Satisfactory Resolution coming soon? If the very quiet whispers are true, a Resolution to the Senior Center situation will be coming in the near future. One that doesn’t involve relocating and one that will allow for expansion.
I’m told Mr. Sarris and the City are working TOGETHER to find a resolution that will be fair and equitable to not only them, but should have the support of the majority of the knowledgeable, rational city councilors. On this week’s Council Agenda:
CITY COUNCIL – EXECUTIVE SESSION
10.1. Executive Session – To Consider And Discuss The Purchase, Exchange, Lease, Or Value Of Real Property (The Senior Center, 276 Broadway Street), Public Discussion Of Which May Have A Detrimental Effect On The Negotiating Position Of The City.
Welcome Draper but can you be quiet and make sure the bricks look pretty?
It was Great Announcement by Chancellor Julie Chen and Draper Lab about the new Draper Impact Center coming to the Hamilton Canal.
The Draper Representative not only showed a rendition of the building, but it also showed an enclosed delivery dock and we were told twice how quiet the assembly area was. In fact, the woman mentioned twice you can walk down the hall and not hear it.
But Councilor Sidney Liang asked for a 3rd time if the building was going to be quiet That was after Councilor Belinda Juran decided welcoming a huge, well respect business to an area the city has been trying to develop for over 20 years needed to be “welcomed” by taking a cheap shot at Markey, asking if they can ensure the building looks pleasing, the bricks fit the neighborhood and isn’t just a box surrounded by a fence.
REALLY?
I’m supposed to READ the Information in the Packet? I saw a segment on Facebook from a Tuesday City Life show where Councilor Sean McDonough was critical of the Manager / City Administration for “giving” money to the University and critical of his fellow Councilors for not voting no a week ago like he did.
If you look in the Council Agenda Packet which came out last Friday, you would find the explanation: A quick summary:
In keeping with the City’s ongoing partnership following the 2023 sale of the park, CPF funding will be passed to the University of Massachusetts as a subrecipient by the City of Lowell. The City retains an existing easement for the Riverwalk and an ongoing license to use the park at certain times of the year.”
If Councilor McDonough had read or understood the packet he had for three days, maybe he could have explained it wasn’t city money, just a pass through since all the paperwork was done with the City’s name and it was just a paperwork shuffle.
FINALLY, Some Good High School News: In this week’s Council packet, there is an explanation about the proposed cost of the remediation needed in Coburn Hall: Project Team can estimate that the cost for the structural remediation work of Coburn Hall will be $350,000. The funding of this added structural remediation scope will be from within the current budget for the Project.
Confusing? Councilor Robinson introduces Mona Tyree at State Rep. Elliott’s St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast as the Candidate for the 16th Middlesex seat. Then after posting an “April Fools” announcement and receiving positive comments he decides to run?
I spoke with him on WCAP Saturday Morning Live and he said that Mona is also on board with him running and that she is staying in the race also. He believes he can represent the district and city well.
I get people don’t forgive or forget what he was accused of, then NOT prosecuted for, but this isn’t a case of him not backing a female candidate. It is, according to him, just giving people another candidate to choose from.
It’s interesting to me that the people who are criticizing him the most on social media are people outside of this district who can’t vote for any of the three candidates.
Reading’s Loss is Lowell’s Gain! Assistant Superintendent Wendy Crocker-Roberge has decided to stay in Lowell and NOT pursue the opportunity to be the Superintendent in Reading.
Budget debate never easy: It is never easy when it comes to budget season, but in the School Department’s case it, always drives me crazy when the CFO/Supt. don’t CLEARLY show the exact number of layoffs and the exact number of “new positions” or reimagined positions, what ever you want to call them.
They really need to make it easy enough for this a School Committee member to understand. (KIS)
I can guestimate after going through the budget school by school, about 140 layoffs to go along with 34 “New Positions,” but it would be a lot more “Transparent” clear to just show a list at the beginning of the budget book.
If you go the MA.Gov website, you will see “The Healey-Driscoll Administration has been focused on reimagining the high school experience – ensuring Massachusetts students are prepared for college or careers when they graduate high school.”
