Author: Ryan Gilday

Dear Lord, We Need Some Housing Last night’s meeting delivered the all too rare philosophical-type of government puzzle that interests me much more than budgets and potholes. Specifically, at what level should “government be happening?” I don’t know, Davey…let’s think this through. If you held a gun to my head and made me pick my…

“Someone Failed Us” There was a minute but notable volley from some recent School Building Committee (SBC) Meetings that caught my attention. In December of 2024, John Leahy, a former councilor and current Deputy Facilities Manager for our school department, inquired as to the low quality of paint used on the project. If you are…

Contract Without a “Signature” Have you ever wandered into the middle of a conversation, then had to figure out what the hell people are talking about? For many months, the City Council was engaged in executive session discussion relative to a series of dormant parcels of land controlled by Sal Lupoli in the Hamilton Canal…

Back in Time on the Smith Baker Let’s do this again. At the January 14 Council Meeting, there was a Motion Response regarding a structural assessment report on the Smith Baker Center. Though not on the agenda, Councilor Descoteaux made a motion to tear the building down. The motion passed with Councilors Belanger, Descoteaux, Gitschier,…

Members Only Government was, if fact, happening last night. However, not much of it caught my interest. Some weeks the best government happens behind closed doors. If you’re not on the list, don’t even think about coming in. Indeed, on many a Tuesday night the hottest club in the city is Executive Session. Strobe lights,…

Charge your phone and pack a lunch. This is going to be a long one. Right Person? Yes. Right Time? Depends Who You Ask and When In April of 2022, Tom Golden entered into a five year contract to serve as city manager. Last week, with 26 months remaining on that deal, Councilor Mercier filed…

State of the City: A Welcome to 2025 and Beyond Good vibes were on the agenda in the form of the “2024 year in Review” aka the Manager’s annual “State of the City” address. If you watch one meeting this winter, this should be it. Last night, Manager Golden took the opportunity to tout some…

Aw, rats. On paper, I thought this would be an entertaining meeting. As usual, I was mostly wrong. The agenda promised hot topics such as a report on the Community Preservation Committee’s 2025 funding recommendations, an update on the status of issues at the Lowell High Project, and a motion response on the establishment of…

The Winter of My Discontent Trying to “recap” an entire meeting, start to finish, can be exhausting and often boring. As such, I’m looking to change the look and focus of these blogs in 2025. It’s the new Jan Brady. I’d like to try to narrow the focus and riff on one or two issues…

Trying to Make Sense of the Smith Baker and a Smith Baker-Motion-Maker “Recap” is misleading. In truth, I watched last night’s meeting for one reason – to see how the following motions would play out: C. Yem – Req. City Mgr. have the appropriate department provide the City Council on Smith Baker’s containment, remediation and…