Have to admit I laughed my backside off when reading a post on Facebook that took exception to Dick Howe’s weekly newsletter / column about the Senior Center issue last Sunday.

The first thing that came to my mind was, It’s always “THE GOOD OLE BOYS”…until they’re YOUR BOYS!

This section of Dick’s post seemed to really annoy the Mayor and his supporters:

From personal knowledge I can attest that the Lowell City Solicitor in 2001 was highly competent as were the other lawyers in the office at that time, so I’m quite certain that the omission of the 20-year reversionary term was intentional and not accidental.

I have no personal information about why it was omitted but can make a pretty good guess. Had a 20-year reversionary clause been included in the deed, it would have prevented City Barns Trust from obtaining a mortgage to pay for the renovations and the project would have fallen through. (Notably, on May 6, 2002, City Barns Trust obtained a $15 million mortgage on this property from Atlantic Bank of New York.)

You might then ask, why didn’t the parties clearly memorialize this agreement in some other document to avoid any ambiguity? The short answer is that no one wanted to be indicted for bank fraud since executing and accepting a deed that omitted the 20-year reversion to induce a bank to make a loan while entering a “side agreement” on the excluded provision would be a federal crime.

The Mayor posted on Facebook: “It is very hard to watch people try to discredit or say they didn’t execute proper documents without any facts to back it up. Remember we had four Attorneys on the City Council at the time (Eileen Donoghue, Dan Tenczar, Richard Howe Sr, and Bill Martin), we also had two of the very best Attorney’s on staff, David Fenton and Tom Sweeney.

Attorney Fenton won the municipal attorney of the year awards and Attorney Sweeney was more than qualified. For anyone to suggest that the group didn’t know what they were doing, or that they somehow made a deal is a complete joke.

If you ever worked around the two Attorneys, you would understand, they had integrity”

I don’t disagree with the mayor about the City Attorney’s reputation and I would prefer to think that these men were not careless, sloppy or dishonest, but were doing what they thought best for the city.

What the Mayor and many others forget is that the city of Lowell was in very tough shape, especially the Acre area. The business climate was also very different and things were not always black and white.

Lowell was fortunate to have honorable, successful businessmen like Mike Demoulas, Gil Campbell, Elkin McCallum and George Berhakis. These men not only loved the city, but invested in it and were also all very charitable people. They were honorable men whose word could be trusted. Handshake “side deals” with these honorable men happened and most went off without issue.

Somewhere along the way, the partnership for the City Barns between Mr. Behrakis and Mr. Sarris seems to have dissolved and the “side handshake” agreement with the honorable Mr. Behrakis along with it. Look at these UNDENIABLE FACTS:

• The City filed a Purchase and Sale with the Registry of Deeds on May 9^th, 2001, with the intention of selling the property at 276 Broadway St to Lowell Restoration Inc. The document states in part “at the end of the lease period Lowell Restoration Inc. shall gift and donate the leased premises to the City of Lowell”
• The City and City Barns Trust entered into a Quick Deed on October 5th, 2001.
• The City entered into a Lease with City Barns LLC also on October 5^th, 2001.

Clearly, three separate entities and the one who filed the deed didn’t mention gifting. The group that mentions gifting never owned the property!

Why doesn’t a 29-year former Register of Deeds, who is also a lawyer and whose father was also a lawyer and 40-year city councilor, not qualify as a reasonable judge of actions back then?

That’s like when Ed Kennedy said the School Department Transportation Coordinator wasn’t a transportation expert during the High School issue.

I’d rather believe Mr. Sweeney and the Lowell Law department were not incompetent or corrupt, but rather along with the City Council at that time, did what they truly believed was in the best interest of the City by making major improvements in a blighted neighborhood, confident in the fact Mr. Berhakis would be, as he was always known to be, a man of his word.

Who would have suspected 20 years ago that Nick Sarris wasn’t in the same class?

Collateral Damage? If You remember Oct 2022

1. Robinson/C. Gitschier – Req. City Mgr. Dedicate/Name The Lowell Senior Center After Councilor Rita Mercier

When doing some research, I found the following:  A city or town in Massachusetts can name a rented building for someone, however one of the stipulations is;

Owner Permission: When renting private space, the owner’s consent is crucial to avoid issues regarding the “right of publicity” or confusion over ownership.

What are the chances that after what some of these Councilors and the Mayor have said and insinuated about Mr. Sarris that he would allow the city to change the name of a building he owns if we have to go the way of a new lease?

In my opinion, it would be a shame if the name of the Senior Center couldn’t be named for Councilor Mercier for another 15 years because five of these current Councilors refuse to accept what many of us have realized. The LAW favors Mr. Sarris over the good intentions of the 2001 Administration and Council.

Haven’t needed Outside Council for 29 years: Maybe I missed something, but a quick (hour or two) search of old agendas on the City of Lowell Web Site and Lowell Sun and blogging articles, I cannot find a time that Councilor Mercier advocated or voted in support of the City Council hiring their own lawyer.

When the City Council was named in the voting rights lawsuit specifically, they used the Solicitor.

When the High School location was challenged, those Councilors in opposition of bringing it to a public vote after the City Council followed MSBA guidelines, did not hire their own lawyer. (Even though I supported downtown, I believe the Cawley Councilors could have won that legal fight).

