Earlier today, District 2 (Centralville) Representative Corey Robinson released a statement on his Facebook page today regarding the motion on tomorrow night’s City Council meeting agenda requesting the Mayor and Council enter into contract negotiations with City Manager Tom Golden.

The motion, filed by At-Large Councilor Rita Mercier, has been the “hot topic” around town since the agenda was made public last Thursday afternoon. It also dominated the discourse on today’s InsideLowell Daily Pulse podcast, featuring Teddy Panos and former City Councilor Marty Lorrey.

Robinson becomes the second councilor to express hesitancy to support the motion at this time, joining At-Large Councilor Erik Gitschier, who shared his thoughts the day the motion was filed. Besides Mercier filing the motion, no other councilor has released any kind of public statement about the motion, though conventional wisdom is that it will likely pass.

With Robinson’s permission, here is his social media post earlier this afternoon, in it’s entirety:

“As an active municipal employee with over twenty years of experience in negotiating Collective Bargaining Agreements, a strength that I am proud to bring to the Lowell City Council – are skills at developing fair and reasonable terms for employment contracts. Bartering for benefits packages, conditions of employment, salaries, and wages is well known to me.

Also, I have experience hashing out practical policies and procedures, clarifying job descriptions, and establishing job performance metrics so that employees can accurately be evaluated during professional development reviews. I feel more than ready to approach the motion filed to begin a conversation around a potential contract extension for our City Manager in the appropriate time frame.

I haven’t been too impressed or persuaded from what I have read on the usual media outlets from the predictable band of “influencers” regarding this motion. First, let’s say out loud what most of us know— some are in favor of this based on the personal relationship they have with the individual.

Others are supportive of this idea as they have personally benefited from their proximity to this individual. This type of coziness isn’t healthy for objective decision-making. Admitting all this upfront clarifies the who, what, and why certain opinions are given the spotlight.

I don’t buy into some of the speaking points being blasted out of the same old bullhorns.

The University’s LINC Project is just that, the University’s. Timing is everything, and UML has really come through, based on what we are told.

The ARPA money has carried the City’s budget a long way over the past couple of years. What will FY26 look like as ARPA starts to dry up? Or, the fiscal years there after?

The front-runner city designation is just beginning to get off the ground. At this point, there’s a signed MOU. That’s a great start. But, we need to look no further than the Hamilton Canal District and the current challenges bogging Lowell down. We are all aware that promises based on handshakes are not economic development. We must see outcomes. We can’t cash in on marketing bullet points.

I do agree with the idea of consistency in executive leadership. This position is under contract for another twenty-six months. What is the sudden sense of urgency? The next council will have sixteen months to begin this process with a little more tangible data to consider in regards to this employee’s handling of some of the key speaking points our residents are prioritizing.

Is the timing right to move forward with this motion? I am eager to begin these public conversations as only discussions around contract specifics would be reserved for executive session.

To me, this is an issue of timing as opposed to employee performance.”