LYNN — Every question at Sunday night’s mayoral debate accentuated one common theme: whoever is elected the new mayor of Lynn will face the ghosts of decades of the city’s mismanagement at every corner, despite the improvements seen under the current administration in the last four years.
The forum, hosted by Concerned Lynn Citizens, a community-based organization that is focused on community-building events and communication among all residents of the city, took place at the Lynn Museum.
During the debate, the three mayoral candidates — City Council President Darren Cyr and School Committee members Jared Nicholson and Michael Satterwhite — answered questions submitted by inquiring citizens in advance. The opening question was about the issue each candidate would tackle first as an elected mayor.
Cyr went right for the topic that he said was near and dear to his heart, calling new schools his priority.
“I truly believe education is the way to get people out of poverty,” he said. “It is the way to get people high-paying jobs.”
Currently, half of Lynn’s 25 schools are over 100 years old. Reminiscing on the opening of the Thurgood Marshall Middle School, Cyr said that the brand-new facility changed the attitudes of kids and teachers.
Nicholson chose a broader issue. He said that Lynn’s infrastructure would be his priority, which includes schools.
“We are about to have a tremendous opportunity over the next few years to make once-in-a-generation investment into our city’s infrastructure,” said Nicholson. “And it absolutely needs it.”
Nicholson said that Lynn’s buildings, roads and parks show a backup of deferred maintenance. He said that with the infrastructure money coming in, Lynn would be able to build a school every five years.
Satterwhite said that he would start with addressing the inequities in the city that were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. That would include improving accessibility, affordability and safety of the city.
“We’ve suffered for too long. We’ve been in too many short crises,” said Satterwhite. “It is now time to have long-term solutions for these issues.”
He said he would be meeting with every ward to discuss those issues and to get input from businesses and residents every month.
A discussion on how to pay for new schools followed. All the candidates agreed that a push for school building legislation was needed to make sure that the state compensates a bigger portion of the investment. Moreover, there should be transparent communication with the community as building a school creates a big burden on the taxpayers, the candidates agreed.
The Lynn Public Schools budget makes up two-thirds of the city budget. Yet the city doesn’t have extra money to build new schools, the candidates said. Cyr said that other communities combine resources with each other. While that is not possible in Lynn, he suggested combining two to three elementary schools into one and building a $100 million new school for them.
Each candidate had their own opinion on how to improve communication with the public and transparency.
Satterwhite said he would make himself accessible to residents.
Cyr, however, said that the city had had hundreds of meetings prior to the hospital move.
“It is easier to sit and tell you it is going to happen and if I become a mayor I am going to do it,” said Cyr. “It is a process and it takes a lot of time.”
Nicholson said that the city needs a new and better website so the residents are able to find things easily. He also emphasized the importance of language accessibility. He suggested the city needs to hire people and invest into the software so non-English speakers could find information and interact with the city’s administration. Nicholson said he speaks Spanish.
One of the questions asked was about the hospital that the city lost a year ago. All candidates agreed that Lynn needs its own hospital and that the city needs to make a strong case for it. Satterwhite suggested stationing EMTs at every fire house and creating a fully-staffed emergency room in one of them.
Cyr, however, said that the city had had hundreds of meetings prior to the closure of Union Hospital, and whoever becomes the mayor needs to know that there is a negotiating process to it and it takes a long time.
The candidates touched upon the opioid crisis and lack of resources that the Lynn Police Department could devote to arresting small drug dealers. Cyr said Lynn has become a mecca for people suffering from drug addiction and that the city is obligated to help them. He wants every citizen to be trained on how to administer Narcan — or Naloxone — the lifesaving overdose drug. There are more than 350 groups and organizations in Lynn that are helping to combat the opioid crisis and using the city’s resources. Cyr suggested coordinating their efforts and coming up with a single plan.
Nicholson put an emphasis on the mental health component of drug addiction. He advocates for more mental health services and retaining culturally competent providers.
The question hit home for the candidate Satterwhite. His mother was addicted to opiates and lost custody of him, his brother and his sister when Satterwhite was 12 years old.
“I am not going to sit here and fluff up the answer,” Satterwhite said.
Satterwhite said that COVID-19 pandemic was not the catalyst of this problem, as it is a decades-long problem for Lynn. Satterwhite suggested that the settlement money from the big pharmaceutical companies involved in the crisis needs to be spent wisely on the affected families, the city’s providers and more police resources.
Among other questions tackled at the mayoral forum were traffic congestion and bad roads, affordable housing, American Recovery Act money and public use of Lynn Auditorium.
The two candidates with the highest number of votes in the Sept. 14 primary will be on the ballot for the city election on Nov. 2. Current Mayor Thomas M. McGee opted not to run for reelection.