December 22, 2021 |City of Lynn, From the Mayor, News

Lynn’s REMAP Team Concludes Year One | December 22, 2021

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Concluding one year of participation in the Government Alliance on Race and Equity’s (GARE) inaugural program: Racial Equity Municipal Action Plan (REMAP), Mayor Thomas M. McGee is pleased to share the progress made by the Lynn team to date. The City of Lynn was one of six communities across the state that participated in this initiative. The other communities were Bedford, Framingham, Natick, Revere and Stoughton. Together, they participated in a series of monthly learning sessions focused on advancing racial equity in their respective communities.

“I am proud to have been a part of the work the Lynn REMAP team has accomplished so far,” said Mayor Thomas M. McGee. “We believe that this process has been a positive first step in addressing racial inequities in Lynn and that this work will continue into the next administration in collaboration with community partners and other important stakeholders.”

A team was convened to help create Lynn’s own action plan that would aid in addressing barriers and challenges that center around racial equity. The Lynn team members were comprised of city staff: Mayor McGee, Michel Chamsarian, Aaron Clausen, Faustina Cuevas, Deputy Police Chief Lenny Desmarais, Elyse Fannon, Norris Guscott, and Drew Russo; Jeff Weeden from Lynn Housing Authority and Neighborhood Development; and two community members and activists: Jonathon Feinberg of the New Lynn Coalition and Adriana Paz of Prevent the Cycle. They were tasked with identifying a desired result for advancing racial equity in Lynn. With encouragement from our community leaders, particularly Feinberg, the group decided to focus on housing disparities and the on-going affordability challenges in Lynn that disproportionately affect communities of color and low-income families. “Housing affordability became a focus of the team based on the recent data and substantial public input from Housing Lynn, the City’s newly adopted housing production plan. Disparities in our housing are evident and there are recommendations from the plan, put forth by Lynn residents, which can be impactful. Lynn’s REMAP team can play a significant role in advancing these efforts,” said Jeff Weeden, LHAND’s Manager of Planning & Development.

This process, which began in February 2021 afforded the group to focus in on the need of the various communities in Lynn and challenged them to look deeper into issues using data as a mechanism for information gathering. After multiple meetings, conversations, and compromises, the team came up with this final result statement: All Lynners have affordable housing.

This statement signifies an outcome that will hopefully come to fruition during year two of this program through continued work and evaluation of community needs. The Housing Lynn Plan (HLP) is the first step in achieving this outcome and they will continue using the HLP as a tool to drive this work further. There will be another team convened to continue the work that has been accomplished to date, and that sub-group has already had several meetings in which the Housing Lynn Coalition and the Human Rights Commission have been active participants.

Additional viewing: “How the Racial Wealth Gap Was Created” from Race: The Power of an Illusion

This 30-minute segment illustrates how government policies and private practices helped create the segregated suburbs and the racial wealth gap. 

This press release was submitted to us by Mayor McGee’s office.