LYNN NEWS ROUND-UP
APRIL 29, 2021
3:30PM UPDATE: City of Lynn to hold COVID-19 virtual town halls on May 5 (English) & May 6 (Spanish). Please click here to learn more.
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Click here to read about mask mandate being lifted tomorrow, and more restrictions that will be loosened in May.
Due to the rain predicted today’s Salvation Army Food Pantry is canceled today. They should be open tomorrow as normal 12-3 Manning Field.
A Call for Racial Justice and Reimagining Public Safety in Lynn
The recent allegations of misconduct by Lynn police officers – including domestic violence and use of racial slurs – are truly appalling. There must be a thorough investigation and serious accountability for wrongdoing. But the underlying problem goes far beyond the actions of a handful of individual officers.
Our city must respond not just with expressions of concern, but with actions that will make a real difference. No one in our city is responsible for a history of institutional racism that goes back centuries. But we are all responsible for the decision we make now, in a historic moment, to either ignore this reality or to confront and change it. We call on our city to move toward a new vision of public safety that ensures safety, dignity, fair treatment, and civil rights by taking the following steps:
Conduct an independent and transparent investigation
into current allegations
When the Lynn Police conducted an investigation into the beating of Victor White, the investigation was neither independent nor transparent. Though the officer involved resigned and the erroneous charges filed against Mr. White were dropped, the findings of the investigation were never reported to the public, no investigation was conducted into the actions of other officers who were alleged to have hurled racist and homophobic slurs and wrongfully arrested Mr. White and his friends, and no attention was paid to any systemic culture that allowed the behavior to persist. In response to these current allegations, there must be an independent and transparent investigation that ensures accountability for individual officers directly involved, an examination of how widespread this type of behavior was, and attention to any systemic failures that may have enabled wrongdoing.
Institute Civilian Oversight of the Police
The City must institute a permanent mechanism for independent and transparent investigations into police misconduct by creating a strong civilian oversight body with the necessary tools and resources to ensure accountability, transparency, active monitoring of systemic issues including institutional racism, and timely responses to resident concerns or complaints.
Create an Unarmed Crisis Response Team
The City must create and fully fund an unarmed crisis response team that is independent of the police department. This program would respond to mental health crises, drug overdoses, noise complaints, and other calls for assistance that could be handled by specially trained social workers, mental health counselors, and medical professionals rather than police officers. Through de-escalation and harm reduction, this program would avoid the use of force, prevent unnecessary entanglement with the criminal justice system, and begin to address the over policing of communities of color. Unarmed crisis response programs in other cities have been successful at saving lives, saving money, diverting a significant number of calls away from police while maintaining safety, and assisting often systemically minoritized groups and individuals who are apprehensive about contact with the police.
Let’s move forward together, starting with these steps.
Yours in the fight for justice,
The Lynn Racial Justice Coalition (LRJC)
- Diverse People United: Anthony Coleman and Neil Whittredge
- Essex County Community Organization: Rev. Bernadette Hickman-Maynard, LRJC Co-Chair; Darrell Murkison and Brenda Womack
- IUE-CWA Local 201: Eugene Anderson
- Lynn United For Change: Helina Fontes, Goldean Graham, and Isaac Simon Hodes
- New Lynn Coalition: Jeff Crosby and Jonathon Feinberg
- North Shore Juneteenth Association: Nicole McClain
- Prevent the Cycle: Adriana Paz, LRJC Co-Chair
Click here to see organizations & individuals who have signed on to the letter & sign it yourself.
The above press release was submitted to us by the Lynn Racial Justice Coalition.
LPS Early release day on May 5th
Anyone over the age of 16 who lives, works, or studies in MA is now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. If you haven’t yet preregistered for an appointment at one of the Commonwealth’s mass vaccination locations, now is the time. Learn more by clicking here and sign up by clicking here.
A vaccination site has opened at Lynn Tech for Lynners.
Find out more & watch a video tour by clicking here.
Schedule an appointment by clicking here.
REMINDER: Community input wanted for next Chief of Police
The City of Lynn and Mayor Thomas M. McGee are looking for community input on topics to consider while interviewing the final candidates to become the Chief of the Lynn Police.