So why at this time, in a case where it is clear the intention to hire a lawyer is to get their opinion on who “owns” the Senior Center (which she cannot even vote on) is she in support?

Or did I answer my own question above?

Council can Hire their own Lawyer: I understand the City Solicitor being ticked at the disrespect shown to him by some of these councilors, but to say we have to check the charter to see if they can hire a lawyer is a stretch. I can’t find any place in the charter that says you can’t (nor one that clearly says you can).

The Charter does state: Section 39. The city council shall not directly or indirectly take part in the employment of labor, the purchase of material, the construction, alteration or repair of any public works or other property, or in the care, custody or management of the same, or in general in the expenditure of public money, or in the conduct of the executive or administrative business of the city, except as may be necessary for defraying the contingent and incidental expenses of the city council, nor shall it take part in the making of contracts

But that doesn’t exclude them from hiring their own lawyer. BTW if we are to follow that portion of the Charter, why don’t we follow the City Ordinance that states:

50-7City Solicitor. He shall annually, in the month of February, make a report to the City Council of the business of his office during the year, stating the suits pending in favor of or against the City at the time of his report, with a brief description of each, and such other information as in his opinion the interests of the City may require.

We know other communities have City Councils with their own lawyers.  In 2021, Fall River City Council Hired a lawyer. n 2018, Cambridge at least considered it and as of 2025 were still discussing it.

Interestingly, the Fall River City Council voted unanimously in 2021 to hire Boston-based law firm KP Law as its own legal representative — a first for that legislative arm of city government.

KP law is on retainer with the City of Lowell and has one of the best reputations in the state for municipal law. Unlike the paranoia of the Mayor, I would trust them to supply the best possible unbiased legal advice to the Council.

If they are dead set on hiring a lawyer “they” pick, how many rounds will that vote take? How is one selected with a 5-5 split vote?

I would argue because of the stated reason by Mayor Gitschier to get an unbiased opinion on who owns the building, which is on record, Councilor Mercier should not be able to vote on hiring an outside lawyer for an unbiased opinion.

In 2021, KP charged $275 an hour. Today a really good Land /Deed /Lease Attorney may go around $400 an hour.

The Mayor / City Councilor Gitschier’s “stipend” of $25K -$30k hasn’t been touched since July 1 and he can’t collect it, so you could hire a lawyer for up to 50 hours and it is done with money that was already in Salary and Wages for the Council.

Do I think it is a waste of time and money?

Hell YES, but the paranoia being shown by this Mayor that the “Good Ole Boys” (even those he holds in high regard) are sticking it to the taxpayers again isn’t going to change until and unless the Council hires their own lawyer and when whoever it is tells the gang of 5 (possible 6 if I include Councilor Mercier who can’t vote on it) that the City Solicitor has been correct all along, then what?

Does the Mayor or any of these Councilors apologize for wasting taxpayers money? (I highly doubt it)

Do any apologize to the Solicitor for their attitude and attack on his character ? (No chance in hell)

Soon the plans to use Market Street for a one stop shop for permits-inspections and DPD will be replaced by calls to instead make it the NEW Rita Mercier Senior Center!!!

If not that, then Councilors will express their wrath on the new lease, and maybe rightfully so, but here’s my suggestion:

The lease should be dropped down to $450,000 yearly with a clause that clearly states City Barns waves any further legal actions to collect unpaid back rent along with a 100% solid gift back clause.

In consideration for these actions, in a separate “Gentlemen’s Handshake Agreement” Mr. Sarris will have dropped his price and agrees to allow the Senior Center to be bear the name Rita Mercier Senior Center upon her retirement from the Council and Mayor Gitschier will present Mr. Sarris with a Key to the City in recognition of his years of support and service to the City at a City Council meeting before November of 2026.

WHY WHY WHY?? I may be in the minority,  but I like Councilor Sean McDonough, though I can’t for the life of me figure out what he was accomplishing by disparaging Rockland Trust Bank, InsideLowell and a potential expansion of the Athenian Corner that could include a hotel along with the Frontrunner City people during his recent WCAP appearance.

Rockland Trust, InsideLowell and the Athenian Corner are all businesses in HIS DISTRICT!

Why he chose to go on with Gary Francis and Francisco Maldonado (Lowell’s version of Statler and Waldorf) to bash everyone from John Cox to Brian Martin and these businesses is beyond me.

Rockland Trust, aside from being businesspeople and laying off Enterprise staff, seems to be a good and helpful community partner. I get he’s pissed at Teddy because he has tweaked him since the mayor’s vote and now agrees Mr. Sarris owns the Senior Center, but why attack the Frontrunner City people and Teddy’s family for wanting to invest in the city?

I get he is frustrated because some have kicked the crap out of him since the Mayor’s vote, but if you are going to be in politics, you need a thicker skin.

Will there be a Lowell Candidate: Rourke OUT – Robinson?

City Councilor Rourke has thanked people who have reached out to him to consider a State Representative run for the seat currently held by Rodney Elliott, but he has decided at this time to stay on the Council and in his present full-time job.

Councilor Corey Robinson is still considering the opportunity and will make a decision soon.