LYNN ― Mayor-elect Jared Nicholson will resign from his position of law professor at Northeastern University and director of Northeastern’s Community Business Clinic at the end of December to focus on his new job at the City Hall.
Nicholson has been teaching business law at Northeastern University full-time for more than two years. He also oversaw a pro bono, student-run legal clinic for small Boston and Lynn entrepreneurs who were hit hard by the pandemic.
“It’s been a wonderful experience. I am very grateful for the opportunity. I feel like we’ve done great work,” said Nicholson. “I am excited for the next step.”
Nicholson last taught classes at Northeastern in the summer, choosing to focus solely on the mayoral race this fall.
In recent weeks, Nicholson has been ramping up his preparations to take the corner office. Together with the Transition Committee, Nicholson has been working on building his City Hall team, converting his campaign goals into goals for the Lynn administration and preparing for the inauguration on Jan. 3.
“My days have been packed with meetings and excitement for what’s ahead,” said Nicholson, who gets up at 6 a.m. every day and takes meetings on weekends.
Before the inauguration, he is planning to meet with all city councilors; city department heads; School Committee members; various community, business and labor groups; and the state delegation.
“It is not going to be possible to talk to everybody in the weeks that we have, but (I am) starting these conversations so that we can continue into the administration to keep those lines of communication open,” said Nicholson.
The councilors he has already spoken to have been discussing their goals for the new term in office and expressed excitement to work under the leadership of the new incoming City Council President Jay Walsh.
“There are just a ton of opportunities for us to work together,” said Nicholson, naming development and infrastructure investment among such opportunities.
With the funding that is coming from the federal government, the city will be able to continue and accelerate the pace of the projects started by the current administration and address some long-standinding issues and urgent priorities ― like the new senior center ― Nicholson said.
Last week, Nicholson also attended a three-day Seminar for Newly Elected Mayors organized by the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School. The seminar discussed issues and the best practices for economic development, public safety, and workforce development, as well as provided training for communication and functional team-building skills and some emergency situations.
“It is interesting to see issues that are common across communities,” said Nicholson.
A lot of cities are struggling with the cost of housing, said Nicholson, and new mayors are eager to tackle and work on this issue. He has also noticed that there was a sense of frustration with Washington among the current and former mayors regarding how it is too hard to get things done without federal support. At the seminar, they have discussed how mayors can drive positive change when it is not happening in the nation’s capital, said Nicholson.
He said that with the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money coming into the city and the new planning department, Lynn has a lot of momentum to implement what has been discussed during his campaign, namely large infrastructure investments.
“We are certainly thankful for this opportunity from Washington to be able to make these investments, but it is going to be up to us to make the most out of this opportunity, make sure to deliver results,” said Nicholson.
Moreover, it is time to build on the beginning of the development that has started in the city, thinking through how to make sure that that development is successful for everybody and benefits the city and the community and the projects are successful, Nicholson said.
U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) and his office have been great at reaching out and looking to be supportive, said Nicholson. He also has heard from U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
“Both have reached out and are excited to work with Lynn and other communities around the Commonwealth to make the most out of this opportunity,” said Nicholson.
