Message sent – Administration and Council will face more Challenges!

 The vote on approving to Amend High School Project budget by $39,850,848, if you watched the Council meeting, seemed to pass 7-2. But as I pointed out Tuesday night on our Saturday Morning Live Facebook page, I believed it failed because it needed ¾ of the entire City Council and not just those in attendance, meaning it required eight votes to pass. Some doubted me, but as the City Solicitor shows in his letter to the City Council, it does take eight. (see his letter below at end of column)

The message sent by Councilors Gitschier and Descoteaux was clear; “We have lost faith in the City’s representative from Skanska, Jim Dowd.

Mr. Dowd, in his few appearances before the Council, comes across to me as being disrespectful and arrogant. (insert your own “which councilor does he remind you of?” shot here )

Mayor Rourke and Councilor Mercier made it clear they were frustrated with him, but didn’t want to slow down or jeopardize the project.

I support the views of Gitschier and Descoteaux. This gentleman doesn’t belong as the face of this project anymore, and if he didn’t get that message last Tuesday night, these two motions on the Council Agenda this week really make it clear :

1. Robinson / C. Gitschier – Req. City Mgr. have the proper department explore and provide the Council with process required to replace the Owners Project Manager for the remainder of the High School Project.
2. Robinson / C. Gitschier – Req. City Mgr. explore hiring a Clerk of Works to protect the City’s interest on the remainder of the High School project.

However, with my limited knowledge of MSBA rules, I don’t believe you can replace the OPM this far into the project. Minimally, someone from Skanska needs to have Dale Caldwell, who is already listed on the LHS Project team home page as Senior Vice President, replace him to represent the company.

Based on the continuing problems with the elevator at LHS (has anyone let Facility Directors Underwood /Leahy out after they became trapped this week?) and the shoddy door handles in the building that has been turned over to the city already, do we really want the same person or people signing off on the portion that is supposed to open this January?

Maybe we need to hire Mark Byrne or Roger Bourgeois to oversee the remaining project, but where does that funding come from?

Since there is no motion to “reconsider” last Tuesday’s vote, what happens next?

I’m betting the current Administration (who inherited this project) will have to get Skanska /Perkins Eastman / Suffolk to lower THEIR projected cost (or profit) and come back with a reduced amount by at least 4-5 million.

The project isn’t stopping. I was at LHS twice this week, both before and after the meeting, and Suffolk was still at work.  Just to remind everyone, Skanska is Lowell’s OPM, Perkins Eastman is the design and architecture firm. They are the ones who set the plans and direct Suffolk on what to build or not build. Suffolk can try to submit a change order. It doesn’t mean Skanska has to approve it!

This will be settled in the next month or so, but make no mistake, in my view it’s to late for any substantial “value engineering” and we need to complete this project without any shortcuts. As I believe Councilor Gitschier stated “This ISN’T ABOUT LOCATION.” It’s about looking out for the Lowell Taxpayer!

Thank Goodness we are UNDER TAXED! No one wants to hear me say or write that, but the fact is Lowell is about $14 Million UNDER what the City could be charging for property tax. We know that for the next three YEARS, whatever property tax increase occurs before any money goes to operations (fire, police, schools), 1.6% or approximately $2.4-$2.6 million will be just for the cost of the LHS project (including the $40 Million +/- ).

So above the “normal” 2.5%,. we are already looking at a MINIMUM 4.1% increase. Then add in rising cost of labor, health insurance, Cherry sheet assessment and charter school assessment and I see Lowell looking at a steady 5%-5.5% increase every year for the next three years, which make the potential Frontrunner City and LINC projects so imperative. New growth is necessary and needed to help current Lowell taxpayers.

A Phantom Vote? Or Phantom Charge?

We knew that the upcoming Senate race was going to be rough and tumble, and it looks like it has already begun.

There is a free daily morning newsletter that covers politics and policy in Massachusetts called MASSter List.

I’ve looked at it off and on, but Friday’s edition had a headline that caught my attention;

“A Phantom Vote in the House?”

A phantom vote is when a State Representative isn’t present for a roll call vote, but someone else pushes the button and makes it appear they voted. This used to happen 10-20 years ago regularly, the most famous instance being in 2008 when then-Rep. Charley Murphy was on vacation in St. Croix but managed to vote on seven roll calls!

The article claims” a review of a video recording of the House session does not appear to show Rep. Vanna Howard at her seat during the roll call vote. Rep. Paul Donato, wielding the gavel, reminded lawmakers several times to stay in the chamber for roll call votes. At one point, the video appears to show another lawmaker lean over Howard’s desk and push a button.

When the newsletter contacted Rep. Howard, she sent a statement that said; “I was in [the] House session on Nov. 18 and arrived late to my campaign kickoff fundraiser that night.”

To my knowledge, there is no penalty for violating this House rule and honestly is this really so outrageous? The MA State Senate allows remote voting, why doesn’t the HOUSE? If she wasn’t there, she could have zoomed in and voted. My guess is this is the first of many of these really nonsense issues we will see between now and March 3^rd.

Miscellaneous Notes: Hard to believe that Jim Dowd and Erik Gitschier were Daley School Classmates! BTW, to the people that emailed me, Erik also grew up/ hung out with and coached Sean Edwards’s son in baseball. Sean is a VP at Suffolk Construction… How many of these “trapped in the LHS elevator” calls requiring Fire Department response will the city charge to their Maintenance of Effort charges against the school department?

Finally a note of passing to those that remember Fr. Jon Martin. Fr. Martin was assigned to St. Michael’s here in Lowell when I was a kid growing up. Jon was the original singing priest! He was involved in many Lowell events and though he faced some personal challenges later in his priesthood, I always remember his big voice, big smile and big heart. Fr. Martin passed away November 30^th.

Never Forget! A Date That Will Live in Infamy

December 7, 1941, marks the day of the surprise military attack by Japan on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, leading to the United States’ entry into World War II.

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HELPED US RAISE MUCH NEEDED FUNDS DURING THE RADIOTHON YESTERDAY !!!