Advantage Gitschier w/assist from City Clerk – I have to think that Councilor Gitschier knew what he was doing (and who he was doing it to) when he simply asked the question “Could I get a roll call please on the motion.”

The motion in question was “Req. City Mgr. have the proper department draft an ordinance banning safe injection sites within City limits.” It sounded like Councilor Descoteaux seconded it (but the Vice Mayor never said so for the audience to hear) and the Clerk immediately started the roll call.

There was no formal objection to the process by Councilor Wayne Jenness because he didn’t have time for one. All he stated after the vote had begun was “Can we discuss still? We generally get to discuss motions before they’re voted on.”

But once the roll call began it was to late.

I believe Councilor Gitschier may have taken a bit of advantage, knowing the Vice Mayor was running the meeting, and 2 hours in, the Clerk who wasn’t formally asked by the Vice Mayor for any guidance, quickly began the roll call.

Councilor Gitschier did NOT “Move the Question” or make a motion to immediately move the question per Roberts Rules. Nothing in the City Council rules states that asking for a roll call vote immediately moves the question.

During a quick search, what I found was that “simply requesting a roll call vote on a council motion does not stop debate. A roll call is a voting method, not a motion to close debate. The council can continue discussing the matter even after a roll call has been requested”

My observation is that Councilor Gitschier correctly presumed that the Vice Mayor would assume a request for Roll Call with a second would end debate and immediately requested a roll call. Once the Vice Mayor called for the roll call, the City Clerk jumped on that request before any Councilor had the opportunity to speak on the matter.

My friend Melaine Gilberts of the Sun stated in her article “It was not clear what the council voted on.” To me it’s 100% clear the Council voted 9-1 to support the original motion to ban injection sites.

No formal motion was made to move the motion or end discussion, so there was no need of a vote on the roll call request. An alert councilor, two hours into the meeting, was wise enough to know he had an inexperienced person chairing the meeting and with a slight assist from the City Clerk, got his motion passed with little debate and kept the meeting moving!

Bahou Blunder – Speaking on City Life in a recent episode, Lowell School Committee member Fred Bahou claimed that School Committee candidate Danielle McFadden has advocated for INCREASED use of cell phones in the Lowell School Community.

Bahou, who isn’t running against McFadden, called out a candidate who is running city wide. I know Danielle and have read her post on Inside Lowell and her campaign site, but I never read or heard her mention cell phones! So, I asked her for comment regarding cell phones and Bahou’s statement. She was kind enough to reply with the following:

“When I saw this on City Life, I was surprised to hear someone claim that I support increasing the use of cell phones in the classroom. This statement is completely false. As a mother of Lowell Public School students, I know firsthand how distracting cell phones can be in the learning environment. I fully support keeping phones out of the classroom so that students can focus on what matters most — their education. I would never advocate for increased cell phone use during the school day. What I have said is that any adaptation and integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in Lowell Public Schools must be deliberate and thoughtful. Perhaps my comments about AI were misconstrued, but I assure you I know the difference between a cell phone and AI. My focus remains on ensuring our students and teachers have the best tools, strategies and environment to support meaningful learning.”

Question to Bahou and Conway, did you miss a memo? In the Superintendents evaluation, Committee member Bahou wrote “It seems like many of our new top hires are coming from a Chronically underperforming school district and long-term administrators in the LPS district are being picked over which is creating a scale of discomfort for many people district wide, including this school committee member.”

At the School Committee meeting last week, Committeeman Conway said someone even said, “Here comes another one for Lawrence.”

I’ve been informed that in FACT, of the 17 “top hires,” including three Principals, four Assistant Principal, Freshman Academy Director and various Coordinators, Assistant Coordinators and Department Heads, only five were from outside the district, and one who may have been considered an outsider, was actually a former Lowell Public Schools employee who was rehired.

My math says that means that around 65% of those hired were internal hirings. I don’t consider five “many,” but apparently Mr. Bahou does.

I was also told that the School Committee members were notified of these numbers in an email from the Superintendent in August, well before the evaluations.

In that same email, Superintendent Skinner, who if I remember correctly came up through the ranks of the Lowell School System himself, stated “We believe that hiring internal candidates for leadership roles can be highly beneficial for our school system — especially in an urban district where stability, culture, and trust are critical — because it creates a strong cycle of retention, continuity, and morale.”

Based on the evidence and comments by Committee members Bahou and Conway, I guess they just missed that memo!!

I lost the election, what am I going to do now?  If you’re Jose Cervantes, you are going to serve on the Hunger and Homeless Commission, and if you’re Erin Gendron, you are going to serve on the Council on Aging. Congratulations to both of them and Thank You for your service to the community.

Coming in October, Nutter and the Newsmakers! If you love me on radio and enjoy this column, look for my new podcast coming to InsideLowell in October.

Twice a month, I’ll be interviewing leaders of Lowell and the surrounding communities about events and issues. As I have done on the radio, I’ll bring in both the Town Managers and School Superintendents together to discuss what’s going in.

Chelmsford Town Manager Paul Cohn and Superintendent of Schools Jay Lang will be my first guests. I’m hoping to begin the second week of October.