How is it that the character of a neighborhood ebbs and flows, with new residents moving in and others leaving? 

Consider my neighborhood. This spring, two groups of people moved into the house across the street. On the first floor, a family moved in. The father, who I shall call Bill works at Union Hospital as a nurse practitioner and is a personal trainer. He is a proud lifelong Lynner, whose oldest son goes to college. Different members of the family will sit out on the front porch most every night and peacefully hang out.

The house across the street is owned by an absentee landlord. Unfortunately, the 2nd floor tenants make so much noise that Bill has decided to move out. I don't know the 2nd floor occupants and their noise hasn't bothered me, but it has caused some disruption among adjacent households with children who need to go to bed early and wake up for school the next morning. 

Bill has tried to negotiate with the landlord, even pointing out a clause in the lease which prohibits excessive noise, but the landlord would rather see him and his family leave than kick out the noisy ones. "You gotta do what you gotta do," says Bill, so he is moving. Who knows who will move in next? Hopefully not anyone engaged in criminal activity.

I hate to see him go. But that's life in the hood with absentee landlords who care less about who lives in their houses and more about whether the rent check comes regularly. I would think that a landlord would want more stable, respectful tenants in their property, so that other like-minded people would be encouraged to move into a peaceful abode. Then again I am not a business man with rental properties. However, I like to think that I would be more responsible.

This is how a neighborhood ebbs and flows, with new people moving in, others moving out, some foreclosing on their houses, others buying that property in pursuit of the great American dream. Businesses come and go and change ownership. How do we as a neighborhood encourage it to flow in a direction that sustains healthy development? 

Civic engagement requires an informed citizenry. Don't rely on the Lynn Item for all your news! Fight for the right to see it first hand by opening and printing out the attached petition to the Lynn City Council to act to cablecast Council meetings with all deliberate speed. Circulate it among your friends, family and neighbors. More details to follow...

...THIS JUST IN. My sources tell me that in order to hold a public hearing on this issue, a minimum number of signatures must be collected, somewhere around 150-175. When I handed him my signatures, Councilor at-large Paul Crowley told me that they should have the required number. However, don't let that stop you from getting as many signatures as you can. The more signatures we have, the more of an impact it will make. Should you choose to take it upon yourself to circulate this petition, I can help get it to Mr. Crowley. Just leave a comment on this blog!

Civic engagement requires an informed citizenry. That's why I nearly gagged on my morning coffee when I saw the headline in the Lynn Item: "Lynners Kept in Dark by Stubborn Councilors"  The councilors in question are Darren Cyr of Ward 3, William Trahant  of Ward 2 and the pugilistic Richard Ford of Ward 7. I'm dissapointed that Mr. Cyr, my own councilor who I have a lot of respect for, is one of the council members resisting progress televising city council meetings.

My respect went down a notch as I readCyr's comment that "we should do it right by spotlighting a different city councilor each week, or show them driving around in a city vehicle talking to constituents. It would cost more, but it would be better. And a kill switch should also be available like they have at the state house." This isn't a re-election tool or a reality TV show. It's a step toward a more open, accountable and accessible city government. I find it deploreable that Lynn is one of the only communities in the state that does not televise these public meetings.

Comcast and Verizon are contractually obligated to earmark funds for goverment access. The Massachusetts Open Meeting Law allows anyone who attends a public meeting to make an audio or videotape of that meeting.

We shoudn't stop at televising council meetings though. Take a look at Common Cause's Campaign for Open Government website and you will see that Lynn is not one of their "superstars" when it comes to open government. Our council's meeting agendas, minutes and the budget are all absent from the city's website. These documents should be public record.

While you're at the Common Cause website, click the Take Action link and see what you can do to help remedy this.

I am excited about the cleanup at Strawberry Park this week, on Wednesday starting at 3PM. I called one of the organizers, Antonio, who is a street outreach worker, to see how I could get involved. "Show up," he said and chuckled. Antonio is just one of many people who refuse to give up by giving back to the community. (See Amanda's blog post "Volunteers Needed for Park Restoration" to find out how to get involved.)   Strawberry Park is on Strawberry Ave. between Western Ave. and Boston St. near the Stop & Shop.

You may have read about Strawberry Park in the Lynn Item. A while ago, the city decided that taking down the basketball hoops would make the park less of an attraction to gangs. I really don't see how this follows, and it also deprives good kids of a place to hang out and stay active. So a group of citizens is taking the park back by cleaning it up, painting over the grafitti, and painting a mural on the basketball court. It is hoped that once the city sees the lengths to which residents are willing to go, the hoops will be put back up.

It is hard work reclaiming territory ceded to gangs. It's going to take constant, prolonged vigilance. Not that I would know, but Ward 3 Councilor Darren Cyr told me about his neighborhood's long drawn and frustrating but ultimately successful efforts to reclaim a park near the Lynn Swampscott line.

Some things have been getting me mad lately.  I can feel my blood boiling. But I suppose I wouldn't be moved to do anything about these things if I didn't get mad.

Case in point: the gentleman next door who insists on keeping 4 adult pitbulls, 2 of them inbred. I walk by with my dogs and the pits go crazy, lunging, barking growling, making the most horrific noises. I'm talking Damien, Omen 2. To make matters worse, he doesn't keep them on leash. One of the pits tore a slat off the wooden fence between our properties and threatened to get through, prompting us to call the dog officer. We have video of this dog tearing through the fence. I don't understand it , but this is apparently not enough to declare these dogs vicious.

