The speed with which City Councilors have raced through meetings during the 2024 term is likely to come to a screeching halt Tuesday night, as a number of agenda items loom like giant speed bumps on the road to 7:30pm adjournment.
Only five City Council motions are listed, but two of them are of significant interest. Add in Public Hearings on parking rates (always a “fun” topic) and Code of Conduct, six Manager Responses in prior motions and another half-dozen Informational Reports (three of which are budget related), plus a vote on “Bad Bills,” and the 10pm curfew could be in play. (Click here to view the full agenda)
Discussion on motions 5.1 and 5.5 could get very interesting, thought it’s unlikely we’ll get to hear one of them:
Odds are the request to notify Lupoli Companies of the council’s intent to terminate the current HCID agreement will be sent to Executive Session due to potential legal ramifications, but the smart money is on there being enough votes to pass Councilor Erick Gitschier and Councilor Corey Robinson’s joint motion once the doors close.
Forces are already being marshalled to fight the joint motion by Councilor Kim Scott and Mayor Danny Rourke, which is kind of a shame, because education should be about learning and the idea deserves to at least be vetted by the School Committee.
At the very least, can we get to hear the pros and cons to see if there’s a way to return to more of a neighborhood schools model while ensuring the resource disparities that led to the consent decree 35-years ago are dealt with?
Lastly, the budget: there are a lot attachments and info in the packet, all of it pointing to another sizable tax increase. So far, the Golden administration is being tight lipped on the percentage they’re looking to go up, and while I’m no budget expert (I only play one on podcasts), I wouldn’t be at all shocked if another 3.5%-4% is in the offing.
“Show” time is 6:30pm Tuesday. Grab the popcorn and enjoy!
One response to “City Council Preview: Bring a Sleeping Bag?”
the easiest way to make sure that neighborhood schools stay equal in terms of resources and teaching quality is to institute school assignment rotations for teachers. It’s much easier to have one person drive to a different school every two-three years than it is to pick up, bus, and drop off 30 kids. Plus, this would give kids from every school access to some of the best teachers and those teachers, through their union, can hold the administration’s feet to the fire to make sure each campus is getting appropriately resourced.
Toss in a magnet school north of the river and another one south and Lowell could have a top-notch program.