Migrants a hot topic in Lowell
AFTER GOV. Maura Healey’s state of emergency on the migrant crisis in the commonwealth, followed by the news that Umass Lowell’s Inn & Conference Center was being considered as a housing site for those families, Lowell’s business and political leadership issued a series of statements on the crisis.
At-large City Council candidate Bobby Tugbiyele issued an unequivocal statement of support for the proposed plan to bring migrant families fleeing unrest and violence in their home countries to Lowell.
Migrants are people who are legally admitted to the United States. The Department of Homeland Security may temporarily “parole” aliens into the U.S. on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or a significant public benefit.
His press release of
Sept. 17 bore the title “Welcoming Migrants to Lowell,” and he advocated a vision of inclusiveness to “build a city where any individual, family or business owner who calls Lowell home can survive and, most importantly, thrive.”
It was a bold break with local political tradition in which only the mayor, who is elected by a majority vote of sitting council members, issues press releases on events in Lowell. Generally, political candidates will issue a press release announcing their candidacy, but releasing a statement on policy — especially from a non-officeholding candidate — is practically unheard of. Yet, his grassroots activism indicates the level of engagement and cross-collaboration required to make housing of the migrant families a success.
Just down the street from where Tugbiyele calls home, the Greater Lowell Chamber of Commerce released a letter it sent to Healey requesting more information and resources.
The nonprofit chamber represents more than 500 businesses and organizations in Lowell and the communities of Billerica, Chelmsford, Dracut, Lowell, Tyngsboro and Westford.
President and CEO Danielle Mcfadden closed her letter to Healey with, “We look forward to welcoming these immigrant families into the City of Lowell and ask that appropriate plans and resources are in place to assist them and all of Lowell’s residents.”
There are 80 cities and towns of the 351 in the commonwealth that are currently assisting in the humanitarian crisis.
Umass Lowell’s ICC is being eyed by the administration for its 252-room turnkey availability in a city filled with social services and supportive agencies that have experience ministering to the needs of refugees, evacuees and migrants. Besides its historical status as a home for immigrants, Lowell has also recently welcomed Afghan and Ukrainian refugees.
The letter to Healey from the Greater Merri
mack Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau was more direct in its concerns asking for an immediate stop to any “takeover” of the ICC for migrant housing pending a thorough analysis.
Executive Director
Rick Lofria urged Healey to engage “community stakeholders” to develop a “more comprehensive approach to addressing the issue.” He closed with the hope that both economic and humanitarian considerations can coexist in the plan, saying that, “I remain hopeful that under your leadership, Massachusetts will continue to be a beacon of progress, diversity, and prosperity for all its residents and also continue to support the growth of its cultural and tourism economies.”
More than 6,300 families are in the state’s shelter system, an increase of 60% since January. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said that between 20 and 35 families seek shelter each day, creating a space crisis that is intensifying and costing the commonwealth up to $45 million per month on programs and shelters for families.
On Sept. 13, Healey proposed $250 million in state spending for emergency shelters, and she activated the National Guard to help staff 40 of the facilities.
Given the growing humanitarian crisis, Councilor Vesna Nuon and Mayor Sokhary Chau submitted motions at Tuesday night’s council meeting asking City Manger Tom Golden to coordinate the city’s response between the various social service and other agencies to chart a postmigrant path for the future of the ICC.
In a text after the meeting, Nuon laid out both a pragmatic sense of helping the families alongside his vision for the future of the ICC and the city.
“The use of the ICC as a shelter is a temporary fix,” he wrote. “I agree that the Icc—with its hotel, conference, and event rooms—is critical to the economic well-being of downtown and the surrounding communities. But in the face of a humanitarian crisis, we will have to take a pause, and return to business as usual when the crisis is over.”
Town center flap leads to harsh words
IT WAS brief, but there was another tense exchange in the Billerica Select Board as the board was going through and voting on whether or not to recommend each individual article on the warrant for the fall Town Meeting.
When considering Article 15, one of two articles on the warrant for the Oct. 3 Town Meeting concerning funding for the proposed town center project, Select Board member Michael Rosa took the time to ask questions about the specific funding source for the project, to which he has consistently voiced his opposition.
When Rosa finished with the fact that he had his usual objections to the project, namely the $20 million cost and the potential effectiveness of renovating Billerica’s town center, board member Andrew Deslaurier made a motion for the Select Board to recommend the adoption of Article 15 at Town Meeting. Rosa quickly seconded the motion, and Chair Michael Riley subsequently called for a vote.
Rosa voted against the recommendation, Deslaurier voted in favor, and then Riley called the name of board member John Burrows for his vote. Burrows was seemingly incredulous, and made it clear that he felt he wasn’t being given a chance to speak on the article before a vote.
“Oh, I’m still here,” Burrows said sarcastically before voting against the recommendation. “I’m down here if you guys want to ask me if I have anything to say.”
Riley moved to hear the vote of board member Kim Conway, when Burrows called them “a ****** s,” into the microphone.
“Watch your mouth, John,” Riley said to Burrows. “Have some respect for the residents.”
