The challenge has been accepted: according to the Sun

State Senate candidate Eileen Donoghue said yesterday she was ready to debate her opponent Chris Doherty anytime, anywhere.

The dropping of the gloves came in response to a letter from Doherty’s campaign challenging Donoghue to debate six times over the next two months in every community in the 1st Middlesex Senate district.

Now all they need are sponsors. Hopefully someone with LTC/WCAP jointly sponsor one debate.

According to the Sun’s Breaking News

Chris Doherty has challenged Eileen Donoghue to 6 debates between now and the Sept. Primary.

Doherty wants to debate in every community and while this is a nobel idea there is no way anyone wants 6 debates. Voters don’t have the attention span nor do they want to listen to the same thing over and over.

3 Debates including at least one televised and simulcast on WCAP would seem to me to be enough.

The Sun political column on Sunday mentions that the City Manager’s contract is up at the end of July and that nothing has been done yet to give him a new contract.

The much criticised and politically packed “advisory” panel in my opinion has fallen flat to date providing nothing in the way of facts or status of what other Manager’s make throughout the state or country. They should have known that this information was needed by July 1 to give the council time. It is a waste of time and got people riled up for nothing. Mr. Mayor what does the council know today that they didn’t know in April when you stated that this panel was needed and why didn’t you give them a deadline?

The Council which just finished passing a very tough budget must now get together and offer the Manager a new contract or get him to agree to serve without one for a few weeks until the Mayor’s panel comes through with some information.

It also mentions Dave Conway’s attempt at having the Lowell School Committee begin to look at a new contract for Supt. Scott which expires next year. Scott and her staff did a phenomenal job dealing with over 4 million in cuts and minimizing the amounts of layoffs through some very creative budgeting and outsourcing. It may be a little early and the teacher’s contract still is unsettled but Conway is correct that the School Committee shouldn’t wait like the Council and need to keep Supt. Scotts contract in mind.

It should be noted that Supt. Scott turned down her raises and performance bonuses. I have not always agreed with her handling of personal issues and her close relationship with the teachers union leadership but her overall performance and the improvements made in Lowell Schools show she is a true professional.

The Manager has not had a raise and has improved relationships with not only the Council but the residents and neighborhood groups. He has done some good reorganization in City Hall and has had to deal with many personal/political issues. Overall he has done a solid job for Lowell.

Now more than ever Lowell needs to maintain two professional people in these extremely important positions and the Lowell City Council and School Committee need to do this without giving away the house. They can not afford to let either person walk or move to a new community.

It is a very tough position for the Council to offer a raise when in the last year had to seek concessions and lay off people. However you have to spend money to get quality and the Manager is worth some more money to keep him in place. He has shown himself to be a quality person who wants Lowell to excel, just as Supt. Scott has shown her dedication to the students of Lowell.

Many native Lowellians believe that Lowell is being run by too many outsiders. I say better qualified, professional outsiders than political people who serve the needs of the few over the needs of the many.

Lowell cannot afford to lose either City Manager Lynch nor Supt. Scott.

Dave Conway needs to address the parents and voters of Lowell and tell us if he’s with us or with The Lowell Teachers Union.

It’s a rhetorical question since Conway has clearly shown by his actions that he supports the Union he belonged to for many years as a teacher at Lowell High. A bind he has been unable to break has a member of the Lowell School Committee.

Mr. Conway could use his years or experience and his personal friendship with many in the Union to get the Union to give up the pay for Orientation Day and to still show up for 2 hours on that day. He could use his experience as a 2nd term School Committee member to convince his fellow members that this 1 item saves Lowell about $400,000 and is a win win if NEITHER SIDE ASK FOR ANYTHING ELSE!

Instead he panders to his friends and believes the school committee should give in to the teachers and promise whatever the Union ask for. Even having the nerve to chastise John Leahy in public for not caving into the Union. Yesterday the Sun’s political column listed much of this and reviewed again that the Teachers Union refuses to help the city out at all unless there is something in it for them. Dave Conway lived that for his adult life as a teacher and now is living that as a member of the Lowell School Committee and for that the parents, students and voters suffer.