So why would the Head of School at Lowell High recommend eliminating a College/Career Counselor who just this week, in partnership with Project Learn, coordinated 80 CAREER SPEAKERS? Someone who runs the After Dark Program with Greater Lowell Tech, who brought students to an Electric Training school and had one student just get accepted there, who works hand in hand with the Greater Lowell Work Force Board coordinating Internship placements, Stem speakers at LHS, Leadership Roundtable at Middlesex Community College and an upcoming Career Fair at LHS w/ 40 presenters, not to mention early college and probably other programs I don’t even know about?
While on that topic, why would we eliminate a Bilingual student support specialist who deals extremely well with members of our Hispanic community, which is our leading dropout group?
This gentleman runs workshops during vacation periods to help the students in need, speaks daily with parents and oversees the Student Ambassador program.
I could easily defend the Bridge for Resilient Youth in Transition program, also. This program works with students who are coming back to school after dealing with personal issues from depression, attempted suicides, hospitalization issues and who are trying to find a way to fit school back into their lives.
I know choices are hard and positions need to be cut, but when a student who serves on the School Site Council says at a budget hearing “I made several other recommendations of non-student facing position of what to cut, but none were taken into consideration.”
Working in the Student Support office a couple days a week at LHS, I see firsthand the number of students who receive support and I work with a couple of the staff directly to find jobs and encourage them to stay in school and make up classes.
Find other areas beyond Student Support to cut!
Efforts to Override Prop 2.5 Growing! Several Massachusetts communities are actively proposing tax overrides for Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27), which begins on July 1, 2026, due to structural budget deficits and rising operational costs.
Documented towns and cities considering or setting FY27 overrides include Brookline, Malden, Medfield, Rutland, South Hadley, and the five Martha’s Vineyard towns (Edgartown, Tisbury, West Tisbury, Aquinnah, and Chilmark).
Similar to the 62 overrides in FY2024 and 46 in FY2025, many communities are planning override votes for FY27 to avoid severe service cuts.
With Dracut potentially facing an Override vote, I thought it would be interesting to see how these Overrides have fared in our area.
To try to simplify what an Override is: If the city or town is has reached their maximum tax capacity as set by Prop. 2.5, increasing the tax rate takes a vote by the residents. An override is usually for either educational or operational purposes.
Lowell is UNDER their maximum tax capacity by somewhere between $12 to $14 Million dollars, which is why property taxes can go up 5-5.5% without requiring an Override vote.
(Click here to see the history of override efforts in Massachusetts)
Greater Lowell History: Eight Greater Lowell Communities since 1991 have proposed overrides between 1989 to 2024. More have been defeated than have passed.
Chelmsford 8 (2 passed) All in early 1990’s
Dracut 13 (0 passed) Early 1990’s plus 2014
Dunstable 17 (10 passed) 1990’s – 2025
Littleton 8 (3 passed) 1990’s- 2006
Pepperell 9 (4 passed) 1990’s -2026
Tewksbury 2 (0 passed) 1997/2002
Tyngsboro 8 (1 passed) Early 1990’s 2006/2007
Westford 23 (8 passed) 1989-2024
9 responses to “Nutter’s Sunday Notes: April 5, 2026”
Wow, just got back from two weeks away and I can honestly say Lowell politics is always full of surprises. In regard to Corey Robinson’s campaign for the 16th Middlesex district seat, I think the elephant in the room is his treatment of women. For me (and yes I am a voter in this district), it’s a hard no to elect someone who has been accused of domestic violence and would publicly support a female friend then betray that friend to promote himself. Mona Tyree is a lovely person and deserves better treatment than that. I am looking forward to an election that features two intelligent, qualified female candidates. Best wishes to Mona. As a North Chelmsford resident, my bet is on Lorena Betts!!!
Isn’t it ironic that on Easter weekend Corey ‘Judas’ Robinsob backstabs a ‘lifelong friend.” I would certainly not want to be on his bad side, especially since we already knows what happens then.
Gerry the question was not about “giving” city money away.
Then again, you have taken the least generous interpretation of just about everything the 6 councilors who voted for the current mayor have done for the last 3 months. Hmm wonder why?
