Never Give An Inch

For John, BLUF:  The School Committee, counting on their side winning in November, asks higher authority to stifle the City Council, which won the right to decide in court.—Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Lowell school board asks MSBA to delay LHS action until after election

From The [Lowell] Sun, by Reporter Todd Feathers, 21 October 2017.

Here is the lede plus one:

In a letter signed by Mayor Edward Kennedy and Superintendent Salah Khelfaoui, the School Committee has asked the Massachusetts School Building Authority to take no action on the Lowell High School project before the Nov. 7 city election.

The committee voted 6-1 in executive session to make the request, according to a copy of the letter.  The MSBA board of directors meets on Oct. 25, but has not yet indicated whether the Lowell project will be on the agenda or, if it is, whether it will be tabled until the next meeting in December.

The November election could shift the balance on the City Council, which voted 5-4 to relocate the high school to Cawley Stadium.  In the Sept. 26 preliminary, six candidates who favor keeping the school downtown finished in the top nine.

Well, there is the question of if making the decision to send the letter in Executive Session was a violation of the Commonwealth's Open Meeting Law.

A bigger question is what happens if the City Council goes Cawley in November?  Will the "Never Cawley" Crowd then back off?  I have my doubts, as at least one has vowed to fight on for ever.

And, if the "Downtowners" win in November, do they expect the sitting City Council to roll over and reverse themselves?  Who is their advisor?  Harvard Professor Lawrence Lessig?

If we have to wait for the new School Committee and new City Council (what if the School Committee goes Cawley?) then we will have missed both the October and December meetings of the Massachusetts School Building Authority and we will be into 2018.  Option Zero♥ is looking more and more possible.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  From the headline, a reference to the motto over the fireplace in the story Sometimes a Great Notion.  Goodnight, Irene.
♥  Option Zero is we do minimal repairs to our existing buildings.  This just puts off the day of reckoning for a few more years.