Anyone going to the public hearing at City Hall about the waterfront bond tonight? I'd like to know your opinion of it if you feel like sharing. I don't think I know enough about the pros and cons to give a really informed opinion. Just interested in what people out there think.

I know it seems like an awkward time, fiscally speaking, to bond money. But if we wait for the economy to improve before we act on moving the power lines, it will be too late to catch the next wave. We need to do this now so Lynn breaks its cycle of bad timing and lost opportunities.

Some will ask how the city can justify $4 million while teachers and other municipal workers are being laid off. The answer is that you can not bond a salary. This is not a case of taking from one pot and placing it in another.

Some will ask why the landowners who will benefit from moving the lines are not contributing more. That's a good question and I wonder if to some extant they can. On the other hand, it will be some time before those potential windfalls are realized. I don't know what they're capable of doing at the moment. There are also parcels, from what I hear, that will have to be taken by eminent domain.

Even though I am for this, I also understand that the waterfront redevelopment plan can be a failure if the gas tank, old landfill and other things which can not be moved aren't creatively incorporated or creatively screened out by very skilled planners. I also highly recommend against putting all our eggs in one basket, developer-wise, if we can help it.

where is the meeting and at what time?

I am really interested in anything and everything to do with the redevelopment of the waterfront...

Passed unanimously. Video will be posted as soon as I can successfully squeeze 3.68gb to 1gb or less without splitting the file. So far, it's 6% complete. Good speeches from Rep. Walsh, Councilor Cahill.


It's way past by bedtime.

The video is on http://lynnhappens.com and on my blog, http://livinginlynn.blogpsot.com.