Believe it or not UML is also capable of applying for the CPF money, I went through a couple of years of the congresswoman’s earmarks and saw that they have had no problems in securing money for themselves. My question centered on why we were helping them with this money. We sold the ball park to them years ago, the packet did not indicate that this application for funds was begun before that sale took place.
You might also, at some point, realize that people live downtown and in the acre. You might also realize that those people have the same concerns about development as every other neighborhood in the city. Umass Lowell has been unwilling to work with their neighbors and most who live near the university don’t like that. My question, and general position towards UML, is that they need to work with the neighborhoods they develop in.
Happy Easter!
Hi Ladies!
Councilor Corey Robinson, in my limited interactions with him, has ALWAYS been a PERFECT, CONSIDERATE and UNDERSTANDING GENTLEMAN! I find him to be a very sensitive man. Ms Meikle, I have a question for you, have you ever been in Councilor Corey Robinson’s company or alone with him? Because I HAVE! Regarding the “ALLEGED” accusations, what is your opinion of WOMEN who have a lengthy track history of domestic abuse against boyfriends and destruction of property??? Councilor Corey Robinson has his beautiful and beloved mother living with him, that tells me all I need to know about his character! BTW “Lorraine”, Ms Mona Tyree publicly stated that she welcomes and supports competition, because it’s the democratic way!
Good morning Gerry,
It is interesting to see anyone push for less questions about projects in our city especially from elected officials.
Some projects come directly to mind, like the High School, Markley, even many City projects like road work.
Neighbors do want to know what they are going looking at like the Apple Orchard, yes many questions where asked on the Orchard should they have been asked? I guess that depends on who you are.
I spoke to the Chancellor after the meeting and she was extremely happy with the outcome, Draper didn’t seem phased by the questions, but seemed happy to talk about an amazing project.
Maybe more questions should have been asked about the Bus Lane on the over pass or the color of the brick on the High School (some people love it, some not so much).
The point is, projects are very complex and so are neighborhoods, questions should be shared in public so we all have clear guidelines.
I had no idea the amount of deliverables daily, or the sounds from the manufacturer, but I know people do ask questions and care.
Many of the questions were asked to the Councilors at the Downtown neighborhood meeting, and the Councilors kept their word to the residents and asked the questions to Draper.
The questions were asked in an inquisitive way for all to be on the same page, and for no other reason than to share information with the neighborhood.
I’m sure the City Councilors could have asked that Draper be at a neighborhood meeting to explain, but I’m sure an article would have questioned that also.
Have an amazing Easter!
Erik Gitschier
Hello Everyone, I am Mona Tyree and would like to Publicly speak on my own behalf.
Corey has been a friend and still is he did not backstab me , we had a conversation like friends do . I support Corey for adding his name to run. This is supposed to be a democracy and I fully believe everyone has that right and privilege to run if it so fits what you believe in. People assume that it is betrayal and it is not. We all are given a great opportunity to be of service. I welcome both Lorena and Corey to this opportunity. My bet is on Me ! Thank you for the opportunity to clarify.
My comment is not on all the reporting on budget, cut positions or high school training programs. It is on Lowell. I am well over 80 yrs of age. I was born in Lowell and have lived here worked here married and had my family here. So I know quite a bit of Lowell and what it was. The video promoting the city is very good, but it doesn’t show Lowell today. I do not have occasion to go downtown (not any longer) but last week did have occasion to come through last week. Coming from East Merrimack St. up through Merrimack St., and Kearney Sq (the heart of the city) I was appalled. Vacant store fronts, filthy empty buildgings once packed with Drs., Lawyers, restaurants, hair salons ect.homeless with their shopping carts stuffed with their positions,unreadable signs. Where is the Lowell that boasted “A lot to like about Lowell” Progress ??????????
They make the cuts hurt most so the committee won’t actually move forward with them. Pretty simple. It’s never about what’s best for the students
And counselor, the grant was already applied for during the sale negotiations, obviously UML can apply for their own grants. But this was already in process, stop making excuses and admit you didn’t know what you were talking about
The team takes on the identity of it’s coach. The current mayor scheming his way into the seat signaled a return to the worst kind of politics, validating the most pessimistic assumptions of so-called public servants who, first and foremost, serve the interests of themselves.