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Okay, it’s going to be cold: expect it. Lowell is the only city I know that loves to have its festivals during extreme weather conditions—the hottest time possible for the Folk Festival and the coldest for Winterfest. To keep warm, wear long underwear, thick socks and gloves, and invest in high-tech hand and foot warmers (less than $2 each). Also, take breaks inside. Some of my absolute, can’t miss, favorite things to do at Winterfest include watching the human dogsled races (in small bursts of time because you will get cold out there), tasting the offerings at the Soup Bowl competition (absolutely fantastic medley of warm, filling soups from area restaurants for about $5), skating at the Tsongas Arena (free including skate rentals), checking out the artwork for sale, and drinking while enjoying performances in the tents. Finally, the absolute do-not-miss event that culminates the whole wonderful winter experience is watching the fireworks light up the sky over City Hall on Saturday night. So, grab your mittens, your kids, and your honey, and head downtown. See you at Winterfest!  

We have season tickets to the Merrimack Repertory Theatre and it’s been a great investment. We’ll be there tonight for the preview of The Missionary Position, a satiric comedy that mixes politics and religion—especially timely for the primaries, not to mention the youth-enhancing benefits of laughter. (I’m also planning to swing by Winterfest for soup tasting before the show—more on that later.) Seeing all the MRT plays has required some schedule juggling, but we’ve enjoyed every production immensely. It has also made me realize the great gift of experiencing live theatre regularly. With that in mind, I took my 11-year-old daughter to the Boston Opera House Tuesday (children free with an adult) for opening night of My Fair Lady. Because I only had to pay for my seat and she got the one next to me, I opted for premium seats (second row center orchestra), which was wise for a venue that large. I guess I’ve grown accustomed to the intimacy of the MRT…Speaking of accustomed, My Fair Lady was fantastic (“awesome” says my daughter). I was especially thrilled to hear again the classic songs I know so well, and the memories they evoked of my mother singing, “I could have danced all night” while washing dishes, or “All I want is a room somewhere, far away from the cold night air,” or “With a little bit of luck,” and “Get me to the church on time!” Who could forget Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison in the film version of this great, 50-year-old musical, although the current cast of British actors does a fine job. I especially enjoyed Lisa O’Hare as Eliza Doolittle with her expressive face and great voice, as well as the spirited performance of Tim Jerome as Alfred P. Doolittle, whose blue eyes literally sparkled out at the audience mischievously.

Today’s Globe has an interesting article about the Lowell Foreclosure Prevention Task Force, a group co-chaired by Frank Carvalho of Enterprise Bank and City Councilor Jim Milinazzo. According to the article, “Lowell saw the largest number of foreclosures in 2007” (270 homes lost compared to 89 in 2006), and the task force has been working for more than a year to help homeowners refinance with reputable lenders or find other alternatives. Two groups actively involved in the effort are the Coalition for a Better Acre and Community Teamwork Inc. If you are a Lowell homeowner facing mortgage payment difficulties, call 888-995-HOPE to learn more about the program.

The newspaper got it wrong. The compromise motion by School Committeeman Dave Conway to open the superintendent interviews to the public was not about to fail, as today’s article asserts, but would have passed 4-3 with support from committee members Connie Martin, Dave Conway, Mayor Caulfield and myself. I was in the process of asking to amend the motion to ensure applicant confidentiality until they are interviewed and to have the interviews televised—when information regarding the Open Meeting Law came to light.

Speaking of television, today’s paper also makes no mention of last night’s lengthy discussion regarding broadcasting LHS subcommittee meetings, an issue that speaks to members’ true commitment to transparent government. The motion to broadcast LHS subcommittee meetings ultimately passed on a 4-3 vote with members Dave Conway, Regina Faticanti and Mayor Caulfield voting against. (Based on their comments last night, they apparently felt the cost of about $2,000 a year to televise the meetings was too high a price for transparency.) It was a long meeting and perhaps it’s unfair to expect the newspaper to cover every motion (which is why the superintendent interviews should be televised). Fortunately, with today’s technology and bloggers (LiL also wrote about the meeting), we don’t have to rely on one source for the news. Check LTC’s website for a streaming video of the meeting (not up yet) and see for yourself. 

Over on Left in Lowell, they’ve been paying close attention to what is going on at the city council meetings, but let’s not forget the important business underway on the school committee. Tonight, the members of the Superintendent Search Committee will be introduced, and there are several motions regarding the Superintendent Search process that are worth your notice.  One is that all interviews (not just those of the finalists) be held in a public forum.  Another is to extend the deadline for applications for the position to February 29th (the original deadline was February 1st).  There is also a motion to discuss the televising of the Lowell High subcommittee meetings.  Following the lead of the City Council who now televises all of their subcommittee meetings, this was started as a pilot program last Fall.  So far, only one meeting has been televised, but it was an excellent way for parents to see the real work the committee does that affects the high school.  I hope they don’t give up on this effort before it has been fully tested! 

If you can’t get downtown tonight, tune in to Channel 10 at 7:00 pm and see what happens.

Jackie talks about being more pragmatic in our political choices as we get older, see below.  I feel the same way, but my pragmatism has taken a different turn. George Packer’s article, “The Choice,” in the January 28 issue of the New Yorker points out that:

the alternatives facing democratic voters have been characterized variously as a choice between experience and change, between an insider and an outsider, and between two firsts–a woman and a black man.