The three finalists who successfully completed the required Civil Service Assessment Center, which was conducted in March are:
- Captain Mark O’Toole
- Captain Christopher Reddy
- Deputy Chief Michael Vail
Mayor McGee will make the final hiring decision upon receiving feedback from a stakeholder group which will interview each of the candidates who will be asked to consider the topics submitted here by the members of the general public.
The stakeholder group facilitated by Mayor McGee will be chaired by Lynn School Superintendent, Dr. Patrick Tutwiler and also include:
- Andrea Baez – Branch Executive Director, Demakes Family YMCA / Greater Lynn Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors
- Lt. Timothy Donovan – President, Lynn Police Assoc.
- Jonathon Feinberg – Lynn Racial Justice Coalition/New Lynn Coalition
- Brian Field – City Councilor At-Large, Public Safety Committee
- Chief Kenneth Green – MBTA Transit Police Department
- Audrey Jimenez – Chair, Lynn Human Rights Commission
- George Markopoulos – City Solicitor
- Frances Martinez – Executive Director, North Shore Latino Business Assoc.
- Guillermina Montano – Behavioral Health Therapist, Lynn Community Health CenterIn addition, Mayor McGee is in the final stages of the hiring process for the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer position and expects for that person to participate as a member of the stakeholder group.
Mayor McGee will then meet individually with the candidates before making his decision on the Police Chief appointment
Fill out the input form by clicking here.
This link will be live until Sunday, May 2.
The above info. was submitted to us by Mayor McGee’s office.
INTERVIEWS: North Shore Juneteenth virtual events in May & August
On this segment of the “Lynn Lowdown” from the LCTV News News Director discussed the upcoming virtual “Hats & Heels Afternoon Tea” event with event organizer Jodie Smith. The event will be held over Zoom, and will feature keynote speaker Carole Boyce Davies, a distinguished professor and internationally-recognized scholar of African Diaspora Studies and Black women’s writing. For more information please click here.
Click here to watch directly on our website.
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On this segment of the Lynn Lowdown from the LCTV News we discuss the upcoming virtual Black Excellence 5K happening from August 8-12, 2021. News Director Mukala Kabongo & 5K Coordinator Angel Green talked about the history of the 5K, how it will be done virtually, & the organization organizing the event: the North Shore Juneteenth Association. Learn more & Register by clicking here.
Click here to watch directly on our website.
Updates from state government
As of Wednesday night, DPH reported a total of 643,428 cases of COVID-19. The state reported 1,392 new confirmed cases. The state has now confirmed a total of 17,227 deaths from the virus.- The House voted 160-0 to approve its fiscal 2022 budget after 2:30 a.m Thursday, after adding tens of millions of dollars to its bottom line across three days. Through its consolidated amendment process, the House took seven roll call votes to add more than $59 million to what began as a $47.65 billion bill. The final bottom line landed at $47.716 billion, according to Speaker Ronald Mariano’s office. The three consolidated amendments adopted Wednesday, one for constitutional officers, state administration and transportation, one dealing with housing, energy and environmental affairs and one involving labor and economic development all passed unanimously.
- The $7.3 million energy, environment and housing amendment also included language that Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy Committee Chair Jeff Roy described as a clarification of the climate policy law passed earlier this year. Roy said the amendment clarifies the Legislature’s intent of procuring 5,600 megawatts of offshore wind “and nothing less.” Before engrossing the bill, representatives also agreed to a final amendment, worth over $7 million dollars, that was described as technical and contained local earmarks. The House plans to next meet in an informal session on Monday, and before adjourning Speaker Mariano thanked representatives for their patience “as we ground our way through” a partially remote budget process.
- The Senate meets in a full formal session today planning to take up legislation (S 2439) authorizing $400 million in bonding for construction of a new Holyoke Soldiers’ Home and another $200 million in bonding to boost veterans’ services in parts of the state not served by the Holyoke or Chelsea homes. The funding for geographic equity and long-term care services is a new addition in the Senate version of the bill, which also departs from legislation that unanimously passed the House by not including a project labor agreement governing the Holyoke construction. Governor Baker in February filed an original version of the $400 million bonding request, which his administration believes can be reimbursed up to 65 percent by the federal government, urging lawmakers at the time to finalize its passage by April 1.
