LYNN — Lynn residents had the opportunity for their voices to be heard by several community leaders at the Lynn City Summit Saturday.
The summit was the first of its kind that the city has held since the late 90’s.
Mayor Thomas McGee said he decided to reintroduce the multiple-forum format as a way to consolidate the number of meetings Lynn residents would have to attend to stay informed of current issues.
“Instead of focusing on one specific issue, we wanted to bring the whole community together in a forum that addressed the five or six top subject matters we felt were important in the community,” he said.
Said McGee’s Chief of Staff, Meaghan Hamill, “We found there were a lot of public meetings going on about different events and projects that the city is working on, and I think people get tired of going to so many of them.
“That was the impetus for pulling this together — to try to pick the top topics that the people we were hearing from really care about and want to learn more about, and allow them to provide feedback as well,” Hamill said.
The five-hour long event was broken down into two parts. The first was a series of simultaneous workshops that lasted three hours and focused on arts and culture, economic development, housing, public health and safety, and transportation. The second was an open house exhibit and resource fair for the final two hours.
In an attempt to ease any burdens residents might face while attending the summit, the mayor’s team, in partnership with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), provided free childcare and interpreters for Spanish and Khmer — two of Lynn’s most commonly spoken languages — to ensure the information being provided was accessible to as many attendees as possible.
Essex County Sheriff Kevin Coppinger, who attended the event as a Lynn resident, felt the summit was a crucial exercise in community-building.
“I think it’s a very worthwhile event because you’re bringing all the pieces together — Public safety, obviously, but also economic development, the youth groups, the education system,” Coppinger said. “There’s the city government, social service providers, everybody’s got to come to the table. We’re not going to fix the problems we have unless it’s a team effort,” he said.
Antonio Gutierrez, an outreach worker with Lynn Youth Street Outreach Advocacy and co-founder of Stop the Violence, Lynn, agreed.
“I’m here to listen and see what changes are coming and see how I can help and participate in the change. I’s all about change, but we need people to step up. Come out of your homes, let’s do things in the community,” he said.
Lynn resident Jillian O’Brien attended the public health and safety workshop after seeing posts about the summit online. The long-term care ombudsman at Greater Lynn Senior Services said the meeting changed her perspective on many of the city’s biggest issues.
“I thought that was great to have the community give its input on that stuff, ” she said. “I thought that learning about each organization was interesting, especially the police department and all the stuff that they do. Some of the things I learned, I’d always thought ‘why don’t they do that?’ and I found out they actually do do that.
“I found it informative. It was a good experience, ” O’Brien said.