None of these polarities resonate much for me in this race.  I think Clinton has had to fight for everything she has gained and is probably in some ways as much of an outsider as Obama.  Experience can be gained and change, while needed, is hard.  And, I cannot cast my vote simply on the base of gender or race.  Packer describes the most important difference between the two as between their “rival conceptions of the Presidency.”

Obama offers himself as a catalyst by which disenchanted Americans can overcome two decades of vicious partisanship, energize our democracy, and restore faith in government.  Clinton presents politics as the art of the possible, with change coming incrementally through good governance, a skill that she has honed in her career as advocate, First Lady, and senator.

Based on the above, which I think is an accurate assessment, I’d be voting for Clinton; but my gut is telling me to vote for Obama – because I think he can get elected. It’s not fair, but many people seem to have a visceral hatred of Hillary, which has little to do with her record or qualifications.  So, I think I’m going to vote for Obama, but I won’t really know until I fill out that little black box later today…

As an avid voter, if there’s a magic formula for deciding who to support, I haven’t found it. Based on my past record, I don’t vote gender, race or religion specific—nor am I totally issue oriented although it depends on the issue. Instead, deciding who will get my vote occurs through a strange confluence of my heart, mind, guts, and lately pragmatism. (It seems the older I get, the more practical and less idealistic I become.) About a month ago, Todd Domke wrote an op-ed in the Boston Globe where he used a “Candidate Comparison Scorecard” to rate the GOP field. Domke scored the Republicans in 10 areas, such as credibility, catalyst for change, compassion for the downtrodden, convictions, commander-in-chiefiness, and courage to “take political heat for unpopular decisions” among others. According to Domke, John McCain had the highest overall score. I agree with his assessment of McCain’s credibility and conviction, but I would never give McCain my vote because he wants to overturn Roe v. Wade, he’s hawkish, and he’s too conservative overall—as are all the Republican candidates. When considering Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, whose positions on the issues are similar to each other and mine, I must rely on factors other than the issues to make my decision. In my heart, I love Barack’s fresh voice, irreverence, inspiring speeches, and talk of hope, but my experienced gut tells me we don’t have time for him to figure out how to change the real world—where democracy is about compromise and consensus building that tends to blur lines. Our nation needs immediate progress to address the needs of our children, our schools, the war, healthcare, the economy, and the environment. These are issues and battles Hillary has been fighting for decades. She has been consistent in her beliefs, and she knows how to play the game. (I don’t have insider fears because I see democracy as a team sport.) I guess I’m adding a rating criteria of my own here: Who can hit the ground running and get the job done? Hillary Rodham Clinton is a strong, smart, tough, assertive woman—all admirable qualities despite what some say. She will clean up the Bush mess and lead us all to a brighter future. Hillary’s got my vote. What about you?

The mayor’s office today released the names of the Superintendent Citizens’ Screening Committee. The group will be chaired by non-voting member and former mayor Eileen Donoghue with Susan Mulligan of the school department serving as non-voting secretary. The School Committee will meet on Wed., Feb. 6, 7 p.m. at City Hall (televised on ch. 10 live) to introduce the citizens’ group and hear from the public. If you wish to speak or provide written comment, contact June Cormier before 2 p.m. on Wednesday at 978-937-7614 or email jcormier@lowell.k12.ma.us. Other issues on the agenda regard the level of transparency of the search process and clarification on televising Lowell High School subcommittee meetings, among other items. For a list of the citizens’ group, check:  more »

Perhaps there will always be homeless among us, but how our city deals with this issue has long-term implications for our entire community. While I understand some councilors’ concern about the location of the Transitional Living Center and its impact on the revitalization of the city from a business perspective, the idea that moving these folks to Tewksbury will solve the problem is shortsighted. To think we can shift our homeless population, and the associated problems of vagrancy, substance abuse, poverty, and under employment will disappear is a dangerous oversimplification that makes no attempt to develop real solutions to this complex issue. Just as it is our responsibility to educate our children and care for our elderly, a city that does not attempt to mitigate the circumstances that result in homelessness is doomed to repeat past mistakes. Under the city manager’s effort to develop a 10-year plan to end homelessness in Lowell, several groups have been meeting for a year to address key issues, such as lack of job training, employment opportunities and housing, along with substance abuse, mental illness, poor health, and limited support systems and resources. The job and education group, for example, set as its challenge: “Providing individuals who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless with the resources and support necessary to obtain and maintain a job with sufficient income to afford decent housing.” As complicated as this issue is, I prefer to focus on finding real long-term solutions rather than sweeping the problem into a more convenient corner and hoping it goes away.

I don’t know about your household, but in my family we have something I call “Post-Football Syndrome” (PFS). No matter how last night had turned out, it would have been difficult for certain family members because the end of the football season is always a tragic loss, often accompanied by feelings of emptiness, nothing good on tv, and a restless malaise that may last for months. The fact that the Patriots went down in such an upsetting loss adds to the intensity of the PFS mourning because the dream remains unfulfilled, the history-making moment gone forever. All that’s left are empty Sunday afternoons stretching endlessly until life begins anew in August.