“Then don’t be an a ****** next time. I’m over here,” Burrows replied. “You make the motion before you ask if I have any questions. You have a little respect.”
The board voted to recommend the article 3-2, with no other such exchanges for the remainder of the meeting.
Trahan, Moulton vote to avert government shutdown
AS CONGRESS moved Saturday in an attempt to avoid a catastrophic government shutdown, local U.S. Reps. Lori Trahan and Seth Moulton were among the members of the House who voted in favor of a compromise bill to keep the federal government open for 45 days.
“I just voted to avert a Republican shutdown that would be disastrous for American servicemembers, working families, and small businesses,” Trahan said in a statement after the 33591 House vote, which found support from most Republicans and almost all Democrats. “We should never have gotten to the point where families went into the weekend wondering if they’d be able to put food on the table or cover their utility bills on Monday.”
“It is far from a perfect bill, but I believe that it is the best option on the table given the alternatives,” Moulton said in a statement following the vote. “I will not stand by and allow 125,000 women and children in Massachusetts to lose access to critical food assistance, 8,000 federal workers in my district to go without a paycheck, or risk not paying our troops.”
Both Trahan and Moulton said the shutdown drama could have been avoided if Speaker Kevin Mccarthy had honored the deal he made with President Joe Biden months ago. Instead, they said, Mccarthy brought the government to the brink of disaster for a second time — and again, “Democrats have had to bail him out,” Trahan said.
“This was a political stunt by a small, but increasingly influential group,” Moulton said. “They don’t even know what they want out of this, other than causing chaos. They will do it again when given the chance.”
The package approved by the House did not include funding for Ukraine, which Moulton responded to in his statement.
“My support for Ukraine remains unchanged,” Moulton said. “A small group of Republicans will go down in history for enabling a war criminal in a criminal war. Since when did the Republicans become the pro-putin party? Democrats will work to ensure that we make good on our commitments because helping Ukraine now is an investment in our future national security.”
“The American people deserve better than the Republican approach to governing, which lurches us from catastrophe to catastrophe with weeks of incompetence sprinkled in between,” Trahan said. “We managed to avert this crisis at the last minute, but how many more times are Republicans going to tempt fate.”
The Senate was expected to take up the bill Saturday night, ahead of the 12:01 a.m. Sunday deadline to avoid the shutdown. A vote had not been taken as of The Sun’s press time.
Freedom to read
THE PARKER Library in Dracut and the Fletcher Library in Westford are showing something on the homepage of their websites which the Pollard Library in Lowell and other libraries in the immediate area are not showing.
Sunday marks the beginning of Banned Books Week, an observance sponsored by the American Library Association. While the Chelmsford and Tewksbury libraries are sponsoring events to mark the week, it is receiving more prominence on the Dracut and Westford sites.
“Since 1982, Banned Books Week has rallied librarians, booksellers, authors, publishers, teachers, and readers of all types to celebrate and defend the freedom to read,” reads the Banned and Challenged Books website of the ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom.
While book banning has entered the current zeitgeist by way of states like Florida and Texas, attempts are happening in the Bay State as well. A story in the Sept. 30 edition of The Sun’s sister paper, the Boston Herald, reports that as of August of this year, there have been 17 attempts to restrict access to 27 books in Massachusetts.
The Boston Public Library, one of the premier libraries in the country, has joined with the Brooklyn Public Library and the Seattle Public Library in opening its digital stacks to teens and adults across the country who are losing access to material that some find offensive, according to the Herald story.
Senate could take up budget overrides this week
THE STATE Senate could move to override some of Gov. Maura Healey’s budget vetoes during a formal session this week, the chamber’s top budget writer said last Thursday after the branch adjourned without tackling the overrides initiated by the House on
Wednesday.
Meanwhile, another Senate leader indicated there’s no such timeline for now.
Senate Ways and
Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues told the State House News Service that he’s hoping those override votes could happen next Thursday, though he couldn’t say which items are under consideration.
“We have been so involved with making sure that we had this tax package correct and we just haven’t had time to concentrate on that, but we are anxiously looking forward to addressing those,” Rodrigues said following the Senate’s enactment of a longawaited tax relief bill. “What the House did yesterday looks very reasonable.”
Asked whether she expected override votes this coming week, Sen. Su Moran, co-chair of the Joint Committee on Revenue, separately told the News Service, “Nope.”
“Really, time will tell,” Moran said when asked for a potential time frame. She added the Senate is “going to do its own independent consideration, as always” of Healey’s actions.
Healey signed the fiscal 2024 budget in August, accompanied by a bevy of line item vetoes paring down spending lawmakers proposed.
The House voted to override nearly two dozen line item vetoes from the governor, totaling around $80 million. That included returning funding for child care, suicide prevention, housing and health care initiatives.
This week’s Column was prepared by reporters Melanie Gilbert in Lowell, Peter Currier in Billerica, Prudence Brighton on Banned Books Week, Enterprise Editor Alana Melanson on the government shutdown, and Alison Kuznitz from State House News Service on the state budget.