- A new coalition of community, business groups and health care providers launched this week to oppose plans by Mass General Brigham to expand in Westborough, Woburn and Westwood. Calling themselves the Coalition to Protect Community Care, the groups plan to call for the Department of Public Health to “thoroughly scrutinize MGB’s proposal through the lens of health equity, community demand, and cost,” according to spokesperson Dan Cence. The coalition so far includes United Way of Central Massachusetts; Central West Justice Center; Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce; Marlborough Regional Chamber of Commerce; Thrive Support & Advocacy; YWCA of Central Mass.; Boys & Girls Club of Worcester; Coalition for a Healthy Greater Worcester; Highland Healthcare Associates IPA; Worcester Community Action Council; UMass Memorial Health; Shields Health Care Group; Wellforce; Coghlin Electrical Contractors; and Virtual, Inc.
- The Boston City Council voted Wednesday to move the city’s preliminary election up by a week to allow officials more time to facilitate mail-in voting should the Legislature extend the voting reform through the fall or make it permanent. The date change passed with nearly all members voting in favor and Councilor Annissa Essaibi George voting present. The proposal still needs Mayor Kim Janey’s signature to take effect. If Janey signs it into law, the city’s preliminary election would move from Sept. 21 to Sept. 14, a measure that former Mayor Marty Walsh supported prior to his departure. The Committee on Government Operations, led by Councilor Lydia Edwards, held a hearing on the matter last week. At Wednesday’s meeting, Councilor Edwards summarized the testimony and recommended the measure ought to pass.
- Legislative leaders and administration officials closed the State House to the public last year and since then. In a statement House Speaker Ronald Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka said the building will remain closed for the time being. The State House closed to the public on the evening of March 16, 2020 as COVID-19 cases were surging and public health measures were first going into place to protect residents. Senate President Karen Spilka said at the time that the building would remain closed “through the duration of the emergency.” At a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce forum in March, Mariano said the fall may offer some hope for reopening the State House.
- Governor Baker pitched his new omnibus road safety legislation as a way to improve the state’s almost-worst-in-the-nation seatbelt use and cut down on traffic deaths that have not abated during a stretch of pandemic-era decreased travel. Some civil rights and transportation advocates caution, however, that the route to safer roads Baker proposed (H 3706) is too punitive and could exacerbate racial profiling of drivers, a fear that Baker acknowledged. The Vision Zero Coalition, which works to prevent traffic deaths, criticized Baker’s proposal to allow police to pull motorists over solely for failing to wear a seatbelt and to expand penalties on those who drive with suspended licenses.
- Massachusetts law currently requires seatbelt use, but it is a secondary enforcement law, meaning police can only cite motorists for failing to wear a seatbelt when they have already stopped the vehicle for another primary traffic violation such as speeding. Thirty-four other states have laws allowing primary enforcement of seatbelt use, according to Governor Baker.
- A statewide teachers union and its Lawrence local are calling for a Board of Elementary and Secondary Education member to resign over comments he made at a recent meeting, days after three state lawmakers, several city officials and Congresswoman Lori Trahan also called for his removal. Board member Michael Moriarty, executive director of the OneHolyoke community development corporation, has apologized for his remarks during a discussion of the state’s school accountability system, saying he “never meant to disparage people who live in Holyoke and Lawrence.”
Special thanks to MassAccess for providing us with these updates.
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From Mayor McGee’s office: The Lynn Public Health Department has confirmed that as of today, the number of active, confirmed positive COVID-19 cases is 262 with 25 new cases today. 16,901 Lynn residents have recovered and 214 have died. The total number of confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in Lynn since March 21, 2020, including those who have died and recovered, is 17,377. Please visit the City of Lynn COVID-19 Data Dashboard which is updated daily.
If you have a news story that you would like to share, please contact us via email or call 781-780-9460.
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