part of that street which has been a serious concern for some time. At that meeting, the recently appointed Parking Director, Jessica Chiappini spoke about a new plan to address resident parking which will include an annual resident parking permit fee of $30 which will go to modernizing the permitting and enforcement process that can be enforced electronically versus trying to personally see stickers mainly after dark to identify offenders. I would like to have Jessica attend our next Ward 2 meeting. If she is unable to attend, I am sure that Councilor-Elect Matul will invite her at some point in the future.

On Thursday, December 7th, there will be an informational meeting regarding the Essex St Reconstruction Project that we have been discussing for quite some time. The meeting is in the Ingalls School cafeteria beginning at 6:00 PM. This project as well as the Western Ave project will update the aging infrastructure of these main roadways for the city for years to come but to get there, it will undoubtedly be burdensome at times. Many of the issues with the recent vote on the Broadway/Euclid/Jenness project was because people felt that there was not enough information presented leading up to the vote. The Essex St and subsequent Western Ave projects will be much larger in scope and will impact almost everyone in the city. The Mayor's office, the City Council and Planning Department want everyone to have as much information as possible as the information becomes available. Please plan on attending these meetings as they are scheduled so that you can stay informed. The notice is below.

A few weeks back, we were presented with a proposal to finally develop the former Harbor House Hotel site on the Lynnway next to the former Building 19 site which is currently under development. I think that the development of this parcel at the South Harbor and the development of Breakwater at the North Harbor were two of the most important pieces of land on the Lynnway to develop as they bookend the whole strip. What is being proposed is a $450 million dollar development comprising of 850 apartment units with 26,000 square feet of retail/restaurant space as well as public space. The project is being proposed by Samuels and Associates who has a proven track record of developing these types of developments in the Fenway area and the Hingham Shipyard. This will be the largest development in Lynn's history. The current proposal calls for 10% of the units to be deemed "affordable", in line with the city's new housing plan. It also calls for "Tax Incremental Financing" which is a tax incentive. I am not a fan of tax breaks for residential developments but did support the incentives for the Caldwell and Breakwater projects as a way to help spur developments in hopes of attracting others which wouldn't require an incentive. I have also always been a proponent of market rate housing on the waterfront as Lynn already has more affordable housing than communities around us and we need to prop up the numbers of those with disposable income. As bad as it may sound, the fact is that the lack of folks with disposable income is THE reason that Lynn does not have many of the retail, entertainment, restaurants and hospitality offerings that many of the neighboring communities around us enjoy. That being said, I have also been outspoken regarding this project and others because we as a community struggle with providing adequate public safety, public works and public education for the number of residents that we currently have. While these projects seem to have little impact on our schools, they do increase the demands on our police and fire departments. I raised these concerns during the presentation on November 14th with the Mayor and stated our need for a public safety sub-station in the area of the Lynnway. The Mayor did acknowledge the need but stated that it is unaffordable at this time (which I understand) and that hopefully these type of developments would help fund increasing public safety in the future. This site has been vacant for the past 30 years. It is the Lynn Gateway from Boston and the access point for the fishing pier that was just rebuilt, Until recently, it was home to a massive homeless encampment that was riddled with trash, drugs and from what I understand even a prostitution shack on the site, all of which create demands on public safety. The property currently generates about $63,000 in annual property taxes. Left undeveloped, the property will generate less than $2 mil in taxes over the next 20 years. If approved with with the TIF, the project which will take close to a decade to complete, will generate about $43 mil over the next 20 years and $120 mil over 30 years. If no TIF were in place, that number would jump to about $60 million but the project as proposed would most likely not move forward. If the proposal falls apart, I imagine that it will be developed at some point with another monster sized box of apartments that will have no real public benefit and generate far fewer dollars. I am posting the rendering and informational slides of what this project would look like as you are crossing the bridge from Revere into Lynn below. I honestly believe that this project, which will also include a public waterfront park as well as maintaining public access to the pier will truly help transform the area of the Lynnway on both sides. With it's proximity to the new harbor park being developed behind Walmart, it should make the South Harbor a destination which should help drive investment in some of the offerings that I mentioned above that Lynn is lacking. Again, I am not a fan of residential tax breaks but I truly believe that this project as planned will transform our southern gateway and help drive future development. For those reasons, I plan on joining Ward Six Councilor Hogan in supporting this project.

CONT.

