Happy New Year to all. May 2026 gift us with health, happiness and plenty of political fodder!

-Condolences to the family and many friends of Phil Shea, who passed away this week.

A tough Acre kid who never forgot his roots, he was a longtime political force in the city. I only had one opportunity to sit with him for a couple hours and hear some Lowell history, and wanted to do that again. Bill Samaras would ask him to come on WCAP, but we never could work out a date and Phil did say that he wasn’t really an early morning person.

-Tomorrow (Monday January 5^th), Lowell will have three new City Councilors sworn in (Belinda Juran, Sidney Liang and Sean McDonough), and for the first time in a while, we do not know with  100% certainty who the Council will select as Mayor.

Councilor Danny Rourke (current Mayor) and Councilor Vesna Nuon are the only two who have publicly declared for Mayor, while the latest news in the political bubble is that Councilor Erik Gitschier not only wants the position, but has three votes; his own, Councilor Corey Robinson’s and newbie Councilor McDonough, which McDonough confirmed this past Friday to InsideLowell.

There are some rumblings that Gitschier will have six votes after a couple rounds, allegedly “promising” to support Vesna Nuon two years from now?????

The remaining question is who will newly elected Councilor Juran support and would Councilor Nuon and his only stated supporter, Liang, all support Gitschier over Rourke?

-Will History Repeats itself?

When Councilor Gitschier was on the Greater Lowell Regional Technical High School Committee, he participated in 207 Rounds of voting to select a new School Superintendent.

In 1972 Ellen Sampson was elected Mayor on the 106th ballot. On inauguration day, Paul Tsongas and Phil Shea were the leading contenders, but neither could get the 5th vote necessary at that time. After 15 ballots on Inauguration Day, the council voted to recess and resume voting at the next evening’s regularly scheduled council meeting.

During the 51 ballots cast that night, Shea, Tsongas and Councilor Richard P. Howe all received four votes on various ballots, but none could reach the magic number of five. Another recess was held and two nights later, after 40 more ballots, Shea announced he was withdrawing his candidacy and would vote for Sampson, who was elected on the next ballot.

Could we see a Round 1 vote of Rourke 5 -Gitschier 3 – Nuon 3 and then the question becomes how many rounds would Councilors stick with their 1^st choice? Could we see a repeat of 2013 or 1972?

I’ll suggest (which should kill the idea immediately) that John Descoteaux step forward as a compromise selection after ten rounds. He’s retired, so he has the time, is well spoken, has experience with the schools and budgeting, and like Bud Caulfield could be a singing mayor (although he’s not as good as Bud!)

-On the School Committee side, Danielle McFadden will be sworn in as the newest member. Good Luck to her!

-It appears if NOT the compromise Mayor, Councilor John Descoteaux will be the new Vice Chair.

-Reminder, Lowell High School has a 2-hour delayed opening Monday January 5^th as another part of the renovated school is turned over to the city. Teachers have to set up their rooms after packing up their classes on December 19^th. Hopefully, this portion was inspected thoroughly BEFORE the City took possession.

-Thank You for your years of service and best wishes to Shannon Norton-Calles, the outgoing Executive Director of the Lowell Career Center, who is leaving the city to take on a new position later this month.

-What’s the over/under for Voter turnout in the First Middlesex Senate Race on February 3^rd? Has any candidate Rodney Elliott -Joe Espinola -Vanna Howard -Sam Meas stood out to you?

No doubt because of the holidays, aside from social media posts (Hi I’m in Pepperell / Dracut/Tyngsboro going door to door with another elected official, if you voted for them and they like me, will you vote for me?), has this election or any candidate caught your attention?

-We’ve heard a lot, including from me, about the “potential” of what the Frontrunner City program can/might be able to do. Isn’t it about time we get at least one announcement of a “major” project in the next few weeks?

-Talk about a big OOPS!

Somehow Tyngsboro’s Finance Department incorrectly REDUCED the tax levy that was set and voted on by $1.8 Million, and now taxpayers bills in February and May will correct the problem by being charged at the higher rate.

-Did Dracut Taxpayers pay any attention to what happened in Tewksbury because they did not comply with the MBTA Zoning requirements?

At the December 17 Tewksbury School Committee meeting, outgoing Superintendent of Schools Brenda Regan said the district was recently notified it was “currently ineligible for certain educational grant funding due to the town of Tewksbury’s noncompliance with the MBTA Communities Act.” That funding was estimated to be around $350,000.

Dracut can’t afford to lose any amount of State funding.

-Are we seeing more State Ballot questions because people are tired of the snail-paced performance of the Massachusetts Legislature, or because special interest groups are motivated and can get enough signatures (great part time paying jobs) to get these questions on the ballot?

Either way, will those elected to office get the message they actually need to pass meaningful legislation or risk Massachusetts going to “change by Ballot Initiative Legislation” every two years?

-What are your thoughts on the following questions already approved for the November 2026 ballot?

For questions to appear on the Massachusetts ballot, 74,574 certified signatures need to be collected to move on in the process.

• An Initiative Petition for a Law to Implement All-Party State Primaries, which would eliminate political party primaries for state elections. This initiative received 79,032 signatures.“
• An Initiative Petition to Protect Tenants by Limiting Rent Increases, which would limit the annual rent increase for residential units in the state. This initiative received 88,132 signatures.
• “Initiative Petition for a Law Relative to Election Day Registration, which would allow voters to update their voter registration on Election Day. This initiative received 87,408 signatures.
• “Initiative Petition for a Law Relative to Reducing the State Personal Income Tax Rate from 5% to 4%, which would lower the state personal income tax over a three-year period. This initiative received 86,970 signatures.
• Initiative Petition for a Law Relative to Regulating Marijuana, which would change the type and amount of marijuana that can legally be possessed in the state. This initiative received 78,301 signatures.
• Initiative Petition for a Law to Improve Access to Public Records, which received 89,013 signatures, would make most records held by the Legislature and the office of the governor public records under the Massachusetts Public Records Law. This ballot question has been championed by State Auditor Diana DiZoglio amid her ongoing battle to audit the Legislature.
• Initiative Petition for an Act to Reform and Regulate Legislative Stipends, which received 96,797 signatures, would change the method for calculating stipends paid to certain state legislators on top of their base salaries.
• Initiative Petition for a Law Relative to Labor Relations Policies for Committee for Public Counsel Services Employees, which received 86,153 signatures, would specify that employees of the Committee for Public Counsel Services are permitted to engage in collective bargaining with their employer.
• Initiative Petition for a Law Relative to Limiting State Tax Collection Growth and Returning Surpluses to Taxpayers, which received 85,588 signatures, would change the limit on how much revenue the state can collect in a given year.