The Lowell Connection
Something strange is going on at Lawrence City Hall. Every time there is a high-paying job opening with the city, it seems that the “best qualified professional” happens to be an outsider with many department heads from other cities.
Now there seems to be a straight line to Lowell. It started with Theresa Park in the Planning Department. Then came Acting Commissioner of the Water Department Daniel Lahiff, Comptroller Ramona Ceballos, and now the new Treasurer is Kelly Oakes. These two positions in the finance office do not have to go before the City Council and the Budget and Finance Director, Mark Ianello, has absolute control as to who gets hired.
Take a look at “How to make a city better” by James O’Donoghue on page 17; he touches on that issue of hiring outsiders over Lawrencians. It has nothing to do with the Residency Law because, in order to find “the best qualified candidates” we may have to occasionally go outside of the city. Repeating that tendency so often (and particularly from one city) makes me wonder if some day we might be able to bring Councilor Rita Mercier to the Lawrence City Council. She’ll straighten everybody out!
Don’t talk about it; it’ll go away
We have not heard any more about Firefighter Joseph Carberry’s case after he pled guilty but there are still issues left to solve. Among them, who in the police department decided to keep the sawed off shotgun out of the police report when he was arrested. That was the most serious case against him.
A few weeks ago, the Lawrence City Council requested that Chief James Fitzpatrick appear before that body and he was a no show. Also, on page 17, William Green has some interesting points about the City Council’s responsibilities when dealing with the police chief. He quoted directly from the employment contract between the city and the chief showing that they have direct command over the chief and he is obligated to follow the Council’s mandates.
This city is such a mess! Chief Fitzpatrick didn’t know that he was being insubordinate and the councilors had no idea that they could demand his presence at their meeting.
The same occurred with vandalism at the stadium last week. These are some of the pictures I sent to the mayor and others at City Hall and no one knows about it. I believe they cleaned and repaired the damage right away. Everything for the sake of maintaining the image of the city. Hiding things and controlling the media is not the way to instill faith and pride. They are only creating mistrust and doubt in everything we hear.
Mayor Rivera’s Christmas party/fundraiser
I was talking to some people who were invited to the mayor’s party only to find that he was looking for money. The interesting point is that they told me that Mayor Rivera invited the contractors who work on the snow plowing and removal to a meeting. Apparently, they thought it was to discuss arrangements for the coming season but the real purpose was to invite them to his Christmas party. Council President Kendrys Vasquez and City Councilor Estela Reyes were present.
I find distasteful that the mayor invites city contractors to his fundraisers.
Nothing for kids to do in this city
People use that for excuse when discussing delinquency and crime in Lawrence. There are many who prefer blaming parents for not supervising enough their children. Those are very simplistic responses. I do know the many activities around the city for children to get involved in because we cover them, participate and publicize what many organizations do.
Just to name a few, the Boys and Girls Club is notorious for the many after school programs available from sports, tutoring, homework assistance, arts and crafts and numerous professionals sharing their expertise. They are famous for the quality of citizens they raise in this community. By the time they go home for the night, they have been already fed a hot meal.
The Essex Art Center has dozens of art classes at very reasonable prices although they cover the cost if the family cannot manage the cost – which tends to be extremely reasonable.
The Youth Writing Workshop for students in grades 6 through 10 at the Merrimack Valley Immigrant & Education Center is a great opportunity for students showing an interest in writing Fee is $10 registration for each session and scholarships are available.
The YMCA has the famous Music Club where children go after school until closing time. They learn all about music, from writing, playing many instruments and performing. And, while they are taking advantage of these free programs, they receive a free membership to use the gym, play basketball, swim and participate in all the YMCA can offer.
The Lawrence Public Schools provide many programs at all levels. Probably the first place most people think of as this being important is the high school, where there is really no shortage of options:
As far as athletics, there are roughly 20 varsity sports teams offered in fall/winter/spring almost all of which also have junior varsity and/or freshman teams as well.
Of course there’s more to life than sports, and there are roughly 17 official clubs which meet regularly on campus, including the Art Club, Book Club, computer Coding Club, Dance Club, the Lawrencian Newspaper, a literary magazine, Mock Trial Club, Robotics Club, Writers’ Club, our first ever Drumline, the Student Leadership Council, the yearbook staff, and even a Rubik’s Cube Club.
Then of course there is the drama program, chorus and band programs, and the JROTC program, which as you know is a huge presence at the high school and one of the very best in the state. I’m no doubt forgetting some.
Important to note: The district provides late buses (at 6:30 and a new extra late bus at 7:30) to make sure lack of transportation doesn’t keep kids from being able to participate. They need to be able to get home safe!
At the middle and elementary school levels, there are many offerings which vary by school and you can call around to get a sampling of you think that might be helpful; some obvious examples are the expanded music, band and theatre opportunities (as you know from our holiday show schedule). District-wide there is the middle school intramural sports program, which – with support from the Play Ball! organization — has grown to 12 co-ed sports at 13 schools, serving roughly 2000 students in grades 5-8.
We have many other organizations with smaller programs that are equally effective in educating our children and keeping them safe. It’s up to parents to show them what’s available and get them hooked.