With this being my last of 72 monthly newsletters not to mention the mid month updates, snow emergencies and lets not forget the daily Covid updates of 2020, I would like to take a moment to reflect on my past six years serving as your Ward 2 city councilor. It has truly been an honor and a humbling privilege serving as an elected official representing the residents of Lynn both as a city councilor and school committee member for a combined 12 years. I never had any plans to work for the city in any capacity as no one in my family ever worked for the city or engaged in politics short of voting. One thing led to another and serving on a couple of boards at Lynn Tech turned into 14 years of teaching, six years on the school committee and six years on the city council. I have met and worked with so many outstanding people during those 26 years that made it all worth it and I would not change a thing.

Recently, a lot of people have asked what is my proudest or most memorable moments of my time on the council were. I have to say that the early days of Covid and the months that followed are what stick with me the most. That was such a time of uncertainty but we all knew that we had to do something. While the city's emergency response teams were springing into action, then Council President Cyr came up with the idea of the food drive for seniors and Covid positive homes in partnership with the Salvation Army. The months that followed were amazing and showed me what leadership and rising to the occasion is all about. I honestly don't think that Darren Cyr ever got the recognition that he deserved for that effort and he is not really a recognition type of guy. I have worked with a lot of great people in this city but Darren's efforts during that time as well as keeping the city council continuing on with city business spoke to his commitment to the city.

I will undoubtedly miss my daily interactions with my council colleagues particularly Council President Walsh who I have known since he was a kid. He is another who leads by example and I couldn't be more proud of the leader that he has become. Maybe its a Lynn Tech thing as like Daren, Dianna Chakoutis and I, Jay was a Tech grad as well. As someone who has never shied away from voicing an opposing position, everyone that I have served with has always kept our differences respectable, always able to quickly move on to the next topic and grab a beer after. The same goes for both Mayor McGee and Mayor Nicholson, who I have not always been in agreement with but they have always approached every topic in an open, transparent manner. I also commend both Mayor McGee and Mayor Nicholson's staff. They have always been a great group of people and they are the point people to the Mayor's office. I will also miss the daily interactions with Terry Young and Lisa Herrera in the council office who are like our moms making sure we have all of the necessary information to do our jobs. I would also like to thank both Wayne Lozzi and Rich Colucci for their 50 years of collective service. Working with Rich, Wayne and Buzzy Barton was a lot of fun and I learned a lot from each of them. I would be remiss is I did not Commend Donna Coppola for all of the years that she served on the school committee. It didn't take long to realize what a great advocate that Donna was for the students of Lynn when I served with her.

I could go on and on singling people out, as a city councilor is only as good as those in all of our city departments are. One person that I would have been lost without is Associate DPW Commissioner, Lisa Nerich. I don't think that there is a harder worker in this city and her love for the city shines through every day. I don't think that any of us could do our jobs without her. We are in daily contact with almost all of our departments particularly, DPW, ISD, Parking, and the Clerk's office. As I said during the recent promotions of Jessica Chiappini and Lisa Tobin, the ladies really get the job done in this city. Our public works guys who work in all conditions, understaffed and underpaid should be commended as should everyone on the Lynn Fire and Lynn Police Departments. It has been an awesome experience working with Chiefs Archer, Sullivan, Mageary and Reddy. All great leaders of their departments with amazing officers. .

I would not have had any success in my efforts serving the city if it were not for the love, support and sacrifice of my wife Lois and daughters, Jessica and Stephanie. I am the luckiest guy in the world having them in my corner and I look forward to spending more time with them. I also want to thank my business partner Jim LeBlanc and my staff at Rick's Auto Collision for always picking up the slack when I come in late, run out during the day or leave early for meetings and events.

I think that I have been asked every day since I announced that I would not run for re-lection what I am going to do with all of my free time in "retirement". While I am leaving office, I am certainly not retiring...yet. While I will still be running my business full time, I will still be serving on the Lynn Tech Alumni Board as well as the Lynn Tech Advisory board, the Lynn Area Chamber of Commerce Board, chairing their Government Affairs Committee and serving on the EDIC Board. I am also hoping to be able to do more with Grace Church and my trade association. While I do hope to be able to carve out a little more free time, I think that I will stay pretty busy and engaged in Lynn.

In closing, THANK YOU to all of you who have supported me in all of my efforts and placing your confidence in me to represent you. I am going to miss engaging with you as constituents but I am sure that I will continue to see and talk to many of you when we are out and about. I have made so many friends during these years and I am truly appreciative for all of support and friendship. One does not need to be an elected official to make a difference in the community. I think that some of our biggest difference makers in our community are those who do not hold office. Some of my greatest perspectives come from loss. Life is for the living. Get out and enjoy it and stay engaged in your community.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Kwanza or whatever you celebrate. I hope that you get to celebrate with those who mean the most to you.

God bless you all and the City of Lynn.

Rick

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