This is why I'm going to the city council meeting this Tuesday to speak in favor of the vicious dog ordinance. I'm for anything at this point that will enable the authorities to take some action against irresponsible dog owners. I've read the ordinance and it does not single out any breed. It establishes criteria and a process for labelling a dog of any breed vicious based on the dog's behavior. It strengthens existing dog laws by increasing fines and penalties. I am attaching a draft copy I recieved from the city council in case you want to read it.

When a radio talk show host called Lynn a dump, Councilor Ford took it personally. Why did he get so upset? Maybe because the truth hurts.

I ponder this as I stoop to pick up the empty Courvoisier bottle in the gutter in front of my house. Then I think of the people living behind me who've piled old computer monitors and other assorted junk in the 3 foot space between their house and my backyard fence. Out of sight, out of mind. Ultimately, It's the absentee landlord's responsibility to remove these items, so any ticket that inspectional services writes up is probably ignored. Then I see the sewer drains in my neighborhood clotted with debris. Used syringes in the dark alley by the foreclosed house with boarded up windows. That's my neighborhood. People seem to treat it like it's a dump. I just don't get it. 

We held a neighborhood cleanup in May. The DPW was there. The city of Lynn and SCI Lynn chipped in. Lynn Lumber provided discounted trash barrels for distribution to residents. We cleaned up a cul-de-sac with several foreclosed houses (where the syringes were found), a parking lot on Essex and Chestnut Streets and the area around the Ingalls school. I even decided that I would adopt the cul-de-sac with the foreclosed homes and clean it up every now and again. I actually followed through for a couple of weeks, but grew discouraged. It didn't take long before the places we had cleaned up were littered again.

You'd think we would treat our homes, our neighborhoods, our environment, with more respect. What's it going to take to transform this multicultural place we call Lynn, where we must live so closely with our neighbors, into the city it could be? One person alone can't do it. Many people acting independently of each haven't been able to do it. It doesn't even appear that the many civic, municipal and social service organizations working independently of each other have been able to do it. These are all good beginning attempts, but something more is needed. When one thing is fixed, another one breaks somewhere else.

So I put it out to all of you who want to see a Lynn transformed? What are your ideas? How can we put them into action? How do we hold our leaders accountable? How do we reach critical mass? What must we as a community do to get to the tipping point? Why do I bother writing to this blog? Does anyone care to comment?

When compared with their peers, Little Brothers and Sisters are:

52% less likely to skip a day of school
33% less likely to engage in violence with their peers
46% less likely to start using drugs
27% less likely to start drinking
more trusting of parents and other adults, and less likely to lie to them.
-Public Private Ventures (P/PV) Study, 1995

I work at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay. Each time I see someone volunteer to become a Big it makes me realize just how valuable the whole experience is, for the adult Big and especially for the Little. Bigs come from all walks of life with all sorts of backgrounds. What they have in common is a generous spirit and the ability to become a friend to a child in need. Littles generally come from families where one parent is not actively involved in the child’s life.

All it takes to be a Big Brother or Big Sister with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mass Bay is a willingness to spend a couple of hours or so a couple of times a month for a year. It can make a huge difference in the life of a child. Those few hours can be spent doing whatever the Big and Little want to do – as simple as running errands, as routine as playing ball or flying a kite or as exciting as attending sports events. Most Bigs say it’s perhaps the most rewarding thing they’ve ever done, and it’s a lot of fun too. There’s a professional team of Match Advocates to provide support, advice and tickets or suggestions for enjoyable things to do.

Although our agency alone served over 3500 children last year, this is only a small fraction of the number who would benefit from having a Big. Would you consider becoming a Big? Or do you know someone who would? Feel free to forward this to your network of friends so we can get the word out.

Now Spring is finally in sight it is a great time to strike up a new friendship. I would be happy to put you in touch with one of my colleagues who could tell you all about it – or simply go to the web www.bbbsmb.org to learn more. If you’re here in Greater Boston, just call us at 617.956.0281. And if you live outside Greater Boston, go to bigbrothersbigsisters.org where there’s a zip code sorter that will connect you to your local Big Brothers Big Sisters affiliate.

For more than 100 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters has been recognized as one of the most effective youth development programs in the United States. Independent research shows that a Little Brother or Little Sister (a.k.a. a “Little”) who is matched for one year or more in a one-to-one friendship is more likely to graduate from high school, to attend college, and to show more respect to adults. Littles are also more likely to avoid alcohol, drugs and violence. 

A public hearing on Lynn's “Vicious Dog” ordinance is scheduled for Tuesday, July 8, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. in Room 402 at City Hall. This ordinance is sponsored by Councilman Wayne Lozzi and strengthens current vicious dog laws to protect the public from vicious dogs and their negligent owners.

Among other things, it would require that the owner of the property where a vicious dog resides take out a $100,000 liability insurance policy for the benefit of public safety. Even if you don't agree with this particular solution, your voice is needed to push through some kind of reform. With all the incidents of dog attacks that have been in the news for the past few years, it is time for Lynn to strengthen its dog ordinance.

The new ordinance stipulates that no owner shall fail to exercise proper care and control of his animals to prevent them from becoming a public nuisance. Go to this public hearing and voice your concerns. Dog attacks are preventable if we enforce current laws, strengthen them where needed and make it difficult for negligent owners to keep them.