The Home Rule Petition filed by Methuen seeking to save upwards of $35,000 by omitting the primary scheduled for September has been stalled in the House of Representatives, failing to move out of the Elections Committee chaired by Boston Representative Michael Moran. Rep. Moran and the House leadership have decided however to move identical petitions from Lowell and Revere forward, leaving one to wonder why some petitions would move forward, and Methuen’s would be left behind. The stated reasoning, that Methuen’s election would involve a mayoral primary while the others would only deal with city council primaries, does not even stand up to rudimentary examination. The City of Lowell is a City Manager/City Council form of government. In that City the Chief Executive Officer, the Manager, is chosen by the City Council. There has been some spirited debate in Lowell on the future of the City Manager, and I would dare say that the election in Lowell would have a pretty big impact on the Managers future, a fact conveniently ignored by House leadership. And I think I can fairly say that there has been substantially greater political controversy in Lowell over the merits of the primary omission than there has been in Methuen, where it really has been no issue at all. Read the Left in Lowell blog to get a flavor for some of that debate in Lowell.

My point here is not to debate the Lowell petition, but to put forth the proposition that if the idea of saving money by omitting the primary is a bad idea then it should be a bad idea for all. Methuen passed its Home Rule Petition back in January in the hopes that it would be seen as a money saving idea without a political connotation. We have asked severe sacrifice of our municipal unions, achieving ten percent wage reductions across the board from all city workers. We have omitted the City Firework celebration, saving $35,000 dollars, about the same as we would save from the primary home rule petition. We have done this to meet our financial obligations after a $3 million dollar cut in state aid. On the City side such financial sacrifice has enabled us to avert layoffs and maintain services. This City has stepped up and taken tough decisions. The omission of the primary is another one, and whether you feel it is a good idea or a bad one the same principal should apply for all.

State Representative Linda Dean Campbell has indicated that she may block the Lowell and Revere petitions from moving forward on the basis of equity. She should be applauded for standing up for her community courageously against the arbitrary and unfair decision on this petition reached by House leadership. Today’s Tribune story speculated that this action could be retaliation against Campbell for her vote against hiking the sales tax. Hmmm. Campbell refused comment on that issue. In light of the multi month delay in passing another Home Rule petition that would enable the construction of a brand new Head Start School on a city lot one would have to wonder.

Read the Lowell Sun story here.