Hi everyone,
We can officially say that we are halfway through this nightmare of a year. We can only hope and pray that the second half of 2020 is better than the first half. I hope that you are all well and are enjoying the beginning of summer and the beginning of things opening up more around here. It is great to see the number of new cases remain in the single digits and on Monday, we had zero new cases in Lynn though it was at eight on Tuesday. Tuesday was also the first time that I have seen the state record zero deaths. It is unfortunate that we have lost 101 Lynn residents to the virus and I offer my condolences to all who have lost loved ones. A lot of the work that we have been doing at the Salvation Army has slowed to delivering to the shrinking numbers of Covid positive households with Councilors Cyr, Hogan and Colucci taking care of the bulk of that work. The number of people in need is still great. Capt. Johnson told me yesterday that they gave out over 500 boxes of groceries to people who either walked or drove to the Salvation Army and they continue to do that daily.
As we begin to open things back up, we are back to in person city council meetings even though we are spaced out in the council chamber and outside participants are required to phone in. At last night's meeting we set down a public hearing for the FY21 City Budget which will be on July 14th. Hopefully by that point, City Hall will be open to the public. If it is not, provisions will be made which will allow residents an opportunity to offer comment. The proposed budget should be made available shortly on the lynnma.gov web site. While the city was on track coming out of our financial crisis, Covid-19 has brought everything including city finances to a screeching halt. The preliminary budget presented to the council from the Mayor and CFO is balanced but that was only made possible from a series of cuts from almost every department. While state aid numbers looked good before the pandemic, we are still unsure where we stand now but expect that it will now be significantly lower. The city has also seen a large drop in meals taxes and fees that are typically collected. The sooner that we can get businesses open and people back to work everywhere, the sooner that we can get back to normal, both in our lives and finances. The budget did include for some infrastructure improvements including our share of the Complete Streets and TIP Essex St. Corridor overhaul. We unfortunately are not going to see as many Ward Two streets repaved as I would have liked but Wilson St and Waitte Ave, which is a very high traffic road in bad shape will be repaved. I am still hoping that we can get some of the streets around Ford School and Fays Ave done and will keep working toward that.
While we are on the subject of funding, I think that we have all heard the demands for communities to de-fund our police departments. Lynn has been no different in this regard. Many of the requests that I received were form letters which basically painted all departments across the country with the same brush. This is not something that I support for Lynn and have felt that Lynn's police department has been underfunded and understaffed for years. Can things be improved through investments in education and training? Sure. Those are key investments for any line of work. Situations change, technology changes, the way we approach things change and we should be prepared to address those changes but I will not turn my back on the men and women of the Lynn Police Department who put their lives on the line every day to protect us. With proper funding, we can reinstate community policing to build relationships in the community and expand the Behavioral Health Unit to address mental and drug issues. I think that for the most part, Lynn's force is made up of Lynn kids who grew up here in our diverse community. It is not a profession for everyone and I hope that the new Use of Force Policy by Mayor McGee and Chief Mageary will help bring about meaningful change and trust within the community. We cannot paint every police department with the same brush and I am proud of our officers, some of whom are former students of mine who I worry about every day.
It is unfortunate that we will not be able to enjoy a typical July 4th. With fireworks, block parties and large gatherings cancelled, this will be a very different year. One of the highlights of my July 3rd in recent years is to attend the event at High Rock Tower which includes the reading of Fredrick Douglas' Speech, culminating with the fireworks seen from the best vantage point in the city. This year however, the reading of the Fredrick Douglas Speech will be done virtually and shown on LCTV at 6:00 PM on July 3rd. It will then be available on the Lynn Community Television You Tube page. As someone who usually reads passages on the steps of High Rock Tower, I was asked to read two passages during two recordings for this video. I invite you to listen especially with all that is going on in the world right now. As I said last month, we are experiencing the fighting of injustices that former Lynn resident Fredrick Douglas fought for 200 years ago.
One part of the 4th that we have all been experiencing since the beginning of May is illegal fireworks. I don't think that we have ever experienced anything like this in recent years and it is extremely disappointing to see the total lack of regard for fellow residents. The police are working hard to address the calls but it is a daunting task. I called in a complaint last week and there were almost a dozen fireworks calls ahead of mine. I recently spoke to Capt. Reddy who told me on one 5PM-1AM shift, they recorded 180 calls and that 120 were noise and fireworks related. They have experienced a 277% increase in fireworks calls in June alone. Under the current law, fireworks are not arrest-able and only carries a $100 fine. The problem is they can only fine a person who they actually see light it. If this virus has taught me one thing, it is how incredibly disrespectful people can be towards their neighbors. We have so many people who are home all day, with many making more money on unemployment that they begin partying at 11AM and go into the early morning hours blasting music and lighting off fireworks. I have never seen such a total disregard for others. The only enforcement authority is the police so please continue to call them. Perhaps we can use the number of calls to particular addresses to help identify nuisance properties and hold those property owners responsible to some degree. At last night's council meeting, Council President Cyr began appointing a new fireworks committee to work work with city official to take a look at our ordinances as well as our legislative delegation to make some changes which can put more teeth in enforcement going forward.
Speaking of disregard; Residents in the Waitte Ave-Eastern Ave intersection have begun to relive last year's takeover by "mourners" of the man killed in a motorcycle accident last year. While people have asked that we put a stop to it, it is their constitutional right to gather and they can do so peacefully but they cannot raise holy hell in the manner that they have been especially Sunday night when according to witnesses, they basically lit off a "bomb" in the mdidle of the street. I have been in contact with both LPD and DPW. I asked DPW to clear the site of all of the "decorations" that have been placed on the site as I have many times before and LPD is aware of the situation. If you live in the area and these folks begin to congregate, please call LPD and let them know especially if they begin to act out. I also called a friend of that family who I know and asked if he could reach out to these people who are disrupting the neighborhood and ask that they stop. I am not sure how effective that will be.
I do miss seeing everyone at our Ward Two meetings. I am hoping that we can resume in September. If not, maybe we can try a Zoom meeting but truthfully, I am Zoomed out. A Zoom meeting would save me on pizza though.
Please, Please, if you haven't already filled out the 2020 Census, please do it now. It is so quick and easy. It impacts our community so much and we need everyone to be counted more than ever. Please go to:
https://my2020census.gov/
to get started.
I hope that everyone has a fun and safe 4th of July and I hope that those who desire peace and quiet find it. You may unfortunately have an easier time finding it with a pair of noise cancelling headphones.
Happy 4th!!
Rick Starbard
